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The treatment decision for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have received anthracyclines within the course of adjuvant chemotherapy is troublesome, particularly if trastuzumab and hormonal treatment are not indicated. In the first part of this review we discuss the value of retreatment with anthracyclines, a topicthathasbeenindirectlyevaluatedbyretrospective studies with conflicting results and within a small phase III trial with a negative outcome. Evidence on liposomal anthracyclinesisalsoreviewed.Inthesecondpartofthe review, alternative options of first-line chemotherapy are discussed. These include taxanes as single agents, taxanesincombinationwithothercytotoxicdrugs,combinationswithoutanthracyclinesandtaxanes,andinnovative treatments including target-based agents. Both the amount and the quality of evidence on these treatments are poor. Few phase III studies are available and most of them have been performed with registrative aims sponsored by the companies who own the winning drug. Beyond indications derived from such studies, there is a great need for more clinical research in this setting. The Oncologist 2007;12:1288 –1298

Individual data protection is a legitimate right of everybody, but an excess of zeal in preserving privacy may seriously threaten research for statistical or scientific purposes, e.g. for epidemiological research on medical records; some compromises are needed that guarantee the individual's rights while preserving validity and feasibility of research. An ethical Code for data protection in statistical and scientific research was recently signed from most Italian statistical associations, with the aim of identifying rules and criteria for legitimately and reasonably departing from general rules of Italy's Data Protection Act, when requested from aims and design of research. This paper focuses on biomedical research. The aim is to discuss ethical aspects of clinical and epidemiological research and how they are dealt with by the Code. Peculiarities of biomedical research are first presented along with underlying ethical theories; examples of injuries of legislation on research are then reported from other countries; responses of the Code are finally discussed., Statistica; Vol 63, No 4 (2003); 663-672

The aim of the study was to demonstrate the superiority of docetaxel and epirubicin vs docetaxel alone as first-line therapy in metastatic breast cancer patients pretreated with adjuvant or neoadjuvant epirubicin. We compared single agent docetaxel 100 mg m−2 (D) with the combination of docetaxel 80 mg m−2 and epirubicin 75 mg m−2 (ED). The response rate (72 vs 79%), the progression-free survival (median 9 vs 11 months) and the overall survival (median 18 vs 21 months) were not significantly different between the ED (n=26) and D arms (n=25), respectively. Leucopaenia, nausea and stomatitis were significantly worse with ED. In conclusion, epirubicin should not be administered in combination with taxanes in metastatic breast cancer patients relapsed after an anthracycline-based adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy.

Prognosis in nondialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients under regular nephrology care is rarely investigated. Design, setting, participants,measurements We prospectively followed from 2003 to death or June 2010 a cohort of 1248 patients with CKD stages 3 to 5 and previous nephrology care ≥1 year in 25 Italian outpatient nephrology clinics. Cumulative incidence of ESRD or death before ESRD were estimated using the competing-risk approach.Estimated rates (per 100 patient-years) of ESRD and death 8.3 (95% confidence interval [CI], 7.4 to 9.2) and 5.9 (95% CI 5.2 to 6.6), respectively. Risk of ESRD and death increased progressively from stages 3 to 5. ESRD was more frequent than death in stage 4 and 5 CKD, whereas the opposite was true in stage 3 CKD. Younger age, lower body mass index, proteinuria, and high phosphate predicted ESRD, whereas older age, diabetes, previous cardiovascular disease, ESRD, proteinuria, high uric acid, and anemia predicted death (P0.05 for all). Among modifiable risk factors, proteinuria accounted for the greatest contribution to the model fit for either outcome.In patients receiving continuity of care in Italian nephrology clinics, ESRD was a more frequent outcome than death in stage 4 and 5 CKD, but the opposite was true in stage 3. Outcomes were predicted by modifiable risk factors specific to CKD. Proteinuria used in conjunction with estimated GFR refined risk stratification. These findings provide information, specific to CKD patients under regular outpatient nephrology care, for risk stratification that complement recent observations in the general population.

