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BACKGROUND: The present era of individualized treatment for breast cancer is influenced by the initial disease status including the anatomical extent, grade, and receptor status. An accurate preoperative staging is the basis of treatment planning and prognostication. Our study aims to determine the discordance between the preoperative clinical and the postoperative pathological stages of breast cancer patients. METHODOLOGY: The medical records of all non-metastatic breast cancer patients from January 2017 to December 2018 who underwent upfront surgery were reviewed. They were staged as per the eighth AJCC and the concordance between the clinical (c) and pathological T (tumor), N (nodal), and final AJCC stage was studied. A Chi-square test was used to determine factors that significantly correlate with disease discordance. RESULTS: A total of 307 breast cancer patients were analyzed. Among these, 43.3% were hormone receptor-positive, 30.6% were Her2 positive and 26% were triple-negative. Overall stage discordance was seen in 48.5% (n = 149) patients (upstaging in 22.1%, downstaging in 26.4%). The discordance rate was 48.9% for T stage (cT versus pT) and 57.4% for N stage (cN versus pN). Among patients with clinically node-negative disease, 53.4% were found to have positive nodes on histopathology, while 27.2% had vice versa. Overall, the factors associated with upstaging were ER-positive, Her2 positive and triple-negative status (all p

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a diverse group of rare solid tumors of mesenchymal cell origin with distinct clinical and pathological features. They account for less than 1% of all adult malignancies and 15% of pediatric neoplasms. They include over hundreds of different histological subtypes. Many of these subtypes can occur at any age and are not confined to a specific site. Each subtype displays variable clinical behavior. Low incidence, variable presentation, behavior, and long-term outcomes further make it challenging to treat. There are multiple ongoing trials that focus on the anatomic site and histologic subtype to tailor the treatment. Further rarity of each histotype is a major barrier to recruit patients to randomized controlled trials. A multidisciplinary approach is mandatory in all cases of soft tissue sarcomas.The purpose of this review is to thoroughly understand the existing literature on history, incidence, epidemiology, etiology, histology, pathogenesis, diagnostic modalities, prognosis, management, and post treatment surveillance of STS. Uterine sarcomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), and pediatric sarcomas are not included here. It briefly highlights various molecular aberrations, changes in staging as per the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8, drugs that are used off-label in specific subtypes of sarcoma along with the recent advances. The classification of STS is undergoing continuous evolution. A wide variety of subtypes can only be diagnosed accurately with sophisticated molecular diagnostic tests and with the involvement of expert geneticists and pathologists to interpret it.There is no clarity on tailoring the treatment of STS to date. There is always a question on how best we can incorporate chemotherapy and radiotherapy along with surgery as a part of multimodality treatment. The heterogeneity of STS has hindered the development of robust, evidence-based treatment strategies, and our therapeutic approach is neither histology-specific nor widely standardized. Increased knowledge about sarcoma biology could help to discover new and more effective treatment strategies and help overcome the therapeutic challenge imposed by this deadly disease. Continued collaboration among various sarcoma centers globally will be of prime importance to optimize STS management. This will allow studies to be both sufficiently large and reasonably focused to generate evidence that is clinically meaningful in specific STS patient populations.

Treatment-related toxicities in DLBCL (diffuse large B cell lymphoma) patients are higher in the initial phase of treatment (first cycle effect). Implementation of pre-phase treatment before definitive chemotherapy had been shown to alleviate some of these side-effects in a non-randomized study conducted earlier in our institute (Lakshmaiah et. al., Eur J Haematol 100:644-8, 2018).This study was aimed at validating the role of pre-phase treatment in newly diagnosed DLBCL patients.All newly diagnosed patients with DLBCL above the age of 18 years were evaluated for eligibility and prospectively enrolled. A single-arm prospective study was conducted at the Department of Medical Oncology, in our institute from July 2015 to December 2019.Patients received vincristine and prednisolone as pre-phase treatment for 7 days after which definitive chemotherapy was instituted on day 1. They were followed up for 30 days post-first cycle chemotherapy.Paired Student's t tests and Wilcoxon signed-ranks test were used for comparison of various clinical variables as appropriate. P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.Among the 180 patients who were included in study, performance status improvement was noted in significant number of patients (p0.001). 38.4% achieved an ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status of 0 post-pre-phase therapy. Febrile neutropenia was observed in 12.8% in the present cohort as compared to the historical non-pre-phase cohort (34%).Pre-phase therapy significantly improves the performance status and diminishes neutropenia rates in DLBCL patients.

