Comparison of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity when using conventional versus short hydration in gastric cancer-a retrospective study.

Although a short hydration protocol for cisplatin has been recently developed for use in lung cancer, this has yet to be established for gastric cancer. This study reviewed medical records of patients with gastric cancer who received XPT(capecitabine/cisplatin/trastuzumab) therapy containing cisplatin. Patients received either the conventional or short hydration regimen. Nephrotoxicity was compared between these two regimens by monitoring the serum creatinine. Out of the 26 total patients, 19 received the conventional regimen while 7 received the short hydration regimen. There was a higher nephrotoxicity was observed in the group receiving the conventional regimen (42.1%, 8/19) as compared to the short hydration regimen (0%, 0/7). There was a statistically significant difference in nephrotoxicity between the regimens (P = 0.039). Study results suggest that short hydration may be a feasible regimen for XPT therapy in gastric cancer patients.

Investigation of Regorafenib-induced Hypothyroidism in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Hypothyroidism is one of the side-effects caused by regorafenib. In the Japanese subset of the CORRECT study, hypothyroidism developed in 1.5% of the patients, but was not grade 3 or higher in any patient. Regorafenib is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor that has the same mechanism of action as sunitinb. However, the reported incidence of sunitinb-related hypothyroidism varies widely, ranging from 16.0% in clinical trials to 35.4% in post-marketing surveillance studies. In general, symptoms of hypothyroidism include fatigue and dysphonia. Hyperthyroidism must, therefore, be appropriately managed in order to maintain patient quality of life and avoid a critical level of hypothyroidism. During the first cycle of treatment with regorafenib, the incidence of abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) elevation was 31.4%. Our results suggest that thyroid function tests should be performed from day 1 of treatment with regorafenib. It would be prudent to consider routine monitoring of thyroid function in all patients who receive regorafenib and to recommend endocrinological consultation as necessary.

Patients' self-reported adherence to capecitabine on XELOX treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer: findings from a retrospective cohort analysis.

BACKGROUND: Capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (XELOX) has been established as a first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. Adherence is particularly important with capecitabine to maintain appropriate curative effect. In this study, we monitored the adherence to capecitabine on XELOX treatment and investigated which factors might decrease compliance. METHODS: The study included 242 consecutive patients who received XELOX treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer between October 2009 and March 2012. Adherence to capecitabine was checked by pharmacists with a patient-reported treatment diary at a pharmaceutical outpatient clinic. Adherence rate was defined as the number of times that a patient took capecitabine in a 14-day cycle/28 prescribed doses. We retrospectively surveyed median relative dose intensities of capecitabine and the factors deteriorating adherence across eight cycles from electronic patient records and examined differences in compliance rates according to age. RESULTS: The study included 144 male and 98 female patients. The overadherence rate was 1.5% (n=23). The median adherence rate was 93.5% (n=242) in the first cycle of XELOX treatment, which gradually rose to 96.1% (n=148) in the eighth cycle. The median relative dose intensity of capecitabine was 79.2%. The main factors contributing to decreased adherence to capecitabine were diarrhea (22.5%, 352 instances) and nausea/vomiting (13.8%, 215 instances). The rate of missed dose was 12.1%. Analysis of adherence issues in relation to patient age showed a trend toward worse adherence to capecitabine therapy in the group of patients aged ≥80 years (hazard ratio =3.83; 95% confidence interval 2.48-5.91, P<0.001 versus 70-80 years group and versus <70 years group, chi-square test). CONCLUSION: Patient-reported adherence to capecitabine on XELOX treatment in clinical practice is high but adversely affected by side effects. Patients aged 80 years or more exhibit a significant decrease in compliance compared with younger patients.