Checkpoint Inhibitor Monotherapy in Potentially Trial-Eligible or Trial-Ineligible Patients With Metastatic NSCLC in the German Prospective CRISP Registry Real-World Cohort (AIO-TRK-0315).

Introduction: Patients with metastatic NSCLC (mNSCLC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors in clinical practice may often not meet the strict inclusion criteria of clinical trials. Our aim was to assess the trial eligibility of patients with mNSCLC treated with pembrolizumab monotherapy in real-world and to compare the outcome of "trial-ineligible" and "potentially trial-eligible" patients.

Methods: Data from the prospective, clinical research platform CRISP were used to compare patient characteristics, treatment, and outcome of patients with programmed cell death-ligand 1 tumor proportion score greater than or equal to 50% tumors treated with pembrolizumab monotherapy who are deemed either "potentially trial-eligible" or "trial-ineligible" according to inclusion and exclusion criteria of the registrational studies (KEYNOTE-024 and -042).

Home administration of filgrastim (Nivestim™) in primary prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia.

Background: The granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) biosimilar filgrastim (Nivestim™) reduces the duration and severity of neutropenia and the frequency of occurrence of febrile neutropenia (FN). Administration of this biosimilar filgrastim and the patient population receiving it at home have not been sufficiently documented in day-to-day medical practice. Insight into home administration may help optimize the management of FN in this setting, potentially at a reduced cost and patient burden vs hospital administration.

Treatment and pattern of bone metastases in 1094 patients with advanced breast cancer - Results from the prospective German Tumour Registry Breast Cancer cohort study.

A high proportion of patients with breast cancer develop bone metastases, yet data on routine treatment with bone-targeted agents (BTA) are rare. We report real-life outcome data of patients with breast cancer metastasised to the bone treated by office-based oncologists in Germany. The ongoing, prospective, multicentre, population-based cohort study Tumour Registry Breast Cancer (TMK) was started in 2007 in 140 centres across Germany.

Baseline and On-Treatment Markers Determining Prognosis of First-Line Chemotherapy in Combination with Bevacizumab in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Background: In metastatic colorectal cancer, no upfront or on-treatment markers are available to determine the prognosis or efficacy for chemotherapy in combination with bevacizumab.

Patients And Methods: The current analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of disease and patient characteristics (age, number of metastatic sites, stage of primary tumor, performance status, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)) and on-treatment changes of CEA (response after 8-12 weeks of treatment and specific patterns of CEA kinetics) in patients from an observational cohort study of chemotherapy with bevacizumab.

Results: Baseline factors were available from 1,438 patients.

A novel variant in RyR2 causes familiar catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia.

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia is a rare familial arrhythmogenic disease. It usually occurs in juvenile patients with a structurally normal heart and causes exercise-emotion triggered syncope and sudden cardiac death. The main gene associated with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia is RyR2, encoding the cardiac ryanodine receptor protein which is involved in calcium homeostasis.

Bevacizumab in first-line treatment of elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: German community-based observational cohort study results.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy of first-line bevacizumab-based chemotherapy for untreated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) based on age.

Methods: Eligibility criteria focused on M1 disease without prior palliative chemotherapy. Choice of chemotherapy regimen was at the physician's discretion.

Bevacizumab plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: results from a large German community-based observational cohort study.

Background: After approval of bevacizumab in Germany in 2005 for the treatment of unresectable advanced or refractory colorectal cancer (CRC), this observational cohort study was initiated to assess the efficacy and safety of bevacizumab with various chemotherapy regimen in patients with metastatic CRC (mCRC).

Material And Methods: To facilitate enrolment of a typical mCRC population, eligibility criteria were minimised. Choice of chemotherapy regimen was at the physicians' discretion, but influenced by current registration status.

Prophylactic cranial irradiation in operable stage IIIA non small-cell lung cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy: results from a German multicenter randomized trial.

Purpose: To investigate the role of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) within a trimodality protocol (chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, surgery) for patients with operable stage IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: After mediastinoscopic staging, patients with operable stage IIIA NSCLC were enrolled to a German multicenter trial and randomly assigned to receive either primary resection followed by adjuvant thoracic radiation therapy (50 to 60 Gy; arm A) or preoperative chemotherapy (cisplatin/etoposide [PE]; three cycles) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (PE plus 45 Gy; 1.5 Gy twice per day) and definitive surgery (arm B), respectively.

Positron emission tomography in non-small-cell lung cancer: prediction of response to chemotherapy by quantitative assessment of glucose use.

Purpose: To prospectively evaluate the use of positron emission tomography with the glucose analog fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) to predict response to chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: Patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC scheduled to undergo platinum-based chemotherapy were eligible for this study. Patients were studied by FDG-PET before and after the first cycle of therapy.