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Background As the population ages in developed countries, the number of Pap smears for cervical cancer screening of older women is increasing. There is concern that cervical atrophy may cause misinterpretation of results for this segment of the population. The present study evaluated the accuracy of screening for high-grade intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) in women younger or older than 50 years, to determine whether aging affects cytological interpretation. Methods Patients with HSIL cytology (N = 1565) were dichotomized into those aged 20–49 years or aged ≥ 50 years. Association between histology results and age was examined. Pearson’s chi-squared test and Cochran-Armitage trend test were used for statistical analysis. Results The positive predictive value (PPV) for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)2 and worse was 65.2% (62/95) in older women but 87.3% (482/552) in younger women (p p = 1.69 × 10–8). Separately analyzing chronic cervicitis, CIN1 and overt cancer grouped together, compared with another group composed of CIN2 and CIN3, we found that the PPV for CIN2 and CIN3 was lower in older than in younger women [44.2% (42/95)-vs-82.4% (455/552), p Conclusions HSILs are associated with a wide range of disease categories as age increases, and the accuracy of HSIL interpretation is lower in older women.

This study aimed to investigate the clinical benefit of dose-dense paclitaxel plus carboplatin (TC) with bevacizumab therapy for advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer patients in the neoadjuvant setting. Ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer patients with stage III–IV disease received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) every 3 weeks consisting of paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) on days 1, 8, and 15; carboplatin (AUC 6.0 mg/mL × min.) on day 1; and bevacizumab (15 mg/kg) on day 1. Interval debulking surgery (IDS) was performed after 3 cycles of dose-dense TC-bevacizumab therapy. The primary endpoint was the rate of complete resection by IDS. Secondary endpoints were treatment completion rate, treatment exposure, response rate to NAC, adverse events, and perioperative complications. Twenty-four patients were included in this study. The median age was 55.5 years (37–80 years), and most patients had high-grade serous carcinoma accounted (n = 18). IDS was performed in all patients with complete resection achieved in 75% (95% confidence interval: 57.7–92.3%). The lower limit exceeded the preset threshold rate of 55%. The response rate to NAC was 79%, and serum CA125 levels were in the normal range after NAC in 57% of patients. Grade 4 hematological toxicities and grade 3/4 non-hematological toxicities occurred in 29% and 17% of patients during NAC, respectively. Grade 3/4 perioperative complications were seen in 29% of patients, but no gastrointestinal perforations or treatment-related deaths occurred. Neoadjuvant dose-dense TC-bevacizumab therapy was well tolerated, and a satisfactory rate of complete resection by IDS was achieved.

Background Advanced relapsed ovarian cancer has a poor prognosis, and treatment options are limited. Methods This phase I trial investigated the dosage, safety, pharmacokinetics and efficacy of trabectedin plus pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) in Japanese patients with advanced relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. Patients received trabectedin 0.9 or 1.1 mg/m2 immediately after PLD 30 mg/m2; both drugs were given by intravenous infusion. Treatment was repeated every 21 days until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was determined in an initial dose escalation phase, and this was used in a subsequent safety assessment phase. Safety and tumor response were monitored throughout the trial, and drug concentrations for pharmacokinetic analysis were measured during cycle 1. Results Eighteen patients were included. The MTD of trabectedin was determined as 1.1 mg/m2. Gastrointestinal adverse events were experienced by all patients, but were mostly grade 1 or 2 in intensity. Most patients had grade ≥ 3 elevations in transaminase levels or grade ≥ 3 reductions in neutrophil count, but these events were generally manageable through dose reduction and/or supportive therapies, as appropriate. There were no deaths during the trial. Trabectedin exposure increased in a dose-dependent manner. The overall response rate was 27.8%. Conclusions Trabectedin, in combination with PLD, may have clinical benefits in Japanese patients with relapsed advanced ovarian cancer. The recommended dosage of trabectedin for further study in this population is 1.1 mg/m2 once every 21 days. Clinical trial registration number: JapicCTI-163164

We studied the extent of BRCA1/2 genetic testing to help select the surgical approach for patients with breast cancer in Japan remains unclear.The study subjects were female patients with primary unilateral invasive breast cancer considered as candidates for breast-conserving surgery who underwent preoperative BRCA1/2 genetic testing. A retrospective analysis was performed on the results of BRCA1/2 genetic testing and surgical method selection using national registration data from the Japanese Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome Consortium.Our study included 318 female patients. Among these patients, 23.7% of patients with BRCA1/2 mutations and 61.8% of patients without these variants underwent breast-conserving surgery (P .01). Among the patients with BRCA1/2 mutations, those who chose breast-conserving surgery tended not to undergo risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (P .05). Among the patients with BRCA1/2 mutations who underwent mastectomy for the affected side, 31.8% received contralateral risk-reducing mastectomy. Patients diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50 years were more likely to have contralateral risk-reducing mastectomy than patients over the age 50 years (P .05).Patients with BRCA1/2 mutations tend to choose mastectomy. However, it is speculated that the final surgical method selection is made in consideration of not only the test results but also with careful consideration of the patient, taking into account other factors including individual values for risk-reducing surgeries and the age of breast cancer onset.

