C Bokemeyer

..This study analyzed the presence and the clinical importance of contaminating tumor cells in PBSC preparations used to support HD-Ctx in GCT patients...

..In conclusion, carboplatin single agent therapy cannot be recommended as standard treatment for any patient subgroup with advanced metastatic seminoma and cisplatin-based combination regimens remain the standard of care...

..To characterize the clinical and biologic features of extragonadal germ cell tumor (EGCT) and to determine the overall outcome with currently available treatment strategies...

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..Additional trials are warranted, especially on the issues of iron replacement and cost-effectiveness of erythropoietic protein therapy, as well as on tumour response/progression and survival...

..It may also be a valuable addition to the prognostic model particularly in the good and intermediate group for further selection of patients who will profit from high-dose chemotherapy...

..Despite the frequent use of red blood cell transfusions, median haemoglobin nadirs remained about 7.5-8 g dl(-1) during therapy. A correlation of haemoglobin-values after completion of therapy to overall treatment outcome was found...

..Patients with mediastinal nonseminomas have a five-years survival rate of 45%. This outcome is clearly inferior compared to patients with nonseminomatous retroperitoneal primaries who have a five-year survival rate of 62%...

..Future trials need to further redefine treatment strategies in elderly patients with colorectal cancer...

..This phase II study evaluates the use of gemcitabine in patients with intensively pretreated or cisplatin-refractory testicular germ cell cancers...

..Future trials combining new active agents may examine alternating treatment strategies in patients with poor-prognostic disease or as salvage treatment...

..This analysis reports toxicity and long-term results of a large phase I/II study of sequential high-dose etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (VIP) in patients with advanced germ cell tumors...

..No solid tumors had occurred.CONCLUSIONS: HDCT including high-dose etoposide with autologous PBSCT as first-line therapy for advanced testicular cancer was associated with an acceptably low risk of developing secondary leukemia...

..Treatment should be given in experienced centres in order to avoid unnecessary toxicity...

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..Primary radiotherapy seems to be associated with a significantly higher rate of disease recurrence, although most patients will be salvaged by subsequent chemotherapy...

..If feasible, complete surgical resection of residual tumours appears to be the most efficient treatment...

..Compared to data of an international database analysis including 253 patients with mediastinal nonseminoma treated with conventional chemotherapy, the results may indicate that HD-VIP results in an approximately 15% survival improvement...

..While the overall acceptable toxicity allows its use in the palliative setting, it may also be an attractive option to be tested for neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment...

..Mitomycin C demonstrates single-agent activity in pretreated gastric cancer, but has only limited efficacy following cisplatin/paclitaxel-based first-line chemotherapy...

..Mitomycin C has some single-agent activity in advanced gastric cancer but no substantial efficacy was seen as in heavily pretreated colorectal carcinoma...

..This investigation evaluates prognostic variables in patients with seminomatous and non-seminomatous extragonadal germ-cell tumors (EGCT) in order to identify relevant factors for long-term outcome following cisplatin-based chemotherapy...

..This report summarizes the long-term results in 44 patients with brain metastases from testicular cancer treated between 1978 and 1995 at Hannover University Medical School...

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..In patients with suspected relapse of HD, FDG-PET seems not to offer any information over CT scans. Using SUVs is not superior to visual assessment of PET alone...

..Irinotecan at a dose of 300-350 mg m(-2) every 3 weeks appears to have no antitumour activity in patients with cisplatin-refractory germ cell cancer and, thus, further investigation in this disease is not justified...

..Oxaliplatin may be a palliative treatment option for this patient population, and evaluation in combination regimens is warranted...

..CONCLUSIONS: Matuzumab doses up to 800 mg weekly with paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks are well tolerated, with no apparent drug interactions and with evidence of antitumor activity...

..Further clinical trials of chemotherapy in elderly patients with colorectal cancer are necessary to gain information about treatment recommendations...

..A review of the most important trials, assessing treatment options in elderly patients with lung cancer, either prospectively or retrospectively, is provided, and still unresolved issues are addressed...

