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<strong>ESMO</strong>-JSMO Joint Symposium:<br />
Recent advances in <strong>the</strong> treatment of GI<br />
tract and liver cancer in <strong>the</strong> EU and<br />
Japan<br />
124IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA: PRESENT TREATMENT<br />
STRATEGY IN JAPAN<br />
J. Furuse<br />
Department of Medical Oncology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo,<br />
JAPAN<br />
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develops mainly from liver cirrhosis due to<br />
hepatitis B or C virus infection. A screening system in patients with cirrhosis is<br />
important to diagnose HCC at as earlier a stage as possible. As a result, in Japan,<br />
approximately 90% of HCC patients successfully undergo local <strong>the</strong>rapies including<br />
hepatectomy, local ablation, and transca<strong>the</strong>ter arterial chemoembolization (TACE).<br />
However, many patients develop recurrences or progression after <strong>the</strong>se treatments,<br />
and an effective systemic <strong>the</strong>rapy is needed to improve <strong>the</strong> survival.<br />
Sorafenib is <strong>the</strong> first agent which demonstrated survival benefits in patients with<br />
unresectable advanced HCC that was approved for HCC in Japan in May, 2009, and<br />
more than 13,000 patients have received systemic <strong>the</strong>rapy using sorafenib. In a survey<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Study Group on New Liver Cancer under <strong>the</strong> auspices of <strong>the</strong> Health and<br />
Labour Sciences Research Grant in Japan, 264 patients treated with sorafenib were<br />
analyzed and 90% of <strong>the</strong>se patients treated with sorafenib received prior treatments<br />
including hepatectomy, local ablation and/or TACE. Common adverse events were<br />
hand-foot skin reaction, rash and diarrhea. The median overall survival was 11.0<br />
months. These results were comparable with those of a large phase III trial of<br />
sorafenib, <strong>the</strong> SHARP trial.<br />
Following sorafenib, several targeted agents are currently under investigation in <strong>the</strong><br />
treatment of HCC at various stages. Large randomized control trials are needed to<br />
establish new standard treatments, and most trials have been conducted in<br />
international collaboration including Japan. On <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r hand, some trials are<br />
conducted only in Japan, for example combination of hepatic arterial infusion<br />
chemo<strong>the</strong>rapy with sorafenib.<br />
In this presentation, <strong>the</strong> outcomes of sorafenib treatment in Japan and recent clinical<br />
trials in chemo<strong>the</strong>rapy are summarized and discussed.<br />
Disclosure: J. Furuse: I received honoraria and consulting fee from Bayer, Eli Lilly,<br />
Taiho, Chugai and Eisai.<br />
125IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN THE EU<br />
J. Bruix<br />
Liver Unit, Hospital Clinic y Provincial de Barcelona, University of Barcelona,<br />
Barcelona, SPAIN<br />
The incidence of liver cancer varies across Europe. However, while figures have<br />
stabilised in Italy and Spain, Nor<strong>the</strong>rn countries present a slight increase in recent<br />
years. In most cases, liver cancer appears in <strong>the</strong> background of chronic liver disease<br />
related to hepatitis C or B, infection and alcoholism, among o<strong>the</strong>r risk factors.<br />
Current data show that hepatocellular carcinoma is <strong>the</strong> leading cause of death in<br />
patients with cirrhosis and that <strong>the</strong> incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is<br />
on <strong>the</strong> rise. Because of its clinical relevance all scientific associations have developed<br />
practice guidelines to inform patients, physicians and regulatory agents about <strong>the</strong><br />
established diagnostic and <strong>the</strong>rapeutic procedures. Non-invassive diagnostic criteria<br />
have been accepted and in almost all documents <strong>the</strong> recommended strategy for<br />
staging and treatment indication is <strong>the</strong> BCLC model. Following it, patients diagnosed<br />
with HCC are stratified into stages for which different treatment options are to be<br />
considered.<br />
References<br />
1. Jelic S, Sotiropoulos GC; <strong>ESMO</strong> Guidelines Working GroupHepatocellular<br />
carcinoma: <strong>ESMO</strong> Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and followup.<br />
Ann Oncol. 2010 ;21 Suppl 5:v59–64<br />
2. Bruix J, Sherman M. Management of hepatocellular carcinoma: An update.<br />
Hepatology. 2011 Mar 1;53 (3):1020–2.<br />
3. EASL-EORTC Clinical Practice Guidelines: Management of hepatocellular<br />
carcinoma. J Hepatol. <strong>2012</strong> Apr;56 (4):908–43.<br />
4. Forner A, Llovet JM, Bruix J. Hepatocellular carcinoma. Lancet. <strong>2012</strong>;379<br />
(9822):1245–55.<br />
Disclosure: The author has declared no conflicts of interest.<br />
Annals of Oncology 23 (Supplement 9): ix63, <strong>2012</strong><br />
doi:10.1093/annonc/mds487<br />
126IN COLORECTAL CANCER: A NEW ORAL CYTOTOXIC AGENT<br />
REAPPEARS<br />
T. Yoshino<br />
Department of Gastroenterology & Gi Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital<br />
East, Kashiwa, JAPAN<br />
Cytotoxic agents, such as fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin and antibodies<br />
such as bevacizumab, and cetuximab and panitumumab have been shown to<br />
significantly improve <strong>the</strong> survival of patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal<br />
cancer (mCRC). Although many patients have a good long-term performance status,<br />
