Does V600E BRAF mutation predict vinorelbine efficacy? A proof-of-concept from a lung micropapillary adenocarcinoma metastatic to the breast.

BRAF mutations occur in about 3% of all lung adenocarcinomas and V600E missense mutation characterizes about half of BRAF-mutated lung adenocarcinomas and is significantly associated with micropapillary pattern and shorter disease-free and overall survival rates. In this report, we report a challenging case of a patient with a metastatic micropapillary adenocarcinoma of the lung harbouring V600E BRAF mutation who experienced a surprising protracted clinical response to metronomic vinorelbine. The possible association between the V600E BRAF mutation pathway and the effective use of vinca alkaloid is discussed.

Chronic effects of subcutaneous interleukin-2 therapy on soluble interleukin-2 receptors in advanced small cell lung cancer.

The increase in IL-2 receptor serum levels is one of the most typical changes in immune parameters during IL-2 cancer immunotherapy. To better define the effects of prolonged IL-2 injection on SIL-2R levels, we evaluated 7 advanced small cell lung cancer patients who received IL-2 subcutaneously at a daily dose of 9 x 10(6) IU/m2/12h for two days followed by 3 x 10(6) IU/m2/12h for 18 days (5 days/week for 4 weeks). Moreover, four patients were also evaluated during the second IL-2 cycle. Venous blood samples were drawn before and at weekly intervals during IL-2 therapy. Mean SIL-2R serum levels rapidly increased with the start of IL-2 injection, and they were significantly higher than the baseline levels throughout the immunotherapy cycle. The increase in mean SIL-2R levels was higher in patients with progressive disease than in those with response or stable disease, but the difference was not significant. Finally, the increase in mean SIL-2R concentrations during the second IL-2 cycle was not significantly different from that seen during the first one. The present study confirms that IL-2 administration determines an evident increase in SIL-2R levels; moreover, it would demonstrate that re-exposure to IL-2 after a rest period does not induce a more pronounced SIL-2R release.

Pilot study with cisplatin, ifosfamide, and etoposide in advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma.

Twenty-five patients with advanced non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) were treated with a multidrug regimen (CIV) consisting of ifosfamide (IFX), cisplatin (CDDP), and etoposide (VP-16). Twenty-four patients were evaluable for response. An objective response was detected in eight cases (33%), including one case with complete tumor response. Median duration of response was 31 weeks, and median overall survival 46 weeks, with no significant difference between responders and nonresponders. Myelosuppression and gastrointestinal side effects represented the main toxic manifestations; a toxic death and an ischemic cardiac episode were also observed. CIV seems a moderately effective regimen in NSCLC, but unlikely to provide an advantage over the widely employed two-drug combination of CDDP and VP-16.

Pilot study with adriamycin and ifosfamide in small cell lung cancer.

Twenty-one patients with limited (12 cases) or extensive (9 cases) small cell lung cancer entered a pilot study with adriamycin (ADM) plus ifosfamide (IFX) as first line treatment for six planned cycles. ADM was administered at the dose of 60 mg/m2 iv push on day 1 and IFX at 3 g/m2/iv in 1-hour infusion on days 1 and 2. To prevent IFX-induced hemorrhagic cystitis, mercaptoethane sulfonate sodium (Mesna) was given after the administration of IFX at the dose of 500 mg/m2 by iv push four times (hour 0, 4, 8, 12) on days 1 and 2. In the absence of disease progression, chemotherapy was repeated every 3 weeks for 6 cycles. All patients were evaluable for analysis of response, toxicity and survival. The overall response rate clinically and radiologically assessed after four treatment cycles was 95.3% (CR 28.6%, PR 66.7%). However, by continuing the same drug treatment up to the sixth cycle, 7 of 14 partial responders showed tumor progression within the intrathoracic region. Therefore, at the end of the planned chemotherapy program the partial remission rate fell to 33.3%, for a total remission rate of 61.9% and a median total survival of 9 months (range 5 to 36+). The regimen was well tolerated with only one case presenting hemorrhagic cystitis. The results achieved with this drug combination appear comparable to those obtained with other conventional regimens. However, the high response rate achieved after four cycles and the low incidence of marrow toxicity suggest the use of this regimen for a short period with increased dose levels.

