News

HOUSTON-‘‘We appear to be approaching a ceiling for benefits of cytotoxic chemotherapy in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). All recent randomized studies have had similar results, and there has been no clear efficacy benefit from nonplatinum combinations or triplets. Certainly for advanced disease and even for early disease, where metastases kill most patients, a paradigm shift is needed, and that shift will probably be to targeted therapy that works against specific biologic pathways," said Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD. Dr. Herbst is assistant professor of medicine and chief of the Section of Thoracic Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

CHICAGO-Amifostine (Ethyol) has a number of effects on transcription factors and may also mimic antitumor gene therapy by upregulating expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), according to David J. Grdina, MBA, PhD, professor of radiation and cellular oncology at the University of Chicago.

BETHESDA, Md-Enrollment has begun in a trial of Neovastat (Aeterna Laboratories), also known as AE-941, to test the Canadian-produced shark cartilage extract in patients with unresectable stages IIIA and IIIB non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are undergoing induction chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

SAN FRANCISCO-Used with concurrent radiation therapy after induction chemotherapy, an investigational agent that decreases hemoglobin’s oxygen-binding affinity produced good response rates and favorable projected survival rates in patients with unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

SAN FRANCISCO-Amifostine (Ethyol) reduced acute pneumonitis and severe esophagitis while significantly increasing the complete response rate in patients receiving chemoradiation for inoperable stage II or III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) during a randomized phase III study. Hypotension was significantly more frequent among those receiving amifostine, although only one patient discontinued therapy because of a hypotensive episode.

MONTVILLE, NJ-The FDA has approved Campath (alemtuzumab) humanized monoclonal antibody for the treatment of patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have been treated with alkylating agents and have failed fludarabine (Fludara) therapy. Campath was developed by M&I Partners, a 50-50 joint venture of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and ILEX Oncology, Inc. The agent will be marketed and distributed in the United States by Berlex Laboratories, Inc.

WASHINGTON-Imiquimod (Aldara), an immune response modifier used to treat genital warts, provided effective therapy for both actinic keratosis and primary superficial basal cell carcinoma in pilot studies presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

NEW ORLEANS-A protein-based compound called BL22 produced complete remissions in patients with hairy cell leukemia resistant to standard therapy with purine analogs. Results of the phase I trial were reported at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

VENICE, Italy-Adjuvant therapy with the investigational vaccine Melacine helps prevent relapses in patients with stage IIA melanoma, investigators from the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) 9035 Study Group announced at the Fifth World Conference on Melanoma. Mela-cine, being developed by Corixa (Seattle), consists of a mixture of allogeneic melanoma cell lysates plus an immunologic adjuvant (Detox).

About 50,000 hematopoietic stem cell transplantations are performed yearly, primarily for malignancies. Use of this therapy increased dramatically over the past 30 years due to its proven and potential efficacy in diverse

NEW YORK-Median survival has pushed past 18 months in a trial of concurrent low-dose gemcitabine (Gemzar) and radiation therapy in highly selected patients with stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a report at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XVIII.

Gemcitabine has demonstrated activity in a broad range of solid tumors with good tolerance. In combined modality therapy, gemcitabine has achieved response rates ranging between 30% and 60% in patients with non-small-cell

As the chemotherapy horizons have expanded in colorectal cancer with development of oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) and irinotecan (CPT-11, Camptosar), so too have our approaches to therapy. Numerous immunotherapy and gene

Lamont et al have presented a very clear and concise review of current gene therapy strategies in the management of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. While the presentation highlighted the most important work to date in this expanding field, it also made reference to some controversies and challenges that we are now facing. With this in mind, I would like to expand on and clarify several points raised by the authors.

Despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck has not significantly improved over the past 30 years. Locally recurrent or refractory disease is particularly difficult to treat. Repeat surgical resection and/or radiotherapy are often not possible, and long-term results for salvage chemotherapy are poor. Recent advances in gene therapy have been applied to recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Many of these techniques are now in clinical trials and have shown some efficacy. This article discusses the techniques employed in gene therapy and summarizes the ongoing protocols that are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. [ONCOLOGY 15(3):303-314, 2001]

BOSTON-Investigators at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are testing a common cold virus as a vector for gene therapy against prostate cancer, Theodore L. DeWeese, MD, reported at the 42nd annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO). The therapy was found to be safe, and the technique showed signs of antitumor activity in a phase I trial.

