Philippe Colin

FOLFIRI Followed by FOLFOX6 or the Reverse Sequence in Advanced Colorectal Cancer: A Randomized GERCOR Study

PURPOSE In metastatic colorectal cancer, phase III studies have demonstrated the superiority of fluorouracil (FU) with leucovorin (LV) in combination with irinotecan or oxaliplatin over FU + LV alone. This phase III study investigated two sequences: folinic acid, FU, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) followed by folinic acid, FU, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX6; arm A), and FOLFOX6 followed by FOLFIRI (arm B). PATIENTS AND METHODS Previously untreated patients with assessable disease were randomly assigned to receive a 2-hour infusion of l-LV 200 mg/m(2) or dl-LV 400 mg/m(2) followed by a FU bolus 400 mg/m(2) and 46-hour infusion 2,400 to 3,000 mg/m(2) every 46 hours every 2 weeks, either with irinotecan 180 mg/m(2) or with oxaliplatin 100 mg/m(2) as a 2-hour infusion on day 1. At progression, irinotecan was replaced by oxaliplatin (arm A), or oxaliplatin by irinotecan (arm B). RESULT Median survival was 21.5 months in 109 patients allocated to FOLFIRI then FOLFOX6 versus 20.6 months in 111 patients allocated to FOLFOX6 then FOLFIRI (P =.99). Median second progression-free survival (PFS) was 14.2 months in arm A versus 10.9 in arm B (P =.64). In first-line therapy, FOLFIRI achieved 56% response rate (RR) and 8.5 months median PFS, versus FOLFOX6 which achieved 54% RR and 8.0 months median PFS (P =.26). Second-line FOLFIRI achieved 4% RR and 2.5 months median PFS, versus FOLFOX6 which achieved 15% RR and 4.2 months PFS. In first-line therapy, National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria grade 3/4 mucositis, nausea/vomiting, and grade 2 alopecia were more frequent with FOLFIRI, and grade 3/4 neutropenia and neurosensory toxicity were more frequent with FOLFOX6. CONCLUSION Both sequences achieved a prolonged survival and similar efficacy. The toxicity profiles were different.

Can chemotherapy be discontinued in unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer? The GERCOR OPTIMOX2 Study.

PURPOSE This study compared chemotherapy discontinuation with maintenance therapy with leucovorin and fluorouracil after six cycles of folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred two patients with untreated metastatic colorectal cancer were randomly assigned to receive six cycles of modified FOLFOX7 (mFOLFOX7) followed by simplified leucovorin plus bolus and infusional fluorouracil until progression (arm 1 or maintenance arm, n = 98) or six cycles of mFOLFOX7 before a complete stop of chemotherapy (arm 2 or chemotherapy-free interval [CFI] arm, n = 104). Reintroduction of mFOLFOX7 was scheduled after tumor progression in both arms. The primary study end point was duration of disease control (DDC). RESULTS Median DDC was 13.1 months in patients assigned to the maintenance arm and 9.2 months in patients assigned to the CFI arm (P = .046). Median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were 8.6 and 23.8 months, respectively, in the maintenance arm and 6.6 and 19.5 months, respectively, in the CFI arm. Median duration of maintenance therapy (arm 1) and CFIs (arm 2) were 4.8 months and 3.9 months, respectively. Overall response rates were 59.2% and 59.6% for the initial FOLFOX chemotherapy and 20.4% and 30.3% for FOLFOX reintroduction in arms 1 and 2, respectively. CONCLUSION The planned complete discontinuation of chemotherapy had a negative impact on DDC and PFS compared with the maintenance therapy strategy. These results suggest that chemotherapy discontinuation cannot be decided before therapy is initiated in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Spontaneous and therapeutic prognostic factors in adult hemispheric World Health Organization Grade II gliomas: a series of 1097 cases: clinical article.

OBJECT The spontaneous prognostic factors and optimal therapeutic strategy for WHO Grade II gliomas (GIIGs) have yet to be unanimously defined. Specifically, the role of resection is still debated, most notably because the actual amount of resection has seldom been assessed. METHODS Cases of GIIGs treated before December 2007 were extracted from a multicenter database retrospectively collected since January 1985 and prospectively collected since 1996. Inclusion criteria were a patient age ≥ 18 years at diagnosis, histological diagnosis of WHO GIIG, and MRI evaluation of tumor volume at diagnosis and after initial surgery. One thousand ninety-seven lesions were included in the analysis. The mean follow-up was 7.4 years since radiological diagnosis. Factors significant in a univariate analysis (with a p value ≤ 0.1) were included in the multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis. RESULTS At the time of radiological diagnosis, independent spontaneous factors of a poor prognosis were an age ≥ 55 years, an impaired functional status, a tumor location in a nonfrontal area, and, most of all, a larger tumor size. When the study starting point was set at the time of first treatment, independent favorable prognostic factors were limited to a smaller tumor size, an epileptic symptomatology, and a greater extent of resection. CONCLUSIONS This large series with its volumetric assessment refines the prognostic value of previously stressed clinical and radiological parameters and highlights the importance of tumor size and location. The results support additional arguments in favor of the predominant role of resection, in accordance with recently reported experiences.

