TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schroeder, Katharina
A1  - Meyer-ter-Vehn, Tobias
A1  - Fassnacht-Riederle, Heidi
A1  - Guthoff, Rainer
T1  - Course of disease in multifocal choroiditis lacking sufficient immunosuppression: a case report
JF  - Journal of Medical Case Reports
N2  - Background:
Multifocal choroiditis with panuveitis is a rare disease. The educational merit of this case presentation results from the good documentation and the impressive ocular fundus pictures.

Case presentation:
We illustrate the 3-year course of disease in a 22-year-old myopic white woman with multifocal choroiditis with panuveitis and secondary choroidal neovascularization. The activity of the disease was evaluated clinically by optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography. Choroidal neovascularization was treated by intravitreal bevacizumab (2.5 mg/0.1 ml). Our patient lacked systemic therapy for the first 11 months because of noncompliance.

Conclusions:
The case is remarkable as the delayed onset of peripheral lesions and the additional existence of high myopia made diagnosis difficult. In addition, it demonstrates that full outbreak of disease with multiple central and peripheral fundus lesions and secondary choroidal neovascularization can develop without systemic treatment.
KW  - multifocal choroiditis
KW  - chorioretinal lesions
KW  - secondary CNV
KW  - bevacizumab
KW  - systemic immunosuppression
KW  - case report
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-171317
VL  - 10
IS  - 298
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hacker, Ulrich T.
A1  - Escalona-Espinosa, Laura
A1  - Consalvo, Nicola
A1  - Goede, Valentin
A1  - Schiffmann, Lars
A1  - Scherer, Stefan J.
A1  - Hedge, Priti
A1  - Van Cutsem, Eric
A1  - Coutelle, Oliver
A1  - Büning, Hildegard
T1  - Evaluation of Angiopoietin-2 as a biomarker in gastric cancer: results from the randomised phase III AVAGAST trial
JF  - British Journal of Cancer
N2  - Background: In the phase III AVAGAST trial, the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy improved progression-free survival (PFS) but not overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced gastric cancer. We studied the role of Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), a key driver of tumour angiogenesis, metastasis and resistance to antiangiogenic treatment, as a biomarker. 
Methods: Previously untreated, advanced gastric cancer patients were randomly assigned to receive bevacizumab (n = 387) or placebo (n = 387) in combination with chemotherapy. Plasma collected at baseline and at progression was analysed by ELISA. The role of Ang-2 as a prognostic and a predictive biomarker of bevacizumab efficacy was studied using a Cox proportional hazards model. Logistic regression analysis was applied for correlations with metastasis. Results: Median baseline plasma Ang-2 levels were lower in Asian (2143 pg ml\(^-\)\(^1\)) vs non-Asian patients (3193 pg ml\(^-\)\(^1\)), P<0.0001. Baseline plasma Ang-2 was identified as an independent prognostic marker for OS but did not predict bevacizumab efficacy alone or in combination with baseline VEGF. Baseline plasma Ang-2 correlated with the frequency of liver metastasis (LM) at any time: Odds ratio per 1000 pg ml\(^-\)\(^1\) increase: 1.19; 95% CI 1.10-1.29; P<0.0001 (non-Asians) and 1.37; 95% CI 1.13-1.64; P = 0.0010 (Asians). 
Conclusions: Baseline plasma Ang-2 is a novel prognostic biomarker for OS in advanced gastric cancer strongly associated with LM. Differences in Ang-2 mediated vascular response may, in part, account for outcome differences between Asian and non-Asian patients; however, data have to be further validated. Ang-2 is a promising drug target in gastric cancer.
KW  - gastric cancer
KW  - angiogenesis
KW  - Angiopoietin-2
KW  - bevacizumab
KW  - liver metastasis
KW  - biomarker
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-189578
VL  - 114
IS  - 8
ER  -