In a nutshell This study compared two biologic drugs (drugs extracted from biological sources) for treating metastatic (spread to other areas of the body) colorectal cancer. Some background Metastatic colorectal cancer is often treated with combinations of chemotherapy drugs. One common combination is called FOLFIRI, and includes the agents...
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In a nutshell This paper gave recommendations for treating patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2- positive (presence of HER2 on cancer cells) breast cancer that has spread to the brain. Some background Some patients have breast cancer where human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2, a protein) is present. With...
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In a nutshell This study compared two strategies for treating patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (colorectal cancer that has spread to distant sites). Some background Bevacizumab is an anti-cancer drug that blocks the formation of new blood vessels needed for the cancer to grow and spread. Combined with chemotherapy it is a standard first...
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In a nutshell The authors aimed to determine the effects of combination therapy compared to single therapy in melanoma patients with BRAF mutations. Some background Melanoma can arise as a result of family genetics where mutations in specific genes such as BRAF genes (controls the functions needed for cell growth) can be passed on to family...
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In a nutshell The authors aimed to determine the effect of pre-treatment factors in melanoma patient response and survival when treated with vemurafenib. Some background Vemurafenib (Zelboraf) is a drug treatment used in advanced melanoma. It targets and kills melanoma cancer cells in patients that have BRAF V600 melanoma mutations. Methods...
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In a nutshell This study evaluated whether specific microRNA expression was predictive of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) treatment success in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (late stage cancer that has spread to distant sites). Some background MicroRNA’s are small messengers that help to regulate expression of...
Read MoreIn a nutshell The authors aimed to determine the safety profile of vemurafenib in patients with BRAFV600 mutated metastatic melanoma with few treatment options remaining. Some background BRAF (protein in the body that controls cell growth) mutations are one of the key factors that lead to melanoma development. In particular, BRAFV600 (a...
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In a nutshell The authors aimed to determine whether diphencyprone could be used as a topical treatment in cutaneously metastatic melanoma. Some background Metastatic (spread of the cancer) melanoma is typically treated with topical and intralesional immunotherapies (restore or enhance the immune systems ability to fight). Topical therapy is...
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In a nutshell This study investigated the benefits of combination drug therapy (mFOLFOX6 and bevacizumab) for patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver (liver metastases). Some background The 5-year survival rate is lower for colorectal cancer patients if the cancer has spread (metastasized) to other organs (stage IV). In...
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In a nutshell This paper studied the effectiveness of lapatinib (Tyverb) plus vinorelbine (Navelbine) in treating women with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer. Some background Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer (elevated levels of HER2 protein in cells) is associated with worse cancer outcome....
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In a nutshell The authors aimed to investigate factors associated with survival when undergoing surgery to remove colorectal cancer metastases in the lungs. Some background Metastatic colorectal cancer is cancer that has spread from the original site (in the colon or rectum) to distant organs. Chemotherapy can prolong average survival times and...
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In a nutshell This study examined if genetic analysis can predict when FOLFOX or FOLFIRI chemotherapy would be more useful. Some background The treatment of choice for colon cancer is surgical resection (removal of part of the intestine). However, if the cancer has spread (metastasized), chemotherapy is often the only option. Two drug...
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