Atezolizumab is a monoclonal antibody immune checkpoint inhibitor that binds to programmed death ligand 1 to selectively prevent its interaction with programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and B7.1 (CD80) ...receptors. We present a case of a 61-year-old man with metastatic urothelial carcinoma of the right ureter and urinary bladder. After gemcitabine/cisplatin as the first-line chemotherapy and surgery, the patient received atezolizumab 1200 mg i.v. q3w. Following the first atezolizumab administration, he noted vitiligo periorally, on his hands, legs, and the scalp. The patient's overall survival (OS) of >26 months and continuing response to atezolizumab treatment is considerably better than median OS in the SAUL study of 8.7 months (IMvigor211-like patients' OS 10.0 months). This case indicates that increased efficacy of atezolizumab can be associated with cutaneous immune related adverse events, reflecting the known Th17 polarization of these diseases and showing that individuals with cutaneous adverse events could benefit from PD-1 checkpoint blockade in the therapy of metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
Germ-cell testicular cancer (GCTC) is a malignant neoplasm derived from the primordial germ cell. Although it accounts for approximately 1% of all malignancies in men, it is the most common cancer of ...younger male population, with the highest incidence between ages 15 and 35. Testicular cancer incidence rate has risen globally over the past several decades, with the average increase in the incidence of testicular cancer in Croatia of 7%
per annum
from the year 1983 to 2007. Two main groups are seminomas and non-seminomas, each accounting for 50% of cases, and they differ in treatment modalities and response to therapy. Despite increase in the incidence rate, a promising circumstance is that GCTC has become a model of curable cancer. Because of advances in diagnostic procedures, sophisticated radiation techniques and especially the introduction of cisplatin based chemotherapy protocols together with advanced postchemotherapy surgical techniques, curability is expected in about 95% of all patients diagnosed with testicular cancer and over 70% of patients with advanced disease. In this review, we will focus on treatment strategies of primary GCTC.
Although most patients with thyroid cancer have a favorable clinical course, some patients develop a more aggressive type of cancer and exhibit more rapid disease progression with worse prognosis. ...Those patients usually exhibit mutations of proteins such as tyrosine kinase enzymes that play a significant role in regulation of tumor proliferation and spreading. Development of targeted therapies is based on the inhibition of mutated kinases which are involved in the MAPK signaling pathway. The aim of this study was to present the initial results of clinical experience with kinase inhibitors in patients with metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC), poorly differentiated thyroid cancer (PDTC), and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) who exhibited rapid disease progression. A total of 17 adult patients (11 women, mean age 53.3 years) managed for progressive, metastatic disease were included in the study. Twelve patients with DTC and PDTC were previously tested for BRAF mutations, of whom nine that had tumor tissue negative for the BRAF V600E mutation received sorafenib, while three patients with tumors harboring the BRAF V600E mutation were treated with vemurafenib. Patients with MTC were treated with sunitinib, vandetanib, and sorafenib. Two patients with tumors harboring the BRAF mutation treated with vemurafenib showed restoration of radioiodine uptake. Most of patients showed significant improvement in disease status but of limited duration until disease progression. Although there was an improvement in progression-free survival, future research has to achieve a greater and longer-lasting response, probably by utilizing combined targeted therapy.
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is not a single disease. A number of different types of cancer occur in the kidney and each is caused by different genes with different histology and clinical course. ...Studies of hereditary kidney cancer sydromes have led to identification of the main kidney cancer genes: VHL, MET, FH, SDH, FLCN, TSC1 and TSC2. Mutations in each of these genes lead to dysregulation of at least one metabolic pathway that is mediated by oxygen, iron, energy and nutrient sensing suggesting that renal cell cancer is a disease of dysregulated cellular metabolism. A more improved understanding of molecular pathways has led to development of targeted therapies. Targeted agents against VEGF, VEGFR and mTOR continue to
play a crucial role in the management of metastatic RCC. However, complete response is extremely rare, resistance in tumor cells develops frequently and adverse effects of therapy are not unusual finding. For that reason further genetic and epigenetic changes, metabolic aberrations as well as immune response are beeing investigated in numerous studies to find new targets for more personalized therapy.
Zadnjih desetak godina došlo je do značajnih promjena u zdravstvenom zbrinjavanju bolesnika s
incidentalomima
nadbubrežne žlijezde koje su rezultirale novim preporukama za dijagnostiku i liječenje ...ovih
bolesnika napravljenim u suradnji Europskoga endokrinološkog društva i Europske mreže za istraživanje tumora
nadbubrežne žlijezde. Na temelju navedenih preporuka i višegodišnjega vlastitog iskustva Referentni centar
Ministarstva
zdravstva Republike Hrvatske za bolesti nadbubrežne žlijezde predlaže izmjene i dopune preporuka
za dijagnostiku i liječenje ovih bolesnika objavljenih u Liječničkom vjesniku 2010. godine.
Rak testisa najčešći je solidni tumor u muškaraca u dobi od 15. do 34. godine. Incidencija raka testisa u svijetu udvostručena je u posljednjih 40 godina. Tumori zametnih stanica čine 95% svih tumora ...testisa, a podijeljeni su u dva osnovna histološka tipa: seminomi i neseminomi. Osobito značenje daje im velik postotak izlječivosti i u diseminiranoj fazi bolesti. Tom je uspjehu najviše pridonijela kemoterapija, ali kirurgija je i dalje neizostavan dio uspješnog liječenja. U znatnog dijela bolesnika danas se nastoji odrediti terapijski minimum kojim se izbjegava niz nuspojava, a dovodi do jednakog uspjeha kao i donedavno agresivniji terapijski pristup. U tekstu koji slijedi iznesene su kliničke upute radi standardizacije dijagnostike, liječenja i praćenja bolesnika s tumorima
zametnih stanica testisa u Republici Hrvatskoj.
Optimalno zbrinjavanje oboljelih od malignih bolesti, ovisno o vrsti tumora, uključuje i određivanje serumskih tumorskih biljega. Ti su biljezi heterogena skupina molekula čija je koncentracija ...povišena kod ljudi oboljelih od zloćudnih tumora, ali se u niskim koncentracijama mogu naći i u plazmi zdravih pojedinaca. Povišene koncentracije u plazmi nastaju zbog: promjena u samoj stanici, nekroze stanice te promjene izražaja ili izlučivanja različitih molekula. Kod nekih tumora same tumorske stanice mogu potaknuti druge stanice na lučenje određenih spojeva. U kliničkoj primjeni u ovom je trenutku između ostalih dostupno određivanje nekoliko serumskih tumorskih biljega: CEA, CA 19-9, CA 15-3, CA 125, CYFRA, NSE, PSA, HCG, AFP, LDH i tiroglobulin. Veći broj serumskih tumorskih biljega primjenjuje se eksperimentalno i čeka svoje mjesto u svakodnevnoj kliničkoj primjeni. Smjernice o primjeni tumorskih biljega Nacionalne akademije kliničke biokemije (National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry – NACB) osmišljene su da bi poticale prikladniju upotrebu testova tumorskih biljega od liječnika primarne zaštite, kirurga, onkologa, ginekologa te ostalih specijalista koji se bave bolesnicima sa solidnim tumorima.
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