The oncologist
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Peripheral neuropathy is the dose-limiting toxicity of many oncology drugs, including paclitaxel. There is large interindividual variability in the neuropathy, and several risk factors have been proposed; however, many have not been replicated. Here we present a comprehensive study aimed at identifying treatment and physiopathology-related paclitaxel-induced neuropathy risk factors in a large cohort of well-characterized patients. ⋯ Peripheral neuropathy is a common adverse effect of many cancer drugs, including chemotherapeutics, targeted therapies, and immune checkpoint inhibitors. About 40% of survivors of cancer have functional deficits caused by this toxicity, some of them irreversible. Currently, there are no effective treatments to prevent or treat this neuropathy. This study, performed in a large cohort of well-characterized patients homogenously treated with paclitaxel, identified concomitant medications, comorbidities, and demographic factors associated with peripheral neuropathy. These factors could serve to identify patients at high risk of severe neuropathy for whom alternative non-neurotoxic alternatives may be considered.
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Lorlatinib is a novel, highly potent, brain-penetrant, third-generation ALK/ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), which has broad-spectrum potency against most known resistance mutations that can develop during treatment with crizotinib and second-generation ALK TKIs. The safety profile of lorlatinib was established based on 295 patients who had received the recommended dose of lorlatinib 100 mg once daily. Adverse events associated with lorlatinib are primarily mild to moderate in severity, with hypercholesterolemia (82.4%), hypertriglyceridemia (60.7%), edema (51.2%), peripheral neuropathy (43.7%), and central nervous system effects (39.7%) among the most frequently reported. ⋯ IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Despite the advancement of second-generation anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), the emergence of resistance and progression of central nervous system metastases remain clinically significant problems in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. Lorlatinib is a potent, brain-penetrant, third-generation, macrocyclic ALK/ROS1 TKI, with broad-spectrum potency against most known resistance mutations that can develop during treatment with existing first- and second-generation ALK TKIs. This article provides recommendations for the clinical management of key adverse reactions reported with lorlatinib.
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Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are now standard of care for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Unfortunately, many patients experience immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which are usually mild and reversible, but they require timely management and may be life threatening. No predictive markers of irAEs are available. ⋯ This study was designed to investigate the role of blood biomarkers in predicting the occurrence of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer receiving immunotherapy. The results of the study suggest a potential predictive role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio as markers for irAE development in this category of patients. These data provide rationale for an easy and feasible application to be validated in clinical practice.
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The objective of this study was to describe the implementation of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in clinical trials dedicated to older patients before and after the creation of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology in the early 2000s. ⋯ This article identifies the areas in which research efforts should be focused in order to offer physicians well-addressed clinical trials with results that can be extrapolated to daily practice.
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Adding docetaxel to the modified FOLFOX7 backbone (DOF) is a feasible three-drug combination therapy for advanced gastric cancer with high activity, providing evidence that leucovorin is not necessary in this setting.The DOF regimen represents an alternative to the FLOT (5-FU 2,600 mg/m2 as 24-hour infusion with leucovorin 200 mg/m2, oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2, and docetaxel 50 mg/m2) regimen that can be considered in select patients with advanced gastric cancer and is a potential choice in the curative setting. ⋯ DOF demonstrates a high response rate, expected safety profile, and prolonged survival and remains an option for select patients with unresectable or metastatic gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma.