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Introduction: we aimed to investigate the efficacy and side effects of bendamustine in relapsed/refractory lymphoma patients in Turkey. Material and methods: in this retrospective study, we included relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients who underwent multiple lines of chemotherapy. The primary endpoint was to determine the objective response and toxicity. Results: ninety-nine patients with a median age of 59.8 years were included in the study. Eighty-one patients had NHL (follicular lymphoma: 10, diffuse large B- cell lymphoma: 27, mantle-cell lymphoma: 18, marginal zone lymphoma: 9, small lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia: 17) and 18 patients had HL. The patients had previously received a median of three lines of chemotherapy (range: 2-8) except autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT); 19 patients (HL: 11, NHL: 8) had undergone ASCT. The objective response rate (ORR) was 74.3%, the complete response rate was 57% (= 53), and the partial response rate was 16.6% (= 19). The overall survival (OS) rate at 1 year was 74.6%. The progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 1 year was 62.5%. The most common side effects were lymphopenia, anemia and neutropenia. Side effects which were observed as grade 3 and higher levels were lymphopenia (14.1%), neutropenia (10.1%) and fatigue (7.1%). Conclusions: objective response rate of bendamustine was found to be 74.3% in relapsed/refractory HL and NHL patients. It appears to be an effective option as a salvage treatment for patients who have previously received multiple lines of therapy., NA

Objectives: Lung cancer is the leading cancer type among cancer deaths in the world and our country. There are some controversial issues that specialists dealing with oncology have difficulty in decision making. The aim of this study is to determine the approach of physicians of different specialties to the management of lung cancer.Methods: In this study, an on line questionnaire was applied to specialists of lung cancer. In this questionnaire there were some lung cancer scenarios created on controversial issues, each including different stages of the disease. The scenarios were based on the hypothesis that “the participating physicians had lung cancer themselves”, and expected to answer the treatment scenarios in this wise. The participants are pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists. Results: Of the participating 170 physicians 45% were radiation oncologists, 24% pulmonologists, 23% thoracic surgeons and 8% medical oncologists. In the scenario, created to determine the approach to surgery in N2 disease, 45% of cases preferred surgery. It was also remarkable that surgery was preferred 16% in N3 diasease. In stage 1A2 disease, when pulmonary functions were insufficient for surgery, radiotherapy was preferred by 64% of cases. In the scenario questioning the decision about chemotherapy in T3N2 disease, cisplatin-etoposide vs paclitaxel-carboplatin options were preferred 32%, 26% respectively. The approach to solitary brain metastasis was 64% in favor of stereotactic radiotherapy after brain surgery. Immunotherapy was the preferred treatment when multipl brain metastasis occured in case with negative driver mutations and PDL1>1%. In oligometastatic disease, 97% of cases preferred surgery for both lung and metastatic side. Conclusions: Although there are guidelines in the management of lung cancer, there are still controversial issues with renewed treatment protocols in some special conditions. We believe that the results of this study will highlight these issues.

The effects of inflammation on the prognosis, life expectancy and several parameters such as response to treatment of breast cancer have been previously studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of inflammatory markers on prognosis in patients with metastatic breast cancer.This study was conducted on 81 patients with metastatic breast cancer who have been followed up at the Department of Medical Oncology, Hacettepe University Institute of Oncology, between December, 2009 and March, 2014. For all studied parameters Kaplan-Meier survival estimates and p values computed by log-rank test were calculated. A p value0.05 was considered statistically significant.Median follow-up time was 26 months. There were 38 deaths due to disease progression during the follow up. The levels of serum albumin, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were not associated with a significant effect on overall survival (OS). Among patients with a higher serum C-reactive protein (CRP), the estimated mean survival was 84±36 months, compared to 278±113 months among patients with a normal serum CRP (p=0.032). When patients with higher and normal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were compared, their 2-year OS survival rates were 68.2 and 87.7%, respectively (p=0.034). Among patients with higher serum ferritin levels, the estimated mean survival was 29±10 months, compared to 212±113 months for normal serum ferritin (p=0.01). Among patients with higher serum beta-2 microglobulin (β2-M), the estimated mean OS survival was 28±8 months, compared to 84±57 months for those with normal levels (p0.01).Serum CRP, ferritin and β2-M can be useful prognostic factors for OS in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

WOS: 000399505100004 PubMed ID: 28333566 Background: There are insufficient predictive markers for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Methods: A total of 308 metastatic RCC patients were analyzed retrospectively. Results: The increased hemoglobin (Hb) group had significantly higher progression-free survival and overall survival (OS) compared with the decreased Hb group at 11.5 versus 6.35months (p < .001) and 21.0 versus 11.36months (p < .001) respectively. The 1- and 3-year OS rates were higher in the Hb increased group, i.e., 84% versus 64% and 52% versus 35% respectively. Conclusions: The present study showed that increased Hb levels after tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy could be a predictive marker of RCC.

