Background: The effectiveness of reintroducing oxaliplatin in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to standard chemotherapy has not been verified. We performed a single-arm, open-label, Phase II study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of reintroducing oxaliplatin. Methods: Eligible patients had received prior chemotherapy including oxaliplatin and irinotecan that achieved a response or stable disease followed by confirmed disease progression ≥6 months previously during prior oxaliplatin-based therapy. The primary endpoint was the disease control rate (DCR) after 12 weeks of treatment starting. The DCR was defined as the sum of patients with complete response, partial response, and stable disease. Results: Thirty-three patients were enrolled. The median age was 62 (range: 35–77) years and the male/female ratio was 19/14. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status was 0 in 84.8%. Fourteen primary tumors were in the colon and 19 were in the rectum. All patients received modified FOLFOX6 as the protocol treatment. After 12 weeks of treatment starting, the DCR was 39.4% (95% confidence interval 21.8–57.0) and the response rate (complete response and partial response) was 6.1%. The median number of chemotherapy cycles was five and the median total dose of oxaliplatin was 425 mg/m². Median progression-free survival time was 98 days and median overall survival was 300 days. The incidence of grade ≥1 and grade ≥3 allergic reactions was 28.1% and 3.1%, respectively. The incidence of grade ≥1 and grade ≥3 peripheral sensory neuropathy was 53.1% and 0%, respectively. There were no other severe adverse events and no treatment-related deaths. Conclusion: Reintroducing oxaliplatin can be both safe and effective. This may be a salvage option for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who achieved a response or stable disease with prior oxaliplatin-based therapy followed by disease progression ≥6 months previously during prior oxaliplatin-based therapy.

Neratinib (HKI-272), a potent, irreversible, small-molecule, orally administered, pan-ErbB inhibitor that blocks signal transduction via inhibition of three epidermal growth factor receptors [ErbB1, ErbB2 (Her2) and ErbB4], is being developed for the treatment of solid tumors, including breast cancer. This Phase 1 dose-escalation study assessed the safety, tolerability, maximum-tolerated dose, antitumor activity and pharmacokinetics of neratinib in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors. Patients received neratinib 80, 160, 240 or 320 mg orally; each patient enrolled in only one dose cohort. Patients received a single dose in week 1, followed by daily continuous doses. Blood samples collected were on days 1 and 21 for pharmacokinetic analyses. Twenty-one patients were enrolled (3 breast cancer; 17 colorectal cancer; 1 gastric cancer). Neratinib-related adverse events (all grades) included diarrhea (20 patients), fatigue (14 patients), nausea and abdominal pain (9 patients each) and anorexia (8 patients). Grade ≥3 neratinib-related adverse events in two or more patients were diarrhea and anorexia (two patients each). Dose-limiting toxicities were diarrhea and anorexia (two patients, 320 mg dose). The maximum-tolerated dose and recommended dose was neratinib 240 mg once daily. Of 21 evaluable patients, 2 with breast cancer had partial response, 3 had stable disease ≥24 weeks, 7 had stable disease ≥16 weeks and 9 had progressive disease. Pharmacokinetic analyses indicated that neratinib exposures increased with dose. The safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetic profiles of neratinib are consistent with those reported for non-Japanese patients and warrant further investigation of neratinib in Japanese patients with solid tumors.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen (CA)19–9 are used in clinical practice as tumor markers to diagnose or monitor colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, However, their specificities and sensitivities are not ideal, and novel alternatives are needed. In this study, mass spectrometry was used to search for screening markers, focusing on glycan alterations of glycoproteins in the sera of CRC patients. Glycopeptides were prepared from serum glycoproteins separated from blood samples of 80 CRC patients and 50 healthy volunteers, and their levels were measured by liquid chromatography time-of flight mass spectrometry (LC–TOF–MS). Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein-1 with fucosylated triantennary N-glycan (LRG–FTG) was identified as CRC marker after evaluating 30,000 candidate glycopeptide peaks. The average LRG–FTG level in CRC patients (1.25 ± 0.973 U/mL) was much higher than that in healthy volunteers (0.496 ± 0.433 U/mL, P < 10^− 10), and its sensitivity and specificity exceeded those of CA19–9. The combination of CEA and LRG–FTG showed a complementary effect and had better sensitivity (84%), specificity (90%), and AUC (0.91 by ROC analysis) than each marker alone or any other previously reported marker. LRG–FTG alone or combined with CEA also corresponded well with patient response to treatment. We identified LRG–FTG as a new CRC marker, with a sensitivity and specificity exceeding CA19–9. The combination of LRG–FTG and CEA showed much higher sensitivity and specificity than each marker alone. Further validation beyond this initial exploratory cohort is warranted.

Serum VEGF-A and CCL5 levels as candidate biomarkers for efficacy and toxicity of regorafenib in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer