Expert review of anticancer therapy
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Substantial progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of malignant melanoma at the cellular level, leading to the development of several new agents in the treatment of melanoma. The focus of this review is to summarize the emerging therapies and investigational agents in the treatment of melanoma over the last 5 years.
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Expert Rev Anticancer Ther · Mar 2008
The Early Prostate Cancer program: bicalutamide in nonmetastatic prostate cancer.
The Early Prostate Cancer program is investigating the addition of bicalutamide 150 mg to standard care for localized or locally advanced, nonmetastatic prostate cancer. The third program analysis, at 7.4 years' median follow-up, has shown that bicalutamide 150 mg does not benefit patients with localized disease, but does confer significant progression-free survival benefits in patients with locally advanced disease, irrespective of standard care received. In patients receiving radiotherapy for locally advanced disease, bicalutamide 150 mg significantly reduced the risk of death by 35%; the magnitude of this benefit compares favorably with that of adjuvant luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist therapy in a similar population. Bicalutamide 150 mg represents an alternative to castration for patients with locally advanced disease who wish to avoid the side effects associated with castration.
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Expert Rev Anticancer Ther · Mar 2008
ReviewNerve-sparing techniques in open and laparoscopic prostatectomy.
Open and laparoscopic radical prostatectomy is a safe and effective treatment for organ-confined prostate cancer with excellent cancer control and quality of life outcomes. We present current nerve-sparing techniques used in open, laparoscopic and robot-assisted prostatectomy to maximize postoperative potency. ⋯ These techniques serve to minimize injury without compromising oncologic outcomes. In combination with postoperative pharmacological and mechanical recuperative approaches, nerve-sparing surgery has made an impact in postprostatectomy quality of life.
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Expert Rev Anticancer Ther · Feb 2008
ReviewCapecitabine plus oxaliplatin for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
Based on improved safety and efficacy results, advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment has recently shifted from intravenous bolus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) monotherapy to standard combinations of prolonged intravenous 5-FU infusion with either oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) or irinotecan (FOLFIRI). Capecitabine, a rationally designed oral fluoropyrimidine that is converted into 5-FU preferentially at the tumor site, could replace infusional 5-FU as the mainstay of combined chemotherapy treatment for metastatic CRC. Evidently, oral medication obviates the drawbacks of prolonged intravenous infusion. ⋯ Capecitabine has the potential to replace 5-FU/LV as the optimal combination partner for oxaliplatin at a higher cost. Capecitabine and oxaliplatin concomitantly with radiation therapy has been evaluated before surgery in rectal cancer treatment. The combination of capecitabine and oxaliplatin, with or without bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody blocking VEGF, is also being evaluated in early stage colon cancer.
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The current standard of care for malignant gliomas consists of surgery, radiotherapy and conventional (DNA-damaging) chemotherapies. These treatments are relatively nonspecific and may be applied to all glioma subtypes. Developments in cancer medicine, however, now offer the opportunity to direct therapies to specific molecular pathways involved in tumorigenesis. ⋯ In particular, we will review the potential role for inhibitors of: tyrosine kinases, targets of rapamycin, farnesyl transferase and histone deacetylase. Inhibitors of angiogenesis will also be discussed. Some 'targeted' therapies are less specific than others, working on more than one pathway or receptor, thus complex interactions are possible.