The effects of an alternative bleaching method on the total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AA) of yerba mate extracts were evaluated. Traditional bleaching ('zapeco') was compared with submerging the leaves in water followed by a hot air oven-drying process. Seven different approaches, i.e. linear model (LM), response surface model (RSM), Mamdani, Larsen, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) with the product (Prod) and the minimum (Min) operators, and ANFIS with automatically membership functions (Auto), were employed to compare the TPC of yerba mate extracts based on drying temperature and AA assays.The results showed that if leaves were bleached followed by drying at higher temperatures, we obtained higher AA and TPC values. For submerging bleaching treatment, RSM model delivered the best accuracy measures with a mean absolute error (MAE), average absolute percentage error (MAPE), and mean squared error (MSE) of 0.128, 0.006, and 0.028, respectively. The ANFIS Auto model was the best for traditional bleaching treatment, with MAE, MAPE, and MSE of 0.490, 0.013, and 0.612, respectively.The results suggest a second-order linear relation between drying temperature, AA assays to TPC, and a high level of relation complexity of drying temperature, AA assays, and TPC. The evaluated soft-computing approaches have the excellent ability to estimate TPC from bleached leaves. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of drainage following pelvic lymph node (PLN) dissection, especially for cases involving laparoscopic surgery. METHODS In this retrospective study, 368 patients with malignant gynecological tumors who underwent systemic PLN dissection at Keio University Hospital between January 2012 and October 2018 were enrolled. Drainage tubes were placed in the retroperitoneal fossa in all patients. Medical records were used for data collection. RESULTS Laparoscopy was performed on 81 patients, and laparotomy was performed on 287 patients. In the laparoscopy group, tubes were removed 1 day post surgery. In the laparotomy group, tubes were removed 1 day post surgery in 167 patients and 4 days post surgery in 120 patients. Compared with the laparotomy group, we determined the laparoscopy group to have a significantly lower prevalence of lymphocyst (6.2% vs 20.2%, p = 0.002) but a similar prevalence of lymphedema (4.9% vs 5.2%), and symptomatic lymphocyst (2.5% vs 4.5%). The two laparotomy groups did not differ significantly with respect to the prevalence of lymphedema (4.8% vs 5.8%), lymphocyst (20.4% vs 20.0%), or symptomatic lymphocyst (4.2% vs 5.0%). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that routine drainage should be omitted, especially in cases involving laparoscopic surgery.

Precision medicine based on cancer genomics is being applied in clinical practice. However, patients do not always derive benefits from genomic testing. Here, we performed targeted amplicon exome sequencing‐based panel tests, including 160 cancer‐related genes (PleSSision‐160), on 88 malignant ovarian tumors (high‐grade serous carcinoma, 27; endometrioid carcinoma, 15; clear cell carcinoma, 30; mucinous carcinoma, 6; undifferentiated carcinoma, 4; and others, 6 (immature teratoma, 1; carcinosarcoma, 3; squamous cell carcinoma, 1; and mixed, 1)), to assess treatment strategies and useful biomarkers for malignant ovarian tumors. Overall, actionable gene variants were found in 90.9%, and druggable gene variants were found in 40.9% of the cases. Actionable BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants were found in 4.5% of each of the cases. ERBB2 amplification was found in 33.3% of mucinous carcinoma cases. Druggable hypermutation/ultramutation (tumor mutation burden ≥ 10 SNVs/Mbp) was found in 7.4% of high‐grade serous carcinoma, 46.7% of endometrioid carcinoma, 10% of clear cell carcinoma, 0% of mucinous carcinoma, 25% of undifferentiated carcinoma, and 33.3% of the other cancer cases. Copy number alterations were significantly higher in high‐grade serous carcinoma (P, Next‐generation sequencing‐based panel tests on 88 malignant ovarian tumors revealed that targeted agents can be detected in approximately 40% of malignant ovarian tumors. Copy number alteration count was found to be a useful marker to help assess risks in malignant ovarian tumor patients.

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide. Although cytology or HPV testing is available for screening, these techniques have their drawbacks and optimal screening methods are still being developed. Here, we sought to determine whether aberrant expression of miRNAs in cervical mucus could be an ancillary test for cervical neoplasms. The presence of miRNAs in 583 and 126 patients (validation and external cohorts) was determined by real-time RT-PCR. Performance of a combination with five miRNAs (miR-126-3p, -451a -144-3p, -20b-5p and -155-5p) was estimated by ROC curve analysis. Predicted probability (PP) was estimated by nomograms comprising -ΔCt values of the miRNAs, HPV genotype and age. A combination of five miRNAs showed a maximum AUC of 0.956 (95%CI: 0.933-0.980) for discriminating cancer. Low PP scores were associated with good prognosis over the 2-year observation period (p

We previously reported that L63X and Q934X are BRCA1 common founder variants in Japan. So far, there have been no reports of a correlation between such BRCA common variants and the risk of BRCA-related cancers. In this analysis, we investigated the correlation between the risk of ovarian cancer (OC) and BRCA recurrent pathogenic variants. We examined the database of the Japanese organization of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. The database contained 3517 probands who underwent BRCA genetic testing. Among them, 11.1% (392/3517) had germline BRCA1 pathogenic variant, and 8.3% (293/3517) had BRCA2 pathogenic variant. We calculated the OC prevalence, breast cancer (BC) prevalence, and the ratio of OC to BC within second-degree relatives. The ratio of OC to BC in Q934X family members was significantly higher than that in the overall BRCA1 family members (0.80 vs.0.52: p = 0.038), and the ratio in STOP799 was 0.42, which was relatively lower than the overall BRCA1 value. Both Q934X and STOP799 are located in the ovarian cancer cluster region (OCCR), however there seems to be a difference in the risk of OC. R2318X family members had a significant higher ratio of OC to BC at 0.32 than the overall BRCA2 value of 0.13 (p = 0.012). R2318X is known to be located in the OCCR. This is the first report to investigate the correlation between BRCA recurrent variants and the risk of OC in Japan. The family members of probands with Q934X or R2318X have a higher risk of OC than that with other BRCA variants.

