Frequency of S492R mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor: analysis of plasma DNA from patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with panitumumab or cetuximab monotherapy.

Background: Antibodies against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), panitumumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody, and cetuximab, a human/mouse chimeric monoclonal antibody, have shown clinical efficacy in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). In the phase 3 noninferiority ASPECCT (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01001377) study, panitumumab was demonstrated to be noninferior to cetuximab and provided a similar overall survival benefit for patients with chemotherapy-refractory wild-type exon 2 mCRC.

Final results and outcomes by prior bevacizumab exposure, skin toxicity, and hypomagnesaemia from ASPECCT: randomized phase 3 non-inferiority study of panitumumab versus cetuximab in chemorefractory wild-type KRAS exon 2 metastatic colorectal cancer.

Purpose: The primary analysis of the ASPECCT study demonstrated that panitumumab was non-inferior to cetuximab for overall survival (OS) in patients with chemotherapy-refractory wild-type KRAS exon 2 metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Here, we report the final analysis results of ASPECCT.

Patients And Methods: Patients with wild-type KRAS exon 2 mCRC who progressed on or were intolerant to irinotecan- or oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy were randomised to receive panitumumab 6 mg/kg once every 2 weeks or cetuximab (400 mg/m) followed by 250 mg/m weekly.

Panitumumab versus cetuximab in patients with chemotherapy-refractory wild-type KRAS exon 2 metastatic colorectal cancer (ASPECCT): a randomised, multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority phase 3 study.

Background: The anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies panitumumab and cetuximab are effective in patients with chemotherapy-refractory wild-type KRAS exon 2 metastatic colorectal cancer. We assessed the efficacy and toxicity of panitumumab versus cetuximab in these patients.

Methods: For this randomised, open-label, phase 3 head-to-head study, we enrolled patients (from centres in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia) aged 18 years or older with chemotherapy-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2 or less, and wild-type KRAS exon 2 status.

[Metabolism of androgens in various histological variants of bone tumors].

The role of androgens in human normal and neoplastic bone tissues is still unclear. The paper presents data on metabolism of androgens in homogenates of malignant (osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Ewing and giant cell) and benign primary tumors from 46 male and female patients aged 14-58 years. Using two substrates (testosterone and 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone) for the first time are shown activities of main enzymes of androgen metabolism in all tumor types.

Markers of type D retroviruses in children with Burkitt's-type lymphoma.

Antibodies to gag-coded proteins of type D retroviruses have been detected in children with lymphadenopathy [1]. We tested 41 HIV noninfected children with lymphoproliferative diseases (27 cases of Burkitt's-type lymphoma, six cases of Hodgkin's disease, four cases of T-cell lymphoma, three cases of lymphoblastic lymphoma and one case of large-cell anaplastic lymphoma) for the presence of type D retroviral serological and genetical markers. Twenty-five healthy donors were tested as a control.