Volume 22, Issue 3, March 2017

This article provides evidence‐based, practical guidance to the optimal approach and treatment of patients diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy.

Icrucumab and ramucirumab bind vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1 and 2, respectively. This randomized phase II study evaluated the antitumor activity and safety of icrucumab and ramucirumab in combination with capecitabine in patients with previously treated unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with anthracycline and taxane therapy.

Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) identified diverse clinically relevant genomic alterations in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients with thyroid carcinoma, including 83% (34/41) of papillary thyroid carcinoma cases harboring activating kinase mutations or activating kinase rearrangements. These genomic observations and index cases exhibiting clinical benefit from targeted therapy suggest that young patients with advanced thyroid carcinoma can benefit from CGP and rationally matched targeted therapy.

Treatment for advanced metastatic colorectal cancer has improved over the past decade with the addition of biologic agents to standard chemotherapy regimens, leading to increases in median overall survival. FOLFOX plus bevacizumab is now widely accepted as the standard first‐line treatment. To determine whether onartuzumab has a beneficial role in either unselected or MET‐selected populations with metastatic colorectal cancer, this phase II study was initiated to evaluate the combination of bevacizumab and mFOLOFOX6 with or without onartuzumab

The optimal use of lanreotide in the control of neuroendocrine tumors in terms of dosing, timing in relation to local therapies, and its role in combination regimens is unclear. To gain a better understanding of the evidence and identify areas for further research, this systematic review of the published literature was conducted.

Gene‐expression signatures for prognosis have been reported in localized renal cell carcinoma. The objective of this study was to test the predictive power of two different signatures, ClearCode34 (a 34‐gene signature model) and an 8‐gene signature model, in the setting of systemic therapy for metastatic disease.

The efficacy of the FOLFIRI (irinotecan, leucovorin, and 5‐fluorouracil) regimen was similar between elderly and nonelderly patients in both the colorectal cancer and gastric cancer cohorts. However, special attention should be paid to elderly patients because of increased risk for febrile neutropenia and asthenia.

With the aging of the population, the management of complexity of cancer in the elderly is an increasingly common challenge. A personalized approach to treatment of older cancer patients is proposed in this article.

Osteoradionecrosis of the jaw is a complication of radiation therapy to the head and neck region. Many preventive strategies for osteoradionecrosis have been proposed that have yet to be validated by high‐level evidence. The use of hyperbaric oxygen has been suggested as a means for prevention and treatment, and this study aimed to establish a standard approach for using hyperbaric oxygen at one institution.

For patients with stage II and III rectal cancer, much of the difference in survival between uninsured patients and those with insurance other than Medicaid can be explained by differences in treatment. Further efforts to determine the cause of residual differences as well as efforts to improve access to standard‐of‐care treatment for uninsured patients may improve population‐level survival for rectal cancer.

Patients with stage IV non‐small cell lung cancer have poor survival prognosis, but new therapies introduced since 2000 provide options for improved outcomes. This simulation modeling study sought to quantify survival gains from 1990, when standard treatment was best supportive care only, to 2015 and to estimate the impact of expanded use of systemic therapies in clinically appropriate patients.

On November 23, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nivolumab for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who have received prior anti‐angiogenic therapy. The overall benefit/risk profile demonstrated in trial CA209025 supported this approval, and the trial design and results are presented here. Patients’ prognostic risk category may serve as a putative predictive biomarker for treatment selection.

Early palliative care significantly reduced intensive care unit (ICU) use at the end of life but did not change ICU events. This study supports early initiation of palliative care for advanced cancer patients before hospitalizations and intensive care.

This letter comments on a published review on well‐differentiated grade 3 neuroendocrine tumors.

Coriat et al. clarify data about their recently published article on gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinomas, specifically as related to the management of grade 3 neuroendocrine tumors.