In this marker evaluation study, we tested whether distinct patterns of functional genomic polymorphisms in genes involved in drug metabolic pathways and DNA repair that predict clinical outcome to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)/oxaliplatin chemotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer could be identified. Functional polymorphisms in DNA-repair genes XPD, ERCC1, XRCC1, XPA, and metabolising genes glutathione S-transferase GSTP1, GSTT1, GSTM1, and thymidylate synthase (TS) were assessed retrospectively in 106 patients with refractory stage IV disease who received 5-FU/oxaliplatin combination chemotherapy, using a polymerase chain reaction-based RFLP technique. Favourable genotypes from polymorphisms in XPD-751, ERCC1-118, GSTP1-105, and TS-3 0 -untranslated region (3 0 UTR) that are associated with overall survival were identified. After adjustment for performance status, the relative risks of dying for patients who possessed the unfavourable genotype were: 3.33 for XPD-751 (P ¼ 0. 0 UTR and GSTP1-105 gene were also associated with time to progression. After adjustment for performance status, patients with an unfavourable TS-3 0 UTR genotype had a relative risk of disease progression of 1.76 (P ¼ 0.020) and those with the unfavourable GSTP1-105 genotype showed a relative risk of progression of 2.00 (P ¼ 0.018). The genomic polymorphisms XPD-751, ERCC1-118, GSTP1-105, and TS-3 0 UTR may be useful in predicting overall survival and time to progression of colorectal cancer in patients who receive 5-FU/oxaliplatin chemotherapy. These findings require independent prospective confirmation.

The reported frequencies of Gs mutations (gsp mutations) in growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenomas are variable (ranging from 4·4 to 43%), and the presence of these mutations in the other pituitary adenomas is still a matter of controversy. Previous clinical and biochemical analyses of patients with GH-secreting pituitary adenomas and gsp mutations produced conflicting results and did not demonstrate obvious characteristics. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence of gsp mutations in Korean patients with pituitary adenomas and elucidated the characteristics of these patients. Forty-four GHsecreting adenomas, 7 prolactin (PRL)-secreting adenomas and 32 clinically non-functioning adenomas were examined for the presence of point mutations in codon 201 and 227 of the Gs gene using a nested PCR and direct sequencing of DNA extracted from fresh tissue or paraffinembedded pituitary adenoma samples. Seven of the 44 GH-secreting pituitary adenomas had point mutations at codon 201 or 227; of these, five mutations were in codon 201 and two were in codon 227. In patients with gsp mutations, mean tumor size was significantly smaller than in patients without gsp mutations (15·9 8·7 mm vs. 24·9 14·9 mm, P<0·05). Age, sex, basal GH levels, GH response to oral glucose loading, GH response to octreotide and surgical outcome were not different in the two groups. One of the 32 clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas had a point mutation at codon 201; none of the seven prolactinomas had these mutations. These results show that gsp mutations are not rare in Korean acromegalic patients and mean tumor size is significantly smaller in acromegalic patients with gsp mutations. Our results also confirm the low frequency of gsp mutations in clinically non-functioning pituitary adenomas and the absence of gsp mutations in prolactinoma.

Background:There is increased recognition that cancers of the upper GI tract comprise distinct epidemiological and molecular entities. Erlotinib has shown activity in patients with adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus/gastro-oesophageal junction (GEJ), but not in distal gastric cancer. mFOLFOX6 is one of several active regimens used to treat adenocarcinoma of the Eso/GEJ. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of mFOLFOX6 and erlotinib in patients with metastatic or advanced Eso/GEJ cancers.Methods:Patients with previously untreated advanced or metastatic Eso/GEJ adenocarcinoma are treated with oxaliplatin 85 mg m–2, 5-FU 400 mg m–2, LV 400 mg m–2 on day 1, 5-FU 2400 mg m–2 over 48 h and erlotinib 150 mg PO daily. Treatment was repeated every 14 days. The primary objective was response rate (RR), secondary objectives include toxicity, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and to correlate clinical outcome with expression patterns and molecular alterations in the epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent pathways.Results:A total of 33 patients were treated and evaluable: there were two complete responses, 15 partial responses for an objective RR of 51.5% (95% CI, 34.5–68.6%). Median PFS was 5.5 months (95% CI, 3.1–7.5 months) and median OS was 11.0 months (95% CI, 8.0–17.4 months). The most common grade 3–4 toxicities were: diarrhoea (24%), nausea/vomiting (11%), skin rash (8%) and peripheral neuropathy (8%). The frequency of alterations was KRAS mutations (8%), EGFR mutations (0%) and HER2 amplification (19%).Conclusion:In patients with Eso/GEJ adenocarcinoma, mFOLFOX6 and erlotinib is active, has an acceptable toxicity profile and FOLFOX±erlotinib could be considered for further development.

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