The efficacy of gemcitabine as salvage treatment in patients with refractory advanced colorectal cancer (CRC): a single institution experience.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of gemcitabine based chemotherapy in heavily pre-treated patients with advanced colorectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients, who had been treated with gemcitabine 1250-2000 mg/m² biweekly in combination with capecitabine 1700-2000 mg/m²/day, d1-7 every two weeks were retrospectively reviewed. All the patients had previously received at least three chemotherapy regimens and 12 (55%) had also received a 4th line regimen. All the patients had been treated with a monoclonal antibody either against vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) or endothelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) (only if wild-type KRAS). The patients had had blood tests weekly, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level measurement every 4 weeks and radiological assessment of their disease with CT scans every 8/9 weeks. RESULTS: Twenty two patients were included; male-female, 14:8; age ranged from 43-73 years. The majority of the patients (17/22) had performance status (PS) ECOG 0-1 and the remaining patients (5/22) had PS 2 at the time of initiation of the gemcitabine-based regimen. Thirteen patients demonstrated a clinical benefit (2 partial response, 2 minor response, 9 stable disease), 6 patients progressed and 2 were not evaluable. CONCLUSION: Gemcitabine has a modest activity in heavily pre-treated colorectal cancer patients and may be an option in good performance status patients.

Cutaneous metastasis in a patient with pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is known to metastasize rapidly. Liver and peritoneum are the most common sites of metastases in pancreatic cancer, followed by lungs, bones and brain. Less common sites of metastases such as muscle, skin, heart, pleura, stomach, umbilicus, kidney, appendix, spermatic cord and prostate have also been reported in pancreatic cancer. Cutaneous metastasis mostly occurs around umbilicus. A site other than umbilicus is rarely reported. The authors report a case of multiple skin metastases in a patient with primary pancreatic cancer and review the literature.

Docetaxel second-line therapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: No therapeutic standard of care exists for patients who have progressed following first-line treatment with a gemcitabine-based regimen with advanced pancreatic cancer. Approximately half of the patients failing upfront treatment present with ECOG PS 1-2 and are willing to undergo further treatment. Docetaxel activity against pancreatic cancer is reported both in the preclinical and clinical setting. This study retrospectively evaluated the role of docetaxel as second-line therapy in patients with gemcitabine-refractory disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between January 2006 and November 2009, 17 patients (median age of 61 years) with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, after receiving gemcitabine-containing chemotherapy as first-line median ECOG performance status 1 and with adequate organ function, were treated with either weekly docetaxel at 25 mg/m(2) or 3-weekly docetaxel regimen (docetaxel at 75 mg/m(2) or docetaxel-gemcitabine-capecitabine or docetaxel-gemcitabine) until progressive disease. Serum CA19-9 levels were measured every 3/4 weeks and CT scans performed after every eight/nine weeks. RESULTS: Docetaxel dose intensity was 90% in the patients who received weekly docetaxel, 85% in docetaxel-erlotinib regimen and 65% in 3-weekly regimen (docetaxel-gemcitabine-capecitabine, docetaxel-gemcitabine). Only one objective response (6%) to treatment was obtained (docetaxel-gemcitabine), while 5 patients achieved stable disease (weekly docetaxel). Median progression-free survival was 8 weeks (range: 3-16 weeks) and median survival was 4.0 months (range: 2.0-6.5 months). No toxicity with grade >3 associated with docetaxel was observed. CONCLUSION: Docetaxel seems to have mild activity in the treatment of gemcitabine-resistant metastatic pancreatic cancer. Although some patients may benefit from the treatment, other dosing regimens and novel taxanes such as Nab-paclitaxel should be explored in this setting.

Management of skin toxicities of anti-EGFR agents in patients with pancreatic cancer and other GI tumors by using electronic communication: effective and convenient.

Erlotinib has been FDA approved to be used in combination with gemcitabine as the first line treatment in advanced pancreatic cancer patients. Skin rash has been documented as one of the commonest adverse reactions in patients receiving erlotinib and other EGFR inhibitors. Draw back to this reaction leads to: 1) drug discontinuation or dose reduction; 2) impairs quality of life; and 3) Puts patients at risk of superinfection. Monitoring patients closely and initiating immediate skin care is recommended. However, patients forget how the rash started and when. No standard treatments exist secondary to the diversity of symptoms, variability and intermittent occurrence in relation to the cancer therapy. In addition, there is slow improvement with medical treatment. Also, patients need to make extra visits to doctor's office for skin management when in needed in addition to chemotherapy appointments. Late presentation for medical attention leading to complications, such as sepsis. We here experience a novel way of assessing and managing the skin rash using the electronic media. We suggest that electronic communication is of crucial importance to detect early, diagnose and treat anti-EGFR related skin rash in order to continue the benefit of anti-EGFR.