The one complete responder remains without disease progression at 6 years. Chest pain and nausea were the most common toxicities. In most patients, gastrointestinal effects were manageable. There was no significant hematologic toxicity. Its modest hematologic toxicity profile favors its use in combination with other agents.
Caution regarding cardiac arrhythmias and pericardial effusion is necessary.
The differential diagnosis of pleural mesotheliomas and lung adenocarcinomas presents a continued challenge in the practice of surgical pathology. Review of hematoxylin-eosin sections excluded from analysis one case previously diagnosed as mesothelioma, which represented a hemangiopericytoma. One case of a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma invading skeletal muscle was negative for both 13A9 and E9. These studies confirmed the utility of the cadherin antibodies in distinguishing pleural mesotheliomas from lung adenocarcinomas. The reactivity of the cadherin-specific antibodies with antigens in paraffin sections make them powerful and reliable markers in the practice of diagnostic surgical pathology.