Cetuximab versus methotrexate in first-line treatment of older, frail patients with inoperable recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer (ELAN UNFIT): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: At present, there is no established standard treatment for frail older patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of cetuximab to those of methotrexate (the reference regimen) in this population. METHODS: This randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial was done at 20 hospitals in France. Patients aged 70 years or older, assessed as frail by the ELAN Geriatric Evaluation, with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the first-line setting and with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2 were eligible for inclusion. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive cetuximab 500 mg/m2 intravenously every 2 weeks or methotrexate 40 mg/m2 intravenously every week, with minimisation by ECOG performance status, type of disease evolution, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, serum albumin concentration, and geriatrician consultation. To avoid deterministic minimisation and assure allocation concealment, patients were allocated with a probability of 0·80 to the treatment that most reduced the imbalance. Treatment was continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity, whichever occurred first. The primary endpoint was failure-free survival (defined as the time from randomisation to disease progression, death, discontinuation of treatment, or loss of 2 or more points on the Activities in Daily Living scale, whichever occurred first) and was analysed in the intention-to-treat population. 151 failures expected out of 164 patients were required to detect a hazard ratio (HR) of 0·625 with 0·05 alpha error, with 80% power. A futility interim analysis was planned when approximately 80 failures were observed, based on failure-free survival. Safety analyses included all patients who received at least one dose of the study drug. This study is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01884623) and was stopped for futility after the interim analysis. FINDINGS: Between Nov 7, 2013, and April 23, 2018, 82 patients were enrolled (41 to the cetuximab group and 41 to the methotrexate group); 60 (73%) were male, 37 (45%) were aged 80 years or older, 35 (43%) had an ECOG performance status of 2, and 36 (44%) had metastatic disease. Enrolment was stopped for futility at the interim analysis. At the final analysis, median follow-up was 43·3 months (IQR 30·8-52·1). At data cutoff, all 82 patients had failure; failure-free survival did not differ significantly between the groups (median 1·4 months [95% CI 1·0-2·1] in the cetuximab group vs 1·9 months [1·1-2·6] in the methotrexate group; adjusted HR 1·03 [95% CI 0·66-1·61], p=0·89). The frequency of patients who had grade 3 or worse adverse events was 63% (26 of 41) in the cetuximab group and 73% (30 of 41) in the methotrexate group. The most common grade 3-4 adverse events in the cetuximab group were fatigue (four [10%] of 41 patients), lung infection (four [10%]), and rash acneiform (four [10%]), and those in the methotrexate group were fatigue (nine [22%] of 41), increased gamma-glutamyltransferase (seven [17%]), natraemia disorder (four [10%]), anaemia (four [10%]), leukopenia (four [10%]), and neutropenia (four [10%]). The frequency of patients who had serious adverse events was 44% (18 of 41) in the cetuximab group and 39% (16 of 41) in the methotrexate group. Four patients presented with a fatal adverse event in the cetuximab group (sepsis, decreased level of consciousness, pulmonary oedema, and death of unknown cause) as did two patients in the methotrexate group (dyspnoea and death of unknown cause). INTERPRETATION: The study showed no improvement in failure-free survival with cetuximab versus methotrexate. Patients with an ECOG performance status of 2 did not benefit from these systemic therapies. New treatment options including immunotherapy should be explored in frail older patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, after an initial geriatric evaluation, such as the ELAN Geriatric Evaluation. FUNDING: French programme PAIR-VADS 2011 (sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, the Fondation ARC and the Ligue Contre le Cancer), GEMLUC, GEFLUC, and Merck Santé. TRANSLATION: For the French translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Results of methotrexate-etoposide-ifosfamide based regimen (M-EI) in osteosarcoma patients included in the French OS2006/sarcome-09 study.

