Lung Cancer / Mesothelioma
One of my earliest posts when I started OncTalk was on the use of oral inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), one of the growth signals that is often over-active in cancer cells, against advanced bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC), a unique subtype of lung cancer that tends to grow within the […]
1 CommentsOne of the initial appeals of targeted therapies like tarceva (erlotinib) was that they may have fewer side effects and emerge as an alternative to standard chemo for some people. And one of the most appealing areas for offering a good alternative to standard chemo has been in the setting of older patients, who […]
1 Comments I think one of the most important lead stories from ASCO 2008 got buried. Nobody’s really talking about it yet, but they should.
Amidst the results that led to an arguable role for erbitux and more compelling evidence to move second line chemo to bridge first and second line chemo together, we also received […]
A couple of weeks ago I described in a prior post the design and general results of a trial coded as JMEN by the sponsor company, Eli Lilly. This study randomized patients to either maintenance/early second line alimta (pemetrexed) or a placebo after four cycles of initial platinum-based doublet chemo with a […]
10 CommentsLast year, a provocative trial was presented at ASCO that compared early vs. later taxotere as second line therapy. I described that study here, and it showed a very significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) and a near significant improvement in overall survival (OS) for the recipients of taxotere immediately after four cycles of first line […]
5 CommentsAt the 1st ESMO-IASLC Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva last week I saw a presentation that I thought would interest this general readership. The study, presented by Dr Grossi, from Italy, is a retrospective review of 61 patients with advanced NSCLC of all subtypes treated with either Tarceva (erlotinib) or Iressa (gefitinib) […]
3 CommentsContinuing with the analysis of a publication about tarceva (erlotinib) for patients with advanced BAC that I introduced in the last post, we’ll turn now to the analysis that Dr. Vince Miller and colleagues did on the biomarkers that might predict more or less clinical benefit with an EGFR inhibitor like tarceva (abstract here). The trial looked at three […]
0 CommentsSince the anti-angiogenic agent avastin (bevacizumab) has been shown to confer a survival benefit in a subset of patients with previously untreated advanced NSCLC (see prior post), we have been struggling with questions of whether the restricted eligibility requirements in the pivotal initial avastin trial were necessary. Specifically, the trial, called ECOG 4599 (abstract […]
0 CommentsThe epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a central component of a cell pathway for growth and cell division that is thought to be affected in many cancers, including NSCLC. EGFR inhibitors have been the focus of clinical trials for several years and are now used for many types of cancer. Nearly all of […]
0 CommentsOne of the novel agents being studied in lung cancer is sutent (sunitinib), a multi-targeted oral anti-angiogenic drug that I’ve described in a prior post. While I’ve mentioned a small study I’m leading at my own institution with this agent in advanced NSCLC patients with bronchioloalvelar carcinoma (BAC) or who have never smoked (information […]
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