Intensive Salvage Therapy With High-Dose Chemotherapy for Patients With Advanced Hodgkin’s Disease in Relapse or Failure After Initial Chemotherapy: Results of the Groupe d’Études des Lymphomes de l’Adulte H89 Trial

PURPOSE To evaluate prospectively the feasibility and efficacy of early intensive therapy, including intensified cytoreductive chemotherapy (CT) and high-dose CT (HDCT) followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT), in patients with advanced Hodgkins disease (HD) who failed to respond completely or relapsed after initial treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS Among 533 eligible patients with newly diagnosed stage IIIB-IV HD enrolled in the H89 trial, all 157 patients with induction failure (IF) (n = 67), partial response (PR) of less than 75% (n = 22), or relapse (n = 68) were included in this study. Planned salvage therapy included mitoguazone, ifosfamide, vinorelbine, and etoposide monthly for two to three cycles followed by high-dose carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine, and melphalan with ASCT. RESULTS With a median follow-up of 50 months, the 5-year survival estimates were 30%, 72%, and 76% for the IF, PR, and relapse groups, respectively (P =.0001), 71% for the 101 patients given HDCT, and 32% for the 48 patients treated without HDCT (P =.0001). Multivariate analysis using time-dependent Cox model indicated that B symptoms at progression, salvage without HDCT, and chemoresistant disease before HDCT were significantly associated with shorter overall survival. CONCLUSION Early intensive therapy improves the outcomes of patients with advanced HD who failed to respond completely to initial treatment and those who relapsed with adverse prognostic factors. However, for patients with IF and chemoresistant disease, this approach remains unsatisfactory.

Phase III Study Comparing a Semimonthly With a Monthly Regimen of Fluorouracil and Leucovorin As Adjuvant Treatment for Stage II and III Colon Cancer Patients: Final Results of GERCOR C96.1

PURPOSE This randomized, 2 x 2 factorial study compared a semimonthly regimen (fluorouracil [FU] and leucovorin [LV] semi-monthly is LV5FU2) with a monthly regimen of FU and LV (mFU/LV) as well as 24 weeks versus 36 weeks of each regimen as adjuvant treatment of stage II and III colon cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS LV5FU2 was administered semimonthly for 2 days as racemate (dl) or levogyre (l-; 200 or 100 mg/m(2)) as a 2-hour infusion, followed by 400 mg/m(2) FU bolus and a 600-mg/m(2) FU 22-hour continuous infusion. FU and LV were administered monthly (mFU/LV) for 5 days as dl- or l-LV 15-minute infusion, followed by a 400 mg/m(2) FU 15-minute infusion. The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS Between September 1996 and November 1999, 905 patients with stage II (43%) and III (57%) colon cancer were enrolled. The median follow-up was 6 years. There was no statistically significant difference between mFU/LV and LV5FU2 in terms of DFS (150 v 148 events; hazard ratio [HR],1.01; 95% CI, 0.806 to 1.269; P = .94) and overall survival (OS; 104 v 103 events; HR,1.02; 95% CI, 0.77 to 1.34; P = .91). No statistical difference was observed between 24 or 36 weeks of chemotherapy. Median survival from metastatic relapse was 24 months. The survival of patients with metastatic relapse (n = 243) was significantly longer for patients with a longer time from random assignment to relapse (< 1, 1 to 2, >or= 2 years; log-rank test for trend P, .0497). CONCLUSION DFS and OS were not statistically different between treatment groups and treatment durations. These data confirm the value of LV5FU2 as control arm in the Multicenter International Study of Oxaliplatin/5FU-LV in the Adjuvant Treatment of Colon Cancer and Pan-European Trials in Adjuvant Colon Cancer studies.

