Synopsis of workshop on treatment of solid tumours

A workshop was held which attempted to identify the clinical trials that need to be performed using retinoids alone or in combination in patients with solid tumours. 13-cis retinoic acid is currently the preferred retinoid apart from in breast cancer where hydroxy phenyl retinamide might be preferable. It was agreed that standard response criteria should be used in phase II trials but that response rates as low as 5% should be sufficient to encourage randomized adjuvant or maintenance trials where survival would be the main endpoint.