The role of sialic acids on MUC1 in peritoneal dissemination of ovarian cancer cells was investigated. A human ovarian carcinoma cell line, ES-2, was transfected with full-length MUC1 containing 22 or 42 tandem repeats. These transfectants were less adherent to monolayers of patient-derived mesothelial cells than ES-2/mock transfectants. When these cells were inoculated into the abdominal cavity of female nude mice, mice that had received the transfectants showed better survival. When the transfectants were mixed with sialidase and injected, the survival was poorer, whereas when they were mixed with N-acetyl-2,3-dehydro-2-deoxyneuraminic acid, a sialidase inhibitor, the survival was significantly prolonged. These behaviors, concerned with peritoneal implantation and dissemination observed in vitro and in vivo, were dependent on the expression of MUC1. Therefore, sialic acid linked to MUC1 in the form, at least in part, of sialyl-T, as shown to be recognized by monoclonal antibody MY.1E12, is responsible for the suppression of adhesion of these cells to mesothelial cells and the suppression of peritoneal implantation and dissemination.

We examined a correlation between age at diagnosis of OC and common mutation types in 3,517 probands that receivedThe average age at diagnosis of OC in gThere appears to be no difference in the age at diagnosis of OC depending on the type of

Nivolumab is a human monoclonal antibody against the immune checkpoint receptor programmed death‐1, inhibiting binding to programmed death‐ligand 1 or 2 (PD‐L1 or PD‐L2). This phase 2 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of nivolumab in patients with advanced/recurrent uterine cervical cancer, uterine corpus cancer, or soft tissue sarcoma (STS). Patients received nivolumab 240 mg at 2‐week intervals. Primary endpoint was objective response rate; secondary endpoints included overall survival, progression‐free survival, and safety. PD‐L1 expression and microsatellite‐instability (MSI) status were analyzed as potential efficacy biomarkers. Objective response rate was 25%, 23%, and 0% in patients with cervical cancer (n = 20), corpus cancer (n = 22), and STS (n = 21), respectively. The lower 80% confidence intervals of objective response rates in patients with cervical or corpus cancer exceeded the threshold rate (5%); the primary endpoint was met in cervical and corpus cancer, but not in STS. Median progression‐free survival was 5.6, 3.4, and 1.4 months, and 6‐month overall survival was 84%, 73%, and 86% in cervical cancer, corpus cancer, and STS, respectively. The objective response rate was higher in patients with cervical cancer with PD‐L1‐positive (n = 5/15; 33%) versus PD‐L1‐negative (n = 0/5; 0%) tumors. The two patients with corpus cancer classified as MSI‐high responded; the six patients classified as microsatellite stable did not respond. Overall, nivolumab showed acceptable toxicity in all cohorts, with evidence of clinical activity in uterine cervical or corpus cancer, but not in STS. PD‐L1 expression in cervical cancer and MSI‐high in corpus cancer may predict clinical activity of nivolumab in these cancers.

This study aimed to investigate the clinical benefit of dose-dense paclitaxel plus carboplatin (TC) with bevacizumab therapy for advanced ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer patients in the neoadjuvant setting.Ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer patients with stage III-IV disease received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) every 3 weeks consisting of paclitaxel (80 mg/mTwenty-four patients were included in this study. The median age was 55.5 years (37-80 years), and most patients had high-grade serous carcinoma accounted (n = 18). IDS was performed in all patients with complete resection achieved in 75% (95% confidence interval: 57.7-92.3%). The lower limit exceeded the preset threshold rate of 55%. The response rate to NAC was 79%, and serum CA125 levels were in the normal range after NAC in 57% of patients. Grade 4 hematological toxicities and grade 3/4 non-hematological toxicities occurred in 29% and 17% of patients during NAC, respectively. Grade 3/4 perioperative complications were seen in 29% of patients, but no gastrointestinal perforations or treatment-related deaths occurred.Neoadjuvant dose-dense TC-bevacizumab therapy was well tolerated, and a satisfactory rate of complete resection by IDS was achieved.

Introduction/Background To establish an individualized surgical strategy for ovarian cancer in patients with the germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants (BRCA1+ and BRCA2+), we investigated the clinicopathological characteristics that are involved in the increased risk of lymph node metastasis (LNM). Methodology We retrospectively reviewed the data of 509 Japanese women who underwent BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic testing and were registered in the database of the Japanese HBOC Consortium. Results BRCA1+ and BRCA2+ were found in 232 (45.6%) of patients in our database, while other patients had no pathogenic variant (BRCA-). The prevalence of LNM was not markedly different between BRCA- (19.5%), BRCA1+ (18.4%) and BRCA2+ (26.2%). Multivariate analysis revealed an absence of a family history of ovarian cancer as an independent predictor for an increased risk of LNM in BRCA1+, and the prevalence of LNM was 11.7% and 42.0% in the groups with and without a family history of ovarian cancer, respectively. This subgroup without a family history of ovarian cancer did not show any correlation with a particular variant of BRCA1. Conclusion This study suggested that the existence of a subgroup in which the absence of a family history of ovarian cancer was an independent predictor for an increased risk of lymph node metastasis and certain genetic factors related to the penetrance of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome might alter the frequency of LNM in BRCA1+ ovarian cancer. We will need to investigate whether or not the same surgical strategy for lymphadenectomy as BRCA- is suitable for this BRCA1+ subgroup. Disclosures There are no conflict of interest disclosures from any authors.

