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Purpose: GOLFIG chemoimmunotherapy regimen proved to be a safe and very active chemoimmunotherapy regimen in advanced colon cancer patients. We have thus investigated the immunobiological feedback to the treatment and its possible correlation with the clinical outcome of these patients. Experimental Design:This clinical and immunologic study involved 46 patients, 27 males and 19 females, enrolled in the GOLFIG-1 phase II trial who received gemcitabine (1,000 mg/m 2 on days 1 and 15), oxaliplatin (85 mg/m 2 on days 2 and 16), levofolinic acid (100 mg/m 2 on days 1, 2, 15, and 16), and 5-fluorouracil (400 mg/m 2 as a bolus, and 800 mg/m 2 as a 24-hour infusion on days 1, 2, 15, and 16) followed by s.c. granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (100 Ag, on days 3-7) and interleukin 2 (0.5 Â 10 6 IU twice a day on days 8-14 and 17-29). Results: The regimen was confirmed to be safe and very active in pretreated patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. A subgroup analysis of these patients revealed a prolonged time to progression and survival in six patients who developed late signs of autoimmunity. A multivariate analysis validated the occurrence of autoimmunity signs as an independent predictor of favorable outcome. A parallel immunologic study detected in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of these patients a progressive increase in lymphocyte and eosinophil counts, amplification in central memory, a marked depletion of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells, and activation of colon cancer^specific cytotoxicTcells. Conclusions: Our results suggest that immunity feedback to GOLFIG regimen and its antitumor activity are tightly correlated.Colorectal carcinoma is the second leading cause of cancerrelated deaths (1, 2). The best therapeutic option for the advanced disease is represented by polychemotherapy with fluorouracil (5-FU) +/-levofolinic acid together with irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) given alone, or in combination with bevacizumab or cetuximab, two monoclonal antibodies, respectively, directed against the vascular-endothelial growth factor and the epidermal growth factor receptor (3, 6). These combinations induce high response rates (45-50%) and prolong the time to disease progression (TTP; 9-12 months) and overall survival (OS) of these patients; however, regardless of the type and sequence of administration, their average OS is still no more than 20 to 22 months (3 -6). In the attempt to improve these results, other therapeutic strategies are being investigated (5 -10). A newest polychemotherapy regimen combining gemcitabine with oxaliplatin, levofolinic acid, and

Considering the changes in bone markers, ZOL and oral IBA show comparable efficacy in patients with NSCLC and bone metastases.

The aim of this pilot phase II trial was to investigate the toxicity and anti-tumour activity of a novel metronomic regimen of weekly cisplatin (CDDP) and oral etoposide (VP16) in high-risk patients with advanced NSCLC. The study enrolled 31 high-risk patients (27 men and 4 women aged 16-82 years; mean, 64.3) with NSCLC (18 stage IIIB and 13 stage IV) and an ECOG performance status of ≤3, all of whom received weekly CDDP 30 mg/m 2 iv on days 1, 8, 14 and 28 of each cycle and oral daily etoposide 50 mg/m 2 on 21 of the 28 days. The most frequent adverse events were grade III leukopenia and anemia; nevertheless, three patients died of pulmonary embolism after 2, 3 and 6 weeks of treatment. The objective response (OR) rate was 45.2% (2 complete and 12 partial), and the disease control rate was 58.1% (14 ORs and 4 disease stabilisations). The mean time to progression and survival were respectively nine months (95% CI, 6.3-15.8 months) and thirteen months (95% CI, 9.1-20.5 months). Pharmacological analysis showed that this metronomic regimen allows a much greater median monthly area under the curve of CDDP and VP16 than conventional treatment schedules. Our findings also suggest that this treatment schedule may affect tumour growth and neoangiogenesis by changing peripheral blood vascularendothelial growth factor levels. These preliminary results indicate that our metronomic regimen is well tolerated and active, even in patients with a very poor prognosis.

