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Background: Patients with unresectable recurrent rectal cancer (RRC) or colorectal cancer (CRC) with liver metastases, refractory to at least two lines of traditional systemic therapy, may receive third line intraarterial chemotherapy (IC) and targeted therapy (TT) using drugs selected by chemosensitivity and tumor gene expression analyses of liquid biopsy-derived circulating tumor cells (CTCs).Methods: In this retrospective study, 36 patients with refractory unresectable RRC or refractory unresectable CRC liver metastases were submitted for IC and TT with agents selected by precision oncotherapy chemosensitivity assays performed on liquid biopsy-derived CTCs, transiently cultured in vitro, and by tumor gene expression in the same CTC population, as a ratio to tumor gene expression in peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PMBCs) from the same individual. The endpoint was to evaluate the predictive accuracy of a specific liquid biopsy precision oncotherapy CTC purification and in vitro culture methodology for a positive RECIST 1.1 response to the therapy selected.Results: Our analyses resulted in evaluations of 94.12% (95% CI 0.71-0.99) for sensitivity, 5.26% (95% CI 0.01-0.26) for specificity, a predictive value of 47.06% (95% CI 0.29-0.65) for a positive response, a predictive value of 50% (95% CI 0.01-0.98) for a negative response, with an overall calculated predictive accuracy of 47.22% (95% CI 0.30-0.64).Conclusions: This is the first reported estimation of predictive accuracy derived from combining chemosensitivity and tumor gene expression analyses on liquid biopsy-derived CTCs, transiently cultured in vitro which, despite limitations, represents a baseline and benchmark which we envisage will be improve upon by methodological and technological advances and future clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term treatment results of combined superselective intraarterial chemotherapy and radiation therapy for advanced maxillary sinus cancer (MSC) and the incidence of regional lymph node failure, and to reveal the clinical and anatomical predictive factors for metastasis.Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 55 consecutive patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary sinus who were treated with external radiotherapy and superselective intraarterial chemotherapy. Elective nodal irradiation (ENI) was performed only in the clinical node-positive (cN+) cases and not in the clinical node-negative (cN0) cases.Results: Thirty-eight patients were cN0, and 17 were cN+ at diagnosis. Regional lymph node metastases occurred in 7 of 38 patients with cN0, and 2 of 17 with cN+ during the median follow-up period of 36 months. There were more cases of high-grade (3 or 4) late adverse events in the ENI group than in the non-ENI group (13% vs. 41%, respectively; p = 0.03). In cN0 cases without ENI, invasion of the pterygoid plates (57% vs. 90%; p < 0.01) and oral cavity (35% vs. 92%, with invasion vs without invasion, respectively; p = 0.02) was significantly correlated with a low 5-year regional recurrence-free rate.Conclusions: Patients with MCS and invasion of the pterygoid plates and oral cavity can be considered appropriate candidates for ENI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]