Search

Background: The goal of this study was to assess the clinicopathologic characteristics and prognostic variables in men with breast cancer (BC). Methods: Clinical features, pathological characteristics, stage at diagnosis, and therapy data were noted. Survival analysis was performed using the log-rank technique and Cox regression model. Results: Eighty patients were included in the study. In 31% of the individuals, BRCA (BReast CAncer genes 1 and 2) mutations were identified. The estrogen receptor (ER) positivity ratio was 93.6%, whereas the progesterone receptor (PR) positivity ratio was 74.4%. In 16.9% of the cases, HER2 overexpression was found. The median survival time was 120.9 months (70.3–171.5), and the five-year overall survival (OS) ratio was 74.9%. In univariate analysis, BRCA mutation status had no effect on OS (P = 0.50). CA15-3 levels (P = 0.03) at diagnosis and history of smoking (P = 0.03) were significantly linked with OS. However, the multivariate analysis could not confirm these results. Conclusions: We found that BRCA mutation, body mass index, a history of smoking, and alcohol consumption did not affect the OS in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The adrenal gland is one of the most common metastatic sites in lung cancer. The anatomical localization and symmetrical nature of the glands provided the concepts of laterality and resectability of adrenal gland metastasis (AGM) in lung cancer. In this trial, we aimed to investigate the clinical features and prognosis specific to ipsilateral AGM and compare them with contralateral AGM in lung cancer patients from a single tertiary center. Methods: Data of 135 lung cancer patients with AGM were retrospectively collected. The patients were divided into two groups as ipsilateral AGM and contralateral AGM. Clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were compared. Results: 57 lung cancer patients (42.2%) had ipsilateral AGM. Isolated AGM was significantly more prevalent in patients with ipsilateral AGM than those with contralateral AGM (29.4% vs. 14.1%; p=0.026). Patients with ipsilateral AGM have a survival advantage compared to contralateral AGM (The median OS: 11.6 months vs. 7.8 months; p=0.008). In multivariate analysis, ipsilateral AGM had a favorable independent prognostic factor (Hazard Ratio=0.61; %95Confidential interval: 0.40-0.92; p=0.018). Conclusion: In patients with lung cancer, ipsilateral AGM is more likely to be isolated and is associated with a better prognosis compared to contralateral AGM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim: Over the years, disease-free survival (DFS) has been considerably prolonged with effective treatments in resectable breast cancer patients. However, a limited number of studies evaluating the predictive and prognostic factors of the disease in breast cancer patients who develop late recurrence are available. In this respect, we investigated clinicopathological features and risk factors affecting the survival of patients who developed breast cancer recurrence (BCR) after 60 months (late BCR). Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of 45 late BCR patients were evaluated. The demographic and medical data of the patients were obtained from the retrospective registry system of our center. Statistical analyses were performed to determine the risk factors affecting DFS. Results: The median age of the cohort was 49 (24-78) years. Twenty-three postmenopausal patients were included in the study, and the mean age of menopause was 50 (43-55) years. Fourteen (31.1%) patients were stage 3 at diagnosis. In the adjuvant period, 80% of the patients underwent radiotherapy, and 79.5% underwent chemotherapy. The mean duration of adjuvant hormone therapy was 64 (69-129) months. Adjuvant ovarian suppression therapy was applied to 14 patients. The three most common sites of recurrence were bones (57.8%), locoregional (26.7%), and distant lymph nodes (26.7%). The median DFS of the cohort was 116.9 (3.7) months (109.6-124.1 months). Disease-related deaths occurred in only five patients, and the median overall survival (OS) could not be achieved. Based on a log-rank analysis, the median DFS was longer in patients whose adjuvant hormone therapy duration was 5-10 years and in those with bone or lymph node recurrence (P = 0.025 and P = 0.001, respectively). DFS was significantly shorter in patients with liver metastases (P = 0.005). Based on a chi-squared analysis, bone and lymph node metastases were higher in luminal A-like group (P = 0.030), and liver metastasis was lower (P = 0.039). Luminal biology did not affect late BCR (P = 0.075). Conclusions: Prolonged adjuvant hormone therapy (5-10 years) delays breast cancer recurrence. However, luminal features are insufficient to predict recurrence as the recurrence period increases. In addition, different sites of metastases are associated with long-term survival and luminal subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma (PSC) is a very rare subtype of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is frequently diagnosed in the advanced stage and is resistant to conventional chemotherapeutics. Due to the unique nature and rarity, we evaluated the epidemiological, clinicopathological, and survival data of PSC patients treated at our centre. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively collected demographic and clinical data of 67 PSC patients from a single tertiary referral hospital, between the 2000 and 2018. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the risk factors affecting survival. Results: The median age was 61 years, and the percentage of male was 74.6%. Most of the patients had a smoking history (76.9%). The most common PSC subtype was pleomorphic carcinoma (46.3%). The median overall survival (OS) was 55.4 months, and the 5-year OS rate was 47.5%. Advanced stage, T4 tumour, and positive lymph node involvement were associated with poor OS (p < 0.05). The patients with negative epithelial markers had poorer prognosis (p = 0.027) and had more frequently stage IV disease (p = 0.016). Surgical treatment and stage IV disease were determined to be independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: PSC is an extremely rare and aggressive variant of NSCLC. Positive epithelial markers may have favourable prognostic significance in PSC. Resection of the tumour with a negative surgical margin is crucial for better survival. The prognosis of the disease is very poor in the metastatic stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Metastatic and unresectable thymoma (T) or thymic carcinoma (TC) have limited treatment options, especially after first line. Methods: Patients with unresectable or recurrent thymic tumors who used minimum one dose of nivolumab at any line of treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Even though nivolumab was administered 3mg/kg dosage in PRIMER study, due to toxicity and financial concerns, we used low dose regimen mostly. Results: Among 46 unresectable and recurrent thymic epithelial tumors; 8 patients with TC (n = 3), T (n = 4) and mixt histology (n = 1) were reviewed. Three patients had myasthenia gravis history that had to be controlled before treatment. Four patients showed moderate (n = 2) or severe (n = 2) adverse events with nivolumab treatment. Interestingly, two severe adverse events were occurred at first dose even with 40 mg nivolumab and required cessation of treatment permanently. The median number of nivolumab received was four (range: 1–18). Best response was partial response. Two patients progressed at the 3rd and 5th month of treatment. Best duration of response for one patient with TC and one patient with T–B2 were 9 and 14 months, respectively. Median survival time after nivolumab was 7.4 months (range: 2–22.1). Conclusions: After the results of the previous study could be supported by randomized prospective studies with more number of patients, nivolumab may be considered as an option in patients with thymic epithelial tumors who have received multiple line treatments. However, given the high rate of severe toxicities, there is need to find out a reliable marker to prediction patients who will derive benefit or exhibit toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE Astragalus membranaceus root extract (AMe) has been shown to have immunomodulatory effects on macrophages and Th1 type immune responses. Our goal was to determine whether AMe improves the overall survival (OS) of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS The medical charts of metastatic NSCLC were retrospectively reviewed. Histological subtype, performance status, age, gender, smoking status, comorbidities, chemotherapeutics, and erlotinib that were part of any type of treatment were recorded. RESULTS The median age of the patients was 61. The median follow-up period was longer for Group A (AMe users) than Group C (control group) (18 vs. 11 months, p<0.001). At the time of analysis, 83.8% of the patients had died. Univariate analysis showed that OS was significantly longer in Group A than Group C (21±4.2 vs. 11±0.9 months, p=0.004). In addition to AMe usage, female gender, smoking status, presence of hypertension, and erlotinib usage also had significant impacts on OS (p<0.05 for all variables). The multivariate analysis showed that only AMe (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.27-0.76, p=0.003) and erlotinib (HR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.22-0.89, p=0.02) usage were correlated with significantly longer OS. CONCLUSION Taking AMe during systemic anti-cancer treatment may significantly prolong OS of patients with meta- static NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]