Epidermal growth factor receptor and epididymis invasion as prognostic biomarkers in clinical stage I testicular germ cell tumours.

Background: Inguinal orchiectomy is curative in 70-80% of clinical stage I testicular germ cell tumours (CS I TGCT). The identification of patients who are at low risk of relapse is critical to avoid unnecessary treatment. The aim of this study is to explore EGFR, hMLH-1/hMSH-2 and microsatellite instability (MSI) as potential prognostic factors of recurrence in CS I TGCT.

Gemcitabine plus capecitabine (Gem-Cape) biweekly in chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer.

Purpose: A proportion of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) are still able to continue with active therapy after their progression to fluoropyrimidines, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan regimens. Studies suggest that gemcitabine and fluoropyrimidines are synergic antimetabolites. The purpose was to evaluate gemcitabine-capecitabine (Gem-Cape) in heavily pretreated mCRC and to thus assess possible predictive factors for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

Prolonged clinical benefit of everolimus therapy in the management of high-grade pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma.

Treatment options for patients with high-grade pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET) are limited, especially for those with progressive disease and for those who experience treatment failure. Everolimus, an oral inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), has been approved for the treatment of patients with low- or intermediate-grade advanced pNET. In the randomized phase III RADIANT-3 study in patients with low- or intermediate-grade advanced pNET, everolimus significantly increased progression-free survival (PFS) and decreased the relative risk for disease progression by 65% over placebo.

Long-term biomonitoring of breast cancer patients under adjuvant chemotherapy: the comet assay as a possible predictive factor.

Most chemotherapy treatments induce DNA damage in the exposed patients. Using the comet assay and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), we have quantified this induced DNA damage and studied its relationship with GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms, and clinical parameters. For this purpose, 29 Caucasian women, breast cancer patients under CMF or CEF adjuvant chemotherapy were included in the study.

High-performance capillary electrophoretic method for the quantification of 5-methyl 2'-deoxycytidine in genomic DNA: application to plant, animal and human cancer tissues.

A new approach to the evaluation of the relative degree of genomic DNA methylation through the quantification of 2'-deoxynucleosides is proposed. Detection and quantification of 5-methyl 2'-deoxycytidine in genomic DNA has been performed using micellar high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) with UV-Vis detection. This approach has been demonstrated to be more sensitive and specific than other HPCE methods for the quantification of DNA methylation degree and also to be faster than other HPLC-based methods.