BACKGROUND: In most countries, reference chemotherapy for osteosarcoma is MAP regimen (M = high-dose methotrexate, AP = doxorubicin-cisplatinum). In France, the standard preoperative chemotherapy for children/adolescents combines M and etoposide-ifosfamide (EI), based on the OS94-trial. We report the safety and efficacy results of patients ≤25 years treated with preoperative M-EI regimen enroled in the French OS2006-study, between 2007 and 2014. METHODS: Treatment comprised preoperative chemotherapy with the 7 M-courses and 2 EI-courses, then surgery and postoperative chemotherapy assigned by risk's groups: standard-risk (good histological response without metastases) received 12 M-courses, 3 EI-courses; high-risk (poor histologic response, initial metastases or unresectable primary) received 5 M-courses alternated with 5 AP-courses. 253 patients were randomised to receive (n = 128) or not (n = 125) zoledronate. RESULTS: 409/522 patients enroled in the OS2006 study who received preoperative M-EI were analysed. Median age was 14.3 years (4.7-24.5), with 55 patients aged 18-25 years. Primary tumour location was limb in 383 patients (94%) and 85 (21%) presented metastases. Median chemotherapy duration was 37.4 weeks. 381 (96%) patients underwent surgery, 258 patients (65%) had a good histologic response. 187/324 patients (58%) with localised disease did not receive doxorubicin nor cisplatinum. Toxicity was evaluated in the randomised study: most patients experienced ≥1 severe toxicity (grade IV haematological or grade III/IV extra-haematological). Median follow-up was 4.8 years, and 168 patients had events. Five-year event-free survival was 56% (95% CI, 51-62%) and overall survival 71% (66-76%). CONCLUSION: M-EI regimen/strategy was feasible for patient aged ≤25 years with survival rates are comparable to those obtained with MAP regimen.

Allelic variations in the vitamin D receptor gene, insulin secretion and parents' heights are independently associated with height in obese children and adolescents.

Polymorphisms in the VDR gene were reported to be associated with variations in intrauterine and postnatal growth and with adult height, but also with other traits that are strongly correlated such as the BMI, insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion and hyperglycemia. Here, we assessed the impact of VDR polymorphisms on body height and its interactions with obesity- and glucose tolerance-related traits in obese children and adolescents. We studied 173 prepubertal (Tanner's stage 1) and 146 pubertal (Tanner's stages 2-5) obese children who were referred for a weight-loss program. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms were genotyped: rs1544410 (BsmI), rs7975232 (ApaI) and rs731236 (TaqI). BsmI and TaqI genotypes were significantly associated with height in pubertal children, but the associations did not reach statistical significance in prepubertal children. In stepwise regression analyses, the lean body mass, insulin secretion, BsmI or TaqI genotypes and the father's and the mother's height were independently and positively associated with height in pubertal children. These covariables accounted for 46% of the trait variance. The height of homozygous carriers of the minor allele of BsmI was 0.65 z-scores (4cm) higher than the height of homozygous carriers of the major allele (P=.0006). Haplotype analyses confirmed the associations of the minor alleles of BsmI and TaqI with increased height. In conclusion, VDR genotypes were significantly associated with height in pubertal obese children. The associations were independent from the effects of confounding traits, such as the body fat mass, insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance.

Two novel mutations in the EIF2AK3 gene in children with Wolcott-Rallison syndrome.

Wolcott-Rallison syndrome (WRS, OMIM 226980) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus, epiphyseal dysplasia, and other multisystemic clinical manifestations. We described two novel mutations in the EIF2AK3 gene in two consanguineous families with WRS from Brazil and Morocco. We have observed in case 1 a homozygous C > T replacement at base pair c.1192 at exon 7, generating a stop codon at position 398 (Gln398Stop). Both of his parents were found to be heterozygous for the mutation. We detected in both parents of case 2, a deceased Moroccan girl, a duplication of base pair c.851A at exon 5 (c.851dupA) leading to a frameshift and a stop codon at position 285 (p.Pro285AlafsX3). Both cases 1 and 2 had neonatal diabetes mellitus, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, and growth delay, and presented episodes of acute hepatic dysfunction. Case 1 presented central hypothyroidism, developmental delay, and mild mental retardation. Case 2 presented a fatal episode of acute renal failure. The clinical phenotype associated with the syndrome can be variable, but a combination of infancy-onset diabetes mellitus, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, and hepatic and/or renal dysfunction is the mainstay of diagnosis.

The common -866G>A variant in the promoter of UCP2 is associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetic men.