Background: Doublet chemotherapy is more effective than single-agent as first line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). No reliable information instead is available on the effect of doublets in second line treatment. The aim of DISTAL-2 study was to compare two doublets containing docetaxel with single agent docetaxel as second line treatment of patients with NSCLC (ClinicalTrials.gov id.:.NCT00345059). Methods: NSCLC patients, aged

Aims and background: An appropriate use of drugs should follow the registered indications. Different reasons can induce oncologists to prescribe drugs off-label. The aim of this study was to describe incidence and characteristics of these prescriptions in Italy. Methods. Patients submitted to chemotherapy in 15 Italian oncology centers were evaluated for two randomized non-consecutive days of two weeks in May 2006. Results. The study enrolled 644 patients receiving 1,053 drugs. Overall, 199 of 1053 (18.9%) prescriptions were off-label. In 92 of 199 cases (46.2%), the drugs were used for a neoplasm for which they were not approved, but there was scientific evidence (one ormore randomized clinical trials or more phase II studies published in a major oncology journal) justifying the prescription. In 27 cases (13.6%), the drugs were prescribed for a rare neoplasm (cisplatin and gemcitabine in mesothelioma). In 20/21 cases (10.1%/10.5%), drugs were used in association/alone in contrast with the approved use (capecitabine in association in colorectal cancer). In 28/11 cases (14.0%/5.6%), the drugs were used in lines of chemotherapy subsequent/previous to that approved. Conclusions. Off-label use of antineoplastic drugs, in this observational survey, represents less than 20% of the prescriptions, and most of them are based on scientific evidence of efficacy.

BACKGROUND: Locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is a heterogeneous group of tumors where a risk-adapted therapeutic strategy is needed. Short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) is a more convenient option for LARC patients than preoperative long-course RT plus capecitabine. Histone-deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) have shown activity in combination with RT and chemotherapy in the treatment of solid tumors. Valproic acid (VPA) is an anti-epileptic drug with HDACi and anticancer activity. In preclinical studies, our group showed that the addition of HDACi, including VPA, to capecitabine produces synergistic antitumour effects by up-regulating thymidine phosphorylase (TP), the key enzyme converting capecitabine to 5-FU, and by downregulating thymidylate synthase (TS), the 5-FU target. METHODS/DESIGN: Two parallel phase-1 studies will assess the safety of preoperative SCRT (5 fractions each of 5 Gy, on days 1 to 5) combined with (a) capecitabine alone (increasing dose levels: 500-825 mg/m2/bid), on days 1-21, or (b) capecitabine as above plus VPA (oral daily day -14 to 21, with an intra-patient titration for a target serum level of 50-100 microg/ml) followed by surgery 8 weeks after the end of SCRT, in low-moderate risk RC patients. Also, a randomized phase-2 study will be performed to explore whether the addition of VPA and/or capecitabine to preoperative SCRT might increase pathologic complete tumor regression (TRG1) rate. A sample size of 86 patients (21-22/arm) was calculated under the hypothesis that the addition of capecitabine or VPA to SCRT can improve the TRG1 rate from 5% to 20%, with one-sided alpha = 0.10 and 80% power.Several biomarkers will be evaluated comparing normal mucosa with tumor (TP, TS, VEGF, RAD51, XRCC1, Histones/proteins acetylation, HDAC isoforms) and on blood samples (polymorphisms of DPD, TS, XRCC1, GSTP1, RAD51 and XRCC3, circulating endothelial and progenitors cells; PBMCs-Histones/proteins acetylation). Tumor metabolism will be measured by 18FDG-PET at baseline and 15 days after the beginning of SCRT. DISCUSSION: This project aims to improve the efficacy of preoperative treatment of LARC and to decrease the inconvenience and the cost of standard long-course RT. Correlative studies could identify both prognostic and predictive biomarkers and could add new insight in the mechanism of interaction between VPA, capecitabine and RT.EudraCT Number: 2012-002831-28. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01898104.