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Bevacizumab, is a humanized monoclonal antibody to vasculo-endothelial- growth-factor, with anticancer activity in non-small-cell-lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Our previous results from a dose/finding phase I trial in NSCLC patients, demonstrated the anti-angiogenic effects and toxicity of a newest bevacizumab-based combination with fractioned cisplatin and daily oral etoposide. We designed a phase II trial to evaluate in advanced NSCLC patients the antitumor activity and the safety of this novel regimen. In particular, 45 patients (36 males and 9 females), with a mean age of 54 years, an ECOG ≤2, stage III B/IV and NSCLC (28 adenocarcinomas, 11 squamous-cell carcinomas, 2 large-cell carcinomas, 4 undifferentiated carcinomas), were enrolled. They received cisplatin (30 mg/sqm, days 1-3), oral etoposide (50 mg, days 1-15) and bevacizumab (5 mg/kg, day 3) every 3 weeks (mPEBev regimen). Patients who achieved an objective response or stable disease received maintenance treatment with bevacizumab in combination with erlotinib until progression. Grade I-II hematological, mucosal toxicity and alopecia were the most common adverse events. The occurrence of infections (17%), thromboembolic events (4.4%) and severe mood depression (6.7%) was also recorded. A partial response was achieved in 31 (68.8%) patients, disease remained stable in 8 (17.8%) and disease progressed in 6 (13.3%) with a progression-free-survival of 9.53 months (95% CI, 7.7-11.46). Our bio-chemotherapy regimen resulted very active in advanced NSCLC, however, the toxicity associated with the treatment requires strict selection of the patients to enroll in future studies. © 2011 Landes Bioscience

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination Gemcitabine (Gem) plus nab-Paclitaxel (NabP) (Gem/NabP), followed by maintenance Gem in older adults with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer (PC). Materials and methods: In this prospective observational study, the induction chemotherapy consisted of NabP 125 mg/m 2 followed by Gem 1000 mg/m 2 on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 4-week cycle. After a maximum of 3 cycles, patients without evidence of progressive disease (PD) were administered Gem 1000 mg/m2 weekly for 3 of 4 weeks as maintenance therapy until documentation of PD or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was six-month disease-control rate (DCR). Results: Overall, 36 patients N70 years with metastatic or locally advanced PC were enrolled at participating Institutions. After completion of Gem/NabP, 18 (50%) patients achieved partial response, 13 (36%) had stable disease, and 5 (14%) had PD. Thirty-one patients (86%) received Gem monotherapy as maintenance treatment for a median of 3 cycles (range, 2-9 cycles). Six-month DCR was 61% (95% CI, 45-77), median PFS was 6.4 months (95% CI, 5.4-8.3), and median OS was 13.4 months (95% CI, 11.1-16.7). During Gem/NabP regimen, the most common grade 3 toxicity included neutropenia (22%), anemia (19%) and thrombocytopenia (8%). Grade 3 neuropathy was not observed. During Gem maintenance therapy, grade 3 hematological toxicity was described in 6 patients (19%). Conclusion: Gem/NabP followed by maintenance Gem appears to be safe and effective for older patients with locally advanced or metastatic PC.

The primary objective of this study was to determine the activity and safety profile of biweekly oxaliplatin combined with continuous oral capecitabine in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. A secondary endpoint was to investigate the correlation between thymidylate synthase and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) expression in metastatic tissues and tumor response. Forty-one patients received oral capecitabine 1331 mg/m every day combined with intravenous oxaliplatin 85 mg/m every 2 weeks. The overall response rate was 58.5% [95% confidence interval (CI): 43.3-73.6%], the median progression-free survival 9.4 months (95% CI: 7.7-11.2 months) and the median survival 22.3 months (95% CI: 16.1-27.5 months). There were no grade 4 toxicities, and grade 3 toxicity was also uncommon. High TP expression in metastatic tissue was significantly associated with response to treatment (P=0.019), and also with a trend towards a better median progression-free survival and overall survival compared with patients expressing low TP (P=0.056; P=0.073). This study suggests that biweekly oxaliplatin and continuous oral capecitabine is an active and well-tolerated chemotherapy regimen in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Moreover, these findings add to a growing body of evidence that patients with high levels of intratumoral TP expression are the ideal candidates for capecitabine-based chemotherapy.