Objective Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a disease of the elderly. It is postulated that younger patients have distinct tumor biology and treatment outcomes. Various lymphoma groups across the world have studied this to understand if young adults (YAs) need a different treatment approach. Our study fills the void in data from an Asian country on YA population with FL. Patients and Methods We retrospectively analyzed young patients (age ≤40 years) diagnosed with FL at our center from 2012 to 2018. Their disease characteristics, treatment details, and outcomes were studied to examine any association between various parameters and survival. Results There were 28 young FL patients included in our study that constituted 14.6% of FL cases (males: 53.5% and females: 46.5%). The median age at diagnosis was 36.5 years. Most of the patients presented in an advanced stage, 57% had extranodal involvement, and 39.3% had bone marrow involvement at the time of presentation. The most common chemotherapy regimen used was cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone. Half of them received chemoimmunotherapy and only 18% continued rituximab as maintenance therapy. The overall response rate was 92.9% (n = 26), and the remaining two patients had progressive disease while on treatment. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 6.1 years and median overall survival (OS) was not reached. On univariate analysis, extranodal disease was associated with a lower PFS (p = 0.06) and low hemoglobin showed a significant association with OS (p = 0.005). On multivariate analysis, none of the factors showed a significant association with survival. Conclusion Most YAs present with advanced disease with a good response to treatment and favorable outcomes.

The treatment landscape of metastatic hormone receptor (HR) positive breast cancer has been changed in recent years. Availability of CDK 4/6 inhibitor and other hormone therapy has changed the treatment algorithm for these patient, we retrospectively analyzed our metastatic HR positive breast cancer patients.In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the case records of hr positive metastatic breast cancer patient treated at department of medical oncology from October 2016 to September 2018. Demographical characteristics, site of metastasis, objective response and clinical benefit response and toxicity profile were analyzed.We treated a total of 178 patients of MBC with HT at our center during the study period. One hundred fifty-two patients received HT alone (control group) and 26 patients received HT and CDK 4/6 inhibitor (study group). The median age of patients was 56 and 58 years in the control group and study group. The ORR was 41.7 versus 57.9 (95% CI [1.01-2.56]), and the CBR was 66.1% versus 78.9%; (CI [1.18-3.56]) (P0.05) of the patients in control and study groups, respectively.Among patients with HR-positive, advanced breast cancer, hormone therapy is efficacious addition of CDK 4/6 inhibitor improve the efficacy with tolerable side effects.

Background: Synovial sarcoma represents 8% of all soft-tissue sarcoma (STS). It is a high-grade STS, and 50% of patients develop metastasis. The most common site of metastasis is the lungs, lymph nodes followed by bones. Ifosfamide-based chemotherapy is associated with improved outcome. In this study, we report our experience of metastatic synovial sarcoma according to primary sites, metastatic pattern, and their outcome. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study carried out at our institute from January 2013 to December 2016. The aim of our study was to evaluate the pattern of metastasis, response to chemotherapy, and survival in patients with metastatic synovial sarcoma. Results: Over a period of 4 years, 43 patients with metastatic synovial sarcoma were diagnosed with median age of 30 years. Nearly 70% of patients had lung metastasis, other site of metastasis were lymph node, bone, and liver. Thirty patients received chemotherapy with a combination of ifosfamide and doxorubicin. The overall response rate was 87% with median progression-free survival of 8 months. Patients with lung only metastasis had better survival compared with nonpulmonary metastatic site (18 months vs. 12 months). The median survival was 18 months. Conclusion: Metastatic synovial sarcoma is chemoresponsive tumor with lung being the most common metastatic site. Patients with lung only metastasis had a better outcome than nonpulmonary metastasis.

