We have recently identi®ed an internal tandem duplication of the human Flt3 gene in approximately 20% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cases. In the present study, the wild-type and the mutant Flt3 genes were transfected into two IL-

* Authors on the Steering Committee contributed equally to the oversight of the study, including study design and maintaining the quality of study conduct. CONTRIBUTORS Owen O'Connor, Barbara Pro, Tim Illidge and Lorenz Trumper formed the ECHELON-2 steering committee and contributed equally to the oversight of the study, including study design and maintaining the quality of study conduct.

We found that combination chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin plus a new agent yields a substantial survival advantage compared with carboplatin plus a new agent in patients with advanced NSCLC, although we failed to find any survival difference in an analysis that included both new and old agents. The strength of our conclusion is limited because we used abstracted data, and careful interpretation is thus required. Nevertheless, our results raise a critical point that needs to be evaluated in future studies.

Mogamulizumab exhibited clinically meaningful antitumor activity in patients with relapsed PTCL and CTCL, with an acceptable toxicity profile. Further investigation of mogamulizumab for treatment of T-cell lymphoma is warranted.

Emerging evidence, although currently very sparse, suggests the presence of ''lineage-specific dependency'' in the survival mechanisms of certain cancers. TTF-1 has a decisive role as a master regulatory transcription factor in lung development and in the maintenance of the functions of terminal respiratory unit (TRU) cells. We show that a subset of lung adenocarcinoma cell lines expressing TTF-1, which presumably represent those derived from the TRU lineage, exhibit marked dependence on the persistent expression of TTF-1. The inhibition of TTF-1 by RNA interference (RNAi) significantly and specifically induced growth inhibition and apoptosis in these adenocarcinoma cell lines. Furthermore, a fraction of TTF-1-expressing tumors and cell lines displayed an increase in the gene dosage of TTF-1 in the analysis of 214 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, including 174 adenocarcinomas, showing a tendency of higher frequency of increased gene copies at metastatic sites than at primary sites (P = 0.07, by two-sided Fisher's exact test). These findings strongly suggest that in addition to the development and maintenance of TRU lineages in normal lung, sustained TTF-1 expression may be crucial for the survival of a subset of adenocarcinomas that express TTF-1, providing credence for the lineage-specific dependency model. [Cancer Res 2007; 67(13):6007-11]

The rare hereditary disorder Fanconi anemia (FA) is characterized by progressive bone marrow failure, congenital skeletal abnormality, elevated susceptibility to cancer, and cellular hypersensitivity to DNA crosslinking chemicals and sometimes other DNA-damaging agents. Molecular cloning identified six causative genes (FANCA, -C, -D2, -E, -F, and -G) encoding a multiprotein complex whose precise biochemical function remains elusive. Recent studies implicate this complex in DNA damage responses that are linked to the breast cancer susceptibility proteins BRCA1 and BRCA2. Mutations in BRCA2, which participates in homologous recombination (HR), are the underlying cause in some FA patients. To elucidate the roles of FA genes in HR, we disrupted the FANCG/XRCC9 locus in the chicken B-cell line DT40. FANCG-deficient DT40 cells resemble mammalian fancg mutants in that they are sensitive to killing by cisplatin and mitomycin C (MMC) and exhibit increased MMC and radiation-induced chromosome breakage. We find that the repair of I-SceI-induced chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) by HR is decreased ϳ9-fold in fancg cells compared with the parental and FANCG-complemented cells. In addition, the efficiency of gene targeting is mildly decreased in FANCGdeficient cells, but depends on the specific locus. We conclude that FANCG is required for efficient HRmediated repair of at least some types of DSBs.

The epidermal growth factor receptor

DP chemotherapy combined with concurrent TRT is an alternative to MVP chemotherapy for patients with LA-NSCLC.