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In a single-arm, multicenter, Phase 2 trial, bevacizumab in combination with docetaxel and carboplatin achieved a pathological complete response in 19 of 45 patients with stage II/III triple-negative breast cancer. Forty-four of the 45 patients completed the planned six cycles and toxicity was manageable. One patient had delayed wound healing as a subsequent surgical complication. Thus, bevacizumab may provide significant improvement in neoadjuvant strategies for triple-negative breast cancer and further investigation is warranted.
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NSAIDs and cardiovascular risk; new antithrombotic guidelines; warfarin during surgery; Pfizer selling Viagra online; azithromycin and cardiovascular risk; and FDA actions.
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In a prospective Phase 2 study, 48 patients with resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma were treated with erlotinib (100 mg daily) and capecitabine (800 mg/m2 twice daily Monday-Friday) concurrently with intensity-modulated radiation therapy followed by four cycles of adjuvant gemcitabine (1000 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 every 28 days) and erlotinib (100 mg daily).
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n a small, multicenter, randomized Phase 2 trial, the all-oral combination of cyclophosphamide and capecitabine demonstrated a trend toward an increasing response rate when compared to capecitabine alone in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The combination was well tolerated.
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A new technique of evaluating liquid-based Pap smears has been developed to identify confirmed disease-specific mutations in patients with uterine and ovarian cancers. The new technique identified most uterine and some ovarian cancers and importantly, produced no false positive screens among normal, noncancer controls.
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High-risk, early breast cancer patients treated on a dose-intense chemotherapy protocol were randomized to receive thrice weekly epoetin alfa or not. As compared with controls, hemoglobin levels were maintained and fewer red cell transfusions were required. Furthermore, there did not appear to be any detriment in progression-free or overall survival. However, venous thrombotic events occurred more frequently. The use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in the adjuvant setting remains unsettled.
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There is a known association of obesity and glucose intolerance with pancreatic cancer but whether this is due to the effect of high glucose itself, insulin resistance, or pancreatic ß-cell dysfunction is unknown. In an epidemiological, nested, case-control analysis drawn from five large prospective cohorts, measures of insulin resistance were independently associated with pancreatic cancer risk, but this was not true for measures of hyperglycemia or ß-cell dysfunction alone.
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In a retrospective review of adjuvant chemotherapy for elderly (≥ 75 years) patients with stage III colon cancer, performance status and comorbidities were important treatment decision factors. Disease recurrence rates were not different for those who received adjuvant treatment vs those who did not, but 1-year and 5-year survival was significantly better for the treated group. The difference at 5 years remained apparent in multivariate analysis controlling for age, performance status, and comorbidities.
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One-third of non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy start it more than 10 weeks after surgery. Although the time interval between surgery and initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy impacts survival in colorectal and breast cancers, delaying adjuvant chemotherapy does not appear to be associated with inferior survival in non-small cell lung cancer.
