Adjuvant chemoradiation for gastric carcinoma: State of the art and perspectives

An estimated 990,000 new cases of gastric cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year. Surgical excision, the only chance for prolonged survival, is feasible in about 20% of cases. Even after surgery, the median survival is limited to 12 to 20 months due to the frequency of locoregional and/or metastatic recurrences. This led to clinical trials associating surgery with neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments to improve tumor control and patient survival. The most studied modalities are perioperative chemotherapy and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. To date, evidence has shown a survival benefit for postoperative chemoradiotherapy and for perioperative chemotherapy. Phase III trials are ongoing to compare these two modalities. The aim of this review is to synthesize current knowledge about adjuvant chemoradiotherapy in the management of gastric adenocarcinoma, and to consider its prospects by integrating modern radiotherapy techniques.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy with helical TomoTherapy for medically inoperable early stage primary and second-primary non-small-cell lung neoplasm: 1-year outcome and toxicity analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the effectiveness of stereotactic body radiotherapy with helical TomoTherapy (T-SBRT) for treating medically inoperable primary and second-primary early stage non-small-cell lung neoplasm (SPLN) and evaluated whether the movement of organizing pneumonia (OP) within the irradiation field (IF) can be detected via analysis of radiological changes.

METHODS

Patients (n = 16) treated for 1 year (2011-12) at our hospital by T-SBRT at a total dose of 60 Gy in five fractions were examined retrospectively. Outcome and toxicity were recorded and were separately described for SPLN. CT scans were reviewed by a single radiologist.

RESULTS

Of the 16 patients, 5 (31.3%) had primary lung malignancies, 10 (62.5%) had SPLN, and 1 case (6.3%) had isolated mediastinal metastasis of lung neoplasm. Pathological evidence was obtained for 72.2% of all lesions. The median radiological follow-up was 11 months (10.5 months for SPLN). For all cases, the 6- and 12-month survival rates were 100% and 77.7% (100% and 71.4%, respectively, for SPLN), and the 6- and 12-month locoregional control rates were 100% in all cases. 2 (12.5%) of 16 patients developed grade 3 late transient radiation pneumonitis following steroid therapy and 1 (6.3%) presented asymptomatic infiltrates comparable to OP opacities.

CONCLUSION

T-SBRT seems to be safe and effective.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE

Mild OP is likely associated with radiation-induced anomalies in the IF, identification of migrating opacities can help discern relapse of radiation-induced opacities.

Mitomycin C with continuous fluorouracil or with cisplatin in combination with radiotherapy for locally advanced anal cancer (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer phase II study 22011-40014)

PURPOSE

To assess the feasibility and activity of radio-chemotherapy with mitomycin C (MMC) and cisplatin (CDDP) in locally advanced squamous cell anal carcinoma with reference to radiotherapy (RT) combined with MMC and fluorouracil (5-FU).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with measurable disease >4 cmN0 or N+ received RT (36Gy+2 week gap+23.4Gy) with either MMC/CDDP or MMC/5-FU (MMC 10mg/m(2) d1 of each sequence; 5-FU 200mg/m(2)/day c.i.v. daily; CDDP 25mg/m(2) weekly). Forty patients/arm were needed to exclude a RECIST objective response rate (ORR), 8 weeks after treatment, of <75% (Fleming 1, alpha=10%, beta=10%).

RESULTS

The ORR was 79.5% (31/39) (lower bound confidence interval [CI]: 68.8%) with MMC/5-FU versus 91.9% (34/ 37) (lower bound CI: 82.8%) with MMC/CDDP. In the MMC/5-FU group, two patients (5.1%) discontinued treatment due to toxicity versus 11 (29.7%) in the MMC/CDDP group. Nine grade 3 haematological events occurred with MMC/CDDP versus none with 5-FU/MMC. The rate of other toxicities did not differ. There was no toxic death. Thirty-one patients in the MMC/5-FU arm (79.5%) and 18 in the MMC/CDDP arm (48.6%) were fully compliant with the protocol treatment (p=0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

Radio-chemotherapy with MMC/CDDP seems promising as only MMC/CDDP demonstrated enough activity (RECIST ORR >75%) to be tested further in phase III trials; MMC/5-FU did not. MMC/CDDP also had an overall acceptable toxicity profile.

