Targeted oncology
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Review Meta Analysis
Prognostic Role of Programmed Death Ligand-1 Expression in Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Cancer therapies that target the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway are in ongoing phase I/II clinical trials for several tumor types. However, the prognostic value of PD-L1 expression in breast cancer is unclear. ⋯ In breast cancer, high PD-L1 protein expression appears to be a negative prognostic factor, whereas high PD-L1 mRNA expression appears to be a favorable prognostic factor.
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Afatinib (Giotrif®, Gilotrif®) is an orally administered, irreversible inhibitor of the ErbB family of tyrosine kinases. In the first-line treatment of patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations, afatinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and time to treatment failure (TTF), but not overall survival (OS), compared with gefitinib (LUX-Lung 7 trial). In the overall population of patients receiving first-line treatment for advanced lung adenocarcinoma with activating EGFR mutations, afatinib significantly prolonged PFS, but not OS, compared with pemetrexed plus cisplatin (LUX-Lung 3 trial) or gemcitabine plus cisplatin (LUX-Lung 6 trial). ⋯ In the second-line treatment of advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), afatinib significantly prolonged PFS and OS, compared with erlotinib, regardless of EGFR mutation status (LUX-Lung 8 trial). Afatinib had a predictable and manageable tolerability profile in patients with advanced NSCLC. In conclusion, afatinib is an important option for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced NSCLC and activating EGFR mutations, and provides an additional option for the treatment of patients with squamous NSCLC that has progressed following first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Patient-Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life with Sunitinib Versus Placebo for Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Results From an International Phase III Trial.
The objective of this analysis was to compare patient-reported outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a pivotal phase III trial of sunitinib versus placebo in patients with progressive, well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NCT00428597). ⋯ With the exception of diarrhea (a recognized side effect), sunitinib had no impact on global HRQoL, functional domains, or symptom scales during the progression-free period. Hence, in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, sunitinib provided a benefit in PFS without adversely affecting HRQoL.