OBJECTIVE: Uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) is a physiological downregulator of reactive oxygen species generation and plays an antiatherogenic role in the vascular wall. A common variant in the UCP2 promoter (-866G>A) modulates mRNA expression, with increased expression associated with the A allele. We investigated association of this variant with coronary artery disease (CAD) in two cohorts of type 2 diabetic subjects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We studied 3,122 subjects from the 6-year prospective Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes, Hypertension, Microalbuminuria, Cardiovascular Events, and Ramipril (DIABHYCAR) Study (14.9% of CAD incidence at follow-up). An independent, hospital-based cohort of 335 men, 52% of whom had CAD, was also studied. RESULTS: We observed an inverse association of the A allele with incident cases of CAD in a dominant model (hazard risk 0.88 [95% CI 0.80-0.96]; P = 0.006). Similar results were observed for baseline cases of CAD. Stratification by sex confirmed an allelic association with CAD in men, whereas no association was observed in women. All CAD phenotypes considered--myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), and sudden death--contributed significantly to the association. Results were replicated in a cross-sectional study of an independent cohort (odds ratio 0.47 [95% CI 0.25-0.89]; P = 0.02 for a recessive model). CONCLUSIONS: The A allele of the -866G>A variant of UCP2 was associated with reduced risk of CAD in men with type 2 diabetes in a 6-year prospective study. Decreased risk of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, CABG, and sudden death contributed individually and significantly to the reduction of CAD risk. This association was independent of other common CAD risk factors.

Adiponectin gene and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients: a review of evidences.

Diabetic patients have a 3-fold higher risk of developing atherosclerosis and its clinical complications as compared to non-diabetic individuals. Part of the cardiovascular risk associated with diabetes is probably due to genetic determinants influencing both glucose homeostasis and the development of atherosclerosis. However, type 2 diabetes frequently coexists with other cardiovascular risk factors like arterial hypertension, central obesity and dyslipidemia. Genetic variability affecting many areas such as lipid and energy metabolisms, hypertension and haemodynamic mechanisms, blood clotting homeostasis, inflammation, and matrix turnover in the vascular wall will have an impact on the development of macrovascular complications in diabetic patients. Adiponectin is abundantly secreted by adipocytes. It plays important roles in lipid and glucose metabolisms and has direct anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic effects. In this review, we summarize recent data from the literature suggesting an implication of allelic variations of the adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) in the genetic determinants of cardiovascular disease in diabetic subjects.

Adiponectin gene and cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetic patients: a review of evidences

Diabetic patients have a 3-fold higher risk of developing atherosclerosis and its clinical complications as compared to non-diabetic individuals. Part of the cardiovascular risk associated with diabetes is probably due to genetic determinants influencing both glucose homeostasis and the development of atherosclerosis. However, type 2 diabetes frequently coexists with other cardiovascular risk factors like arterial hypertension, central obesity and dyslipidemia. Genetic variability affecting many areas such as lipid and energy metabolisms, hypertension and haemodynamic mechanisms, blood clotting homeostasis, inflammation, and matrix turnover in the vascular wall will have an impact on the development of macrovascular complications in diabetic patients. Adiponectin is abundantly secreted by adipocytes. It plays important roles in lipid and glucose metabolisms and has direct anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic effects. In this review, we summarize recent data from the literature suggesting an implication of allelic variations of the adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) in the genetic determinants of cardiovascular disease in diabetic subjects.

Os pacientes com diabetes apresentam risco três vezes maior de desenvolverem aterosclerose e suas complicações quando comparados a indivíduos sem hiperglicemia. Parte desse risco associado ao diabetes é provavelmente relacionado a determinantes genéticos que influenciam tanto a homeostase glicídica quanto o desenvolvimento da aterosclerose. Entretanto, o diabetes tipo 2 freqüentemente coexiste com outros fatores de risco cardiovascular, tais como hipertensão arterial, obesidade central e dislipidemia. A variabilidade genética interfere em várias áreas tais como o metabolismo lipídico, o metabolismo energético, hipertensão, mecanismos hemodinâmicos, mecanismos de coagulação, inflamação e na formação da matriz na parede vascular, que podem estar envolvidos nas complicações macrovasculares dos pacientes com diabetes. A adiponectina é secretada com abundância pelos adipócitos. Apresenta importante papel no metabolismo lipídico e glicídico, tendo ação direta tanto antiinflamatória quanto anti-aterogênica. Na atual revisão, nós resumimos os dados recentes da literatura que sugerem uma implicação de variantes alélicas do gene da adiponectina (ADIPOQ) que podem estar envolvidos na determinação genética da doença cardiovascular em indivíduos com diabetes.