Subcutaneous trastuzumab: development of a new formulation for treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer.

Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). HER2 is amplified or overexpressed in about 15% of breast cancers and is associated with aggressive disease. Clinical benefits of trastuzumab have been established in the treatment of both early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. Patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer have to be treated with trastuzumab for one year in combination with and sequentially after chemotherapy. This requires that trastuzumab is intravenously infused over 30-90 minutes every 3 weeks for one year which is time-consuming for both the patient and the health care provider. Consequently, a subcutaneous formulation of trastuzumab using a recombinant human hyaluronidase has been developed. Recombinant human hyaluronidase transiently increases absorption and dispersion in the subcutaneous space of large therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, allowing subcutaneous administration of trastuzumab in about 5 minutes. Thus, subcutaneous trastuzumab could represent a new treatment option that could have benefit to both the patient and the health care system. This review focuses on the development of the subcutaneous trastuzumab formulation and analyzes clinical trials assessing the pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of this new formulation.

Successful management of metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma.

Eccrine porocarcinoma (EPC) is a rare tumor. It develops from the intraepidermal ductal portion of the eccrine sweat gland. Metastatic disease is rare. We report a new case of metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma with a successful management and a good response to docetaxel. A 54-year-old man was admitted with a mass in the breast. Biopsy specimen found carcinomatous tumor proliferation with large anastomosing ducts. Cellular atypia were noted, with eosinophilic cytoplasm and round to oval nuclei. The tumor showed positive immunoreactivity for ACE and negative to anti-PS-100. Resection was performed. One year later, he presented with local and metastatic recurrences. The patient had received 3 cycles of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil; he progressed with increase in mass size and number of lung lesions. He has been undergoing three cycles of docetaxel with complete response in the lung and regression of the breast mass. The mass was excised. Porocarcinoma is a very rare entity and poorly understood. In the metastatic phase, it has modest or no sensitivity to anticancer treatment. Docetaxel should be considered in the metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma.

Cardiac safety of the adjuvant Trastuzumab in a Moroccan population: observational monocentric study of about 100 patients.

BACKGROUND: Trastuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the extracellular domain of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER 2) and inhibits carcinoma cellular proliferation. Its use as an adjuvant for a period of one year is currently an internationally recognised standard for the treatment of localized breast cancer. Its use is generally well tolerated, with the most salient side effect being a particular cardiotoxicity that is typically manifested by an asymptomatic decrease in the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) requiring careful monitoring before and during treatment. To evaluate the cardiac safety of trastuzumab we conducted a retrospective observational study of patients with HER2-positive localized breast cancer treated with trastuzumab between May 2008 and May 2010 in Morocco. FINDINGS: The study comprised of 100 patients. The average in LVEF before the start of trastuzumab was 70%, and at the end of treatment 66%, a decrease in absolute terms of 4%; this difference was statistically significant. 38% of the patients exhibited cardiotoxicity. 97% of our patients have completed treatment, of whom 23% with a provisional arrest because of a regressive fall in LVEF. A final arrest has been made in 3% of cases due to a non regressive reduction in LVEF. A symptomatic heart failure was found in three patients. Analysis of risk factors toxicity found a baseline LVEF higher in the patients who met cardiotoxicity than the rest of our sample. CONCLUSIONS: The cardiac safety in our study seems comparable with the literature data but located in the upper range of levels of toxicity. Cardiotoxicity is the major complication of Trastuzumab, of which LV dysfunction is the most common. Most instances are transient, asymptomatic and reversible.

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the small bowel: an unusual presentation with fatal outcome.

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the small bowel is an extremely rare disease. Histologic distinction from other types of soft tissue sarcoma especially fibrosarcoma and leiomyosarcoma requires electron microscopy. Complete surgery remains the only curative treatment. However, late diagnosis makes curative surgery more difficult. The contribution of chemotherapy to incomplete surgery has been proved without controlled studies. We report a case of this type of lesion discovered following a small bowel perforation.

Coexistence of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Castleman's Disease: A Case Report with Successful Response to Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy.

Background. Castleman's disease is a rare clinicopathological entity of unknown origin. Coexistence of Hodgkin's lymphoma and Castleman's disease is rare. We report a case of Hodgkin's disease of cervical lymph nodes in a patient previously diagnosed with Castleman's disease. Case Presentation. A 43-year-old man admitted in July 2009 for a right cervical pain with lymph node at the physician examination. He underwent a right adenectomy and histological studies showed typical features of Castleman's disease. Three years after, the patient consulted for increasing the volume of cervical lymph node. Clinical examination showed a right cervical lymph node of 3 cm. The computed tomography scan of chest, abdominal and pelvic was normal. Histological and immunohistochemical studies of cervical lymph node biopsy specimen were in favor of Castleman's disease associated with Hodgkin's disease. Reed-Sternberg cells were positive for CD15 and CD30. The patient received chemotherapy based on anthracyclines, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) and radiotherapy with complete response. Conclusion. Prevalence of Hodgkin's lymphoma in Castleman's disease is more difficult to establish because of the low number of cases reported in the literature.

Primary immature teratoma of the uterus relapsing as malignant neuroepithelioma: case report and review of the literature.

Background. Although some mature cases of teratomas have recently been described in the cervix, they are not commonly found in the uterus, especially in immature forms. An immature uterine teratoma relapsing after surgery as malignant neuroepithelioma has never been reported in the literature. Case Presentation. We describe a case of immature teratoma which occurred primarily in the uterus in a 56-year-old female. Treatment consisted of total simple hysterectomy. Three months after surgery, the patient relapsed with voluminous pelvic mass and was treated with bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin-containing chemotherapy regimen. Conclusion. In this report and according to the pertinent literature, clinical and pathological features and management of uterine immature teratomas are discussed. The mainstay of treatment is surgery. The prognosis of this unusual disease remains uncertain.

Radiation induced esophageal adenocarcinoma in a woman previously treated for breast cancer and renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Secondary radiation-induced cancers are rare but well-documented as long-term side effects of radiation in large populations of breast cancer survivors. Multiple neoplasms are rare. We report a case of esophageal adenocarcinoma in a patient treated previously for breast cancer and clear cell carcinoma of the kidney. CASE PRESENTATION: A 56 year-old non smoking woman, with no alcohol intake and no familial history of cancer; followed in the National Institute of Oncology of Rabat Morocco since 1999 for breast carcinoma, presented on consultation on January 2011 with dysphagia. Breast cancer was treated with modified radical mastectomy, 6 courses of chemotherapy based on CMF regimen and radiotherapy to breast, inner mammary chain and to pelvis as castration. Less than a year later, a renal right mass was discovered incidentally. Enlarged nephrectomy realized and showed renal cell carcinoma. A local and metastatic breast cancer recurrence occurred in 2007. Patient had 2 lines of chemotherapy and 2 lines of hormonotherapy with Letrozole and Tamoxifen assuring a stable disease. On January 2011, the patient presented dysphagia. Oesogastric endoscopy showed middle esophagus stenosing mass. Biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma. No evidence of metastasis was noticed on computed tomography and breast disease was controlled. Palliative brachytherapy to esophagus was delivered. Patient presented dysphagia due to progressive disease 4 months later. Jejunostomy was proposed but the patient refused any treatment. She died on July 2011. CONCLUSION: We present here a multiple neoplasm in a patient with no known family history of cancers. Esophageal carcinoma is most likely induced by radiation. However the presence of a third malignancy suggests the presence of genetic disorders.