e19027 Background: Bendamustine is an old conventional agent which is used in the treatment of hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), non-hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients despite they are relapsed or refractory cases. In our study we wanted to reveal retrospectively the efficacy and side effects of bendamustine in relapse/refractory patients from Turkey. Methods: We included in the study relapse/refractory HL and NHL patients who underwent multiple line chemotherapy. Bendamustine was administered at 90 mg/m² on days 1 and 2, every 3 weeks by 60 minutes infusion. The primary endpoint of the study was to determine the objective response and toxicity. Results: Seventy-five patients (31 female) with a median age of 62.8 years (range 16-89 years) were included in the study. 58 of the patients were NHL (follicular lymphoma:8, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: 17, mantle cell lymphoma: 11, marginal zone lymphoma: 4, Small lymphocytic lymphoma:11, Others:7) and 17 of them were HL patients. The patients were underwent median three lines chemotherapy (range 1-8) accept autologous stem cell transplantation, 20 patients (HL: 12, NHL:8) were underwent autologous stem cell transplantation. Bendamustine was performed an average of 6 cycles (range 1-38). The objective response rate was 73.3%, complete response rate was 44% (n = 33), partial response rate was 29.3% (n = 22), respectively. The response rate was 65% (11/17) in HL cases, 79% (30/38) in indolent NHL cases and 70% (14/20) in aggressive NHL cases. For median follow-up of 20.7 months, the median overall survival (OS) was 64.9 months, OS rate was 75.5% for 1 year, 67.6% for 2 years and 63.1% for 3 years. The most common side effects associated with treatment were lymphopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, abdominal pain, fatigue and diarrhea. Side effects which were seen as grade 3 and higher levels: 9.6% lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia 8% and 12% fatigue. Conclusions: Objective response rate of bendamustine with tolerable side effect profile was found to be 73.3% in relapsed / refractory HL and NHL patients as a rescue agent. It appears to be an ideal agent for rescue treatment which had previously received intensive treatment.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between the rennin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibition and the risk of breast cancer (BC) recurrence and progression in N3 positive patients.The medical records of patients treated for N3 positive BC in Hacettepe Cancer Institute between 2005 and 2012 were evaluated. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) users were defined as patients who took these medications for at least 6 months in no evidence of disease (NED) stage after the initial diagnosis. The primary and secondary outcome was disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard models were used.A total of 218 pathologic N3 BC patients were included. Follow up ranged from 12 to 212 months (median 49.58). Thirty one patients used ACE inhibitors/ARBs. Univariate analysis showed BC recurrence was lower and OS was higher among patients who used ACE inhibitors/ ARBs, however without reaching statistical significance (p=0.38 and p=0.24, respectively). RAS inhibition was associated with reduced risk of pathologic N3 BC recurrence.To the best of our knowledge this is the second study showing that the use of ACE inhibitors/ARBs may be effective in N3 BC. Because of the limited therapeutic options in BC, new drugs or new therapeutic modalities should be considered. In the future, studies with long-term follow-up may be helpful for their implication in clinical practice.

e18027 Background: Molecular and genetic analyses in cancer treatment are continuously evolving, and taking part in patient management. This study evaluated the clinical practices of medical oncologists in Turkey for utilization of these methods in lung cancer patients. Methods: All medical oncologists registered to Turkish M.Oncology Society were called to participate an online survey about their practice patterns of using molecular and genetic analyses for the management of lung cancer patients. Survey included 19 questions for demographic data, work environment, knowledge about the molecular and genetic analyses, and barriers to use these methods. Results: A total of 188 medical oncologists (M/F: 117/71; mean age 39.3±6.7) were participated. The key findings: Work environment: Academia 49%; others 51% Checking mutations in adenocancer: 88.4% Molecular analyses available at home institution: 61.4% Checking EGFR, EML-ALK, ROS-1 in NSCLC: 75.7% Non-specifically checking markers: 58.2% Checking markers only for locally advanced/metastatic disease at diagnose: 75.1% Obtaining analyze results in: 8-14 days 45%; 15-21 days 31.2% Obtaining a positive EGFR/ALK report after initiating chemo: re-evaluate patient after 2/3 cycles 68.3%; stop chemo and shift to targeted therapy 20.6%; continue full-regimen 12.2% Maintenance therapy after response regardless of mutation: 36% If targeted therapy initiated regardless of mutation, the preferred 1st step cytotoxic chemo regimen in metastatic adenocancer: cisplatin+pemetrexed 50.2% Analyzing mutation from primary lung biopsy: 95.8% Re-biopsy if sample was inadequate: 91.5% Secondary biopsy for: EGFR/ALK discordance 38.1%; progression under treatment 46%; young patient 22.2%; never-smoker 34.9%; test-negative but presumed to be clinically-positive patient 46.6% Conclusions: Majority of the medical oncologists in Turkey use molecular and genetic analyses in clinical practice. But, the limited availability and the lags in obtaining results lead oncologists to initiate treatment primarily based on clinical findings. Once these methods become more available, targeted therapies and consequent favorable outcomes will increase in oncology practice.