cetuximab – Page 6 – Oral Cancer News

Oropharyngeal cancer, human papilloma virus, and clinical trials

Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 28, No 1 (January 1), 2010: pp. 1-3 Author: Danny Rischin As advances in our understanding of the molecular biology of cancer have evolved in recent years, cancers that were once considered to be relatively homogeneous diseases are now being recognized as comprising distinct subtypes. These subtypes may differ in etiology, molecular profile, sensitivity to treatment, and prognosis. Examples include luminal (mainly estrogen receptor–positive), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–positive, and basal breast cancer subtypes1; non–small-cell lung cancer associated with EGFR2 or EML4-ALK3 mutations; and melanoma associated with BRAF (V600E)4 or c-KIT mutations.5 In head and neck cancer, we have traditionally combined squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, and hypopharynx in clinical trials. This has been justified on the basis of similar etiology (tobacco and alcohol) and similar sensitivity to radiotherapy and systemic therapy. However, it has also been recognized that there are differences in clinical behavior, treatment outcome, and prognosis with regard to primary site. Although surgery has remained the primary treatment for oral cavity cancers, organ preservation with primary chemoradiotherapy has been widely used over the last two decades for cancers of the oropharynx, larynx, and hypopharynx. It has become apparent over this same time period that a new subtype of oropharyngeal cancer resulting from human papilloma virus (HPV) has emerged.6 The proportion of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer has steadily increased, and in many countries, this subtype now represents the majority of new oropharyngeal cancers.7,8 HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer differs from [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-12-30T13:03:03-07:00December, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Presence of rash associated with improved survival in patients receiving adjuvant Erbitux® for locally advanced head and neck cancer

Source: professional.cancerconsultants.com Author: staff A multicenter randomized trial has shown that patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer receiving adjuvant Erbitux® (cetuximab) and radiotherapy who develop a rash have a better survival than patients receiving this therapy who don’t develop a rash. The details of this five-year follow-up of a Phase III randomized study were published early online in the Lancet Oncology on November 7, 2009.[1] Standard treatment for head and neck cancer is largely determined by the stage and by the specific locations within the head or neck area where the cancer has spread. The patient’s overall medical condition is also a deciding factor. Treatment typically consists of radiation therapy, chemotherapy with surgery, or surgery alone. Erbitux is a monoclonal antibody that binds to the epithelial growth factory receptor (EGFR) and inhibits the receptor’s effects on cellular replication. Erbitux is currently FDA-approved for treatment of head and neck cancer. Researchers involved in an international study have previously reported that the addition of Erbitux to radiation therapy improves survival over radiation therapy alone in the treatment of head and neck cancer. The results of this randomized trial with a 54-month follow-up were published in the February 9, 2006, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. This trial included 424 patients; approximately half were treated with Erbitux plus high-dose radiation therapy, and the other half received high-dose radiation therapy alone. This study now has a follow-up of more than five years. The Following table summarizes some of the findings [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-17T19:52:44-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Erbitux recognized by ASCO as a 2009 major cancer advance as first SCCHN treatment to improve survival in 30 years

Source: www.vwd.de Author: press release The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has once again recognized Erbitux® (cetuximab) as one of the major clinical cancer advances of 2009. This year Erbitux was selected by ASCO for providing the first significant increase in survival for 30 years in the treatment of patients with first-line recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck(SCCHN).1 ASCO Clinical Advances Report1 The ASCO report, ‘Clinical Cancer Advances 2009: Major Research Advances in Cancer Treatment, Prevention and Screening’, published this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is an independent assessment of the most significant clinical cancer research studies of the past year. Erbitux was singled out for the pivotal first-line SCCHN study, the first randomized trial in 30 years to identify a regimen that increases survival for patients with recurrent and/or metastatic SCCHN. The report commented that, “The ability to improve overall survival with chemotherapy has proven elusive over the last 30 years in several randomized trials comparing different chemotherapy regimens in this setting. Thus, the results of this trial are particularly noteworthy and are changing clinical practice.” This is the second consecutive year that Erbitux has featured in the ASCO ‘Advances’ list.3 In 2008 it was recognized for extending survival in the first-line treatment of NSCLC and for the role of KRAS tumor status in predicting whether patients with newly diagnosed metastatic colorectal cancer will respond to Erbitux.2 “Merck Serono is honored that Erbitux is recognized by ASCO two years in a [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-16T22:39:55-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Report highlights cancer advances

