Nanoliposomal irinotecan with fluorouracil and folinic acid (NFF) is a standard regimen after gemcitabine-based therapy for patients with unresectable or recurrent pancreatic cancer. However, there ...are limited clinical data on its efficacy and safety in the real-world. We therefore initiated a retrospective and prospective observational study (NAPOLEON-2). The results of the retrospective part were reported herein. In this retrospective study, we evaluated 161 consecutive patients who received NFF as second-or-later-line regimen. The main endpoint was overall survival (OS), and the other endpoints were response rate, disease control rate, progression-free survival (PFS), dose intensity, and adverse events (AEs). The median age was 67 years (range, 38-85 years). The median OS and PFS were 8.1 and 3.4 months, respectively. The objective response and disease control rates were 5% and 52%, respectively. The median relative dose intensity was 81.6% for nanoliposomal irinotecan and 82.9% for fluorouracil. Grade 3 or 4 hematological and nonhematological AEs occurred in 47 and 42 patients, respectively. Common grade 3 or 4 AEs included neutropenia (24%), anorexia (12%), and leukocytopenia (12%). Subanalysis of patients treated with second-line and third-or-later-line demonstrated no statistical significant difference in OS (7.6 months vs. 9.1 months, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.64-1.35; p = 0.68). In conclusion, NFF has acceptable efficacy and safety profile even in real-world clinical settings. The prospective study is in progress to validate these findings.
Abstract This study aimed to compare second-line treatment outcomes for patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer previously treated with gemcitabine plus nab–paclitaxel (GnP) therapy. We ...conducted an integrated analysis of two retrospective studies included 318 patients receiving nanoliposomal irinotecan + 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (NFF) (n = 102), S-1 (n = 57), or FOLFIRINOX (n = 14) as second-line treatment. Median overall survival (OS) in the NFF group was 9.08 months, significantly better than S-1 (4.90 months, P = 0.002). FOLFIRINOX had a median OS of 4.77 months, not statistically different from NFF. Subgroup analyses of OS indicated NFF was generally superior, however, a statistical interaction was observed between the treatment regimen in serum Alb < 3.5 g/dL ( P = 0.042) and serum CRP ≥ 0.3 mg/dL ( P = 0.006). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 2.93 months for NFF, significantly better than S-1 (2.53 months, P = 0.024), while FOLFIRINOX had a comparable PFS (3.04 months, P = 0.948). Multivariate analysis identified the serum CRP, serum CA19-9, duration of first-line GnP therapy, and use (yes/no) of S-1 for second-line treatment as independent predictors for OS. This study concludes that second-line NFF therapy demonstrated a more favorable OS compared to S-1 therapy, however, it is still important to consider the patient background characteristics while selecting the most appropriate treatment.
This study evaluated the feasibility and clinical utility of liquid-based cytology (LBC) specimens via endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) for next-generation sequencing (NGS) ...of pancreatic cancer (PC). We prospectively evaluated the performance of DNA extraction and NGS using EUS-FNB samples obtained from PC. Thirty-three consecutive patients with PC who underwent EUS-FNB at our hospital were enrolled. DNA samples were obtained from 96.8% of the patients. When stratified with a variant allele frequency (VAF) > 10% tumor burden, the NGS success rate was 76.7% (
= 23) in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), 83.3% (
= 25) in LBC, and 76.7% (
= 23) in frozen samples. The overall NGS success rate was 86.7% (
= 26) using FFPE, LBC, or frozen samples. The detection rates for the main mutated genes were as follows: 86.7% for
, 73.3% for
, 66.7% for
, 36.7% for
, and 16.7% for
. LBC had the highest median value of VAF (23.5%) for
and
. PC mutation analysis using NGS was successfully performed using LBC compared with FFPE and frozen samples. This approach provides an alternative and affordable source of molecular testing materials.
A 64-year-old man presented to our hospital with abdominal pain and 4–5 episodes of watery diarrhea per day for 2 months. Abdominal ultrasound examination revealed a mass in the peritoneal cavity, ...and computed tomography showed a 13.4 cm mass in the mesentery and a 3 cm mass in the mesocolon. The patient underwent laparoscopic partial resection for diagnosis. Microscopically, abundant fibrosis and numerous immunoglobulin (Ig) G4-positive plasma cells were observed. The serum level of IgG4 was 665 mg/dl postoperatively. These findings suggested that the lesion was consistent with IgG4-related sclerosing mesenteritis. Oral steroids resulted in rapid disappearance of symptoms and a decrease in masses. Recently, sclerosing mesenteritis are reported as IgG4-related disease or mimicking IgG4-related disease but multiple lesions rarely occur in the same organ. We report a case of IgG4-related sclerosing mesenteritis with multiple lesions without involvement of other organs, such as the pancreas and salivary glands.
