Volume 6, Number 1 (January 2008)

Bench to Bedside

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Managing Liver Metastases With Conformal Radiation Therapy
Erkan Topkan, MD, Huseyin Cem Onal, MD, and Melek Nur Yavuz, MD

Department of Radiation Oncology, Baskent University, Adana, Turkey

Radiation therapy (RT) has not played a significant role in managing liver metastases, because the liver has little tolerance to radiation. In patients with good hepatic function, however, very-high-dose RT may be used safely and effectively if a small volume of the liver is irradiated. This review discusses existing literature on the use of various types of RT, including whole-liver irradiation, partial hepatic irradiation with three-dimensional conformal RT, hypofractionated high-dose irradiation with stereotactic body RT, and future directions for this treatment modality.

abstract full text 178 kb

 

PEER VIEWPOINT
Radiotherapy for Intrahepatic Cancers: The Promise of Emerging Sophisticated Techniques
Theodore S. Lawrence, MD, PhD, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

full text 57 kb

Original Research

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A Multicenter, Phase II Study of Infliximab Plus Gemcitabine in Pancreatic Cancer Cachexia
Bertram Wiedenmann, MD, Peter Malfertheiner, MD, Helmut Friess, MD, Paul Ritch, MD, James Arseneau, MD, Giovanni Mantovani, MD, Francesco Caprioni, MD, Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, Dirk Richel, MD, Mark DeWitte, VMD, Ming Qi, MD, PhD, Don Robinson Jr, MSPH, Bob Zhong, PhD, Carla De Boer, PhD, JD Lu, PhD, Uma Prabhakar, PhD, Robert Corringham, MD, and Daniel Von Hoff, MD

Department of Internal Medicine, Charité, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany; the Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infections Diseases, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany; the Department of General Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany; the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; New York Oncology Hematology PC, Albany, New York; the Department of Medical Oncology, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy; Oncologia Medica, Ospedale San Martino, Genova, Italy; Digestive Oncology Unit, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium; Medical Spectrum Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands; Centocor Research and Development Inc., Malvern, Pennsylvania; Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona; and Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Arizona

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of infliximab administered with gemcitabine to treat cancer cachexia and to explore a functional measure of clinical benefit, investigators involved in this multicenter, phase II, placebo-controlled study randomized 89 patients with stage II–IV pancreatic cancer and cachexia to receive either placebo or 3 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg of infliximab at weeks 0, 2, and 4 and then every 4 weeks to week 24; patients also received 1,000 mg/m² of gemcitabine weekly from weeks 0–6 and then for 3 of every 4 weeks until their disease progressed.

abstract full text 223 kb

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Lorazepam, Diphenhydramine, and Haloperidol Transdermal Gel for Rescue From Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea/Vomiting: Results of Two Pilot Trials
Jacob Bleicher, Achala Bhaskara, MD, Tim Huyck, MD, Susan Constantino, MD, Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, Charles L. Loprinzi, MD, and Peter T. Silberstein, MD

Division of Hematology/Oncology, Creighton University Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, and the Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Oncology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota

Despite their use of prophylactic antiemetic therapies, cancer patients continue to consider chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) to be a significant problem. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of trials regarding treatment of breakthrough CINV. This study investigated the efficacy of “ABH,” a topical gel containing lorazepam (Ativan), diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and haloperidol (Haldol), in reducing breakthrough CINV.

abstract full text 112 kb

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Gender Differences in Pretreatment Quality of Life in a Prospective Lung Cancer Trial
Farzan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, Robert Kohl, DO, Suzanne Swann, PhD, Deborah Watkins-Bruner, PhD, and Benjamin Movsas, MD

Department of Radiation Oncology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan; Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Headquarters, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

The purpose of this analysis was to assess the impact of pretreatment factors on quality of life (QOL) in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. In particular, this study focused on the possible interaction between gender-specific baseline health-related QOL and Karnofsky performance score in a prospective randomized lung cancer trial.

abstract full text 188 kb

How We Do It

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Capecitabine-related Cardiotoxicity: Recognition and Management
Muhammad Wasif Saif, MD, Megumi Tomita, MD, Leslie Ledbetter, RN, and Robert B. Diasio, MD

Section of Medical Oncology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; The Kirklin Center, the University of Alabama, Birmingham; and the Department of Pharmacology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota

Capecitabine (Xeloda) currently is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for first-line therapy in patients with stage III or IV colorectal cancer when single-agent fluoropyrimidine therapy is preferred. It also is approved as monotherapy for treating metastatic breast cancer in patients resistant to both anthracycline- and paclitaxel based regimens or in those for whom further anthracycline treatment is contraindicated. The report details the authors’ experience with cases of cardiotoxicity associated with the use of capecitabine.

full text 188 kb

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