Introduction: Haematological malignancies contribute to a significant number (8.2%) among cancer patientsin India. Bursa-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (B-ALL), Thymus-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (T-ALL) and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) are the three main types of leukaemias distinguished based on flow cytometry. Expression of Cluster of Differentiation (CD) markers of a lineage distinct to the blast population is termed as aberrant expression (expression of B/T cell markers in AML or myeloid markers in ALL). Role of aberrant marker expression in leukaemias remain an enigma till date. Aberrant expression of antigens may be associated with adverse outcomes. Aim: To study the expression of aberrant markers and their association with the remission status postinduction therapy in ALL and AML. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study done accessing the medical records of Acute Leukaemia patients admitted from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019 at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bengaluru. A total of 144 cases were included of which 86 cases were of AML and 58 cases were ALL. ALL was further divided into B-ALL and T-ALL with 40 and 18 cases respectively, 18 cases of T-ALL and 86 cases of AML were included. Demographic and clinicohaematological parameters were recorded. All quantitative variables were described as Mean {Standard deviation(SD)} and all qualitative variables were depicted as number (proportion). Statistical significance assessed by Chi-square and Fischer-Exact test using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0. Results: Majority of patients belonged to 16-25 years age group with a male preponderance of 58.3%. Aberrant marker expression was associated with the remission status with a p-value of 0.23 and 0.185 in ALL and AML patients respectively and was statistically not significant. While the Chi-square test when applied to the total cases (both ALL and AML combined) the p-value was 0.03 and statistically significant. Conclusion: Aberrant marker expression might predict poor response to induction therapy in acute leukaemias. However, larger studies are needed to confirm these results.

Lymphoma that on morphology appear blastoid or intermediate between DLBCL and BL but who lack myc and bcl-2 and/or bcl-6 rearrangements are grouped under high grade B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (HGBL, NOS). Only a few studies have yet compared the outcome of HGBL, NOS treated with different chemo-immunotherapy regimens. HGBL, NOS patients were analyzed retrospectively, who were treated with CHOP or DAEPOCH regimens every 21 days for six cycles with or without rituximab. The primary clinical objective was progression free survival. One and two year PFS rates were 29.4% and 20.6% for the CHOP arm and, 65.2% and 47.8% for the DAEPOCH arm respectively. There was statistically significant difference in mean PFS between the arms (DAEPOCH vs CHOP: 19.7 months vs 12.8 months; HR = 0.44, p = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.22–0.88). One and two year OS rates were 91.1% and 20.5% for the CHOP arm and 95.6% and 60.8% for the DAEPOCH arm respectively. Mean OS was significantly better for DAEPOCH arm (28.1 months vs 20.7 months: HR = 0.43, p = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.20–0.92). Grade 3 and 4 hematological and non-hematological toxicities were more common in DAEPOCH arm. There were 2 treatment related deaths, 1 in each arm (4.3% for DAEPOCH vs 2.9% for CHOP). HGBL, NOS is a heterogeneous group of aggressive lymphoma associated with early relapse in nearly half of the cases. Intensive regimens like DAEPOCH is associated with improved outcome in terms of PFS and OS. Though toxicities are more with DAEPOCH, they are manageable and treatment related mortality is low.

Elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia have a poor prognosis. Data from developing countries is sparse in the literature. In this retrospective study, 402 patients aged ≥ 60 years, diagnosed between Jan 2013 and Dec 2017, were analyzed for treatment patterns and survival. Median age of the whole cohort was 68 years (range 61-84). A total of 213 patients (53.3%) refused care; 188 patients (46.7%) received either BSC, LDAC, or HMA. Survival (in months) was 3.9, 6.4, and 1.2 with LDAC, HMA, and BSC, respectively. One-year survival was 17.2% and 6% with HMA and LDAC, respectively (P = 0.02). Overall response rate (ORR) did not differ between HMA and LDAC group (p = 0.12). HMA cohort had higher complete responses (20.6% vs 7.4%, p = 0.02), stable disease (32.7% vs 13.5%, p = 0.02), and transfusion independence (TI) (46.5% vs 22.2%, p = 0.01). Survival did not differ between the groups if the patients achieved ORR (12.3 vs 9.8 p = 0.2) or TI (11.6 vs 6.4 p = 0.2). Stable disease with HMA led to longer survival (8.1 vs 5.3 p = 0.01). HMAs were more effective than LDAC irrespective of cytogenetic risk category and blasts, of note HMAs improved survival of poor risk patients (5.6 vs 2.9 p = 0.004). HMA treatment (HR = 0.48; 95% 0.29-0.79, p = 0.004) and transfusion independence (HR = 0.2; 95% 0.1-0.3, p = 0.0001) predicted survival in multivariate analysis. Neutropenia and febrile neutropenia were frequent in HMA. Thrombocytopenia was the common adverse event with LDAC. Novel and cost-effective drugs are essential to improve the prognosis of these patients.

The cyclin D-cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 pathway controls the cell cycle machinery by regulating the G1-to-S-phase transition. Dysregulation of this pathway, resulting in increased cellular proliferation, is frequently observed in a variety of human cancers. Activation of cyclin D-CDK 4/6 pathway can occur through different mechanisms, including gene amplification/rearrangement, loss of negative regulatory factors, epigenetic modifications, and point mutations of different components of this pathway. Quite conspicuously, CDK 4/6 inhibitors have emerged as promising anticancer agents in various tumors in which CDK 4/6 has a pivotal role in the G1-to-S-phase cell cycle transition. The clinical use of first-generation, nonselective pan-CDK inhibitors was not progressed beyond early phase trials, due to unacceptable toxicity and lack of efficacy noted with these agents. The emergence of selective CDK 4/6 inhibitors, including ribociclib, abemaciclib, and palbociclib, has enabled us to effectively target cyclin D-CDK 4/6 pathway, at the cost of acceptable toxicity. The results of landmark phase III trials investigating palbociclib and ribociclib in advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer have demonstrated a substantial clinical benefit with a well-tolerated toxicity profile. Mechanisms of acquired resistance to selective CDK 4/6 inhibitors are beginning to emerge. Clearly, a detailed understanding of these resistance mechanisms is very much essential for the rational development of post-CDK 4/6 inhibitor therapeutic strategies. Extending the use of selective CDK 4/6 inhibitors beyond HR-positive breast cancer is a challenging task and will likely require identification of clinically meaningful biomarkers to predict response and the use of combination approaches to optimize CDK 4/6 targeting.

BACKGROUND During the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients, treatment-related toxicities are higher in the initial phase of treatment (First cycle effect). Toxicities can be tumor lysis syndrome, deterioration in performance status, febrile neutropenia, and rarely mortality. Prephase treatment before definitive chemotherapy is used in European countries to alleviate these toxicities. METHODS This was a non-randomized study carried out with the aim to evaluate the role of prephase treatment given prior to definitive chemotherapy in newly diagnosed DLBCL patients. Patients were divided into 2 cohorts "prephase cohort" and "non-prephase cohort." Prephase cohort received prephase treatment consisting of vincristine (1 mg) on -6th day and prednisolone 100 mg daily for 7 days (-6th day to day 0). Prephase treatment was followed by CHOP/R-CHOP chemotherapy on day 1. Non-prephase cohort received chemotherapy without prephase. Both groups were followed up for 30 days post-first cycle chemotherapy. RESULTS A total of 100 patients with DLBCL (50 in each cohort) were enrolled. There was a significant improvement in performance status of the patients who received prephase. A majority of 92% patients attained ECOG performance status of either 0 or 1 before starting chemotherapy in the prephase cohort. Febrile neutropenia was lower (16%) in the prephase cohort as compared with the non-prephase cohort (34%; P = .037). CONCLUSION Prephase treatment prior to definitive chemotherapy (CHOP ± Rituximab) improves the performance status and decreases first cycle effect in DLBCL patients.

Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) is defined as histologically proven metastatic tumors whose primary site cannot be identified during pretreatment evaluation. Among all malignancies, 3%–5% remained as CUP even after the extensive radiological and pathological workup. Immunohistochemistry and molecular gene expression tumor profiling are being utilized to predict the tissue of origin. Unfortunately, the survival of these patients remains poor (6–9 months) except in 20% of patients who belong to a favorable subset (12–36 months). There is a need to understand the basic biology and to identify the molecular pathways which can be targeted with small molecules. This article reviews our current approach as well as treatment evolution occurred in the past three decades.

Background: Bone marrow involvement by solid tumor implicates advanced disease and dismal prognosis. Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy are routinely performed as staging workup for certain small round cell tumors and also for unexplained cytopenia in other solid tumors. It is important to rule out bone marrow involvement before planning for curative treatment. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study. The aim of our study was to evaluate the pattern of bone marrow involvement by different solid tumors and their correlation with the hematological abnormalities. We retrospectively evaluated bone marrow aspirations and biopsy performed in past 3 years. Results: At our institution, bone marrow examinations were performed in 440 patients during past 3 years for solid malignancies. Out of 440, 206 were pediatric cases and 234 were adult cases. Bone marrow was involved in 56 (12.7%) patients. Among the pediatric cases, bone marrow involvement was present in 30 (12.8%) cases, and in adult cases, bone marrow was involved was in 26 (11.1%) cases. Neuroblastoma (40%) was the most common malignancy, which involved the bone marrow among pediatric cases, followed by retinoblastoma (26.6%) and Ewing’s sarcoma (20%). Among adult patients, neuroendocrine carcinoma (23%) was at the top of the list of tumors involving bone marrow, which is followed by Ewing’s sarcoma (19.2%) and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (11.5%). Conclusion: Neuroblastoma and neuroendocrine carcinoma are the major cause of bone marrow involvement among the solid malignancies in pediatric and adult population, respectively. Use of immunohistochemistry markers on bone marrow biopsies may result in higher detection rate.

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important oncologic end point for upper gastrointestinal malignancies. Unfortunately, till date, there is no published prospective data from India, comparing the HRQOL parameters between first-line chemotherapy regimens in advanced/metastatic gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: The present study aimed to compare the HRQOL of first-line systemic chemotherapy with epirubicin, cisplatin plus 5-FU (ECF) and docetaxel, cisplatin plus 5-FU (DCF) regimens in patients with locally advanced inoperable or metastatic gastric or gastro-esophageal junction adenocarcinoma. The secondary end points were overall response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity profile. Results: Between December 2014 and December 2016, 65 patients were treated with ECF (n= 34) or DCF (n= 31) regimen. The baseline HRQOL scores were comparable between the two study groups, with the exception of significantly poor pain and sleep difficulties symptom score in the DCF group. After three cycles of treatment, both the groups showed improvements in most of the quality of life (QOL) parameters including global QOL score, compared with their baseline status. After six cycles of chemotherapy, the ECF group showed nonsignificant deterioration for most of the QOL parameters; but on the contrary, the DCF group maintained improved scores for most of the QOL parameters. The median survival until a definitive deterioration of global QOL score was significantly better in the DCF arm in comparison to the ECF arm (7.1 vs. 5.6 months, respectively, P = 0.000). The median OS was 9.2 months with ECF and 12.5 months with DCF regimen (P = 0.000), while median PFS was 5.7 and 7.4 months with ECF and DCF regimens, respectively (P = 0.002). Conclusions: This prospective study highlighted a better impact of DCF chemotherapy on the HRQOL of patients with advanced/metastatic gastric cancer and showed the importance of QOL assessments in clinical trials to complement the risk–benefit judgment.

