The New England journal of medicine
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Adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival among patients with stage III colon cancer, but no reliable molecular predictors of outcome have been identified. ⋯ Retention of 18q alleles in microsatellite-stable cancers and mutation of the gene for the type II receptor for TGF-beta1 in cancers with high levels of microsatellite instability point to a favorable outcome after adjuvant chemotherapy with fluorouracil-based regimens for stage III colon cancer.
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Comment Letter Comparative Study
Fludarabine for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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BCR-ABL, a constitutively activated tyrosine kinase, is the product of the Philadelphia chromosome. This enzyme is present in virtually all cases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) throughout the course of the disease, and in 20 percent of cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). On the basis of the substantial activity of the inhibitor in patients in the chronic phase, we evaluated STI571 (formerly known as CGP 57148B), a specific inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, in patients who had CML in blast crisis and in patients with ALL who had the Ph chromosome. ⋯ The BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor STI571 is well tolerated and has substantial activity in the blast crises of CML and in Ph-positive ALL.