Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology
-
The immune system has the greatest potential for the specific destruction of tumours with no toxicity to normal tissue and for long-term memory that can prevent cancer recurrence. The last 30 years of immuno-oncology research have provided solid evidence that tumours are recognised by the immune system and their development can be stopped or controlled long term through a process known as immunosurveillance. Tumour specificity of the immune response resides in the recognition of tumour antigens. ⋯ Of equal importance, they include methods that can enhance the specificity of antitumour immunity by inducing the expansion of T cells and antibodies directed to well-defined tumour antigens (e.g. cancer vaccines, potent adjuvants, immunostimulatory cytokines). Even as monotherapies, these approaches are having a substantial impact on the treatment of some patients with advanced, previously untreatable, malignancies. Most exciting of all, these successes provide a rationale to expect that used in various combinations or earlier in disease, current and future immunotherapies may transform cancer treatment, improving a prognosis for many patients.
-
Cancer end-of-life care (EoLC) policies assume people want to die at home. We aimed to examine variations in preferences for place of death cross-nationally. ⋯ At least two-thirds of people prefer a home death in all but one country studied. The strong association with personal values suggests keeping home care at the heart of cancer EoLC.
-
Multicenter Study
Impact of early access to a palliative/supportive care intervention on pain management in patients with cancer.
No study has so far addressed whether differences do exist in the management of cancer pain between patients receiving usual care by primary specialists and those receiving early palliative/supportive intervention. ⋯ An ePSC team provides the most effective standard of analgesic therapy for cancer pain. A randomized clinical trial is needed to confirm these findings.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Randomized phase II trial of docetaxel plus prednisone in combination with placebo or AT-101, an oral small molecule Bcl-2 family antagonist, as first-line therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
AT-101 (A), a small molecule oral inhibitor of the Bcl-2 family, has activity alone and in combination with docetaxel (Taxotere) and prednisone (DP) in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II trial compared DP combined with either AT-101 (A) or placebo in chemonaive mCRPC. ⋯ AT-101 was tolerable but did not extend OS when combined with DP in mCRPC; a potential benefit was observed in high-risk patients.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
FOLFIRI plus cetuximab versus FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer-subgroup analysis of patients with KRAS: mutated tumours in the randomised German AIO study KRK-0306.
The AIO KRK-0306 trial compares the efficacy of infusional 5-fluorouracil, folinic acid, irinotecan (FOLFIRI) plus cetuximab with FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab in first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). In October 2008, an amendment terminated the inclusion of patients with KRAS-mutated tumours. This subgroup of patients is evaluated in the present analysis, while the study is ongoing for patients with KRAS wild-type tumours. ⋯ This is the first head to head comparison of cetuximab versus bevacizumab in first-line treatment of mCRC. In the present evaluation of patients with KRAS-mutated tumours, neither strategy demonstrated a clearly superior outcome.