Background: Bilateral breast cancer (BBC) is a rare clinical entity with limited data regarding clinicopathological aspects and treatment guidelines. Materials and Methods: This was an observational study of patients diagnosed with BBC from August 2012 to July 2014. Synchronous breast cancers (SBCs) was defined as two tumors diagnosed within an interval of 6 months and metachronous breast cancer (MBC) as second cancer diagnosed after 6 months. Results: Out of 750 breast cancer patients seen during a 2-year period, 35 had BBC. Ten patients were diagnosed as SBC whereas 25 patients as MBC. Among patients with MBC, the average time for development of contralateral breast cancer was 5 years. In 8 patients, the contralateral breast cancer was detected mammography whereas rest 27 patients were detected by clinical breast examination. At a median follow-up of 24 months, 23 (66%) patients were disease free, 9 (26%) patients had disease relapse, and 3 (8%) patients succumbed to the progressive disease. Conclusions: Every patient with breast cancer should be regularly followed up with clinical breast examination at a more frequent interval. The role of frequent clinical breast examination appears more than mammography especially beyond 5 years for early detection of contralateral breast cancer.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast (SCCB) is a rare entity with limited data pertaining to the clinicopathological profile and treatment outcome. These tumors are characterized by rapid progression and have a poor outcome. The optimal therapy for SCCB has not yet been standardized. Most patients with SCCB are treated with the similar conventional chemotherapy regimens used in the ductal variant of breast cancer. This was an observational study of patients diagnosed with SCCB diagnosed from March 2013 to February 2015 at our institute. The medical records were reviewed and patients were contacted by telephone to study the clinicopathological profile and treatment outcome. We identified 5 (0.45%) patients of SCCB out of 1100 breast cancer patients treated in the department of medical oncology during this period. The median age at presentation was 48 years. All tumor specimens showed macroscopic findings of a cystic lesion and central necrosis. After a median follow-up of 32 months, 3 patients (60%) were alive, whereas 2 (40%) patients succumbed to disease progression after recurrence. SCCB is a rare subtype of breast cancer with no standard treatment approach. These are associated with poor prognosis and larger studies are needed to investigate different treatment options.

Background: Limited repertoires of targets are available in the management of squamous cell carcinoma lung. In this study, we analyzed epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), RAS, BRAF mutations in lung cancer patients of squamous cell histology using next-generation sequencing (NGS) on the circulating cell-free DNA (cf-DNA). Materials and Methods: In this prospective observational study, patients with squamous cell carcinoma lung, either newly diagnosed or having a progressive disease on prior therapy were eligible. Cf-DNA was extracted from peripheral blood and analyzed for EGFR, KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF mutations using NGS. Results: Sixteen patients were enrolled over a period of 1 month. The mean cf-DNA quantity extracted from the plasma was 96.5 ng (range, 15–200 ng). Eight clinically relevant mutations in the EGFR pathway were identified. These include Exon 21 mutations in 4 patients, Exon 20 mutation in onepatient, complex mutations with coexisting Exon 21 and Exon18 in one patient and KRAS Exon 2 mutations in two patients. Conclusion: cf-DNA is a minimally invasive technique for detection of clinically relevant mutations in lung cancer patients. The use of novel advanced techniques such as NGS may help in detecting EGFR pathway mutations in patients with squamous cell carcinoma lung.