Patients with refractory/relapsed diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) who fail high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant or are not suitable candidates for intensive therapy have limited therapeutic options. We have

This issue of Oncology features an excellent review of gene therapy for head and neck cancers. Lamont and colleagues have highlighted the principles of genetic intervention, the current state of available therapies, and the results of human trials in an organized and coherent manner.

High-dose therapy (HDT) with peripheral blood stem cell transplantation is a treatment option for patients with advanced follicular, marginal, and mantle cell lymphoma. In this setting, frequent contamination of peripheral blood stem cell harvests by

BALTIMORE-The B-cell directed monoclonal antibody rituximab (Rituxan) can produce durable complete remissions without the need for maintenance therapy in patients with cold agglutinin autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and might also represent a treatment option in warm agglutinin AIHA, according to Edward Lee, MD. Dr. Lee is director of hematology and medical oncology at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, and Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program.

A new study presented at the Ninth World Congress on Lung Cancer demonstrated that topotecan (Hycamtin) in combination with carboplatin (Paraplatin) is active as a first-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. Topotecan

SAN FRANCISCO-Advances in gene therapy, cancer vaccines, and a variety of new antibody therapies for hematologic malignancies were the focus of a satellite symposium to the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology titled Scientific and Technical Innovations in Biology: Initiating Advances in Therapeutic Approaches to Hematological Malignancies. The program was sponsored by Fox Chase Cancer Center through an unrestricted educational grant from Genentech BioOncology and IDEC Pharmaceuticals.

WASHINGTON-Gene therapy is unlikely to cure cancer on its own, but may enhance existing treatments when used in combination, said Chuan-Yuan Li, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center. "Combining gene therapy with radiation therapy produces a synergistic effect on tumors and merits further study," he said at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation grants conference "Reaching for the Cure."

SAN FRANCISCO-Interim results of a trial of the combination of rituximab (Rituxan) and fludarabine (Fludara), a novel approach for the treatment of low-grade or follicular B-cell lymphoma, suggest excellent antitumor activity. Rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is the only approved monoclonal antibody therapy for refractory or relapsed low-grade or follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

The combination of docetaxel (Taxotere) and gemcitabine (Gemzar) is active as first-line therapy for advanced, metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer and appears to be generally well tolerated, according to the results of a phase II study published in

Cisplatin (Platinol)-based chemotherapy has been the standard systemic therapy for both non-small-cell and small-cell lung cancer for the past 2 decades, though the efficacy and benefit remain modest. Recently, several novel

The management of non-small-cell lung cancer is undergoing rapid evolution. Although the advent of combined-modality therapy has led to improved survival, most patients eventually succumb to the disease. The arrival of a

A pilot study was performed at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center to determine the feasibility of using thalidomide in a population of renal-cell carcinoma patients who had progressive disease despite chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Metastatic renal-cell carcinoma patients with adequate oral function were entered onto a study after signing an internal review board-approved informed consent. There were no exclusion criteria for prior therapy. Nineteen previously treated patients and one untreated patient with progressive renal-cell carcinoma received oral thalidomide as a single agent. The starting dose was 200 mg and the dose was increased by 100 to 200 mg every week until it reached 1,200 mg/d. Response was assessed on the basis of a radiographic reduction of the metastatic sites involved. A case report describing one of the patients involved in the pilot trial is included. [ONCOLOGY 14(Suppl 13):33-36, 2000]

TOKYO-Neoadjuvant therapy with the taxane docetaxel (Taxotere) is well tolerated and boosts survival over local treatment alone in patients with radically treatable, locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), investigators reported at the Ninth World Conference on Lung Cancer.

MADISON, Wisconsin-Although topotecan (Hycamtin) has clear activity in small-cell lung cancer, the optimal combinations, schedule, and route of administration for use of this topoisomerase-I inhibitor as first-line therapy are yet to be determined, according to Joan H. Schiller, MD, of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, Madison, Wisconsin.