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the clinical benefit of dose-dense paclitaxel plus carboplatin (ddTC) with bevacizumab (Bev) therapy in neoadjuvant setting for advanced ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer patients (UMIN-CTR: 000016176). Methods Ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer patients with estimated stage III-IV were included. They received paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) on day1, 8, 15, carboplatin (AUC 6.0 mg/mL x minute) on day 1, and Bev (15 mg/kg) on day 1 every 3 weeks as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Interval debulking surgery (IDS) was performed after 3 cycles of ddTC+Bev therapy. The primary endpoint was rate of complete surgery. Secondary endpoints were response rate and adverse events. Results Twenty-four patients were included in this study. The median age was 55.5 years (37–80 years), and high-grade serous carcinoma accounted for 18 patients. IDS was performed in all patients and the rate of complete surgery was 75%. The response rate in NAC was 79%, and CA125 declined below the cut-off in 58% of patients. Grade 4 hematological toxicities and grade 3/4 non-hematological toxicities were observed in 29% and 17% of patients during NAC respectively. Grade 3/4 perioperative complications were found in 29% of patients, but there was no gastrointestinal perforation or treatment-related death. Conclusions Neoadjuvant ddTC+Bev therapy was well tolerated, and the sufficient rate of complete surgery in IDS was obtained.

Background It is uncertain whether curative surgical treatment or a less radical surgery with adjuvant treatment should be provided to preserve function in patients with vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) that is adjacent to the urethra, anus, and vagina. The aim of this study was to investigate the surgical margin in patients with vulvar SCC with regard to local recurrence and overall survival. Methods Thirty-four patients were identified as having a diagnosis of vulvar SCC without distant metastasis. They had been treated surgically with curative intent at the Cancer Institute Hospital between May 1992 and January 2019. Clinical data were analyzed retrospectively. Results Rates of 5-year local recurrence-free survival among patients with positive, Conclusion To improve the prognosis, thorough resection with an adequate surgical margin is needed.

Objective this prospective cohort study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy in Japanese patients with relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. Methods in this study, 40 Japanese patients with relapsed ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer selected to receive bevacizumab with chemotherapy were enrolled. Patients in poor general condition were excluded. Each patient was monitored prospectively for adverse events, administration status, disease status and survival. Treatment was continued until intolerable adverse events or disease progression. The primary endpoint was safety. Results bevacizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy was performed for 30 patients (median cycle; 16.5), while bevacizumab plus non-platinum chemotherapy was performed for 10 patients (median cycle; 5.5). Among bevacizumab-related adverse events, hypertension occurred in 80% of patients, proteinuria in 83%, mucositis in 25%, bleeding in 20%, thromboembolic events in 5.0% and fistula in 2.5%. Gastrointestinal perforation or other life-threatening lethal adverse events were not observed. Response rate and median progression-free survival were 73% and 19.3 months for patients with bevacizumab plus platinum-based chemotherapy, and 30% and 3.9 months for patients with bevacizumab plus non-platinum chemotherapy, respectively. There was no correlation between response rate and occurrence of adverse events such as hypertension or proteinuria. Conclusion bevacizumab combined with chemotherapy was tolerable and effective for Japanese patients with relapsed ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer or primary peritoneal cancer. Hypertension and proteinuria are frequently occurred and managed properly for continuing treatment.

// Tomoko Yoshihama 1, 2 , Koya Fukunaga 1 , Akira Hirasawa 2 , Hiroyuki Nomura 2 , Tomoko Akahane 2 , Fumio Kataoka 2 , Wataru Yamagami 2 , Daisuke Aoki 2 and Taisei Mushiroda 1 1 Laboratory for Pharmacogenomics, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama, Japan 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Correspondence to: Taisei Mushiroda, email: mushiroda@riken.jp Keywords: pharmacogenomics; carboplatin; ovarian cancer; next-generation sequencer; targeted resequencing Received: April 07, 2018 Accepted: June 13, 2018 Published: July 03, 2018 ABSTRACT Purpose: To find genetic variants that predicted toxicity and/or efficacy of paclitaxel plus carboplatin combination therapy (TC therapy). Patients and methods: In a retrospective case-control study, we analyzed 320 patients who had received TC therapy for gynecological cancers (ovarian, fallopian tube, peritoneal, uterine, and cervical cancers) and collected their germline DNA. We performed a comprehensive pharmacogenomic analysis using a targeted resequencing panel of 100 pharmacogenes. For 1,013 variants passing QC, case-control association studies and survival analyses were conducted. Results: GSTP1 rs1695 showed the smallest p value for hematotoxicity association, and the 105 Ile wild type allele had a significantly higher risk of severe hematotoxicity (neutropenia G4, thrombocytopenia ≥ G3 and anemia ≥ G3) than the 105 Val allele (p=0.00034, odds ratio=5.71 (95% confidence interval:1.77-18.44)). Next, we assessed 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in 56 advanced ovarian cancer patients who received tri-weekly TC as a first-line chemotherapy. Patients with the 105 Ile/ 105 Ile genotype showed significantly better PFS (p=0.00070) and OS (p=0.0012) than those with the 105 Ile/ 105 Val or 105 Val/ 105 Val genotype. Conclusion: Our study indicates that the GSTP1 rs1695 105 Ile/ 105 Ile genotype is associated with both severe hematotoxicity and high efficacy of TC therapy, identifying a possible prognostic indicator for patients with TC therapy.

