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Pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in stage II and III breast cancer can be predicted accurately by FDG PET after two courses of chemotherapy.

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This study shows that FDG uptake in the neck varies as a function of time, that it is unrelated to age or outdoor temperature, and that bilateral uptake is generally intense.

Everolimus displays antiproliferative effects on cancer cells, yields antiangiogenic activity in established tumours, and shows synergistic activity with paclitaxel in preclinical models. This study assessed the safety and the pharmacokinetic interactions of everolimus and paclitaxel in patients with advanced malignancies. Everolimus was dose escalated from 15 to 30 mg and administered with paclitaxel 80 mg m À2 on days 1, 8, and 15 every 28 days. Safety was assessed weekly, and dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was evaluated in cycle 1. A total of 16 patients (median age 54.5 years, range 33 -69) were entered; 11 had prior taxane therapy for breast (n ¼ 5), ovarian (n ¼ 3), and vaginal cancer (n ¼ 1) or angiosarcoma (n ¼ 2). Grade 3 neutropenia in six patients met the criteria for DLT in two patients receiving everolimus 30 mg weekly. Other drug-related grade 3 toxicities were leucopenia, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, stomatitis, asthenia, and increased liver enzymes. Tumour stabilisation reported in 11 patients exceeded 6 months in 2 patients with breast cancer. Everolimus showed an acceptable safety profile at the dose of 30 mg when combined with weekly paclitaxel 80 mg m À2 , warranting further clinical investigation.

Carcinoma cells lack syndecan-1 expression when they are transiting from an epithelial to a less-differentiated mesenchymal phenotype (epithelial -mesenchymal transition, EMT). Furthermore, a shift of syndecan-1 expression from malignant epithelial cells to reactive stromal cells has also been observed during progression of many carcinomas. Finally, epithelial and/or stromal syndecan-1 expression is of prognostic value in many carcinomas. Because recent results are contradictory in breast carcinomas, we have re-evaluated the prognostic significance of syndecan-1 expression in a cohort of 80 patients with invasive ductal breast carcinomas. The tumours from 80 patients diagnosed with invasive ductal breast carcinomas were used to construct a tissue microarray, which was stained with syndecan-1 by immunohistochemistry. We correlated syndecan-1 expression with clinicopathologic parameters and relapse-free survival (RFS). Exclusive epithelial expression of syndecan-1 is observed in 61.25% of the patients, whereas exclusive stromal expression is observed in 30% of the patients. Only 8.75% of the patients had both stromal and epithelial expressions of syndecan-1. A significant correlation was found between the loss of syndecan-1 epithelial expression and the syndecan-1 stromal expression with high grade of malignancy (P ¼ 0.011). The loss of syndecan-1 epithelial expression is correlated with RFS (P ¼ 0.001). Using multivariate Cox analysis, loss of epithelial syndecan-1 expression was the only prognostic indicator (Po0.001). We concluded that the loss of syndecan-1 epithelial expression was of strong prognostic value in breast carcinomas.

for the Groupe d'Investigateurs Nationaux pour l'Étude des Cancers de l'Ovaire et du sein (GINECO) IMPORTANCE Single-agent carboplatin is often proposed instead of a conventional carboplatin-paclitaxel doublet in vulnerable older patients with ovarian cancer. Such an approach could have a detrimental effect on outcomes for these patients.OBJECTIVE To compare the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of single-agent carboplatin every 3 weeks, weekly carboplatin-paclitaxel, or conventional every-3-weeks carboplatin-paclitaxel in vulnerable older patients with ovarian cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis international, open-label, 3-arm randomized clinical trial screened 447 women 70 years and older with newly diagnosed stage III/IV ovarian cancer by determining their Geriatric Vulnerability Score; 120 patients with a Geriatric Vulnerability Score of 3 or higher were stratified by country and surgical outcome. Enrollment took place at 48 academic centers in France,

FDG PET is a valuable tool in the case of suspected recurrence of cervical cancer on account of its impact on treatment planning and especially in predicting patient outcome.