Source: www.medpagetoday.com Author: Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today As the war on cancer enters its fifth decade, 51 studies stood out as examples of progress that occurred in the past year, as determined by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and reported in "Clinical Cancer Advances 2009." Reflecting input from specialists throughout the field, the ASCO annual report highlights research developments for nine types of cancer, as well as cancer disparities, quality of life and quality of care, and cancer prevention and screening. "As this report demonstrates -- and as history shows -- investment in clinical cancer research pays off," ASCO president Douglas Blayney, MD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in a statement included in the report. "Since 1990, cancer mortality rates have declined by 15%. Today, two-thirds of patients survive at least five years after diagnosis, compared to just half of patients 40 years ago." "Thanks to basic research advances, we are entering an era of personalized cancer medicine, in which treatment is tailored to the unique genetics of the individual," Blayney added. The entire report appears online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, but here is a summary of developments related to some of the most common cancers. In an attempt to provide context and a diversity of viewpoints, MedPage Today, in collaboration with ABC News, solicited comments from cancer specialists who were not involved in developing the ASCO publication. As appropriate, their views are included with the review of cancer research [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-10T08:08:06-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Cetuximab continues to increase survival in patients with head and neck cancer for up to 5 years

Source: www.docguide.com Author: staff Adding cetuximab to radiation therapy prolongs survival in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer compared with radiotherapy alone, and this improvement persists for up to 5 years. As such, this combined treatment should be considered as a standard option for patients with advanced head and neck cancer, according to a study published online first and appearing in an upcoming issue of The Lancet Oncology. The use of chemoradiotherapy has been shown to improve survival and has become a popular treatment, but is not ideal because of its associated side-effects and increased toxicity. In 1999, a trial commenced to examine the effect of adding cetuximab to radiotherapy in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancers of the oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx. In total, 424 patients were randomly assigned to 6 to 7 weeks of radiotherapy alone (n = 213) or radiotherapy and cetuximab (n = 211). The primary results of the trial showed that patients treated with cetuximab had a 13% improvement in absolute disease control and 10% improvement in absolute survival at 3 years without increased side-effects, compared with patients given radiotherapy alone. In the current article, James Bonner, MD, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, and colleagues reported the long-term 5-year outcomes of patients involved in the original trial. Overall, findings showed an improvement in absolute survival of about 9% in patients given cetuximab compared with those given radiotherapy alone (36.4% vs 45.6%) at 5 years. Interestingly, patients treated with cetuximab who developed [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-07T11:26:48-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

YM Biosciences reports positive nimotuzumab four-year survival data

Source: www.reuters.com Author: press release YM BioSciences Inc., a life sciences product development company that identifies and advances a diverse portfolio of promising cancer-related products at various stages of development, announced that an oral presentation at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) 2009 Annual Meeting reported positive 48-month survival data for its EGFR-targeting antibody, nimotuzumab. The "BEST" trial was a randomized four-arm study treating patients with inoperable, locoregionally-advanced, stage III/IVa head and neck cancer with radiation alone, chemoradiation alone, or radiation or chemoradiation in combination with nimotuzumab. These data were a follow-up to 30-month survival data presented at ASCO 2009 and demonstrate that the benefit of adding nimotuzumab to radiation and chemoradiation is durable and persists for several years. "These data are convincing evidence that nimotuzumab is an efficacious and safe drug and highlight its potential in the head and neck cancer indication. In this respect we note that the National Cancer Centre of Singapore has initiated a global Phase III trial with nimotuzumab in the adjuvant setting for head and neck cancer patients," said David Allan, Chairman and CEO of YM BioSciences. "Activity of nimotuzumab in the BEST trial was similar to that demonstrated in separate trials with cetuximab in locally advanced head and neck cancer but there was no evidence that nimotuzumab's activity was accompanied by the advanced toxicities of the class." In the ASTRO presentation, Dr. Lokesh Viswanth, Kidwani Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, India described that the addition of nimotuzumab to radiotherapy (RT) [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-03T08:17:42-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

DNA therapy for head and neck cancer

Source: Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology 6, 302 (June 2009) Author: Mandy Aujla Researchers have developed an antisense EGFR sequence to target EGFR, and found that this approach was safe and effective in patients with advanced squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Standard treatment for this type of cancer is suboptimal. Various drugs have been developed to block this increased signaling, such as cetuximab and erlotinib. These agents, however, have had limited success when used as monotherapy in treating squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Despite encouraging preclinical data these agents produce low response rates and are associated with toxic effects. Therefore, alternative approaches that target EGFR are needed. In this phase I trial, Lai and colleagues evaluated the safety and toxicity of EGFR antisense DNA therapy in 20 patients with advanced squamous-cell carcinoma of the head and neck. All patients included in the study had advanced disease that was unresponsive to standard therapies. The researchers tested six levels of the antisense EGFR at doses ranging from 60 to 1,920 g per injection, with three patients in each dose tier. The antisense EGFR was injected into the most accessible single tumor lesion once a week for 4 weeks. A biopsy was performed within 2 weeks of the final injection. A total of 17 patients completed the treatment course and were available for assessment. Of the five patients who achieved a clinical response, two had a complete response and three achieved a partial response. Two other patients had stable disease. [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-06-02T17:45:23-07:00June, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Monoclonal Antibody Drugs for Cancer Treatment

