Bevacizumab combined with low-dose S-1 as maintenance therapy with a long progression-free survival in an elderly patient with heavily pre-treated advanced gastric cancer: A case report

Antitumor effects of bevacizumab in combination with fluoropyrimidine drugs on human oral squamous cell carcinoma

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) serves an important role in new blood vessel formation or angiogenesis, which is a critical event in tumor growth and metastasis. Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody against VEGF-A, whereas S-1 is a fluoropyrimidine antineoplastic agent that induces apoptosis in various types of cancer cells. The present study evaluated the antitumor effects of bevacizumab in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or S-1 against oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in vitro and in vivo. Two human OSCC cell lines were used, namely the high VEGF-A-expressing HSC-2 cells and the low VEGF-A-expressing SAS cells. MTT assay was used to evaluate the effect of bevacizumab and/or 5-FU against HSC-2 and SAS cell proliferation. Additionally, the antitumor effect of bevacizumab was evaluated alone and in combination with S-1 against HSC-2 tumors in nude mice. S-1 (6.9 mg/kg/day) was administered orally every day for 3 weeks, and bevacizumab (5 ml/kg/day) was injected intraperitoneally twice per week for 3 weeks. Apoptotic cells in mouse tumors were detected using the TUNEL method, and cell proliferation and microvessel density (MVD) were determined by immunohistochemical staining of Ki-67 and CD31, respectively. Bevacizumab alone did not inhibit OSCC cell proliferation in vitro, and did not exhibit any synergistic inhibitory effect in combination with 5-FU in vitro. However, combined bevacizumab and S-1 therapy exerted synergistic and significant antitumor effects in vivo on HSC-2 tumor xenografts, and induced apoptosis in tumor cells. Furthermore, this combination therapy led to decreased MVD and cell proliferative abilities, as well as increased apoptosis in residual tumors. The present findings suggested that the bevacizumab plus S-1 combination therapy may exert antitumor effects in high VEGF-A-expressing OSCC cells.

Careful dose modification of apatinib as third or further-line treatment in advanced gastric cancer patients with poor performance status

The retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of careful dose modification of apatinib as third or further-line treatment in advanced gastric cancer (aGC) patients with poor performance status (PS = 2 or 3).Patients with aGC of poor PS who had received at least 2 lines of chemotherapy were treated with apatinib at a dose of 250 mg initially and best supportive care (BSC). During the whole treatment, the dose of apatinib was adjusted according to the status of PS (group treatment). Meanwhile, patients of poor PS (PS = 2 or 3) with aGC who received BSC alone after second or further-line treatment in the recent 5 years in our institution have been investigated for their median overall survival (mOS) as control. Kaplan-Meier curve was adopted for the description of OS in the 2 groups. Univariate analysis was conducted with log-rank test between OS and the potential characteristics including gender, age, PS status, primary tumor lesion, Her-2 status, and previous lines of treatment. Toxicities were assessed with the criteria of National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria (NCI CTC) version 4.0.A total of 23 patients who received apatinib plus BSC treatment and 41 patients treated with BSC alone were reviewed in the present study. Median exposure time of apatinib was 2.4 months ranging from 0.2 to 5.1 months. The median OS in the group treatment was 4.3 months (95% CI, 2.735-5.865) comparing to the control as 2.1 months (95% CI, 1.473-2.727, P = .0004). In addition, PS status was shown as the only independently significant factor to influence the OS (P = .049). Fatigue (82.6%), appetite decrease (73.9%), and anemia (69.6%) appeared to be the most common adverse events at any grade during the therapy of apatinib.The outcomes of the present study revealed that therapeutic model of careful dose modification of apatinib therapy initiated with low dose plus BSC as third or further-line treatment might be more beneficial on survival time comparing to BSC alone in patients with aGC of poor PS, however, as well as apparent adverse events.

Molecular targeted therapy in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in China. Traditional treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy not only have side effects, but the treatment efficiency is also poor. Molecular targeted therapy, due to its high efficiency, low toxicity, and high orientation, has been widely used in the treatment of gastric cancer. Targets applied in molecular targeted therapy of gastric cancer are mainly related to the cytokine and receptors that contribute to gastric cancer cell growth, including epidermal growth factor and its receptors, vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors, epithelial cell adhesion molecules, insulin-like growth factor and its receptors, and molecules related to the cell cycle. This review focuses on molecular targeted treatment in gastric cancer.