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(1) Background: Uveal melanoma (UM) is a common malignant intraocular tumor that presents with significant genetic differences to cutaneous melanoma and has a high genetic burden in terms of prognosis. (2) Methods: A systematic literature search of several repositories on uveal melanoma diagnosis, prognosis, molecular analysis, and treatment was conducted. (3) Results: Recent genetic understanding of oncogene-initiation mutations in GNAQ, GNA11, PLCB4, and CYSLTR2 and secondary progression drivers of BAP1 inactivation and SF3B1 and EIF1AX mutations offers an appealing explanation to the high prognostic impact of adding genetic profiling to clinical UM classification. Genetic information could help better explain peculiarities in uveal melanoma, such as the low long-term survival despite effective primary tumor treatment, the overwhelming propensity to metastasize to the liver, and possibly therapeutic behaviors. (4) Conclusions: Understanding of uveal melanoma has improved step-by-step from histopathology to clinical classification to more recent genetic understanding of oncogenic initiation and progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review, we have reproduced the main recommendations of the most important medical societies around the world regarding palliative care, especially at the end of life. Thus, we presented the recommendations of the World Health Organization, United Nations, ASCO, ESMO, EAPC, and the European Society of Emergency Medicine. The conclusion is that all health facilities with beds must have doctors specialized in end-of-life therapy, and this therapy must be discussed in a medical board. The decision to declare the end of life and the necessary therapy in these cases cannot be taken by a single doctor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colon cancer is one of the most common localizations of cancer in our time. In this short presentation, I will present some aspects of the systemic therapy of advanced colon cancer. Not being able to have an exhaustive approach, I consider that emphasizing the importance of ctDNA determination in the therapeutic indication and the involvement of precision medicine in the treatment of this cancer are of first importance. Also, colon cancer is found especially at advanced ages, and I considered it necessary to emphasize the role of geriatric consultation in these patients. This review also presents a practical aspect in chemotherapy for the elderly, namely the stability of the indication for cytostatic oxaliplatin treatment which in certain patients does not bring any benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short review refers to the main studies presented at the ASCO and ESMO 2023 congresses on digestive cancers. From the analysis of these studies, it appears that chemotherapy, especially in pancreatic cancer, remains useful, and the ideal chemotherapy formula has not yet been precisely established, most likely having to be adapted to each individual patient. Immunotherapy finds its place in the therapeutic strategy of cancers of the digestive sphere, with advanced studies in liver cancer and colon cancer. Targeted therapy also has its established place in therapeutic schemes, depending on biomarkers. A new concept on cancer therapy in general that also applies to digestive cancers is the theory of “cellular senescence”, influenced by genetic and immunological factors, a theory that could solve the cellular heterogeneity of malignant tumors that sometimes makes systemic therapy ineffective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review summarizes the abstracts sent to the 2023 Congress of the National Society of Medical Oncology. Thus, of the 49 summaries sent, 26 were case presentations, 12 were reviews, and 11 were original works. The general impression is that there are too few summaries for approximately 700 oncological doctors, including resident doctors. Also, the original works are too few and some are described briefly, unable to be appreciated in depth, so without being able to make references to their scientific value. I exemplified several works with formally good summaries. I did not assess the quality of the studies and whether they were well conducted, because a summary does not allow this. For those interested, I published the criteria of an ideal summary. The conclusion is that there must be a school for those who want to publish and a lot of practice that can only be obtained by publishing in “less pretentious” journals in order to achieve performance in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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(1) Background: Uveal malignant melanoma is the most common adult eye cancer and presents metabolic reprogramming that affects the tumoral microenvironment by altering the redox balance and producing oncometabolites. (2) Methods: The study prospectively evaluated patients undergoing enucleation surgery or stereotactic radiotherapy for uveal melanoma by following systemic oxidative-stress redox markers serum lipid peroxides, total albumin groups and total antioxidant levels (3) Results: Serum antioxidants and lipid peroxides were elevated from pre-treatment to longer-term follow-up. Antioxidants inversely correlated to lipid peroxides: higher in stereotactic radiosurgery patients pre/6/12/18 months post-treatment (p = 0.001–0.049) versus higher lipid peroxides in enucleation surgery patients pre/after/6 months post-treatment (p = 0.004–0.010). An increased variance in serum antioxidants was observed for enucleation surgery patients (p < 0.001), however enucleation did not increase mean serum antioxidants or albumin thiols; only lipid peroxides were increased post-enucleation (p < 0.001) and at 6-month follow-up (p = 0.029). Mean albumin thiols were increased for 18- and 24-month follow-ups (p = 0.017–0.022). Males who had enucleation surgery presented higher variance in serum determinations and overall higher lipid peroxides values pre/post-treatment and at the 18-month follow-up. (4) Conclusions: Initial oxidative stress-inducing events of surgical enucleation or stereotactic radiotherapy for uveal melanoma are followed by a longer-term inflammatory cascade gradually subsiding at later follow-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Lung cancer represents the main cause of cancer-related mortality at a worldwide level and ranks second in global incidence statistics. The therapeutic management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been substantially modified by the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), nivolumab, pembrolizumab, durvalumab and atezolizumab. In Romania, the reimbursement of healthcare costs for immune checkpoint inhibitors has started since late 2017. Aim of the study. The assessment of efficacy, safety profile, overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) from real-world data for nivolumab as second-line therapy for advanced and metastatic NSCLC. Our real-world study was conducted between 1.01.2018 and 31.12.2020, right after the approval of nivolumab in Europe for metastatic NSCLC. Methodology. For data analysis, we used R programming language, version 3.6.2, the Excel application in Microsoft 365 for Enterprise pack. Results. We studied 34 participants from our lot. Nivolumab was administered from second line and beyond. The average age was 65.5 years old. The majority of patients had multiple comorbidities. The histopathology was represented by 56% non-squamous NSCLC, and 44% squamous NSCLC. The overall survival for nivolumab therapy was 72.3 weeks (18.07 months). The overall survival for non-smokers was 32.5 weeks (8.12 months) versus 93 weeks for smokers (23.25 months). The overall survival for women was 15.3 weeks (3.8 months) and for men this value could not be reached. The overall survival for squamous carcinoma was 72.3 weeks (18.1 months), and for non-squamous carcinoma, it was 93 weeks (23.25 months). Median PFS was 17.3 weeks (4.3 months). Conclusions. ICI with nivolumab administered from second line and beyond had a favorable safety profile and manageable adverse events, similar to those described in pivotal studies, making them a reasonable choice in pretreated, frail and elderly patients. Distinctively, our real-world data regarding OS and PFS did not show the same advantage magnitude as seenin CheckMate 017 and CheckMate 057 studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]