Cancer

High copy numbers of either Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition Factor Gene (MET) or catalytic subunit of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PIK3CA) were associated with poorer prognostic features and triple receptor-negative disease. Coamplification was frequent. Patients with tumors with a high MET copy number tended to have a worse recurrence-free survival.

In a cohort of patients with stage II and III breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) and postmastectomy radiation, stage at presentation, combined receptor status, pathologic response to NAT, and omission of the supraclavicular field are identified as risk factors for locoregional recurrence after NAT.

The authors study the impact of CD133 (cluster of differentiation 133; a transmembrane glycoprotein also known as Prominin or PROM1) expression levels in pretreatment and post-treatment tumor specimens from 126 patients with locally advanced rectal cancers undergoing multimodal therapy with preoperative radiochemotherapy (RCT) and curative surgery. The results demonstrate that an enrichment of CD133-expressing cancer cells during RCT, and not absolute CD133 expression levels before and after RCT, can identify patients who are at higher risk of distant relapse and poor survival and may qualify for intensified after-care programs and adjuvant therapy.

The 2010 World Health Organization classification, the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society (ENETS) grading, and the ENETS staging systems all are valid instruments for the prognostic assessment of gastroenteric neuroendocrine neoplasms. ENETS TNM-based staging is the best available choice for prognostic evaluation, both alone and in association with other classifications.

Patients who receive preoperative, short-course carbon-ion radiotherapy experience no dose-limiting toxicity. Preoperative, short-course carbon-ion radiotherapy followed by surgery is feasible and tolerable without unacceptable morbidity in the treatment of resectable pancreatic cancer.

The investigators report the outcomes of 247 prostate cancer patients with postprostatectomy biochemical failure who received salvage radiotherapy according to a paradigm of either targeting the whole pelvis or limiting treatment to the prostate bed at 2 separate institutions. Improved biochemical control was associated with larger treatment fields, a finding limited to patients with preradiotherapy prostate-specific antigen levels ≥0.4 ng/mL.

This is the first study that shows C-X-C chemokine receptor 7 (CXCR7) expression is elevated in bladder cancer tissues and exfoliated urothelial cells and correlates with aggressive phenotype with high accuracy. CXCR7 promotes bladder cancer cell proliferation, motility, and survival, plausibly through epidermal growth factor receptor and/or Akt signaling.

A microRNA (miRNA) signature was found to be prognostic of oropharyngeal cancer, independent of common clinical features or human papillomavirus (HPV) status. Moreover, HPV-related miRNAs were identified that may help to characterize HPV-induced cancers.

The overall survival of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx has improved significantly over the past 5 decades. Tumor classification and lymph node status are the most important factors for patients who were diagnosed between 1955 and 1994; and smoking status, T classification, age, and tumor site are the most important factors for patients who were diagnosed between 1995 and 2004. The current TNM staging system does not adequately predict survival in the 1995 to 2004 cohort and indicates the need to incorporate other factors, such as smoking and human papillomavirus status, into the staging system.

Dose intensification of daunorubicin and cytarabine during induction and consolidation therapy for adult patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia is tolerable but does not result in improved disease-free or overall survival compared with historic controls in Cancer and Leukemia Group B Study 19801. The administration of central nervous system prophylaxis with systemic methotrexate (intrathecal, oral, and intravenous) for central nervous system prophylaxis permits the omission of central nervous system irradiation.

The Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) score has strong prognostic value in marginal zone lymphoma. Patients with low-risk or intermediate-risk FLIPI scores have an excellent prognosis, whereas patients with poor-risk FLIPI scores may be candidates for novel treatment approaches.

In acute myeloid leukemia and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents have a clinical and economic benefit on quality of life, hemoglobin recovery, and lead to a significant reduction of red blood cell transfusions with no effect on survival. Specific guidelines on erythropoiesis-stimulating agent use in these 2 populations are needed.