Source: www.newswise.com Author: staff The strategy of using monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatment was first described in the late 1970s with the promise that they could be developed into therapies that were highly specific to cancer cells, killing them with few or no side effects. For several types of cancer, monoclonal antibodies have already offered this advantage to patients. For other cancer types, they have provided an additional therapeutic weapon, but with smaller benefits and sometimes new side effects. "The first efforts for monoclonal antibody cancer therapy were to find antibodies that would home in on tumors and bind to proteins on the surface of cancer cells," explained physician-scientist David A. Scheinberg. "We looked for unique proteins that were specific only to cancer cells. The idea was that the antibody would be used to stimulate an immune response in the body, which would kill the cancer cell." Dr. Scheinberg, who is Chair of Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Experimental Therapeutics Center and the Molecular Pharmacology and Chemistry Program within the Sloan-Kettering Institute, developed an antibody called M195, which targets a protein on leukemia cells, when working as a research fellow in collaboration with Memorial Sloan-Kettering immunologist Lloyd Old in the 1980s. This approach further evolved when researchers realized they could use the antibody as a carrier to deliver a radioactive isotope or a toxic drug directly to the cancer cell, where it would kill the cell while sparing nearby healthy tissue. Antibodies are proteins that help the immune system to identify foreign substances [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-04-05T11:28:05-07:00April, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Treatment approach using radiofrequency waves heats up

Source: www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin Author: Carmen Phillips It began with chemotherapy-induced sleeplessness and some pie pans. At one point hot dogs were involved. It inspired residents of two small communities 1,300 miles apart, and eventually landed in the labs of two major academic medical centers. And, sadly, just 5 weeks ago, the man who began it all died of treatment complications after a nearly 7-year battle with B-cell leukemia. The story of retired radio engineer and executive John Kanzius and the radiofrequency (RF) generator that he dreamed would one day be part of a highly effective cancer treatment captivated readers of Discover magazine and viewers of “60 Minutes.” Now his invention is maneuvering through the steps needed to demonstrate readiness for clinical testing in humans. “Realistically, we still have hoops to jump through and things to prove,” said Dr. Steven A. Curley from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, who, along with Dr. David Geller from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has been part of this project since its earliest days. “But I’ll continue to work on this and move it forward because I think it has great promise.” An image of pancreatic cancer cells treated with gold nanoparticles. The cells on the left received 2 minutes of external radiofrequency (RF) field treatment resulting in unstable nuclei and intracellular damage. The cells on the right received no RF treatment and their nuclei and organelles remain intact. (Image courtesy of Dr. Stephen Curley) A Trojan Horse…on Fire RF, Mr. Kanzius [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-03-25T08:41:09-07:00March, 2009|Oral Cancer News|

Merck Serono launches Erbitux in 1st-line treatment of head and neck cancer in Europe

Source: www.medadnews.com Author: press release Today leading oncology specialists and media gathered at the Antwerp University Hospital to mark the European launch of Erbitux® (cetuximab) for the 1st-line treatment of patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), following European Commission approval to extend the use of the targeted therapy. Erbitux was previously approved for use in combination with radiotherapy for locally advanced SCCHN. The approval of Erbitux in this new indication was granted in November 2008 and based primarily upon the results of the EXTREMEa study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in September 2008. The EXTREME study established that adding Erbitux to platinum-based chemotherapy significantly prolonged median overall and progression-free survival, and also significantly increased response rate.1 The principal investigator of the EXTREME trial, Professor Jan Vermorken from the Antwerp University Hospital, a world renowned center of excellence in oncology research and treatment said: “We are pleased to be hosting the international launch of Erbitux in this notoriously difficult to treat cancer type. This is the first treatment regimen in 30 years to show a survival benefit and denotes a significant milestone in the advancement of treatment for head and neck cancer.” The EXTREME study demonstrated that patients treated with Erbitux plus chemotherapy experienced the following improvements, compared to chemotherapy alone:1 • Median overall survival increase of nearly 3 months (10.1 vs. 7.4 months; p=0.04), equating to a 20% reduction in the risk of death (HR: 0.80) during the study [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-01-24T08:51:35-07:00January, 2009|Oral Cancer News|