Early palliative care and overall survival in patients with metastatic upper gastrointestinal cancers (EPIC): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled phase 3 trial.

Background: Early palliative care (EPC) leads to an improvement in quality of life and an unexpected survival benefit compared with oncological care for patients with metastatic lung cancer. The Early Palliative Integrated Care (EPIC) is aimed at examining whether EPC can improve overall survival in patients with metastatic upper gastrointestinal cancer.

Methods: We performed a multicentre, open-label, randomised phase-3 trial.

How to Balance Prognostic Factors in Controlled Phase II Trials: Stratified Permuted Block Randomization or Minimization? An Analysis of Clinical Trials in Digestive Oncology.

In controlled phase II trials, major prognostic factors need to be well balanced between arms. The main procedures used are SPBR (Stratified Permuted Block Randomization) and minimization. First, we provide a systematic review of the treatment allocation procedure used in gastrointestinal oncology controlled phase II trials published in 2019.

Motor disorders related to oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy: long-term severity and impact on quality of life.

Purpose: Sensory chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is well-recognized, but motor CIPN remains understudied. This secondary analysis focused on the long-term severity and impact of motor disorders, their relation to sensory CIPN, neuropathic pain, psychological distress, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors.

Methods: Data from a multicenter, cross-sectional study were re-analyzed to explore motor CIPN among CRC survivors up to 5 years post-chemotherapy, with no longitudinal follow-up.

First-Line LV5FU2 with or without Aflibercept in Patients with Non-Resectable Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: A Randomized Phase II Trial (PRODIGE 25-FFCD-FOLFA).

Fluropyrimidine monotherapy is an option for some patients with inoperable metastatic colorectal cancer. Unlike bevacizumab, the addition of aflibercept, an antibody acting as an anti-angiogenic agent, has never been evaluated in this context. The aim of the study was to determine whether aflibercept could increase the efficacy of fluoropyrimidine monotherapy without increasing toxicity.