Non Hodgkin lymphoma, predominantly Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) has been reported to have a significant association with Hepatitis B virus (HBV). We investigated the presence of different gene segments of HBV in plasma, B-cells and tumor tissues from DLBCL patients and explored the genetic variability of HBV within and across different compartments in a host using Next Generation Sequencing. Despite all 40 patients being HBV seronegative, 68% showed evidence of occult HBV. Sequencing of these gene segments revealed inter-compartment viral variants in 26% of them, each with at least one non-synonymous mutation. Between compartments, core gene variants revealed Arg94Leu, Glu86Arg and Ser41Thr while X gene variants revealed Phe73Val, Ala44Val, Ser146Ala and Ser147Pro. In tumor compartments per se, several mis-sense mutations were detected, notably the classic T1762A/A1764G mutation in the basal core promoter. In addition, a virus surface antigen mis-sense mutation resulting in M125T was detected in all the samples and could account for surface antigen negativity and occult HBV status. It would be interesting to further explore if a temporal accumulation of viral variants within a favored niche, like patients’ lymphocytes, could bestow survival advantage to the virus, and if certain pro-oncogenic HBV variants could drive lymphomagenesis in DLBCL.

The median age of diagnosis for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in India is 35 years on the contrary to western literature which is 47 years. The outcome of the elderly patient in CML TKI era is not reported from the Indian population. However, Western literature suggests that use of TKI alleviate the adverse impact of age in outcomes of CML. This study was carried out to analyze the clinical profile and outcome of elderly, in comparison with younger patients with CML. We retrospectively analyzed CML patients treated at our department from January 2008 to December 2017. The data cutoff date was December 2018. The cohorts of 712 patients were divided into two groups. Patients belonging to the age group of ≥ 60 years were classified as the study group and those who were 18–60 years were used as controls. Patient’s clinical history, examination and milestones in terms of achieving hematological, molecular responses and toxicity profile were also recorded. The total of 712 patients, 52 patients in the study group and 660 patients in the control group were treated during the study period. The study group was having more co-morbidities than the control group (15.3% vs. 4.5%). Patients having high-risk EUTOS score were similar in both groups (38.4% vs. 37.6%). The patients presented in blast phase were higher in the study group as compared to control group (9.6% vs. 6.36%) but the differences were not statistically significant. Rates of achieving a hematological response at 3 months (85.1% vs. 86.89%) and the major molecular response at 18 months (54.3% vs. 60.16%) were almost similar in both groups. However, hematological toxicity, muscle cramps and gastritis were reported more in elderly patients. The outcome of CML patients in TKI era do not differ in elderly patients. However, toxicity profile was not significantly inferior in elderly patients.

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy, toxicity, and impact of induction chemotherapy (IC) in technically unresectable T4a oral cavity squamous cell cancers (OSCCs). Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with technically unresectable locally advanced T4a OSCC from January 2013 and November 2016 at our center, who received 2–3 cycles of IC and then assessed for resectability, were reviewed retrospectively. Patients' profile, response rates and toxicity of IC, resectability status, and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 17.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: Totally 80 patients received IC, and of them 58 (72.5%) were males. Median age at diagnosis was 44 years (range, 34–62 years). All our patients received IC with doublet regimen. Majority of the patients had buccal mucosa cancers (73.8%), followed by gingivobuccal complex (21.2%) and oral tongue (5%) primaries. After IC, partial response was achieved in 17 (21.3%) patients, stable disease in 49 (61.3%) patients and disease progression was noted in 14 (17.4%) patients. Post-IC, resectability was achieved in 19 (23.8%) of 80 patients, but 4 of them did not undergo surgery due to logistic and personal reasons. The median OS of patients who underwent surgery followed by adjuvant local therapy (n = 15) was 16.9 months (95% CI: 15.2–19.8 months) and for those treated with nonsurgical local therapy (n = 65) was 8.8 months (95% CI: 6.8–10.6 months) (log-rank P = 0.000). Conclusions: IC had a manageable toxicity profile and achieved resectability in 23.8% of our patients with technically unresectable T4a OSCC. Patients underwent resection had a significantly better median OS than those who received nonsurgical local treatment.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common female cancer seen globally. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a special subtype without any obvious target and optimum treatment remains challenging. The aim was to study the clinical, pathological profile and treatment outcome of TNBC patients. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of TNBC patients diagnosed from January 2010 to June 2012 at a tertiary cancer center in South India. Patient’s clinical and pathological characteristics were studied. The 5-year estimate of survival for non-metastatic TNBC was done using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Out of 804 patients of breast cancer, 237 were diagnosed as TNBC. The median age was 45 years and 58% were premenopausal. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for non-metastatic TNBC patients were 59% and 74%, respectively. The addition of a taxane to anthracycline-based regimen did not show a significant difference in DFS (P = 0.885) as well as OS (P = 0.856). Conclusion: The role of adding taxanes to anthracycline-based chemotherapy in adjuvant setting for TNBC remains controversial and larger prospective studies are warranted. World J Oncol. 2017;8(4):110-116 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/wjon1054w

