Purpose: Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are rare and highly curable malignancies. However, salvage treatments for relapsed or refractory disease are needed in approximately 20-60% of the patients. As ...salvage therapy, autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) administered after high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) may be a feasible option as well as standard dose chemotherapy (SDCT). This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of ASCT in salvage therapy of GCTs retrospectively. Materials and Methods: Male patients older than 18 years of age who underwent ASCT due to a relapsed/refractory GCT were included in the study. Results: The median age of 18 patients included in the study was 28 (19-46). The majority of patients (n:16, 88.8%) had non-seminomatous GCT histology. All of the patients had relapsed or refractory GCTs and received bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin (BEP) combination therapy previously. Half of the patients were in the poor risk group. ASCT was administered as a second-line therapy in 14 (77.7%) patients and third-line therapy in four (22.2%) patients. There is no ASCT-related exitus. Febrile neutropenia (FN) developed in almost all patients. Complete response (CR) was obtained in 7 (38.8%) patients, partial response (PR) in four (22.2%) patients after ASCT. The 2-year PFS was 44.4% and the median PFS was 8.7 (2.7-12.6) months. Median OS was 22.7 (3.9-41.7) months and 3 years OS was 50.0%. Conclusion: In conclusion, ASCT was found to be an effective and safe treatment option in salvage therapy of GCT patients in our study.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a rare disease amongst children and adolescents. Previous studies have reported a number of differences between children/adolescents, young adults, and adult patients with ...CRC. However, none of these studies compared these age groups according to their clinicopathologic and prognostic characteristics. In the current study, we compare these three age groups.
A total of 173 (1.1% of 15,654 patients) young CRC patients (≤25 years) were included in the study. As a control group, 237 adult CRC patients (>25 years) were also included. Patients were divided into three age groups: child/adolescent (10-19 years), young adult (20-25 years), and adult (>25 years).
Statistical differences amongst the three groups in terms of gender (p = 0.446), family history (p = 0.578), symptoms of presentation (p = 0.306), and interval between initiation of symptoms and diagnosis (p = 0.710) could not be demonstrated. Whilst abdominal pain (p < 0.001) and vomiting (p = 0.002) were less common in young adults than in other groups, rectal bleeding and changes in bowel habits were relatively less common in adolescents than in other groups. Rectal localisation (p = 0.035), mucinous adenocarcinoma (p < 0.001), and a poorly differentiated histologic subtype (p < 0.001) were less common in the adult group than in other groups. The percentage of patients with metastasis and sites of metastasis (e.g., peritoneum and lung) differed between groups. The median overall survival was 32.6 months in the adolescent group, 57.8 months in the young adult group and was not reached in the adult group (p = 0.022). The median event-free survival of the adolescent, young adult, and adult groups was 29.0, 29.9, and 61.6 months, respectively (p = 0.003).
CRC patients of different age groups present different clinicopathologic and prognostic characteristics. Clinicians should be aware of and manage the disease according to these differences.
Right-sided colon cancers (RCCs) and left-sided colon cancers (LCCs) have different embryological, epidemiological, physiological, pathological, genetic, and clinical characteristics, which result in ...differences in the course, prognosis, and outcome of disease. This study aimed to compare RCCs and LCCs regarding clinicopathological and survival characteristics.
The present retrospective study included data of patients who were followed-up and treated for colon cancer from 2008 through 2017. Rectosigmoid, descending colon, and splenic flexure tumors were considered LCC, whereas hepatic flexure and ascending colon tumors were considered RCC. Tumors were staged according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification.
The study included 1725 patients (female, 58.7%) having colon cancer with a mean age of 64±12 years. Of the patients, 83.2% (n=1436) had LCC and 16.8% (n=289) had RCC. The rate of patients aged ≥65 years and the rate of patients with a family history of colon cancer were higher in the RCC patients. The rate of metastatic patients was 29.1% in the RCC group and 23.2% in the LCC group (p=0.087). The median follow-up period was 18 months in the RCC group and 23 months in the LCC group (p=0.011). Although the median survival time was higher in the LCC group (62 vs. 43 months), no significant difference was determined between the RCC and LCC groups in terms of survival.
There are numerous clinicopathological differences between RCC and LCC and these differences are reflected in prognostic and survival differences among certain subgroups.
Purpose
In this study, we investigated the effect of lapatinib plus capecitabine treatment in HER2-positive breast cancer patients with brain metastasis.
Methods
Of 405 metastatic breast cancer ...patients with brain metastases at referral centers in Turkey, 46 were treated with lapatinib plus capecitabine only after the development of brain metastasis. Patients who only received trastuzumab-based therapy after the development of brain metastases were accepted as the historic control group for survival analyses (
n
= 65). Patients who received both drugs consecutively or sequentially were excluded from the analyses (
n
= 34).