Alkaline phosphatase and gamma glutamyltranspeptidase in human lymphomas.

Alkaline phosphatase (AP) and gamma glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) were studied in normal lymphoid cells and in 28 cases of human lymphomas (23 of non-Hodgkin's and 5 of Hodgkin's disease). The expression of AP was enhanced in several samples with a high proportion of mature B cells, particularly in centroblastic-centrocytic lymphoma, whereas tissues mainly composed of T cells always showed low levels of this enzyme. GGT levels were high in thymus, as well as in centroblastic-centrocytic lymphoma and other NHL, thus demonstrating no restriction to a particular cell lineage. Some B-cell neoplasms with cellular origin different from that of centroblastic-centrocytic lymphoma, such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia and centrocytic lymphoma, had low levels of both enzymes. The role of investigation with specific antibodies against these two enzymatic activities in the physiology of lymphoma cell membrane is discussed.

Effect of prolonged subcutaneous administration of interleukin-2 on the circadian rhythms of cortisol and beta-endorphin in advanced small cell lung cancer patients.

Interleukin-2 has been shown to stimulate cortisol secretion in man. Owing to its immunosuppressive properties, an increase in cortisol levels during interleukin-2 cancer immunotherapy could potentially counteract induced activation of the antitumor immune response. Few data are available about cortisol secretion secondary to prolonged interleukin-2 administration. To investigate the problem, we evaluated cortisol circadian rhythms in 7 consecutive metastatic small cell lung cancer patients who received interleukin-2 subcutaneously for 4 weeks (daily dose: 6 x 10(6) x IU/m2). Venous blood samples were drawn at 8.00 a.m., 4.00 p.m. and 12.00 p.m., before interleukin-2, and after each week until the end of the cycle. Beta-endorphin levels were also measured on the same samples. Four patients were evaluated during a second interleukin-2 cycle. Mean cortisol levels increased during interleukin-2 therapy, but were significantly higher than those seen in basal conditions after the first week of treatment. Moreover, cortisol peaks observed during the second cycle of therapy were not significantly different from those seen during the first cycle. Mean beta-endorphin levels increased in response to interleukin-2 administration, but the increase did not reach statistical significance. The early cortisol rise progressively decreased as treatment continued. This suggests that the interleukin-2-induced cortisol rise has no relevant clinical importance in antagonizing the activation of an effective antitumor immune response during cancer immunotherapy with interleukin-2.

Cisplatin in advanced salivary gland carcinoma. A phase II study of 25 patients.

A prospective Phase II study was carried out to test cisplatin (CDDP) as a single agent in salivary gland carcinomas. CDDP was administered (100 mg/m2) every 3 weeks to 25 consecutive patients with either recurrent or locally advanced salivary gland carcinoma. Six patients had received prior chemotherapy, and the other patients had had only surgery or radiation therapy or no treatment at all. The response rate was 18% (95% confidence interval [CI], 6% to 41%). Response duration was between 5 and 9 months. Median overall survival time was 14 months. CDDP is a moderately active drug in salivary gland carcinomas. It should be included in multidrug regimens to be tested in prospective studies, which are difficult to carry out due to the rarity of these tumors.

Ferritins in malignant and non-malignant lymphoid cells.