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Historically, a poor prognosis for metastatic disease has been reported with systemic chemotherapy. Significant advances have been made in the last decade, since the introduction of different tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Unfortunately, even though the TKIs have been used for a long time, there are very few published data of the experience of TKI therapy in metastatic GIST from India. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with metastatic GIST from January 2005 to October 2016 at our center, who received first-line therapy with imatinib 400 mg/day, were reviewed retrospectively. Patients' profile, response to treatment, toxicity of TKI therapy, time to progression, and survival were evaluated. Results: Of the 44 metastatic GIST patients, 23 (52.2%) were males. Median age at diagnosis was 48 years. The most common presenting symptom was an abdominal pain (52%), followed by weight loss (23%). Most frequently affected metastatic site was liver (57%), followed by peritoneum (16%), and lungs (4.5%). Metastases to both liver and peritoneum were found in 10 patients (22.5%). All patients were initially treated with imatinib at a dose of 400 mg/day. Disease stabilization was documented in 21 cases (48%), and 13 patients (29%) achieved a partial response. TKI therapy was well-tolerated in most cases. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 26 months, and estimated median survival was 48 months. Patients with lung metastases have a significantly inferior median PFS and overall survival, in comparison to patients with other metastatic sites (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Imatinib therapy was well tolerated and induced a sustained clinical benefit in more than half of the patients with metastatic GIST. Lung metastases seemed to be a poor prognostic factor in this patient population.

Introduction: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is an oncological emergency. The choice of empiric therapy depends on the locally prevalent pathogens and their sensitivities, the sites of infection, and cost. The Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines are being followed for the management of FN in India. Methods: This is a prospective observational study conducted at a tertiary care cancer centre from September 2012 to September 2014. Objectives: The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) To review the pattern of microbial flora, susceptibility pattern, and important clinical variables among bloodstream infections in febrile neutropenic patients with solid tumors and hematological malignancies. (2) As per the institutional protocol to periodically review the antibiotic policy and susceptibility pattern, and compare the findings with an earlier study done in our institute in 2010. This was a prospective study conducted from September 2012 to September 2014. Results: About 379 episodes of FN were documented among 300 patients. About 887 blood cultures were drawn. Of these, 137 (15%) isolates were cultured. Isolates having identical antibiograms obtained from a single patient during the same hospitalization were considered as one. Hence, 128 isolates were analyzed. About 74 (58%) cultures yielded Gram-negative bacilli, 51 (40%) were positive for Gram-positive cocci, and 3 (2%) grew fungi. Among Gram-negative organisms, Escherichia coli followed by Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae accounted for 78% of the isolates. Among Gram-positive cocci, Staphylococcus species accounted for 84% of the isolates. We have noted a changing trend in the antibiotic sensitivity pattern over the years. Following the switch in empirical antibiotics, based on the results of the study done in 2010 (when the empirical antibiotics were ceftazidime + amikacin), the sensitivity to cefoperazone-sulbactam has plunged from about 80% to 60%%. Similar reduction in susceptibility was noted for piperacillin-tazobactam, imipenem, and meropenem. On the contrary, there was a marked increase in sensitivity to ceftazidime (50–76%). Based on these results, we have reverted to ceftazidime + amikacin as the empirical antibiotics. Conclusion: Every institute must have a regular revision of antibiotic policy based on periodic assessment of the clinical and microbiological profile in FN. This will combat antibiotic resistance.