Recombinant tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is an antitumor protein that is in clinical trials as a potential anticancer therapy but suffers from drug properties that may limit efficacy such as short serum half-life, stability, cost, and biodistribution, particularly with respect to the brain. To overcome such limitations, we identified TRAIL-inducing compound 10 (TIC10), a potent, orally active, and stable small molecule that transcriptionally induces TRAIL in a p53-independent manner and crosses the blood-brain barrier. TIC10 induces a sustained up-regulation of TRAIL in tumors and normal cells that may contribute to the demonstrable antitumor activity of TIC10. TIC10 inactivates kinases Akt and extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK), leading to the translocation of Foxo3a into the nucleus, where it binds to the TRAIL promoter to up-regulate gene transcription. TIC10 is an efficacious antitumor therapeutic agent that acts on tumor cells and their micro-environment to enhance the concentrations of the endogenous tumor suppressor TRAIL.

The MarketScan databases are a family of administrative claims databases that contain data on inpatient and outpatient claims, outpatient prescription claims, clinical utilization records, and healthcare expenditures. The three main databases available for use are each composed of a convenience sample for one of the following patient populations: (1) patients with employer-based health insurance from contributing employers, (2) Medicare beneficiaries who possess supplemental insurance paid by their employers, and (3) patients with Medicaid in one of eleven participating states. Eleven supplemental databases are available, which are utilized to overcome the limited clinical data available in the core MarketScan databases. There are several limitations to this database, primarily related to the fact that individuals or their family members within two of the core databases mandatorily possess some form of employer-based health insurance, which prevents the dataset from being nationally representative. Nonetheless, this database provides detailed and rigorously maintained claims data to identify healthcare utilization patterns among this cohort of patients.

Concomitant presence of tumor deposits and lymph node invasion carries poor prognostic significance. Tumor deposits alone appear to have prognostic implications similar to lymph node invasion alone.

Patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer and mild anemia benefit from perioperative erythropoietin administration in terms of stimulated erythropoiesis, reduction in the number of blood transfusions, and a favorable outcome.