Panitumumab is indicated for use in patients with wild-type rather than mutant KRAS tumors.
The efficacy of intravenous panitumumab 6 mg/kg Sapitinib in vivo administered every 2 weeks was examined in randomized, open-label, multicenter, phase III trials in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. When administered as first- or second-line treatment in combination with chemotherapy, panitumumab
plus chemotherapy prolonged progression-free survival to a significantly greater extent than chemotherapy alone in patients with wild-type KRAS tumors; no significant between-group difference in overall survival was seen in the second-line treatment trial. In patients with mutant KRAS tumors, progression-free survival was significantly shorter with panitumumab plus oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (FOLFOX4) than with FOLFOX4 alone in the first-line treatment trial, with no significant difference between patients receiving panitumumab plus irinotecan-based chemotherapy (FOLFIRI) and those receiving FOLFIRI alone in the second-line treatment trial. In chemotherapy-refractory patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, panitumumab monotherapy CAL-101 clinical trial plus best supportive care prolonged progression-free survival to a significantly greater extent than best supportive care alone in both
the overall population and in patients with wild-type KRAS tumors, but not in those with mutant KRAS tumors. Intravenous panitumumab learn more has an acceptable tolerability profile when administered as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy. It is associated with the skin-related toxicities characteristic of EGFR inhibitors and appears to have a low risk of immunogenicity. In conclusion, in patients with wild-type KRAS tumors, panitumumab is a useful option in combination with chemotherapy for the first- and second-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer or as monotherapy for the treatment of chemotherapy-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer.”
“Background and Objective: The results of tuberculin skin tests (TST) and QuantiFERON TB-Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT)
assays were compared in close contacts of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Methods: Close contacts of patients with bacteriologically confirmed MDR-TB (n = 101) were assessed. Most contacts were members of the households of patients, and 79 (78.2%) had received Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination. Samples from each contact were tested using the TST and the QFT-GIT assay on the same day, and the concordance between these results was assessed using kappa (?) coefficients. Results: Forty-eight subjects (47.5%) showed positive responses on TST, using a 10-mm induration cut-off, and 54 (53.5%) were positive for the QFT-GIT assay. Of the 48 individuals who were TST positive, 34 (70.8%) were positive for the QFT-GIT assay.