ObjectiveWe conducted a multicenter clinicopathological study to characterize patients with high-grade serous carcinoma presenting as primary peritoneal carcinoma (clinical PPC).MethodsAt 9 sites in Japan, patients with clinical PPC diagnosed according to Gynecologic Oncology Group criteria were enrolled retrospectively. The Gynecologic Oncology Group criteria allow for minor ovarian involvement by high-grade serous carcinoma. There was no systematic detailed histopathological review of the fallopian tubes to determine whether they were involved by serous carcinoma.ResultsThere were 139 patients and 64% were aged 60 years or older. Median pretreatment serum CA-125 was 1653.5 IU/mL. Pretreatment performance status was poor in more than 50%, endometrial cytology was positive in 40.3%, and the preoperative clinical diagnosis was correct in 72.7%. Primary debulking surgery was performed in 36% of patients, whereas 64% underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with interval debulking surgery (IDS). The main tumor sites were the upper abdomen (greater omentum), extrapelvic peritoneum, mesentery, and diaphragm. Lymph node metastasis was found in 46.8% of patients undergoing systematic retroperitoneal node dissection. The optimal surgery rate was 32.0% with primary debulking surgery versus 53.9% with NAC and IDS (P = 0.0139). The response rate was 82.0% with NAC and 80.6% with postoperative chemotherapy. Median progression-free survival was 19.0 months and median overall survival was 41.0 months. Multivariate analysis showed that prognostic factors for progression-free survival were NAC and residual tumor diameter after debulking surgery, whereas the only prognostic factor for overall survival was the residual tumor diameter.ConclusionsThis study identified various characteristics of clinical PPC. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with IDS is a reasonable treatment strategy, and complete debulking surgery is optimum.

Pathogenic germline BRCA1, BRCA2 (BRCA1/2), and several other gene variants predispose women to primary ovarian, fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma (OC), although variant frequency and relevance information is scarce in Japanese women with OC. Using targeted panel sequencing, we screened 230 unselected Japanese women with OC from our hospital-based cohort for pathogenic germline variants in 75 or 79 OC-associated genes. Pathogenic variants of 11 genes were identified in 41 (17.8%) women: 19 (8.3%; BRCA1), 8 (3.5%; BRCA2), 6 (2.6%; mismatch repair genes), 3 (1.3%; RAD51D), 2 (0.9%; ATM), 1 (0.4%; MRE11A), 1 (FANCC), and 1 (GABRA6). Carriers of BRCA1/2 or any other tested gene pathogenic variants were more likely to be diagnosed younger, have first or second-degree relatives with OC, and have OC classified as high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). After adjustment for these variables, all 3 features were independent predictive factors for pathogenic variants in any tested genes whereas only the latter two remained for variants in BRCA1/2. Our data indicate similar variant prevalence in Japanese patients with OC and other ethnic groups and suggest that HGSC and OC family history may facilitate genetic predisposition prediction in Japanese patients with OC and referring high-risk patients for genetic counseling and testing.

ObjectiveSentinel nodes (SNs) have been observed in several reports from Japan and overseas in cases with endometrial cancer; however, no consensus has been reached regarding the types of tracers or the method of their injection. A combination of the radioisotope (RI) and dye method is considered to be desirable. We assessed SN mapping using either dye or near-infrared fluorescence imaging to clarify a suitable method in cases of endometrial cancer.MethodsPatients were enrolled from 92 patients diagnosed with endometrial cancer and having no extrauterine metastasis by the preoperative imaging between 2009 and 2014 at our institution. To identify the SNs, we performed 3 methods using either dye or fluorescence solutions in conjunction with a RI method. In the dye method, we injected indocyanine green in the uterine subserosa, visually identifying SNs as stained green. In the fluorescence method, a dilute indocyanine green solution (0.5 mg, fluorescence A or 0.25 mg, fluorescence B, each per 10 mL of solvent) was injected and the SN identified by the HyperEye Medical System.ResultsThe SN detection rates were 100%, 100%, and 96% using dye and fluorescence A or B solution, respectively. Pelvic SNs were detected by the 3 methods in 98%, 100%, and 96% of cases and para-aortic SNs in 65%, 88%, and 74%, respectively. Fluorescence A solution was somewhat better than dye in detecting para-aortic SNs, although not significantly so (P = 0.07). The sensitivity and negative predictive values for detecting SNs with metastases with the dye method were 92% and 98% compared with 100% and 100%, respectively, for both fluorescence solutions.ConclusionsAlthough both dye and fluorescence methods performed well, no method perfectly identified para-aortic SNs. The concomitant use of the RI method is required to detect para-aortic SNs.

// Yusuke Kobayashi 1, 2 , Hiroyasu Kashima 2, 3 , Yohan Suryo Rahmanto 2 , Kouji Banno 1 , Yu Yu 2, 4 , Yusuke Matoba 1 , Keiko Watanabe 1 , Moito Iijima 1 , Takashi Takeda 1 , Haruko Kunitomi 1 , Miho Iida 1 , Masataka Adachi 1 , Kanako Nakamura 1 , Kosuke Tsuji 1 , Kenta Masuda 1 , Hiroyuki Nomura 1 , Eiichiro Tominaga 1 and Daisuke Aoki 1 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan 2 Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States of America 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Nagano, Japan 4 School of Pharmacy, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia Correspondence to: Yusuke Kobayashi, email: kobax@a2.keio.jp Keywords: ovarian cancer, drug repositioning, statin, bisphosphonate, mevalonate pathway Received: July 03, 2017 Accepted: July 26, 2017 Published: August 07, 2017 ABSTRACT Drug repositioning is an alternative strategy redirecting existing drugs for new disease. We have previously reported an antitumor effect of statins, antidyslipidemic drugs, on ovarian cancer in vitro and in vivo . In this study, we investigated the antitumor effects of other mevalonate pathway inhibitors and the mechanism of the antitumor effect from a metabolic perspective. The effects of inhibitors of the mevalonate pathway on tumor cell growth were evaluated in vitro . Bisphosphonates that inhibit this pathway are commonly used as antiosteoporotic drugs, and antitumor effects of the bisphosphonate were examined in vitro and in vivo . Metabolites in SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells were analyzed before and after lovastatin treatment, using capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry. All mevalonate pathway inhibitors showed concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on tumor cell growth. Particularly marked effects were obtained with inhibitors of farnesyltransferase and geranylgeranyltransferase. The bisphosphonate was also shown to have an antitumor effect in vivo . The expression of autophagy marker LC3A/3B was increased in cells after treatment. In metabolomics analysis, lovastatin treatment increased the metabolites involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle while reducing the metabolites associated with glycolysis. Also it decreased glutathione and resulted to work with chemotherapeutic agents synergistically. Inhibition at any point in the mevalonate pathway, and especially of farnesyl pyrophosphate and geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, suppresses growth of ovarian cancer cells. Inhibition of this pathway may induce autophagy, cause a shift to activation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and enhance susceptibility to chemotherapy. Drug repositioning targeting mevalonate pathway for ovarian cancer deserves consideration for clinical application.