Results
Median age among 46 patients who received lapatinib plus capecitabine therapy was 45 years (27–76), and median time for development of brain metastases was 11.9 months (0–69 months). Twenty-six out of 38 patients who received lapatinib plus capecitabine and had extracranial metastasis showed partial response or stable diseases (68.4 %). Grade 3-4 toxicity was observed in eight patients (17.3 %). Median overall survival (OS) in patients treated with lapatinib plus capecitabine was significantly increased compared to that in patients treated with trastuzumab-based therapy (19.1 vs. 12 months, respectively,
p
= 0.039). The incidence of cerebral death was slightly decreased in patients who received lapatinib plus capecitabine compared to those who received trastuzumab-based therapy (32 vs. 43.4 %,
p
= 0.332). In the multivariate analysis, lapatinib plus capecitabine therapy remained an independent positive predictor for survival odds ratio (OR), 0.57;
p
= 0.02.
Discussion
Although this retrospective multicenter study had several limitations, the results suggest that undergoing lapatinib plus capecitabine therapy after the diagnosis of brain metastasis may further improve survival compared to undergoing only trastuzumab-based therapy.
While the main treatment of gastric cancer (GC) is surgery, controversy continues regarding appropriate lymph nodes dissection (LND) types and optimal adjuvant therapy after surgery. Therefore, we ...aim to analyze the survival outcomes of different treatment sequences in GC.
In total, 234 GC patients who developed recurrence after D1 or D2 LND, R0 gastrectomy were retrospectively investigated. Patients treated with following different treatment sequences were compared for time to recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS) of patients with recurrence: D1-LND followed by chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or chemotherapy (CT); D2-LND followed by CRT or CT. RFS and OS estimated by Kaplan-Meier method and long-rank test was used to assess hazard ratio.
In the whole group; there were 161 men (68.8%) and mean age was 57.9 (±1.69) years. In 4 arms, 94.8% of patients had positive lymph nodes, 42.7% of patients had pT4 stage tumor, and intestinal-type GC was present in 95 patients (40.6%). The median TTR were 14.0 (11.5–16.5), 7.0 (5.8–8.2), 13.0 (10.5–15.5), and 13.0 (10.8–15.2) months, for D1-LND + CRT; D1-LND + CT; D2-LND + CRT; and D2-LND + CT groups, respectively (HR; 95%CI:2086; 1133–3,839, P = 0,018 for D1-LND + CT group after adjusted for pN stage, PNI, and LVI). The median OS of the patients with recurrence was 29.0 months (26.8–31.2). While higher pT and pN stage, PNI and LVI positivity, undifferentiated and diffuse + mixed histological types presented with worse overall survival, treatment choices were not effect on OS.
RT is not necessary after D2-LND but it is still a major part of adjuvant treatment after D1-LND. D2-LND may not be require to cure GC when appropriate adjuvant treatment is given after D1-LND.
Aim of the study was to investigate the demographics of Ewing sarcoma family of tumours (ESTF) patients, treatment alternatives, clinical outcomes, and prognostic factors for survival.
We ...retrospectively reviewed 39 patients with ESFT who were admitted to our institute between September 2008 and September 2012.
The patients included 32 (82.1%) males and seven (17.9%) females of median age 24 (range, 18-66) years. Among the 27 patients with a primary osseous localization, 17 (43.5%) had a central axis localization. Fifteen patients (38.5%) had metastases at the time of diagnosis. Patients were followed up for a median period of 18 (range, 2-134) months. The median event-free survival (EFS) was 23 (range, 1-64) months, and the 1- and 4-year EFS were 60% and 48%, respectively. The median overall survival (OS) was 91 (range, 1-188) months, and the 1- and 4-year OS were 78% and 54%, respectively. Gender, age, primary tumor site, and local treatment modalities, either alone or in combination, did not have a significant effect on OS (p = 0.210, p = 0.617, p = 0.644, and p = 0.417, respectively). In contrast, osseous site of peripheral localization, limited stage, and metastasis to the bone significantly affected OS (p = 0.015, p < 0.001, and p = 0.042, respectively).
ESFTs are aggressive tumors with a high rate of relapse and metastatic potential. Patients with peripheral bone involvement and limited stage had a good prognosis. Appropriate surgical resection, radiotherapy, and aggressive chemotherapy regimens are recommended.
Malignant melanoma is a cancer that demonstrates rapid progression and atypical clinically features with a poor prognosis.
This study was performed to determine the clinical characteristics and ...treatment outcomes of patients with malignant melanoma in Turkey.