Radiochemotherapy in locally advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck

Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is a common disease that develops in the upper aerodigestive epithelium. The most important risk factors are tobacco and alcohol consumption. There is also increasing evidence that human papillomavirus plays an important role in the cause of SCCHN. The complex anatomy, the vital functions of the upper aerodigestive tract and the close proximity to vital structures, explain that the goal of treatment is not only to improve survival outcomes, but also to preserve organ function. Radiotherapy and surgery are the standard modalities of treatment, reflecting the locoregional predominance of SCCHN. Chemotherapy plays an important role in the treatment of patients with locoregionally advanced disease, in conjunction with radiotherapy and surgery. Indeed, standard therapy for resectable locoregionally advanced (stage III or IV) SCCHN cancers consists either of surgery and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy or definitive concomitant chemoradiotherapy, depending upon disease site, stage and resectability of the tumour, or institutional experience. Concomitant chemoradiotherapy has been shown in several randomised trials to improve disease-free and overall survival in the postoperative setting for resected disease with poor prognostic factors. Furthermore, multiple randomised studies and meta-analyses have shown that definitive chemoradiotherapy, as well anti-epidermal growth factor receptor treatment in one randomised study, improved disease-free and overall survival when compared with radiotherapy alone. This overview reviews the most relevant published studies on the multidisciplinary management of SCCHN and discusses future strategies to reduce locoregional failures.

Nosocomial nontyphoidal salmonellosis after antineoplastic chemotherapy: reactivation of asymptomatic colonization?

An increased frequency of nontyphoidal salmonellosis is well established in cancer patients, but it is unclear whether this represents increased susceptibility to exogenous infection or opportunistic, endogenous reactivation of asymptomatic carriage. In a retrospective study, a simple case definition was used to identify the probable presence of reactivation salmonellosis in five cancer patients between 1996 and 2002. Reactivation salmonellosis was defined as the development of nosocomial diarrhea >72 h after admission and following the administration of antineoplastic chemotherapy in an HIV-seronegative cancer patient who was asymptomatic on admission, in the absence of epidemiological evidence of a nosocomial outbreak. Primary salmonellosis associated with unrecognized nosocomial transmission or community acquisition and an unusually prolonged incubation period could not entirely be ruled out. During the same time period, another opportunistic infection, Pneumocystis pneumonia, was diagnosed in six cancer patients. Presumably, asymptomatic intestinal Salmonella colonization was converted to invasive infection by chemotherapy-associated intestinal mucosal damage and altered innate immune mechanisms. According to published guidelines, stool specimens from patients hospitalized for longer than 72 h should be rejected unless the patient is neutropenic or >or=65 years old with significant comorbidity. However, in this study neutropenia was present in only one patient, and four patients were <65 years old. Guidelines should thus be revised in order not to reject stool culture specimens from such patients. In cancer patients, nosocomial salmonellosis can occur as a chemotherapy-triggered opportunistic reactivation infection that may be similar in frequency to Pneumocystis pneumonia.

Impaired insulin response after oral but not intravenous glucose in heart- and liver-transplant recipients

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of diabetes is high after transplantation. We hypothesized that liver transplantation induces additional alterations of glucose homeostasis because of liver denervation.

METHODS

Nondiabetic patients with a heart (n=9) or liver (n=9) transplant and healthy subjects (n=8) were assessed using a two-step hyperglycemic clamp (7.5 and 10 mmol/L). Thereafter, an oral glucose load (0.65 g/kg fat free mass) was administered while glucose was clamped at 10 mmol/L. Glucose appearance from the gut was calculated as the difference between glucose appearance (6,6 2H2 glucose) and exogenous glucose infusion. Plasma insulin, glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 and gastric inhibitory polypeptide(GIP) concentrations were compared after intravenous and oral glucose.

RESULTS

After oral glucose, the glucose appearance from the gut was increased 52% and 81% in liver- and heart-transplant recipients (P<0.05). First-pass splanchnic glucose uptake was reduced by 39% in liver-transplant and 64% in heart-transplant patients (P<0.05). After oral but not intravenous glucose, there was an impairment of insulin secretion in both transplant groups relative to the controls. Plasma concentrations of GIP and GLP-1 increased similarly in all three groups after oral glucose.