/Objectives: Identifying reliable pretreatment imaging biomarkers for pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm (PanNEN) is a key imperative. Extracellular volume (ECV) fraction quantified with equilibrium ...contrast-enhanced CT can be easily integrated into routine examinations. This study aimed to determine whether ECV fraction with equilibrium contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) could predict long-term outcomes in patients with PanNEN.
This study was a retrospective observational study of 80 patients pathologically diagnosed with PanNEN at a single institution. ECV fraction of the primary lesion was calculated using region-of-interest measurement within PanNEN and the aorta on unenhanced and equilibrium CECT. The impact of clinical factors and tumor ECV fraction on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was assessed with univariate and multivariate analyses using Cox proportional hazards models. The correlation between WHO classification and tumor ECV fraction was evaluated using Kendall rank correlation coefficients.
PFS and OS rates were estimated as 93.4% and 94.6%, 78.7% and 86.2%, 78.7% and 77.0%, and 78.7% and 66.6% at 1, 3, 5, and 10 years, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) stage (hazard ratio HR = 3.95, P = 0.003), WHO classification (HR = 12.27, P = 0.003), and tumor ECV fraction (HR = 11.93, P = 0.039) were independent predictors of PFS. Patient age (HR = 1.11, P < 0.001), UICC stage (HR = 3.14, P = 0.001), and tumor ECV fraction (HR = 5.27, P = 0.024) were independent significant variables for predicting OS. Tumor ECV fraction had a weak inverse relationship with WHO classification (P = 0.045, τ = −0.178).
ECV fraction determined by equilibrium CECT and UICC stage may predict survival in patients with PanNEN.
Original FOLFIRINOX (oFFX) is more toxic than other regimens for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC); therefore, a modified FFX (mFFX) regimen with a reduced dosage has been used in ...Japanese clinical practice. However, very few studies have compared these two regimens.
This study was conducted as part of a multicenter retrospective study of 318 patients with mPC across 14 centers in Japan (NAPOLEON study). To control for potential bias and confounders, we conducted a propensity score-adjusted analysis of patient characteristics and clinical outcomes.
oFFX and mFFX were administered to 48 and 54 patients. More patients with younger age and poorer performance status were included in the oFFX group. The overall survival (OS; median, 11.6 vs. 11.3 months; hazard ratio HR, 0.91; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.60-1.40; p = 0.67), progression-free survival (PFS) (median, 6.3 vs. 5.7 months; HR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.56-1.28; p = 0.44), and overall response rate (29 vs. 26%, p = 0.71) were not significantly different for the oFFX and mFFX groups. Thrombopenia and liver dysfunction were significantly more frequent with oFFX than with mFFX. The median received dose intensity of CPT-11 was higher with oFFX than with mFFX (299 vs. 270 mg/m2/week, p < 0.01). The propensity score-adjusted analysis revealed no statistically significant differences in OS and PFS between the two groups.
In our data, there was no significant difference in efficacy between mFFX and oFFX, and mFFX has fewer adverse events.
Objectives: Unemployment or job change due to treatment for a disease is affected by various factors such as disease type, degree of disability, and workplace patient support. This study aimed to ...clarify the factors affecting the unemployment/job-change rate among workers who had designated intractable diseases. Methods: A questionnaire survey was administered to 3,210 designated patients with intractable diseases who underwent applications for renewal of medical care subsidies at the Hirakata City Public Health Center during fiscal year 2019 (July–December). Of these patients, 539 workers aged 20–59 years who were employed as regular workers, temporary contract worker/dispatched workers, and part-time workers when they became designated intractable diseases were subjects of the analysis. Unemployment/job-change due to the treatment for a designated intractable disease was treated as an event occurrence, while the absence of unemployment/job-change due to disease at the time of the survey were considered censored cases. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to determine the trend of the unemployment/job-change rate associated with the duration of work. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to examine the relationship between unemployment/job-change and factors such as gender, age at onset, disease groups, activities of daily living, types of employment, experienced workplace supports (e.g., reduced working hours and hourly paid leave), and existence of insoluble medical difficulties at the workplace. Results: The unemployment/job-change rate due to treatment for designated intractable disease was 19.4%. Significantly independent factors of unemployment/job-change were the following: 50s at onset (compared to those in their 30s, HR = 2.55, 95% CI (1.21–5.37)), requiring outing assistance (compared to going out alone, 2.31 (1.13–4.71)), being a temporary contract worker/dispatched worker (compared to a regular worker, 2.66 (1.20–5.89)), existence of insoluble medical difficulties at workplace (4.15 (2.43–7.09)). Experienced workplace support was not a significant factor in preventing unemployment/job-change. Conclusions: Age at onset, degree of disability, form of employment, and existence of insoluble medical difficulties at the workplace were significantly associated with unemployment/job change due to treatment for designated intractable diseases. The relationship between workplace patient supports and unemployment/job-change was not clear, but to reduce medical difficulties in the workplace, workplace supports must be expanded. Given that workplace support is not an obligatory effort for employers, it is necessary to establish a system where employers can easily promote workplace support.