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Docetaxel is an antimicrotubules cytotoxic agent prescribed widely by medical oncologists in multiple tumor types (breast, lung, prostate, stomach, head, and neck). However, the side effects of docetaxel are numerous (cytopenia, peripheral edema, myalgia, arthralgia, alopecia, and sensitive neuropathy) and recent concerns have been raised about neutropenic enterocolitis in France. Here, we report the case of a 57-year-old patient with metastatic prostatic cancer, who developed a severe myositis and fasciitis grade IV 1 week after his second docetaxel infusion. We reviewed the five cases of docetaxel-related myositis described in the literature, and found that most of them occurred in patients with diabetes (n=5/5) or hypertension (n=4/5). A vascular toxicity may explain this severe complication, and patients with diabetes or hypertension should be monitored closely in the context of a docetaxel chemotherapy.

ObjectiveTo investigate patterns of care during the last months of life of hospitalised patients who died from different haematological malignancies.MethodsNationwide register-based study, including all hospitalised adults ≥20 years who died from haematological malignancies in France in 2010–2013. Outcomes included use of invasive cancer treatments and referral to palliative care. Percentages are adjusted for sex and age using direct standardisation.ResultsOf 46 629 inpatients who died with haematological malignancies, 24.5% received chemotherapy during the last month before death, 48.5% received blood transfusion, 12.3% were under invasive ventilation and 18.1% died in intensive care units. We found important variations between haematological malignancies. The use of chemotherapy during the last month of life varied from 8.6% among patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia up to 30.1% among those with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (P<0.001). Invasive ventilation was used in 10.2% of patients with acute leukaemia but in 19.0% of patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (P<0.001). Palliative status was reported 30 days before death in only 14.8% of patients, and at time of death in 46.9% of cases. Overall, 5.5% of haematology patients died in palliative care units.ConclusionA high proportion of patients who died from haematological malignancies receive specific treatments near the end of life. There is a need for a better and earlier integration of the palliative care approach in the standard practice of haematology. However, substantial variation according to the type of haematological malignancy suggests that the patients should not be considered as one homogeneous group. Implementation of palliative care should account for differences across haematological malignancies.

L’utilisation de biomarqueurs en oncologie permet de sélectionner des populations pouvant bénéficier de traitements anticancéreux plus efficaces et moins toxiques, et suscitent ainsi l’espoir d’une médecine de précision. L’essor de la biologie moléculaire a provoqué un bouleversement du développement des thérapies moléculaires ciblées, permettant d’observer des signaux d’efficacité dès les essais de phase 1 et d’accélérer ainsi l’obtention d’autorisations de mise sur le marché. À ce jour, plusieurs essais académiques, dont SHIVA, SAFIR-01 et MOSCATO-01, ont évalué l’intérêt de fonder le traitement oncologique sur les seules anomalies moléculaires de la tumeur, avec l’ambition à terme de supplanter les classifications anatomopathologiques et cliniques historiques. L’administration de traitements ciblés a également permis une amélioration du pronostic de nombreux cancers, et leur recours est de plus en plus envisagé en situation palliative avancée. Franchir ces frontières permettra de tendre vers une médecine de précision en oncologie, dont l’intégration en pratique clinique est désormais une attente forte des praticiens et des patients.

Nearly 1% to 2% of NSCLCs harbor RETfusions. Characterization of this rare population is still incomplete.

ABSTRACTBackground: Percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is one of the main treatments of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it remains unclear whether this local treatment can induce systemic immune variations.Methods: We conducted a prospective study in a tertiary center including consecutive cirrhotic patients with unifocal HCC<5 cm treated by a first RFA between 2010 and 2014. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated on the day before (D0), day after (D1) and month after RFA (M1). Frequencies and phenotypes of myeloid cells, T cells, and NK cells were compared between timepoints. Overall recurrence and associated variables were estimated using Kaplan-Meier, log-rank and Cox proportional-hazards models.Results: 80 patients were included (69% male, median age: 67 years old). Main aetiologies of HCC were alcohol (51%), hepatitis C virus (45%), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (36%) and hepatitis B virus (9%). Median overall survival was 55 months (M); median progression-free survival was 29.5M. Among innate immune populations, we observed variations between D0, D1 and M1 in NKp30+ NK cells (p < .0001) and in plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC, p < .01). Concerning adaptive immunity, we observed variations in CD8 Central Memory (p < .05) and CD28+ CD8 Central Memory (p < .01). An early dynamic (D0/D1) of activated NKp30+NK cells was associated with a decreased overall recurrence (log-rank, p = .016, median delay 25.1 vs 40.6 months). In contrast, a late dynamic (D1/M1) of immature NK cells (CD56bright) and altered myeloid DC (PDL1+) was associated with an increased overall recurrence (log-rank, p = .011 and p = .0044, respectively). In multivariate analysis, variation of immature NK cells predicts tumor recurrence independently of classical clinical prognostic features (HR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.15–5.057), p = .019).Conclusions: Percutaneous RFA of small HCC leads to systemic modifications of innate and adaptive immunity closely linked with overall tumor recurrence.