The prognostic role of baseline CEA and CA 19-9 values and their time-dependent variations in advanced colorectal cancer patients submitted to first-line therapy.

Serum marker evaluation is an easily available prognostic indicator that may help clinicians to discriminate patients with an aggressive disease; there are few and small-sized studies exploring the prognostic role of baseline carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) values and their variations during first-line therapy, and even fewer data are available for carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9). Our aim was to analyze the role of those prognostic markers to exploit them in daily clinical practice. Data of 892 patients with marker determination before and 3 and/or 6 months during therapy were extracted from two institutional databases. Patients were grouped according to single marker variation as always negative (G0), decreasing (G1), stable (G2), or increasing (G3). We evaluated the progression-free survival (PFS) and the overall survival (OS) of all the patents and correlated them with CEA and CA 19-9 values. A concordance between response to therapy and marker decrease was evident in 50.2% and in 34.4% of the patients for CEA and CA 19-9. Patients with low CEA or CA 19-9 baseline values had a longer PFS (15.1 vs. 10.5; 13.6 vs. 10.2 months) and OS (32.0 vs. 22.3; 30.5 vs. 20.1 months). The same results of PFS and OS were obtained by analyzing the data of the four different groups. Multivariate analyses confirmed the independent prognostic role of CEA and CA 19-9. Baseline CEA and CA 19-9 levels and their kinetics demonstrated to be independent prognostic factors. CA 19-9 dosage is not recommended; a possible role of CA 19-9 in patients with negative CEA could be worth further evaluation.

Natural history of bone metastasis in colorectal cancer: final results of a large Italian bone metastases study.

BACKGROUND: Data are limited regarding bone metastases from colorectal cancer (CRC). The objective of this study was to survey the natural history of bone metastasis in CRC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective, multicenter, observational study of 264 patients with CRC involving bone examined cancer treatments, bone metastases characteristics, skeletal-related event (SRE) type and frequency, zoledronic acid therapy, and disease outcomes. RESULTS: Most patients with bone metastases had pathologic T3/4 disease at CRC diagnosis. The spine was the most common site involved (65%), followed by hip/pelvis (34%), long bones (26%), and other sites (17%). Median time from CRC diagnosis to bone metastases was 11.00 months; median time to first SRE thereafter was 2.00 months. Radiation and pathologic fractures affected 45% and 10% of patients, respectively; 32% of patients had no reported SREs. Patients survived for a median of 7.00 months after bone metastases diagnosis; SREs did not significantly affect survival. Subgroup analyses revealed that zoledronic acid significantly prolonged median time to first SRE (2.00 months versus 1.00 month, respectively, P=0.009) and produced a trend toward improved overall survival versus no zoledronic acid. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates the burden of bone metastases from CRC and supports the use of zoledronic acid in this setting.

Circannual variation of efficacy outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic colorectal cancer and treated with first-line chemotherapy.

Seasonal variation of baseline diagnosis (or clinical suspect) of stage I-III colorectal cancer patients has been repeatedly reported as an independent variable influencing overall survival. However, data are conflicting and no information is available about such a rhythm in advanced stage patients. To test whether a circannual rhythm of efficacy outcomes can be detected in this setting, we collected data about response rate (RR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) to first-line chemotherapy of 1610 newly diagnosed metastatic patients treated at four independent centers. Responses to first-line chemotherapy were available for 1495 patients. A strong circannual rhythm in RR was evident, with the higher proportion of responding patients in the subgroup diagnosed in January (acrophase). At the time of data cutoff, 1322 patients progressed and 986 died, with median PFS and OS of 11 and 25.6 months, respectively. A circannual rhythmicity of the proportion of patients progressing at 6 months and surviving at 1 year was demonstrated, with acrophases located both in winter (February and January, respectively), similar to what reported for RR. Several interpretations about the genesis of this cyclic variation could be claimed: the rhythm in sunlight exposure and, as a consequence, of vitamin D serum levels and folate degradation, the variability in toxic effect intensity of chemotherapy, and the rhythm in the biological behavior of tumor cells. This observation is worth of further investigation both in preclinical and in clinical settings in order to better elucidate the underlying mechanisms.