clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00114816.

Plasma interleukin (IL)-8 levels were monitored in 58 patients with metastatic breast cancer before and during first-line chemotherapy, and changes in the IL-8 levels were correlated with patient survival data. Monitoring plasma IL-8 levels before and during chemotherapy identifies patients with excellent prognosis whose IL-8 levels stay constantly below 16.6 pg/mL. Background: Interleukin (IL)-8 is a proinflammatory cytokine, and high levels of IL-8 are associated with poor prognosis in many malignancies. The objective of this study was to explore the clinical benefit of monitoring plasma IL-8 levels during breast cancer chemotherapy. Patients and Methods: We conducted an exploratory analysis of several circulating proteins, including IL-8, in the plasma. Plasma samples were obtained from 58 metastatic breast cancer patients who took part in a prospective phase 2 first-line bevacizumab chemotherapy trial. Samples were analyzed before therapy, after 6 weeks and 6 months of treatment, and at the final study visit. On the basis of a trajectory analysis of the plasma IL-8 levels, the patients were divided into 3 trajectory groups. Results: Plasma IL-8, IL-6, IL-18, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, YKL-40, resistin, and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) concentrations were measured, and the most pronounced predictor of patient survival was IL-8. On the basis of the trajectory analysis of the IL-8 levels, the majority of patients (n ¼ 35, 60%) belonged to trajectory group 1, and these patients had significantly lower IL-8 levels before and during the entire chemotherapy treatment period than did the patients in the other groups. Trajectory group 1 patients had significantly better overall survival compared to patients in trajectory group 2 (n ¼ 17; age-adjusted HR ¼ 2.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-5.97; P ¼ .012) and 3 (n ¼ 6; age-adjusted HR ¼ 8.65; 95% confidence interval, 3.16-23.7; P < .001). Conclusion: Low IL-8 levels during chemotherapy treatment might help identify patients with prolonged survival.

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Background Angiopoietin growth factors (Angs) regulate angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis by binding to the endothelial Tie2 receptor. Ang2 expression is elevated in tissue hypoxia and inflammation, which also induce cleavage of the extracellular domain of the orphan Tie1 receptor. Here we have examined if the concentrations of Ang2 and the soluble extracellular domain of Tie1 in patient plasma are associated with the prognosis of patients with metastatic breast cancer. Methods Plasma Tie1 and Ang2 levels were measured in metastatic breast cancer patients treated in a phase II trial with a taxane-bevacizumab combination chemotherapy in the first-line treatment setting. They were analyzed before treatment, after 6 weeks and 6 months of treatment, and at the final study visit. Using the median concentrations as cutoffs, Tie1 and Ang2 data were dichotomized into low and high concentration groups. Additionally, we analyzed Tie1 concentrations in plasma from 10 healthy women participating in a breast cancer primary prevention study. Results Plasma samples were available from 58 (89%) of the 65 patients treated in the trial. The baseline Tie1 levels of the healthy controls were significantly lower than those of the metastatic patients ( p < 0.001). The overall survival of the patients with a high baseline Tie1 level was significantly shorter (multivariate HR 3.07, 95% CI 1.39–6.79, p = 0.005). Additionally, the progression-free survival was shorter for patients with a high baseline Tie1 level (multivariate HR 3.78, 95% CI 1.57–9.09, p = 0.003). In contrast, the baseline Ang2 levels had no prognostic impact in a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis. The combined analysis of baseline Tie1 and Ang2 levels revealed that patients with both high Tie1 and high Ang2 baseline levels had a significantly shorter overall survival than the patients with low baseline levels of both markers (multivariate HR for overall survival 4.32, 95% CI 1.44–12.94, p = 0.009). Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate the prognostic value of baseline Tie1 plasma concentration in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Combined with the results of the Ang2 analyses, the patients with both high Tie1 and Ang2 levels before treatment had the poorest survival. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov : NCT00979641, registration date 19-DEC-2008. The regional Ethics Committee: R08142M, registration date 18-NOV-2008.

Abstract. Aim Metastatic breast cancer remains an incurable disease (1, 2). In Finland, nearly 5,000 patients are diagnosed with invasive breast cancer every year, and the incidence has increased steadily over the past decades. The Finnish cancer registry data from 2014 shows that 815 women died of metastatic breast cancer, which was the most common cause of cancer death in women (3). In the CONCORD-2 study, a central analysis of population-based registry data worldwide for cancer survival was conducted, and the results were published in The Lancet in November 2014. The study reported that the treatment results of breast cancer in Finland are among the best in the world. The 5-year-survival rate of patients with breast cancer in Finland was 86.8% [95% confidence interval (CI)=85.9-87.7%) from [2005][2006][2007][2008][2009], and was the highest in Northern Europe (4). However, new treatment options for advanced human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative disease are rare, and the overall survival benefit observed in these patients is modest (5, 6). For this reason, advanced HER2-negative breast cancer is a treatment challenge worldwide.Bevacizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody that inhibits vascular endothelial cell proliferation by blocking the binding of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) to its receptor, therefore inhibiting tumor angiogenesis (7). Bevacizumab improves the outcomes of cytotoxic treatment in many metastatic malignancies, including colorectal, kidney, lung and ovarian cancer (8-11). There has been much debate about the status of bevacizumab treatment in metastatic breast cancer. Currently, the European Medicines Agency has only approved bevacizumab when combined with paclitaxel or capecitabine in a first or second-line setting (http://www.e ma.europa.eu/ema/). In 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration revoked its accelerated approval of a breast cancer indication for bevacizumab due to the lack of a benefit in breast cancer overall survival and, in addition, due to the potentially life-threatening side-effects (http://www.fda.gov/). 6431Τhis article is freely accessible online. In locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer, taxanebased treatment (docetaxel or paclitaxel), either in combination with another agent or as single-agent, therapy is considered one of the most effective choices for first-line treatment (5, 12), when cytotoxic treatment is needed. Combining bevacizumab with chemotherapy has been studied in certain phase III studies (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Most of these studies investigated the benefit of bevacizumab combined with a taxane. Furthermore, other chemotherapy regimens have been explored, including capecitabine, anthracycline, vinorelbine and gemcitabine. Adding bevacizumab has led to higher response rates and longer progression-free survival (PFS) throughout the trials, but no significant differences in overall survival (OS) have yet been observed.In addition to chemotherapy options, bevacizumab can also be combined with endocri...