Determining personalized treatment by gene expression profiling in metastatic breast carcinoma patients: a pilot study.

PURPOSE: The present study evaluates the massive study of gene expression in metastatic breast carcinoma (MBC) patients using microarray gene expression profiling (MAGE) complemented with conventional sequencing, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent "in situ" hybridization (FISH), seeking to optimize the treatment in a subset of heavily pretreated patients and with limited life expectancy. PATIENTS, MATERIAL AND METHODS: MBC patients in hormone therapy progression with survival expectancy of at least 3 months (m) have been included. The MAGE contains gene probes representing genes known to potentially interact with available drugs as cited in the literature. RESULTS: Thirty-nine procedures were performed from October 2010 to April 2016. Within the 30 evaluable procedures, considering all hormonal manipulations as a single line, the patients had received a median of 4 treatment lines prior to MAGE (range 1-7). Progression was observed in 6 cases, stable disease (SD) in 7 cases and partial response (PR) in 16 cases, which implies a clinical benefit rate (SD + PR) of 76%. Actuarial median progression-free survival (PFS) was 6 m (95% CI 2.5-9.5) in patients with clinical benefit. The median overall survival (OS) for the entire series was 11 m (95% CI 2.2-19.8). CONCLUSION: Data presented here indicate that the use of MAGE provides relevant information to establish personalized treatment in frail patients with limited life expectancy in which therapeutic futility is a particularly difficult burden to assume.

A novel EGFR nonsense mutation in a non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient who did not derive any clinical benefit with combination chemotherapy and erlotinib.

Most of the somatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations described to date in non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients are located in the kinase domain and are considered activating mutations. Some of these mutations are associated with response to specific EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) such as gefitinib and erlotinib. Here we report a case of a previously undescribed EGFR nonsense mutation in a lung adenocarcinoma patient who did not derive any clinical benefit with combination chemotherapy and erlotinib. To the best of our knowledge this is the second report in the literature describing an EGFR nonsense mutation in lung cancer patients.

Treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis from ovarian cancer. Present, future directions and proposals.

Peritoneal carcinomatosis, considered years ago as a final stage of unresectable cancer, can now be managed with curative intention by means of a radical cytoreductive surgical procedure with associated peritonectomy and intraperitoneal chemotherapy, as described by Sugarbaker. Malignant neoplasms such as mesothelioma and pseudomyxoma peritonei, ovarian and colon cancer nowadays are experiencing some new therapeutical approaches. Higher survival rates can be reached in ovarian cancer, which is commonly diagnosed in the presence of peritoneal carcinomatosis, using an optimal cytoreductive radical surgery with intraperitoneal chemotherapy. An actualised review of the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer and a proposal of a national multicentre protocol for the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis from ovarian cancer has been performed by a group of Spanish surgeons and oncologists dedicated to a therapeutical approach to this pathology.