GLOBAL QUALITY OF LIFE AND ITS PARAMETERS: physical state, role, emotional state, cognitive functioning, cancer fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, insomnia, and loss of appetite were statistically different across all Subjective Global Assessment groups. Moreover, there was no difference between financial difficulties, social functioning, constipation and diarrhea among the Subjective Global Assessment groups.
Background
The efficacy of a combination of nimotuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody to the epidermal growth factor receptor, with chemoradiation in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) was evaluated in a phase II study.
Methods
Patients with stage III/IV HNSCC received 3‐weekly cisplatin 100 mg/m2 for three cycles and weekly nimotuzumab 200 mg for 8 weeks concurrently with radiotherapy. Primary endpoint was best overall response (BOR) and secondary endpoint was progression‐free survival (PFS).
Results
Thirty‐seven patients were included; the majority were Chinese (76%), male (89%), and had stage IVA/IVB HNSCC (92%). BOR of complete and partial response was seen in 22/37 (59%) and 10/37 (27%) patients, respectively. Median PFS was 17.5 months (95% CI: 11.1–54.5) and 3‐year PFS was 40.4% (95% CI: 24.3–55.9). The frequency and type of adverse events observed were similar to standard chemoradiation.
Conclusion
The combination of nimotuzumab with cisplatin and radiotherapy was safe and achieved high response rates in HNSCC.
The advent of rituximab to standard therapy dramatically increased the overall survival of CD20 positive oncologic and haematologic malignancies. 1 Incidence of infusionrelated reaction to rituximab is high, as high as 77% for the fi rst infusion. 2 Reactions can be mild from simple rashes, to potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. The objective of this paper is to determine the incidence of infusion reactions to rituximab, premedications used, and management given for these reactions.This is a retrospective study involving chart review of patients admitted at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) for rituximab administration from January 2005 to May 2011. Demographic profi le and premedications used (dexamethasone, acetaminophen, antihistamines) were obtained. Incidence of infusion reactions was determined, as well as the corresponding management. Infusion reactions were graded according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Criteria for Toxicity version 3. Research protocol was approved by the review board of the NKTI. Categorical variables were expressed using descriptive statistics (percentages) and continuous variables were expressed as median and range. Fisher's Exact Test was done to determine whether there exists a difference between those with reactions and those without. Statistical analysis was carried out using SAS version 9 (SAS Institute, NC, USA). P value <0.05 was considered signifi cant.Forty-six patients were included, with a median age of 56 years (range 23 to 83). There were 22 males and 24 females, and the mean performance status was Eastern Co-operative Group (ECOG) 1 (range 0 to 3). Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) was the most common diagnosis with 36 patients (78.27%) followed by Burkitt lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with 3 patients (6.52%) each.There were 5 patients who developed infusion reactions with rituximab. Infusion events occurred in 5 out of 46 patients (10.86%) during the study period. All reactions occurred in the fi rst infusion of rituximab. Three out of the 5 patients were diagnosed with DLBCL and were given R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone), while the remaining 2 patients were diagnosed with CLL and were given RFC (rituximab, fl udarabine, cyclophosphamide) protocol. Four patients had grade II reaction and one patient had grade I reaction
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