Aim To examine the usefulness of the neutrophil : lymphocyte (N/L) ratio as a cost-effective and simple diagnostic marker of mature cystic teratoma (MCT) with malignant transformation (MT). Methods A retrospective chart review was performed between 1998 and 2013 of 12 MCT patients with MT and between 2009 and 2013 of 130 patients with benign MCT. Data were collected on age, tumor size, white blood cell count with differential counts, tumor marker levels, and presenting features. Results Older age, greater tumor size, higher CA19-9 or CA125, higher neutrophil count, and higher N/L ratio were associated with MT on univariate analysis. White blood cell count; lymphocyte count; and the tumor marker squamous cell carcinoma antigen were not associated with MT. Older age (≥median), larger tumor size (≥10 cm), and high N/L ratio (≥5.0) were predictors of MT (hazard ratio, 11.51, 5.87, and 11.11, respectively). Six of 12 patients were diagnosed with MT on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and five of 12 had an N/L ratio ≥5.0. Conclusions Neutrophil : lymphocyte ratio is a potential preoperative diagnostic marker of MT. The optimal cut-off should be determined in future large-scale studies.

Introduction/Background Drainage, following pelvic lymph node (PLN) dissection for gynecological oncologic surgery to prevent postoperative lymphocyst formation and postoperative infection in pelvis, is controversial. The aim of this study is to elucidate the efficacy of drainage following PLN dissection especially in laparoscopic surgery. Methodology We evaluated 374 patients who underwent systemic PLN dissection at our institution between January 2012 and October 2018. The drainage tubes were placed in the retroperitoneal fossa in all patients. All tubes were removed a day after laparoscopic surgery. For those who underwent laparotomy, tubes were removed four days after operation until March 2016, and a day after operation in March 2016 or later. Clinical information such as drainage volume, lymphedema and lymphocysts were collected from medical records and analyzed retrospectively. Results 80 patients were treated by laparoscopy (Group A), while 294 patients were treated by laparotomy (Group B). No patients were re-operated due to postoperative hemorrhage. The median drainage volume a day after operation is 176.5 ml in Group A and 172 ml in Group B (P>0.05). Laparoscopy had significantly lower rates of lymphocysts (5% vs 16.7%, P In laparotomy group, tubes were removed a day after operation (Group B1) in 172 patients, while tubes were removed four days after post operation (Group B2) in 122 patients. Between these two groups, there was no significant difference in incidence of lymphedema (3.5% vs 2.5%), lymphocysts (16.3% vs 17.2%) and symptomatic lymphocysts (1.3% vs 3.4%). Conclusion Our data suggests drainage has low importance both as an informative means and as an preventative means. Moreover, as incidence of lymphocyst was lower in laparoscopic group, drainage may not be necessary especially in laparoscopic surgery. Disclosure Nothing to disclose

We previously reported that relative to normal cervical mucus, microRNA 126‑3p (miR‑126‑3p) is present in significantly greater amounts in the cervical mucus of patients with overt cervical cancer or precursor lesions. Here, we investigated the effects of enforced miR‑126‑3p expression in the cervical cancer cell line, HeLa, on proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis and protein expression. We transfected HeLa cells with miR‑126‑3p miRNA and found that proliferation, migration and invasion by cell counting, wound healing, cell migration and invasion assay were significantly reduced in these cells relative to those transfected with a negative control mimic. The levels of phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated 3‑phosphoinositide‑dependent protein kinase‑1 (p‑PDK1) and p‑AKT proteins were lower in the miR‑126‑3p‑transfected cells. Phosphorylated 70S6K (p‑p70S6K), phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3β (p‑GSK3β), phosphorylated S6K (p‑S6K), cyclin D1, phosphorylated p21‑activated kinase 1 (p‑PAK1), Rho associated coiled‑coil containing protein kinase 1 (ROCK1), myotonic dystrophy‑related CDC42‑binding kinases α (MRCKα) and phospholipase C γ1 (p‑PLCγ1) were also downregulated. This suggests that downstream effectors of the PI3K/PDK1/AKT pathway are targets for inhibition by miR‑126‑3p. In contrast, apoptotic‑related proteins including the BCL‑2‑associated agonist of cell death (Bad), B‑cell lymphoma‑extra‑large (Bcl‑xL) and BCL‑2‑associated X (Bax), were all upregulated by miR‑126‑3p, resulting in increased caspase 3/7 activity and apoptosis. Thus, enforced expression of miR‑126‑3p inhibited cell migration and invasion and also induced apoptosis by regulating the PI3K/PDK1/AKT pathway in HeLa cells. Hence, high levels of miR‑126‑3p may inhibit cervical carcinogenesis, and targeting the PI3K/PDK1/AKT pathway via miR‑126‑3p could represent a new approach for treating patients with cervical cancer.

