0000000000040303

AUTHOR

Nick Thatcher

Awareness and understanding of cancer immunotherapy in Europe.

3053 Background: Use of immunotherapies in the treatment of cancer is growing and a range of new immunotherapeutic strategies are being evaluated. It is important that healthcare providers (HCP) understand these treatments and how they compare with and may complement established therapies. As part of the activities of the POINT expert group, we commissioned a survey of current awareness, attitudes and perceptions of cancer immunotherapy in Europe. Methods: From August-September 2011, 426 healthcare professionals (HCPs: oncologists, surgeons and oncology nurses) from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK (~85 respondents/country) completed online interviews. Representatives of patient ad…

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Defining aggressive or early progressing nononcogene-addicted non-small-cell lung cancer: a separate disease entity?

A substantial proportion of patients with nononcogene-addicted non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has ‘aggressive disease’, as reflected in short time to progression or lack of disease control with initial platinum-based chemotherapy. Recently, clinical correlates of aggressive disease behavior during first-line therapy have been shown to predict greater benefit from addition of nintedanib to second-line docetaxel in adenocarcinoma NSCLC. Positive predictive effects of aggressive disease have since been reported with other anti-angiogenic agents (ramucirumab and bevacizumab), while such features may negatively impact on outcomes with nivolumab in nonsquamous NSCLC with low PD-L1 expression…

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Association Between Tumor Egfr and Kras Mutation Status and Clinical Outcomes in Nsclc Patients Randomized to Sorafenib Plus Best Supportive Care (BSC) or Bsc Alone: Subanalysis of the Phase III Mission Trial

ABSTRACT Background Tumor EGFR and KRas mutations are both predictive and prognostic biomarkers in patients with advanced NSCLC. We analyzed the correlation between these biomarkers and treatment outcomes in a phase III trial of 3rd/4th line sorafenib in patients with NSCLC. Methods The global, randomized, placebo-controlled MISSION trial enrolled 703 patients with advanced relapsed/refractory NSCLC of predominantly non-squamous histology. The primary study endpoint was overall survival (OS). EGFR and KRas mutations were analyzed in archival tumor samples and in circulating tumor DNA isolated from plasma. Results Tumor and/or plasma mutation data were available from 347 patients (49%). EGFR…

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Therapeutic vaccines for cancer: an overview of clinical trials

The therapeutic potential of host-specific and tumour-specific immune responses is well recognized and, after many years, active immunotherapies directed at inducing or augmenting these responses are entering clinical practice. Antitumour immunization is a complex, multi-component task, and the optimal combinations of antigens, adjuvants, delivery vehicles and routes of administration are not yet identified. Active immunotherapy must also address the immunosuppressive and tolerogenic mechanisms deployed by tumours. This Review provides an overview of new results from clinical studies of therapeutic cancer vaccines directed against tumour-associated antigens and discusses their implications …

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