June 15 Clinical Cancer Research Highlights

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Selected Articles from the June 15, 2007 Issue

The articles referenced in this Highlights section will be available online in HTML and PDF formats to all interested users at no charge until the next issue of Clinical Cancer Research is published. Click on the article title to view the complete article.

View the Table of Contents for the June 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

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CCR Focus

Imaging Update: New Windows, New Views

Blasberg et al.
Page 3443

Concurrent with the advances in our understanding of the biological basis of disease and the development of new molecular-targeted therapies, medical imaging has also undergone a remarkable revolution and expansion in the past two decades. In this CCR Focus, Guest Editor Ronald Blasberg invited experts to share different perspectives on the current use of imaging in clinical management and clinical research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), as well as in small animal research using noninvasive optical methods (bioluminescence and fluorescence). The potential to image a drug’s effect on the expression of specific endogenous proteins or the activity of specific signal transduction pathways in an individual patient’s tumor exists and provides the opportunity for monitoring treatment response at the molecular level. 

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Molecular Classifiers Predict Bladder Cancer Outcomes

Dyrskøt et al.
Page 3545

Prediction of disease outcome for patients with bladder cancer is difficult and error prone. Dyrskjøt et al. validated previously identified diagnostic and prognostic gene expression signatures in a large European multicenter study that included 404 patients. The study confirmed the clinical utility of molecular classifiers to predict the outcome of patients initially diagnosed with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Multivariate Cox´s regression analysis documented that the gene expression signatures were independent significant variables associated with disease outcome after adjustment for known clinical risk factors. Consequently, gene expression signatures may be useful to guide patient treatment.

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Antiestrogen Therapy Benefits Ovarian Cancer Cases    

Smyth et al.
Page 3617

The role of hormone therapy in ovarian cancer is controversial. In a phase II study for women with CA125 relapsed ovarian cancer, Smyth et al. treated 42 patients selected for high estrogen-receptor (ER) status with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole. By Rustin’s criteria, 17% responded and 26% had not progressed after 6 months on treatment. Expression levels of HER2 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 5 were associated with CA125 changes on treatment. This study correlated ER status with clinical benefit from an antiestrogen in ovarian cancer.

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IL-21 Enters Phase II

Davis et al.
Page 3630

The cytokine IL-21 has striking immunological effects in vitro and has antitumor effects in animal models. Davis et al. report results of a phase I clinical trial of IL-21. They studied escalating intravenous doses and two treatment schedules in patients with advanced melanoma. IL-21 was generally well tolerated and biological effects were measurable within 15 minutes even at the lowest dose tested. One partial response was observed, suggesting that IL-21 may have antitumor efficacy in the setting of advanced melanoma. IL-21 has now entered phase II trials in various cancer types.

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