..Since this guideline is based on the highest evidence level available today, a deviation from these proposals should be a rare and justified exception...

..The lack of differences between the tumors of refractory and the responsive patients indicates that overexpression of any of these receptor tyrosine kinases does not contribute to a resistant phenotype in GCTs...

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..The present study demonstrates the need for multivariate statistical approaches when the latest modification of the TNM classification system is critically evaluated...

..It is hoped that the increase in knowledge of the molecular mechanism of testicular cancer may lead to the development of new therapeutic options...

..The influence of therapy and patient characteristics and the relationship between different toxicities are assessed...

..Twenty-one of 40 patients were able to fulfil their wish for children, and no congenital abnormalities were observed in these children...

..The aim of this trial was to evaluate the efficacy of gemcitabine in this setting...

..It became evident that in selected cases chemotherapy alone can be considered a curative treatment option...

..The value of bFGF serum levels as indicators of systemic tumour dissemination remains to be determined...

..However, even the acceptably low number of therapy-related leukemias should encourage the search for equally effective but less toxic therapies...

..Further evaluation of these topics is needed, and can be achieved by trials specifically designed for elderly patients or patients with reduced performance status...

..In gastric cancer,MMC plus infusional 5-FU/folinic acid may be a potential second-line regimen with promising antitumour activity...

..The number of cytostatic agents effective in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma is limited. Trofosfamide, an alkylating agent, has been shown to be effective in several solid and haematological tumors...

..Several strategies have been developed to reduce such side effects. Ongoing trials are investigating the role of the aminothiol amifostine as a nephro- and neuroprotectant...

..These results are most likely transferable to the use of mesna in patients with metastatic testicular cancer...

..This dose of amifostine may be sufficient for nephroprotection in patients without pre-existing risk factors for renal damage who undergo a restricted number of chemotherapy cycles...

..This multicenter phase II trial defines the toxicity and activity of bendamustine in heavily pretreated patients...

..In the light of the long-term consequences of persistent renal damage prevention of nephrotoxicity should be further improved...

..This may be advantageous if repetitive cycles of chemotherapy or subsequent administration of high dose chemotherapy is planned...

..To assess the ability of [(18)F]FDG-PET, CT/MRI and serum tumor marker (TM) for the early prediction of response in patients with metastatic germ cell tumors (GCT) undergoing salvage high-dose chemotherapy (HD-CTX)...

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..MRI should be preferred in the diagnostic work-up, corticosteroids be administered promptly after biopsy. Radiation therapy or surgical treatment should be started as soon as possible...

..Strategies are being developed to tailor the use of CSFs to patients with a high risk of adverse outcome of FN...

..To compare single versus sequential high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) as first or subsequent salvage treatment in patients with relapsed or refractory germ cell tumors (GCTs)...

..However, possibly in view of their extensive telomere "reserve," telomerase inhibition did neither result in increased sensitivity of 2102 EP cells to cisplatin nor did co-treated cells show accelerated telomere shortening...

..To assess the toxicity and activity of bolus mitomycin C (MMC) in combination with a 24-hour continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in gastric cancer patients who had received at least one prior chemotherapy regimen...

..The aim of this phase II trial was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a combination chemotherapy containing irinotecan (CPT-11) and carboplatin as first-line treatment of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC)...

..FISH revealed the involvement of the immunoglobulin locus in the t(11;14;18). Rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE)-PCR to detect the involved partner gene on 6q showed exclusively wild-type API2 and MALT1 sequences...

..The aim of the present investigation was thus to analyse a possible association between the presence of lectin binding sites of pulmonary adenocarcinoma cells and their lymph node and haematogenous metastatic cells...

..Capecitabine was well tolerated, but is not effective in heavily pretreated patients with cisplatin-refractory or relapsed germ cell tumors...

..Pulmonary carcinosarcoma is a rare malignancy composed of epithelial and mesenchymal elements. Little information is available on systemic treatment options for this tumor entity...