This study was to analyze patterns and risk factors of relapse after postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for endometrial cancer.Among patients enrolled in a randomized phase III trial (JGOG2043) investigating the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy for endometrial cancer at a high risk of progression, the recurrent patients were studied. Clinical information were collected, and correlation between relapse-related factors and clinicopathological factors were analyzed.Among 193 patients analyzed, 50% had local relapse and 63% had distant relapse. Local relapse involved regional lymph nodes in 30%, while distant relapse involved the abdominal cavity in 42%. Imaging was used to confirm relapse in 83%, and the median disease-free interval (DFI) was 11.5 months. Factors showing a significant correlation with DFI ≤12 months were residual tumor at surgery (p 0.01), Grade 3 histology (p 0.01), and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.03). In contrast, treatment with paclitaxel and carboplatin showed a significant correlation with DFI12 months (p = 0.04). The median post-relapse overall survival (RS) was 23.9 months. In multivariate analysis, CA125 ≥ 100 U/mL prior to relapse (p 0.01), distant metastasis (p 0.01), DFI ≤ 12 months (p = 0.02), and not performing para-aortic lymphadenectomy (p = 0.01) were independently related to poor RS.Relapse of endometrial cancer following adjuvant chemotherapy often occurs by 1 year after treatment, with common relapse sites of the abdominal cavity and regional lymph nodes. Among treatment-related factors, RS was correlated with DFI and para-aortic lymphadenectomy.

Importance The efficacy of taxane plus platinum regimens has been demonstrated for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer; however, it has not been assessed in postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for endometrial cancer. Objective To evaluate the clinical benefit of taxane plus platinum compared with standard doxorubicin plus cisplatin as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in endometrial cancer. Design, Setting, and Participants In this multicenter, open-label, phase 3 randomized clinical trial, patients with endometrial cancer at high-risk stage I or II or stage III or IV that did not extend beyond the abdominal cavity and had 2 cm or greater residual tumor were included from 118 institutions in Japan from November 24, 2006, to January 7, 2011. Data was analyzed from March 15, 2017, to June 30, 2017. Interventions Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive 6 cycles of doxorubicin, 60 mg/m2, plus cisplatin, 50 mg/m2, on day 1; docetaxel, 70 mg/m2, plus cisplatin, 60 mg/m2, on day 1; or paclitaxel, 180 mg/m2, plus carboplatin (area under the curve, 6.0 mg/mL × min) on day 1 every 3 weeks. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary end point was progression-free survival. Secondary end points were overall survival, occurrence of adverse events, tolerability, and status of lymph node dissection. Results Among 788 eligible patients, the median (SD) age was 59 (22-74) years; 263 patients were assigned to doxorubicin plus cisplatin treatment, 263 patients to docetaxel plus cisplatin treatment, and 262 patients to paclitaxel plus carboplatin treatment. The number of patients who did not complete 6 cycles was 53 (20.1%) for the doxorubicin plus cisplatin group, 45 (17.1%) for the docetaxel plus cisplatin group, and 63 (24.0%) for the paclitaxel plus carboplatin group. Tolerability of these regimens were not statistically different. After a median follow-up period of 7 years, there was no statistical difference of progression-free survival (doxorubicin plus cisplatin, 191; docetaxel plus cisplatin, 208; paclitaxel plus carboplatin, 187;P = .12) or overall survival (doxorubicin plus cisplatin, 217; docetaxel plus cisplatin, 223; paclitaxel plus carboplatin, 215;P = .67) among the 3 groups. The 5-year progression-free survival rate was 73.3% for the doxorubicin plus cisplatin group, 79.0% for the docetaxel plus cisplatin group, and 73.9% for the paclitaxel plus carboplatin group, while the 5-year overall survival rates were 82.7%, 88.1%, and 86.1%, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance There was no significant difference of survival among patients receiving doxorubicin plus cisplatin, docetaxel plus cisplatin, or paclitaxel plus carboplatin as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for endometrial cancer. Because each regimen showed adequate tolerability but different toxic effects, taxane plus platinum regimens may be a reasonable alternative to treatment with doxorubicin plus cisplatin. Trial Registration UMIN-CTR identifier:UMIN000000522

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To date, the results of the clinical trial of sentinel node navigation surgery (SNNS) for endometrial cancer are not reported, and SNNS should be not yet performed as a clinical practice. SNNS is thought to be performed as a clinical trial in the institutions with enough experiences of SN mapping. Regarding the methods of the tracer injection and tracer detection, the diagnostic accuracy of metastasis, the clinical significance of ITC, or micrometastasis, the oncologic significance of solitary metastasis-positive sentinel lymph node (SN) in para-aortic basin, the usefulness of SN biopsy using surgical robots with fluorescence imaging system for detecting ICG, accumulations of clinical trials, and the data analysis in many facilities are needed so that SNNS comes to be safely performed as a clinical practice. Furthermore, the standardization of the diagnosing method for the pathological search for SN and the establishment of the molecular biologic laboratory procedure are necessary, too. However, we think SNNS will emerge as a promising, elegant solution to the ongoing discussion regarding lymphadenectomy in the initial surgical management of endometrial cancer in order to prevent many patients from receiving oversurgery, in order to properly select patients who need to receive lymphadenectomy, and in order to definitely evaluate the risk of recurrence by using ultra-staging or biological diagnosing method in the near future.

We investigated whether UGT1A1 polymorphisms are associated with the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients treated with irinotecan. UGT1A1 genotypes were analyzed in 11 stage I ovarian clear cell carcinoma patients who received irinotecan as first-line therapy. Progression-free survival, overall survival and adverse events were also assessed for each genotype. Three patients harbored UGT1A1*1/*6 while another three harbored UGT1A1*1/*28. Two patients with a wild-type genotype experienced recurrence and one died, whereas no recurrence or death was observed in patients with heterozygous genotypes. Adverse events tended to be more severe in patients with UGT1A1*6 and *28, although progression-free survival and overall survival rates tended to be better than in wild-type; the differences were not significant. We conclude that UGT1A1 polymorphisms have the potential to be a prognostic marker of irinotecan treatment.

