A Phase II, Single-arm Trial of Sunitinib and Erlotinib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Overexpression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its ligands occur frequently in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Combined vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGF-R) and EGFR inhibition may overcome resistance to VEGF-R inhibitor monotherapy. We performed a dose-escalation phase II study of sunitinib plus erlotinib in advanced renal cell carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with metastatic clear cell or papillary RCC were eligible. Prior therapy was allowed except sunitinib or erlotinib. Three dose levels of erlotinib (50, 100, 150 mg daily) were evaluated in combination with sunitinib 50 mg. Thirty-seven patients were treated at maximum tolerated dose to determine efficacy. The primary endpoint was 8-month progression-free survival (PFS) rate. The trial was powered to assess for a difference between a median PFS of less than 50% with a targeted 70% PFS for the combination. RESULTS: The 8-month PFS rate was 40% (95% CI: 23-56). Median PFS was 5.8 months (95% CI: 4.1-9.7) and median overall survival (OS) was 26.3 months (95% CI: 16.1-34.0). The objective response rate was 22% and an additional 59% of patients had stable disease for at least 6 weeks. The most common adverse events for all grades were diarrhea, rash, fatigue, and dysgeusia. Dose reduction in 1 or both of the drugs was undertaken in 17 (46%) patients, while 5 (14%) discontinued study therapy due to toxicity. CONCLUSION: While sunitinib and erlotinib are combinable,the 8-month PFS rate did not suggest efficacy improvement over sunitinib monotherapy (NCT00425386).

Novel cytotoxic and biological agents for prostate cancer: where will the money be in 2005?

In 2004, docetaxel-based chemotherapy became the first treatment capable of extending life in androgen-independent prostate cancer. The era of therapeutic nihilism in this disease has thus been put to rest and a broad range of agents is being tested with the goal of improving on the successes of 2004. Lessons learned from other tumour types will need to be applied to prostate cancer in order to harness the bounty of available ideas. Target amplification or activating mutations and not merely the presence of a target are likely to be important to the success of targeted agents. Thus, the promise of the current crop of targeted agents is most likely to be realised when pursued in the context of well-credentialed targets and tested in highly translational clinical trials that are capable not only of assessing tumour response, but also of evaluating the status of the targeted pathway. The most promising agents in clinical development are reviewed.

Severe bleeding in a woman heterozygous for the fibrinogen gammaR275C mutation.

The dysfibrinogen gammaR275C can be a clinically silent mutation, with only two out of 17 cases in the literature reporting a hemorrhagic presentation and four cases reporting a thrombotic presentation. We describe here a particularly severe presentation in 54-year-old female patient who required a hysterectomy at 47 years of age due to heavy menstrual bleeding. Coagulation studies revealed a prolonged prothrombin time and thrombin time, a normal fibrinogen antigen level, and a low fibrinogen activity level. Molecular analysis of the patient's DNA revealed a gamma chain gene mutation resulting in an amino acid substitution at residue 275 (gammaR275C). Protein sequencing of the fibrinogen gamma chain confirmed this mutation, which was named Fibrinogen Portland I. This case demonstrates that the gammaR275C mutation can lead to a severe hemorrhagic phenotype.