a standard <strong>the</strong>rapy for patients refractory to or unable to tolerate <strong>the</strong>se agents does<br />
not currently exist. TAS-102 is a novel oral nucleoside antitumor agent consisting of<br />
trifluorothymidine (FTD) and 5-chloro-6-(2-iminopyrrolidin-1-yl) methyl-2,4<br />
(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione hydrochloride (TPI) at a molar ratio of 1 to 0.5. TAS-102<br />
possesses a mechanism of action different from that of o<strong>the</strong>r antitumor agents,<br />
including fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan and oxaliplatin. Based on a phase I clinical<br />
trial in Japan, <strong>the</strong> recommended dose of TAS-102 (35 mg/m 2 /b.i.d) twice daily<br />
administered orally in days 1-5 and 8-12 of a 28-day cycle was determined. These<br />
results indicated that TAS-102 was expected to fur<strong>the</strong>r improve <strong>the</strong> outcomes of<br />
patients with unresectable mCRC. We conducted randomized, double-blind phase II<br />
trial as a placebo-controlled study to evaluate <strong>the</strong> efficacy of TAS-102. A total of 172<br />
colorectal cancer patients who were refractory or intolerable to 2 or more regimens of<br />
standard chemo<strong>the</strong>rapy with a fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin<br />
underwent ei<strong>the</strong>r TAS-102 plus best supportive care (BSC) (114 patients) or placebo<br />
plus BSC (58 patients) with <strong>the</strong> primary endpoint of overall survival. TAS-102<br />
significantly decreased death risk compared to placebo (hazard ratio, 0.56; 95%<br />
confidential interval [CI], 0.39-0.81; P = 0.0011). The median overall survival was 9.0<br />
months in <strong>the</strong> TAS-102 group and 6.6 months in <strong>the</strong> placebo group. TAS-102<br />
significantly improved progression-free survival (median, 2.0 months vs 1.0 month;<br />
hazard ratio, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.28-0.59; P < 0.0001). TAS-102 was effective regardless of<br />
KRAS mutational status. Grade 3 or higher adverse events observed in <strong>the</strong> TAS-102<br />
group were neutropenia (50.4%), leucopenia (28.3%), and anemia (16.8%). There<br />
were no treatment-related deaths. An international phase III trial is ongoing to<br />
confirm <strong>the</strong> clinical benefits of TAS-102 worldwide.<br />
Disclosure: T. Yoshino: I have honoraria with Chugai, Takeda, Bristol-Myers Squibb,<br />
Yakult and Merck Serono. I have research funding from Bayer, Taiho, Daiichi-sankyo<br />
and Quintiles. I have received consulting fee from Takeda.<br />
127IN CAN PET IMAGING HELP INDIVIDUALIZE THE TREATMENT<br />
OF COLORECTAL CANCER PATIENTS?<br />
A. Hendlisz<br />
Medicine Department, Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, BELGIUM<br />
While <strong>the</strong> science of medicine tries to understand <strong>the</strong> rules and hidden laws behind<br />
diseases and <strong>the</strong>ir management, <strong>the</strong> art of medicine aims to treat individual patients<br />
by matching clinical observations and existing knowledge. The ambiguity between <strong>the</strong><br />
art and <strong>the</strong> science of medicine has never been so obvious than in our attempts to<br />
tailor cancer treatment to individual patients: <strong>the</strong> growing evidence of tumor<br />
heterogeneity makes understanding a patient’s disease increasingly complex, especially<br />
when one considers <strong>the</strong> inadequacy of current assessment tools, which is becoming<br />
more apparent each day. In <strong>the</strong> setting of advanced colorectal cancer (aCRC), three<br />
main clinical situations coexist: metastasis that is immediately resectable with curative<br />
intent, borderline resectable disease and definitively non-resectable disease. Despite<br />
broad parameters within which to treat disease, clinicians lack tools that can rapidly<br />
and reliably point out treatment inefficiency in order to allow a <strong>the</strong>rapeutic strategy to<br />
be quickly stopped or adapted. The usual endpoints of prospective randomized trials,<br />
which form <strong>the</strong> basis of <strong>the</strong> science of medicine, are seldom usable at <strong>the</strong> bedside to<br />
exercise <strong>the</strong> art of medicine. Death (overall survival) and progression (progression-free<br />
survival) both occur too long after <strong>the</strong> beginning of a treatment, and quality of life is<br />
much too subjective. The RECIST-based response rate is more readily available and<br />
relatively well standardized, but careful analysis reveals a definite but only small<br />
correlation with survival outcome in <strong>the</strong> aCRC setting. Several alternates for tumor<br />
response assessment have been studied: plasma tumor markers, circulating tumor cells,<br />
and functional imaging, notably <strong>the</strong> FDG-PET scan. However, few data from<br />
well-structured studies are available, and <strong>the</strong>y are sometimes discordant. Among <strong>the</strong>se<br />
alternatives, metabolic imaging by FDG-PET appears to be <strong>the</strong> most promising,<br />
bearing <strong>the</strong> highest and <strong>the</strong> most reproducible negative predictive value. This means<br />
that it could become useful both in <strong>the</strong> daily clinic and to develop new concepts for<br />
clinical trials. The aim of this review is to present <strong>the</strong> available evidence, point out<br />
areas of weakness, and consider how current findings might shape <strong>the</strong> future<br />
development of both FDG-PET techniques and study designs.<br />
Disclosure: The author has declared no conflicts of interest.<br />
Volume 23 | Supplement 9 | September <strong>2012</strong> doi:10.1093/annonc/mds487 | ix63