The medical records of 98 patients between 2007- 2012 at our centers were retrieved from the patient registry. Overall survival (OS) was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.
In our study, with the median follow-up of all patients with cutaneous MM of 46.3 months, the median OS rate of all cases was 43.6 months and 5-year OS was 48.6%. However, five-year OS rates of patients with localized disease (stage I-II) and node involvement (stage III) were 60.3% and 39.6%, respectively. The median OS of stage IV patients was 8.7 months and 1-year OS rate was 26.2%. We showed that advanced stage, male gender, and advanced age in all patients with MM were significant prognostic factors of OS.
Compared with the results of current studies from Western countries, we found similar findings concerning demographical features, histological variables and survival analyses for our patients with cutaneous MM in Turkey.
To determine the relationship between inflammatory markers and pathological complete response (pCR) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy ...(NACRT).
Descriptive study.
Department of Medical Oncology, Dr. Abdurrahman Yurtaslan Oncology Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey from January 2014 to June 2020.
Patients older than 18 years of age, who underwent NACRT with a diagnosis of LARC, and who had no disease or drug-use that could affect inflammatory parameters, were included in the study. Inflammatory indices (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio-NLR, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio-PLR, lymphocyte monocyte ratio-LMR, systemic immune-inflammation index-SII, prognostic nutritional index-PNI) and changes in these indices, were calculated from blood samples taken before NACRT and before surgery. The relationship between pCR and calculated inflammatory indices was evaluated by comparing patients with and without pCR.
Out of the 932 patients, who received NACRT with a diagnosis of LARC, 188 were eligible for the study. Median values of baseline SII for pCR and non-pCR groups were 729.3 (595.4-894.8) and 869.9(567.2-1145.2, p=0.049). Baseline NLR and PLR levels were lower in the pCR group than the non-pCR group in univariate analysis with a tendency to statistical significance. In the logistic regression analysis, which included NLR, PLR, and SII, only SII <748 was found to be an independent predictive factor of pCR (OR: 0.471, 95% CI; 0.224-0.991, p=0.047).
Baseline SII might be an independent predictive factor for pCR in patients receiving NACRT with a diagnosis of LARC. Key Words: Locally advanced rectal cancer, Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, Pathological complete response, Inflammatory index, Systemic immune-inflammation index, SII, NLR, PLR, LMR, PNI.
Gastric cancer, one of the most common cancers in the world, rarely metastasizes to the ovaries. Ovarian metastases of gastric signet ring cell cancer (SRCC) are referred to as Krukenberg tumors and ...account for 1-2% of all ovarian cancers. Here, we analyze the characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of patients with Krukenberg tumors.
We retrospectively analyzed the demographic characteristics, treatment modalities, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) of patients who were diagnosed with Krukenberg tumors of gastric cancer origin and who underwent treatment and follow-up between January 2005 and January 2012 in the Ankara Oncology Education and Research Hospital.
Among 1755 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer between January 2005 and January 2012, eight patients (0.45%) with histopathologically identified Krukenberg tumors were enrolled. The median age of the eight patients was 42.2 years (range, 32-69 years). Two (25%) of the patients were stage 3A, two (25%) were stage 3C, and four (50%) were stage 4 at the time of diagnosis. The median PFS was 13.2 months (1-25 months), the median OS after the original diagnosis was 16.7 months (1-41 months), and the median OS after ovarian metastasis was 3.6 months (1-10 months).
Krukenberg tumors were seen particularly in young patients and more frequently during the premenopausal period. The prognosis was poor. When only the ovaries were affected, metastasectomy prolonged the survival time.
The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the survival outcomes and biological subtype in breast cancer patients with brain metastases.
We retrospectively evaluated clinical data ...from 422 breast cancer patients with brain metastases between 2001 and 2011 from referral centers in Turkey. The study population was divided into four biological subtypes according to their hormone receptor status and HER2 expression.
Systemic treatment prolonged median overall survival (OS) after brain metastases in the entire group (14 vs. 3.2 months, p < 0.001). It also prolonged median OS after brain metastases in the triple negative (7.5 vs. 1.6 months, p = 0.010) and luminal A (14.3 vs. 7.1 months, p = 0.003) subgroups. The median OS for untreated patients, chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy receiving patients, and chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy plus targeted therapy receivers was 2, 5.8, and 17.7 months, respectively (p < 0.001), in the HER2-overexpressing subgroup. In the luminal B subgroup, it was 3.7, 5.3, and 15.4 months, respectively (p = 0.003).
The use of systemic therapy improves OS after brain metastases in all biological subgroups. Targeted therapies also improve OS after brain metastases in HER2-positive patients. The combined use of targeted therapies and lapatinib are superior to single use and trastuzumab, respectively, in these patients.
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