Comparison of three risk stratification models for non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma patients treated with temsirolimus as first-line therapy.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: For metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), various prognostic scoring systems have been developed. However, owing to the low prevalence of nonclear cell RCC, the three most commonly used tools were mainly developed based on patients with clear cell histology. Accordingly, this study applied three prognostic models to Korean non-clear cell RCC patients treated with first-line temsirolimus. METHODS: This study analyzed data for 74 patients with non-clear cell RCC who were treated with temsirolimus as the first-line therapy at eight medical centers between 2011 and 2016. The receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the different prognostic models were analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty-seven (36.5%), 24 (32.4%), and 44 patients (59.5%) were assigned to the poor prognosis groups of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium (IMDC), and Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (ARCC) risk stratification models, respectively. All three prognostic models reliably discriminated the risk groups to predict progression-free survival and overall survival (p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for progression and survival was highest for the ARCC model (0.777; 0.734), followed by the IMDC (0.756; 0.724) and the MSKCC (0.742; 0.712) models. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity for predicting progression were highest with the ARCC model (sensitivity 63.6%, specificity 85.7%), followed by the MSKCC (sensitivity 58.2%, specificity 86.5%) and the IMDC models (sensitivity 56.4%, specificity 85.7%). CONCLUSION: All three prognostic models accurately predicted the survival of the non-clear cell RCC patients treated with temsirolimus as the first-line therapy. Furthermore, the ARCC risk model performed better than the other risk models in predicting survival.

The optimal chemotherapeutic regimen in D2-resected locally advanced gastric cancer: a propensity score-matched analysis.

Adjuvant chemotherapy using TS-1 or capecitabine plus oxaliplatin improves survival outcomes after radical gastrectomy, with both regimens showing similar efficacies. A total of 494 patients with stage II‒III gastric cancer who underwent curative D2 gastrectomy and received adjuvant chemotherapy from April 2004 to June 2014 were included in this study. 219 patients received TS-1, and 275 received platinum-based chemotherapy. The disease-free survival associated with adjuvant chemotherapy with TS-1 was compared with that associated with fluoropyrimidine plus platinum chemotherapy to identify the subgroups that would benefit most from platinum-based chemotherapy. The platinum group consisted of younger individuals, more males and more stage III patients compared with the TS-1 group. To reduce selection bias and its effects on treatment results, we performed a propensity score-matched analysis. The matched cohort consisted of 219 TS-1 and 219 platinum treatment patients, respectively. In the matched cohort, the chemotherapeutic regimen did not affect disease-free survival according to stage (stage II: platinum vs. TS-1, P = 0.348; stage III: P = 0.132). According to the subgroup analysis, platinum-based chemotherapy resulted in an improved 3-year disease-free survival compared with TS-1 treatment (66.8% vs. 57.8%, P = 0.015) for patients with high-risk features (any two or more of pT4, pN3, and lymphovascular invasion positivity). Our results suggest that TS-1 alone is acceptable for patients without high-risk features, while platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy should be administered to patients with high-risk features in D2-resected gastric cancer.

A Randomized, Double-Blind Pilot Study of Dose Comparison of Ramosetron to Prevent Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to determine the optimal dose titration of ramosetron to prevent the Rhodes Index of Nausea, Vomiting, and Retching (RINVR). METHODS: Patients treated with folic acid, 5-fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin were randomized into three groups (0.3 mg, 0.45 mg, and 0.6 mg ramosetron before chemotherapy). The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics using RINVR were evaluated. RESULTS: Seventeen, 15, and 18 patients received ramosetron at doses of 0.3 mg, 0.45 mg, and 0.6 mg, respectively. T max (h), C max (ng/mL), and AUClast (ng·h/mL) were associated with dose escalation significantly, showing a reverse correlation with the RINVR during chemotherapy. Acute CINV was observed in four patients (22.2%), two patients (14.3%), and one (5.6%) patient and a delayed CINV on day 7 was found in eight (47%), three (21.4%), and five (27.8%) patients in each group. The complete response rate was increased with dose escalation (35.3%, 50.0%, and 72.2% in each group) and also showed the tendency for decreasing moderate-to-severe CINV. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a trend regarding the dose-response relationship for ramosetron to prevent CINV, including delayed emesis. It suggested that dose escalation should be considered in patients with CINV in a subsequent cycle of chemotherapy, and an individual approach using RINVR could be useful to monitor CINV.

Different protein expression associated with chemotherapy response in oropharyngeal cancer according to HPV status.

BACKGOUND: Oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) associated with human papilloma virus (HPV OPC) shows better treatment outcomes than non-HPV OPC. We investigated the expression of p53, ß-tubulin, bcl-2 and ERCC 1, which are well-known biomarkers to predict the chemotherapy response, according to HPV status in OPC patients. METHODS: Patients who treated with at least 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced oropharyngeal cancer were reviewed. HPV PCR and immunohistochemical stain was done in paraffin embedded tumor tissue and evaluated the relation with the chemotherapy response and survival outcomes according to HPV status. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients were enrolled for this study and all patients received induction chemotherapy with docetaxel, 5-FU and cisplatin. After induction chemotherapy, complete response (CR) was shown in 22 patients (30%) and partial response (PR) in 46 patients (62%). HPV + was detected in 21 patients (28%), while 35 patients (47%) showed p16+ expression by IHC analysis. p16 positive patients showed better overall response, PFS and OS than p16 negative patients. p53 and class III beta-tubulin expression were significantly higher in HPV- and p16- than HPV + and p16+ patients. Conversely, bcl-2 expression was greater in HPV + or p16+ than HPV- or p16- patients. ERCC1 expression did not differ significantly according to HPV status. In multivariate analyses, early T stage (p = 0.036) and good PS (PS 0) (p = 0.029) showed a better 3Y-PFS rate, and low p53 expression (p = 0.012) and complete response after induction chemotherapy (p = 0.026) were highly associated with 3Y-OS rate. Low expression of p53 and p16 positive patients showed significantly prolonged OS than others (p = 0.010). CONCLUSION: P53, class III beta-tubulin and bcl-2 were differently expressed in OPC according to HPV status and present study suggested the underlying mechanism of better response to chemotherapy in case of HPV OPC than non-HPV OPC. Among these biomarkers, p53 is the strongest prognostic marker in OPC and p53 in addition to p16 support the rationale to study of de-escalation strategy for OPC.