Purpose Clear cell carcinoma (CCC) is a rare histologic subtype that demonstrates poor outcomes in epithelial ovarian cancer. The Japanese Gynecologic Oncology Group conducted the first randomized phase III, CCC-specific clinical trial that compared irinotecan and cisplatin (CPT-P) with paclitaxel plus carboplatin (TC) in patients with CCC. Patients and Methods Six hundred sixty-seven patients with stage I to IV CCC of the ovary were randomly assigned to receive irinotecan 60 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 plus cisplatin 60 mg/m2 on day 1 (CPT-P group) every 4 weeks for six cycles or paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 plus carboplatin area under the curve 6.0 mg/mL/min on day 1 every 3 weeks for six cycles (TC group). The primary end point was progression-free survival. Secondary end points were overall survival, overall response rate, and adverse events. Results Six hundred nineteen patients were clinically and pathologically eligible for evaluation. With a median follow-up of 44.3 months, 2-year progression-free survival rates were 73.0% in the CPT-P group and 77.6% in TC group (hazard ratio, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.87 to 1.58; P = .85). Two-year overall survival rates were 85.5% with CPT-P and 87.4% with TC (hazard ratio, 1.13; 95% CI, 0.80 to 1.61; one-sided P = .76). Grade 3/4 anorexia, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and febrile neutropenia occurred more frequently with CPT-P, whereas grade 3/4 leukopenia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, peripheral sensory neuropathy, and joint pain occurred more frequently with TC. Conclusion No significant survival benefit was found for CPT-P. Both regimens were well tolerated, but the toxicity profiles differed significantly. Treatment with existing anticancer agents has limitations to improving the prognosis of CCC.

Objective The objective of this study is to evaluate the detection rate and diagnostic accuracy of sentinel lymph node (SN) mapping using hysteroscopic sub-endometrial injection of 99m-Technetium labeled phytate (Radio-isotope; RI method) and subserosal Indocyanine green (ICG) injection (Dye method) in patients with endometrial cancer. Methods From April 2009 to December 2012, prospective evaluation of 57 Japanese endometrial cancer patients undergoing SN mapping using RI method combined with Dye method was done. To combine RI method or no was determined by a status of RI supply of the tracer injection day. As for 32 cases, both (RI+Dye) methods were used and 23 cases were performed only in Dye method. The primary endpoint was estimation of sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) of SN, and analysis of the distribution of SNs with metastasis. Results At least one SN was detected in 100% and average number of detected SNs was 6.0 in RI+Dye method. Sensitivity and NPV were 100%, 100%, respectively. From results of SN mapping, 62.8% of SNs were present in pelvic and 37.1% in para-aortic lymph nodes (PAN). Total 56.3% of lymph nodes with metastasis were present in pelvic and 43.8% in PAN, and the distribution has no difference with SN mapping results (P=0.602). Among 13 cases with metastatic SNs, 76.9% cases showed metastasis in PAN. Conclusions This SN mapping procedure for endometrial cancer patients revealed high detection rate, sensitivity, NPV, and also indicated the importance of the SN exploration in PAN area.

Background Poly(ADP)-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors such as olaparib can induce cell death in cancer cells with homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair deficiencies, such as BRCA1/2 mutations. Aim To identify prognostic biomarkers of long-term outcomes in cancer patients. Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to analyse expression of key HR pathway proteins (ATM, ATR, BRCA1, MDC1, MRE11) and PARP-1 in 100 serous ovarian cancer (SOC) and 100 triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumour samples from Japanese patients. RECIST assessment was used. Results Patient demographic data and BRCA1/2 mutation status were unavailable. Most proteins listed previously were detected in > 80% of tissue samples, with BRCA1 expression detected in 60-65%. A potential link between BRCA1 expression and overall survival (M stage adjusted) in SOC patients was observed, but was not statistically significant after multiple testing adjustment. Correlations between other biomarker expression and survival were not observed. In TNBC patients, MDC1 staining was associated with progressive disease, but this was not statistically significant; the analysis did not identify significant correlations between biomarker expression and disease control. Limited event numbers prevented assessment of the prognostic value of BRCA1 in TNBC. Conclusion BRCA1 expression may be a candidate for a prognostic biomarker in SOC. Further studies are warranted.

Synchronous endometrial and ovarian cancer (SEOC) is a rare entity among gynecological cancers, which exhibits endometrioid histology in its early stages and generally has a good prognosis. However, diagnosis is difficult and recent reports have demonstrated that most clinically diagnosed cases of SEOC have clonally related cancers, indicating metastatic cancer. The association of SEOC with Lynch syndrome is also not clearly understood. We herein present the case of a 41-year-old SEOC patient with MSH2 mutation. The endometrial cancer was an endometrioid adenocarcinoma and the ovarian cancer was mainly endometrioid, but also included a clear cell carcinoma with a borderline clear cell adenofibromatous component, indicating primary ovarian cancer. Both tumors exhibited microsatellite instability (MSI) and loss of expression of MSH2 and MSH6. The patient had a family history of colorectal and gastric cancers. Genetic analysis revealed a germline mutation in exon 6 of MSH2 (c.1042C>T, p.Gln348*) and the patient was diagnosed with Lynch syndrome. This MSH2 mutation has only been registered in one case in the InSiGHT variant databases and has not been reported in a gynecological tumor or SEOC to date. This case is a rare example of a patient with genetically diagnosed Lynch syndrome who also developed SEOC. This synchronous cancer is not common, but it may be caused by Lynch syndrome. Testing for MSI and immunohistochemistry for mismatch repair deficiency is necessary in cases with suspected SEOC.