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..We investigated the efficacy of cetuximab plus platinum-based chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck...

..This review summarizes the existing evidence including several recently published larger studies on the use of high-dose chemotherapy in these patients...

..This study was designed to compare fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin with fluorouracil, leucovorin, and cisplatin in patients with advanced gastric cancer...

..This randomised trial assessed whether six or eight cycles of R-CHOP-14 can improve outcome of these patients compared with six or eight cycles of CHOP-14...

..In November 2006, the group met a second time under the auspices of the Department of Urology of the Amsterdam Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands...

..In November 2006, the group met a second time under the auspices of the Department of Urology of the Amsterdam Medical Center, The Netherlands...

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..v. infusion at a dose of 5mg/m(2), every 2 weeks, to patients with chemotherapy pretreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a chemotherapy containing docetaxel and oral trofosfamide as a 'metronomic' secondline treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)...

..This study investigated the efficacy and toxicity of weekly single-agent irinotecan in patients with metastatic disease relapsing after cisplatin-based chemotherapy...

..The aim of the study was to establish the recommended dose and to evaluate the safety of gefitinib plus FUFOX regimen in irinotecan-refractory colorectal carcinoma (CRC)...

..On the basis of previously reported results of a Phase II trial using a more aggressive, cisplatin-containing chemoradiotherapy schedule, we investigated the effects of this approach on long-term renal function...

..No data is available regarding safety of oxaliplatin in patients with combined renal and hepatic dysfunction...

..In patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), second-line chemotherapy induces response rates of less than 20% and median survival times between 5 and 8 months...

..Elderly patients had the same probability to respond...

..CONCLUSION: This investigation confirms that FDG PET is the best predictor of viable residual tumor in postchemotherapy seminoma residuals and should be used as a standard tool for clinical decision making in this patient group...

..PET seems useful in patients with stable disease or partial remission in CT/MRI and normalized TM as well as in marker-negative disease...

..Although the study was not designed or powered to evaluate survival, a survival trend was noted favouring epoetin-alfa compared with placebo (median survival 17 vs 11 months [p = 0.126])...

..We therefore conclude that XPA does not play a critical role in overall treatment resistance of GCTs...

..05), interphase FISH (n = 204, p = 0.002), or quantitative RT-PCR (n = 371, p < 0.05). In conclusion, the increase in telomere length under treatment with imatinib reflects a shift from Ph+ to Ph- cells in the PB of patients with CML...

..For the comparison of trials in elderly patients it will be of key importance to include a comprehensive and standardised geriatric assessment in such studies...

..Clearly, further clinical trials in elderly patients with colorectal cancer are necessary as well as the incorporation of aspects of geriatric medicine into the teaching programme of medical oncologists...

..The TMA technique is probably more informative and reliable in evaluating the prognostic value of homogeneously expressed biomarkers...

..001). In 5 of all 11 unstable tumors, MSI correlated with immunohistochemical findings. This study demonstrates for the first time a positive correlation between MSI and treatment resistance in GCT...

..There is a strong need for increased awareness of cancer-related anemia and the consequences of its lack of treatment...

..001). In conclusion, our data suggest that SRPK1 expression might be an important prognostic indicator for the chemoresponsiveness of nonseminomatous GCTs...

..This research may eventually allow the development of a noncross-resistant multidrug combination regimen that can be evaluated in an earlier line of therapy...

..To up-date the 2001 version of the EAU testicular cancer guidelines...

..To evaluate the role of postchemotherapy adjunctive surgery in patients with liver metastases from germ cell cancer (GCT)...

..This could allow better prediction of the risk of progression to a GCT. In addition, the data support the model that GB represents the earliest accessible developmental stage of malignant GCTs...

..No cross resistance between FP and cisplatin was observed. A clinical trial evaluating the activity of FP in patients with cisplatin-refractory GCTs appears to be warranted...

..These findings are noteworthy, since a growing body of clinical evidence indicates that the treatment of anemia can significantly improve patients' quality of life and may also improve the clinical outcome...

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