The investigated panel of genomic alterations allows refining the selection of RAS and BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer patients candidates for anti-EGFRs, partially explaining and further corroborating the predictive ability of primary tumour sidedness.

Background. The role of surgery for lung metastases (LM) secondary to colorectal cancer (CRC) remains controversial. The bulk of evidence is derived from single surgical series, hampering any definitive conclusions. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of CRC patients with LM submitted to surgery with those who were not.Patients and Methods. Data from 409 patients with LM as the first evidence of advanced disease were extracted from a database of 1,411 patients. Patients were divided into three groups: G1, comprised of 155 patients with pulmonary and extrapulmonary metastases; G2, comprised of 104 patients with LM only and no surgery; G3, comprised of 50 patients with LM only and submitted to surgery.Results. No difference in response rates emerged between G1 and G2. Median progression-free survival (PFS)

A platinum agent plus a fluoropyrimidine and paclitaxel-based chemotherapy are active regimens for advanced AC. Clinical trials are needed to standardize treatment pathways, investigate the potential of novel therapeutics, and improve the poor prognosis of this rare condition. 2017;22:402-408 Because of the lack of randomized trials, the optimal management of advanced anal cancer is uncertain. Despite its retrospective analysis and relatively small sample size, this is the second largest study ever conducted in this setting, and, as such, it has the potential to serve as a valuable source of information for everyday clinical practice. These findings suggest that chemotherapy with a platinum agent plus a fluoropyrimidine or paclitaxel-containing regimens are reasonable treatment options for patients with inoperable locally recurrent or metastatic anal carcinoma.

exploratory cohort. When combined in the multiplex, A.L.A.N. score was able to identify three classes of ABC patients with significantly different OS (high-risk: median OS, 5 months; intermediate-risk: median OS, 12 months and low-risk: median OS, 22 months; p:<0.001). The score performed well in the different subtypes of ABC and was independent of stage, performance status and chemotherapy regimen. The performance of the A.L.A.N. score was confirmed in a validation cohort of cholangiocarcinoma patients (high-risk: median OS, 4.3 months; intermediate-risk: median OS 9.3 months, low-risk: median OS 13 months; p:0.005). Conclusions: The A.L.A.N score can be derived by variables routinely recorded in clinical practice and can provide prognostic assessment of ABC patients considered for first-line treatment.

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NCT02112357.

Our study demonstrated that of 4 patients submitted to a 1L, about 3 will receive a 2L, about 2 a 3L, and nearly 1 a 4L. Later lines could be beneficial even though earlier ones were not.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to evaluate progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) as surrogate endpoints of overall survival (OS) in modern clinical trials investigating the efficacy of targeted agents in the second-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).Materials and MethodsA systematic search of literature pertaining to randomized phase II and III trials evaluating targeted agents as second-line treatments for mCRC was performed. The strength of the correlation between both PFS and ORR and OS was assessed based on the Pearson’s correlation coefficient (R) and the coefficient of determination (R2).ResultsTwenty trials, including a total of 7,571 patients, met the search criteria. The median duration of post-progression survival (PPS) was 7.6 months. The median differences between experimental and control arms were 0.65 months (range, –2.4 to 3.4) for the median PFS and 0.7 months (range, –5.8 to 3.9) for the median OS. PFS and ORR showed moderate (R=0.734, R2=0.539, p < 0.001) and poor correlation (R=0.169, R2=0.029, p=0.476) with OS, respectively. No differences between anti-angiogenic agents and other drugs were evident.ConclusionTargeted agents investigated in the second-line treatment of mCRC provided minimal PFS gains translating into modest OS improvements. Considering both the moderate correlation between PFS and OS and the short duration of PPS, the OS should remain the preferred primary endpoint for randomized clinical trials in the second-line treatment of mCRC.