Laszlo Dosa

Atlanta-Neoadjuvant chemotherapy using a three-drug combination has demonstrated activity in locally advanced transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder, but it also possesses considerable toxicity. That was the conclusion reported in a poster by University of Michigan researchers at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

Atlanta-Two recent studies have provided promising outcomes data on sorafenib tosylate (Nexavar), both as a second-line therapy and potentially as first-line treatment in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, researchers reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting here.

Atlanta-Sorafenib tosylate (Nexavar), a newer oral multi-kinase inhibitor that targets tumor growth and vascularization, was generally well tolerated by patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma in a randomized phase II trial that compared the efficacy and tolerability of the drug with that of interferon in first-line therapy. Study results were presented by Bernard Escudier, MD, head of the immunotherapy and innovative therapy unit at Institut Gustave Roussy Villejuif, Cedex, France, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting here.

Atlanta-Contrary to earlier data from a single-arm study, the addition of erlotinib (Tarceva) to the monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin) does not significantly delay disease progression in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting. The new findings suggest that bevacizumab is responsible for increasing progression-free survival in this patient population.

Atlanta-Papillary renal cell carcinoma might be called an orphan disease.

Atlanta-Sixty percent of testicular germ cell tumors, such as embryonal cell carcinoma, teratocarcinoma, and teratoma, are nonseminomatous. Stage I nonseminoma patients are usually of young age, the cure rate is high, and most patients have many decades of life ahead after orchidectomy, followed by surveillance. Therefore, long-term investigations of morbidity and treatment are of significant concern.

Atlanta-Patients with refractory metastatic testicular cancer who have not responded to their initial chemotherapy may respond to high-dose chemotherapy given in tandem with blood stem cell transplant, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting here.

>Los Angeles-It's a simple axiom but one that appears to be appropriatewhen discussing radical prostatectomy: "Practice makes perfect."