Background: Carboplatin/paclitaxel every 3 weeks is the standard for patients with ovarian cancer, but elderly patients frequently receive modified schedules or single agent chemotherapy to avoid toxicity. A phase II study was conducted to describe tolerability of a weekly schedule of both drugs in elderly patients. Methods: Patients aged ≥70 years with stage IC-IV ovarian cancer, performance status ≤2, were eligible. Treatment was carboplatin (AUC 2) + paclitaxel (60 mg/m2) on days 1, 8, 15 every 4 weeks, up to six cycles. A two-stage design was applied with lack of unacceptable toxicity as primary endpoint; 26 patients were required at the final stage, with at least 23 of them without unacceptable toxicity to conclude for a positive result. Geriatric assessment was performed by activity daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) scales. Results: Twenty-six patients were analysed (median age 77 years, range 70–84). Performance status was 0 in 10 and 1 in 16 patients; 14 patients had two or more comorbidities; 8 and 18 patients had some dependency in ADL or IADL. Twenty-three patients (88.5%) were treated without suffering unacceptable toxicity. Unacceptable toxic events were grade 3 heart rhythm, grade 3 increase of liver transaminases and prolonged haematological toxicity. Grade 1 neuropathy was reported in four cases. Out of 13 patients evaluable by RECIST, 5 partial responses were observed (response rate 38.5%). Two complete responses were observed among six patients with non-target lesions. Eight patients eligible for CA-125 response assessment had a response after six cycles. Median estimated progression-free survival was 13.6 months, and median overall survival was 32.0 months. Conclusions: In a series of elderly ovarian cancer patients, characterized by a high incidence of comorbidities and functional impairment, weekly carboplatin and paclitaxel demonstrated a favourable toxicity profile.

Aìm. The relatìonship between periodontal disease and preterm labour has been target of several studies with contrasting findings. The aim ofthis study is to verify thè associatìon between periodontal diseases in pregnant women and threatened preterm labour (TPL). Methods. Two hundred and twenty pregnant women were enrolled in a matched prospective case-control study. Matching factors were age, parity and date of admission. Cases were defìned as women admitted with a diagnosi» of TPL before thè 37th week; controls were defìned as women with terni labour (>37 weeks) in thè same ward. Primary exposure was defined as thè presence of at least one tooth with probing depth (PD) >6 mm andBOP+. Average pocket depth, full-mouth bleeding on probing (FMBS) and thè presence of plaque (FMPS) were also investigated. Matched univariate (McNemar's test and Wilcoxon signed ranktest) and multivariate (conditional logistic regression model) analyses were performed. Results. At least one PD >6 mm BOP+ was found in 30 TPL cases (27.3 %) and 37 controls (33.6%), without significant difference (P=0.27). There was also no difference was found in shallowpockets. The average pocket depth was similar in TPL cases (2.67 mm) and controls (2.78 mm) (P=0.29). The average FMPS was 56.4% in thè cases and 50.7% in thè controls, while FMPS was 36.5% and 39.6%, respectively, though these differences are not statistically significant (P=0.26 and P=0.42, respectively).Conclusion. From our study, there seems to he no association between threatened preterm labour and periodontal disease.

Background Large randomised clinical trials and systematic reviews substantiate that tamoxifen is ineffective in improving survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, a recent report suggested that the drug might prolong survival among patients with well preserved liver function. The aim of this paper is to validate this hypothesis. Methods We used the updated database of the phase 3 randomised CLIP-1 trial that compared tamoxifen with supportive therapy. Primary endpoint was overall survival. Treatment arms were compared within strata defined according to the Okuda stage and the CLIP-score. Survival differences were tested by the Log-rank test. Results Tamoxifen was not effective in prolonging survival in Okuda I-II subgroup (p = 0.501). Median survival times were equal to 16.8 (95%CI 12.7–18.5) months for tamoxifen and 16.8 (95%CI 13.5–22.4) months for the control arms; 1-year survival probabilities were equal to 58.8% (95%CI 51.7–65.8) and 59.4 (95%CI 52.5–66.2), respectively. Similar results were observed in the better CLIP subgroup (score 0/1), without evidence of difference between the two treatment arms (p = 0.734). Median survival times were equal to 29.2 (95%CI 20.1–36.4) months with tamoxifen and 29.0 (95%CI 23.3–35.2) months without; 1-year survival probabilities were equal to 80.9% (95%CI 72.5–89.3) with tamoxifen and 77.1% (95%CI 68.6–85.7) for the control arm. Conclusion The recent suggestion that tamoxifen might be effective in the subgroup of patients with better prognosis is not supported by a reanalysis of the CLIP-1 trial. Tamoxifen should no longer be considered for the treatment of HCC patients and future trials of medical treatment should concentrate on different drugs.