This study shows that the single-agent arsenic trioxide regimens have a high antileukemic efficacy and low toxicity, and can be used as first-line treatment for elderly patients with de novo acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Patients with hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative/hepatitis C virus antibody (HCVAb)-negative hepatocellular carcinoma (NBNC-HCC) have clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic factors that differ from those in patients with HBsAg-positive/HCVAb-negative HCC. Compared with men, women who have NBNC-HCC have a poorer prognosis, and it may be worthwhile to evaluate estrogen administration for the maintenance of sex hormone balance and to improve these poor outcomes.

It has been suggested that Asian patients with hepatocellular carcinoma have increased susceptibility to hand-foot skin reaction (HFSR) related to sorafenib therapy. Differences in the incidence of HFSR may be caused by ethnic differences in genetic polymorphisms of the genes, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase 1 family-polypeptide A9 (UGT1A9), especially in relation to the expression of serum TNF-α after sorafenib therapy.

Different eligibility criteria for a screening trial of patients with bladder cancer were compared using decision-analytic techniques. The optimal high-risk subgroup for screening can be defined in terms of a risk score, based on age and sex as well as smoking and family histories.

In this largest reported, single-institution analysis to date of the impact of race and ethnicity on the biologic features and outcome variables of patients with ductal carcinoma in situ, although age at presentation and positive estrogen receptor status vary among different ethnic groups, significant disparities in the histopathologic features, presentation, and outcomes of patients with ductal carcinoma in situ are not observed.

This multicenter pilot study evaluates the feasibility of prospective data collection for quality assessment and improvement in daily clinical practice. The findings show that data collection incorporated into clinical practice is feasible and acceptable to clinicians and staff.

Breast cancer survivors express high levels of satisfaction with the integration of treatment plan and summary documents into their clinical care. Participants recommended that practices continue to provide these documents to their patients.

Predictive factors of adjuvant therapy are lacking in patients with resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Evaluation of the predictive value of ribonucleotide reductase M1 (RRM1) expression in this study demonstrates that low expression of RRM1 predicts gemcitabine treatment effect and that high expression of RRM1 predicts nongemcitabine treatment effect (mainly chemoradiation).

Omitting pelvic computed tomography from the routine, off-therapy follow-up of patients with Wilms tumor saves an average 30% to 45% of the effective dose (when imaging at a 120-kilovolt peak) without compromising disease detection. The use of this modality in patients with high-risk features for pelvic recurrence or pelvic disease, such as age at diagnosis ≥48 months, higher stage disease (stage III), specimen weight >1000 g, positive tumor margins, capsular penetration, tumor spillage, or unfavorable histology, deserves investigation in prospective national clinical trials.

This study showed that the effectiveness of decision support interventions, including question prompt lists and audiorecording of the consultation, is similar to patient decision aids. This is important because it may be that these less complex decision support interventions may be all that is necessary to achieve similar outcomes as patient decision aids for cancer treatment.

Adolescents and young adults with cancer demonstrate biomedical risks and psychosocial issues distinct from those of younger children or older adult patients. The current findings suggest that substantial proportions of these patients are not getting their psychosocial care needs met.

A set of preference scores (utilities) were generated that can be used in cost-effectiveness analyses. On average, Lynch syndrome testing is associated with higher utilities than forgoing testing, but these preferences vary substantially, suggesting that many patients will not necessarily avail themselves of testing even if it is offered to them.

Whole-brain radiation therapy has been associated with neurocognitive dysfunction. Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery as an upfront strategy for management of lung cancer brain metastases avoids white matter changes that have been correlated with whole-brain radiation toxicity.

Soluble major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related molecule A (sMICA) may be involved in tumor-associated angiogenesis and tumor growth by affecting corresponding cytokines as well as causing impairment of natural killer cell cytotoxicity in the development and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The results of this study will provide valuable information to develop new soluble biomarkers or therapeutic approaches in PDAC with respect to sMICA and dysregulated cytokines in PDAC.