In Vivo Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy of Tissue Reaction to Microelectrode Arrays

The goal of this experiment was to determine the electrical properties of the tissue reaction to implanted microelectrode arrays. We describe a new method of analyzing electrical impedance spectroscopy data to determine the complex impedance of the tissue reaction as a function of postimplantation time. A model is used to extract electrical model parameters of the electrode-tissue interface, and is used to isolate the impedance of the tissue immediately surrounding the microelectrode. The microelectrode arrays consist of microfabricated polyimide probes, incorporating four 50-mum-diameter platinum microelectrodes. The devices were implanted in the primary motor cortex of adult rats, and measurements were performed for 12 weeks. Histology was performed on implants at three time points in one month. Results demonstrate that the tissue reaction causes a rapid increase in bioimpedance over the first 20 days, and then stabilizes. This result is supported by histological data.

FOLFOX in patients aged between 76 and 80 years with metastatic colorectal cancer: an exploratory cohort of the OPTIMOX1 study.

Patients older than 75 years of age are usually excluded from metastatic colorectal cancer randomized studies. The OPTIMOX1 study evaluated FOLFOX7, a simplified (s) leucovorin (LV) and 5‐fluorouracil (5FU) regimen (sLV5FU2) with high‐dose oxaliplatin, in a new oxaliplatin stop‐and‐go strategy. An exploratory cohort of patients aged 76 to 80 years was included in the study.

Velocity of tumor spontaneous expansion predicts long-term outcomes for diffuse low-grade gliomas

BACKGROUND Supratentorial diffuse low-grade gliomas present a slow macroscopic tumor growth that can be quantified through the measurement of their velocity of diametric expansion. We assessed whether spontaneous velocity of diametric expansion can predict long-term outcomes as a categorical variable and as a continuous predictor. METHODS A total of 407 adult patients with newly diagnosed supratentorial diffuse low-grade gliomas in adults were studied. RESULTS The mean spontaneous velocity of diametric expansion before first-line treatment was 5.8 ± 6.3 mm/year. During the follow-up (mean, 86.5 ± 59.4 months), 209 patients presented a malignant transformation, and 87 died. The malignant progression-free survival and the overall survival were significantly longer in cases of slow velocity of diametric expansion (median, 103 and 249 months, respectively) than in cases of fast velocity of diametric expansion (median, 35 and 91 months, respectively; P < .001). In multivariate analyses, spontaneous velocity of diametric expansion as a categorical variable (<4, ≥4 and <8, ≥8 and <12, ≥12 mm/year) was an independent prognostic factor for malignant progression-free survival (P < .001; hazard ratio, 3.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.67-5.52) and for overall survival (P < .001; hazard ratio, 4.62; 95% CI, 2.58-7.97). Velocity of diametric expansion was also an independent prognostic factor for overall survival as a continuous predictor, showing a linear relationship between overall survival and spontaneous velocity of diametric expansion (hazard ratio, 1.09 per one unit increase; 95% CI, 1.06-1.12; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Independent of the molecular status, the spontaneous velocity of diametric expansion allows the identification of rapidly growing diffuse low-grade gliomas (at higher risk of worsened evolution) during the pretherapeutic period and without delaying treatment.

O6‐methylguanine‐DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation and low MGMT‐encoded protein expression as prognostic markers in glioblastoma patients treated with biodegradable carmustine wafer implants after initial surgery followed by radiotherapy with concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide

O6‐methylguanine‐DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status was proposed as a prognostic biomarker for patients with glioblastoma. However, the prognostic impact of MGMT in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma who receive carmustine‐releasing wafers (Gliadel) along with temozolomide (TMZ) is still unknown.

Controlled release nanoparticle-embedded coatings reduce the tissue reaction to neuroprostheses

Controlled release coatings were developed for neuroprostheses with the aim of combating the tissue reaction following implantation in the brain. The coatings consist of poly(propylene sulfide) drug-eluting nanoparticles embedded in a poly(ethylene oxide) matrix. The nanoparticles are loaded with dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug known to have an effect on the cells activated during the damage caused by implantation. The nanoparticles are not affected by the coating process and the drug remains bioactive after it is released. The coating was applied to microfabricated cortical neuroprostheses consisting of platinum and polyimide. Coated drug-eluting devices were implanted in the cortex of rats. After implantation the matrix dissolves, exposing the electrode surfaces, while the nanoparticles remain in the vicinity of the tissue-implant interface. Using electrical impedance spectroscopy and comparative histology, a long-term decrease in the tissue response in comparison to control devices was observed. These coatings can therefore be used to increase the reliability and long-term efficacy of neuroprostheses.