Lymphoid cells from peripheral blood, thymus, malignant and non-malignant lymph nodes were analysed for ferritin content using radioimmunoassays specific for the 'acidic' H-subunit-rich and for 'basic' L-subunit-rich isoferritins, and the data were compared with the immunological characteristics of the cells. All tissues with high proportion of T or 'null' cells contained the lowest concentration of L-subunit-rich isoferritins, while the H-subunit-rich forms increased from low levels in the quiescent peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), to higher values in the immature and proliferating thymocytes and lymphoblasts, malignant or not. B-cell lymphomas contained concentrations of both ferritin types higher than those found in PBL. No significant difference was found in the isoferritin concentrations between non-malignant lymph nodes and tissues involved in Hodgkin's disease. These findings indicate that maturation stage, proliferative status and anatomical localization affect isoferritin expression in lymphoid cells.

Normalization of the light/dark rhythm of melatonin after prolonged subcutaneous administration of interleukin-2 in advanced small cell lung cancer patients.

It has been demonstrated that antitumor immune response is an IL-2-dependent phenomenon. Moreover, experimental results suggest the existence of interactions between IL-2 and the pineal gland, which also plays a role in the control of immunity and cancer growth. Alterations of both IL-2 and melatonin secretion have been reported in cancer patients. To further investigate pineal/IL-2 relationships in humans with cancer, we evaluated the melatonin rhythm in seven advanced small cell lung cancer patients, before and at weekly intervals during immunotherapy with IL-2, given subcutaneously at a daily dose of 3 x 10(6) IU/m2 twice daily for 5 days/week for 4 weeks. Before IL-2, no patient showed a light/dark rhythm of melatonin. IL-2 administration induced a normalization of the melatonin circadian rhythm, with the appearance of a night time peak in 4/7 patients. This effect, however, disappeared with IL-2 interruption in 3/4 patients. This preliminary study, by showing that IL-2 may restore a normal melatonin rhythm, suggests that the anomalous pineal function in cancer may depend at least in part on the altered endogenous IL-2 production.

In vitro anti-tumor activity of eosinophils from cancer patients treated with subcutaneous administration of interleukin 2. Role of interleukin 5.

Interleukin 2 (IL-2) administration is known to induce marked eosinophilia. To evaluate the potential role of eosinophils as anti-tumor effectors and to understand the direct or indirect effects of IL-2 on eosinophils, the physical and functional characteristics of eosinophils obtained during IL-2 therapy were compared with those of eosinophils obtained from the same patients before IL-2 administration, or from healthy donors. The treatment schedule consisted of subcutaneous (s.c.) injections of IL-2, and was performed in 7 patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) in advanced stage. A marked increase of hypodense cells in peripheral blood was found to correlate with eosinophil activation in patients undergoing IL-2 therapy. Cytotoxic activity of eosinophils against allogeneic tumor cells (SCLC, K562 and melanoma lines), as assessed by direct and antibody (Ab)-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), was markedly increased during IL-2 therapy. Conversely, eosinophils obtained before treatment, like those of healthy donors, lacked any activity against tumor cells. Sera from IL-2-treated, but not from untreated, patients, significantly improved the in vitro survival and anti-tumor cytotoxicity of eosinophils from healthy donors. Comparable effects were obtained with eosinophils cultured with interleukin 5 (IL-5), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and, to a lesser extent, by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), while no direct activity was mediated by IL-2. A 91% inhibition of eosinophil ADCC was found after pre-incubation of the sera of IL-2-treated patients with anti-IL-5 but not with anti-GM-CSF or anti-TNF alpha Ab. IL-5 mRNA expression was detected in peripheral-blood lymphocytes (PBL) obtained 4 hr after IL-2 injection during the second and third week of IL-2 therapy. Phenotypic analysis of eosinophils from IL-2-treated patients showed enhanced expression of activation markers, including Fc gamma RII (CD32), HLA-DR, CR3 (CD11b) and CRI (CD35). These findings suggest that a significant cytotoxicity against tumor cells can be mediated by eosinophils after indirect, IL-5-mediated in vivo activation by IL-2, and that eosinophils may be involved in the anti-tumor response(s) induced in vivo by IL-2.