Some patients respond better to cancer therapy than others of a comparable clinical status. It may occur if an oncogenic aberration renders the tumor responsive to the therapy given.
Criteria of Conley et al for an exceptional responder (ER) - one or both of the following:
(1) both of the following
(1a) complete response or partial response (>= 6 months) to therapy (by RECIST or other relevant criteria)
(1b) expected chances of a complete or partial less than 10%
(2) duration of response >= 3 times the published median time (or in an expert's opinion if no published data available)
68% of ER occurred with combination chemotherapy regimens.
An exceptional response can occur even with advanced disease.
The diagnosis probably also requires that there is no other explanation for the clinical findings.
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