CONCLUSIONS

First-pass hepatic glucose extraction is decreased after heart and liver transplant. Insulin secretion elicited by oral, but not intravenous glucose, is significantly reduced in both groups of patients. There was no difference between liver- and heart-transplant recipients, indicating that hepatic denervation was not involved. These data suggest an impairment in the beta-cell response to neural factors or incretin hormones secondary to immunosuppressive treatment.

Fish oil prevents the adrenal activation elicited by mental stress in healthy men

OBJECTIVES

A diet rich in n-3 fatty acids (fish oils) is associated with reduced risks of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, but the mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Sympathoadrenal activation is postulated to be involved in the pathogenesis of these diseases, and may be inhibited by n-3 fatty acids. We therefore evaluated the effects of a diet supplemented with n-3 fatty acids on the stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system and of stress hormones elicited by a mental stress.

METHODS

Seven human volunteers were studied on two occasions, before and after 3 weeks of supplementation with 7.2 g/day fish oil. On each occasion, the concentrations of plasma cortisol, and catecholamines, energy expenditure (indirect calorimetry), and adipose tissue lipolysis (plasma non esterified fatty acid concentrations) were monitored in basal conditions followed by a 30 min mental stress (mental arithmetics and Stroop's test) and a 30 min recovery period.

RESULTS

In control conditions, mental stress significantly increased heart rate, mean blood pressure, and energy expenditure. It increased plasma epinephrine from 60.9 +/- 6.2 to 89.3 +/- 16.1 pg/ml (p<0.05), plasma cortisol from 291 +/- 32 to 372 +/- 37 micromol/l (p<0.05) and plasma non esterified fatty acids from 409 +/- 113 to 544 +/- 89 micromol/l (p<0.05). After 3 weeks of a diet supplemented with n-3 fatty acids, the stimulation by mental stress of plasma epinephrine, cortisol, energy expenditure, and plasma non esterified fatty acids concentrations, were all significantly blunted.

CONCLUSION

Supplementation with n-3 fatty acids inhibits the adrenal activation elicited by a mental stress, presumably through effects exerted at the level of the central nervous system.

In normal men, free fatty acids reduce peripheral but not splanchnic glucose uptake

Raising plasma free fatty acid (FFA) levels reduces muscle glucose uptake, but the effect of FFAs on splanchnic glucose uptake, total glucose output, and glucose cycling may also be critical to producing lipid-induced glucose intolerance. In eight normal volunteers, we measured glucose turnover and cycling rates ([2H7]glucose infusion) during a moderately hyperglycemic (7.7 mmol/l) hyperinsulinemic clamp, before and after ingestion of a labeled (dideuterated) oral glucose load (700 mg/kg). Each test was performed twice, with either a lipid or a saline infusion; four subjects also had a third test with a glycerol infusion. As shown by similar rates of exogenous glucose appearance, the lipid infusion did not reduce first-pass splanchnic glucose uptake (saline 1.48+/-0.18, lipid 1.69+/-0.17, and glycerol 1.88+/-0.17 mmol/kg per 180 min; NS), but it reduced peripheral glucose uptake by 40% (P < 0.01 vs. both saline and glycerol infusions). Before oral ingestion of glucose, total glucose output was similarly increased by the lipid and glycerol infusions. Total glucose output was significantly increased by FFAs after oral ingestion of glucose (saline 3.68+/-1.15, glycerol 3.68+/-1.70, and lipid 7.92+/-0.88 micromol x kg(-1) x min(-1); P < 0.01 vs. saline and P < 0.05 vs. glycerol). The glucose cycling rate was approximately 2.7 micromol x kg(-1) x min(-1) with the three infusions and tended to decrease all along the lipid infusion, which argues against a stimulation of glucose-6-phosphatase by FFAs. It is concluded that in situations of moderate hyperinsulinemia-hyperglycemia, FFAs reduce peripheral but not splanchnic glucose uptake. Total glucose output is increased by FFAs, by a mechanism that does not seem to involve stimulation of glucose-6-phosphatase.