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Purpose: End-of-life cancer care varies widely, and very few centers evaluate it systematically. Our objective was to assess indicators of the aggressiveness of end-of-life cancer care in clinical practice., Methods: An observational, longitudinal, and retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary hospital. Eligible patients were at least 18 years old, had a solid tumor, were followed up by the Oncology Department, and had died because of cancer or associated complications during 2017. We used the criteria of Earle et al. (J Clin Oncol 21(6):1133-1138, 2003) to assess the aggressiveness of care. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to characterize factors associated with aggressiveness of therapy., Results: The study population comprised 684 patients. Eighty-eight patients (12.9%) received anti-cancer treatment during the last 14 days of their lives, and 62 patients (9.1%) started a new treatment line in the last 30 days. During the last month of life, 102 patients (14.9%) visited the ER, 80 patients (11.7%) were hospitalized more than once, and 26 (3.8%) were admitted to the ICU. A total of 326 patients (47.7%) died in the acute care unit. A total of 417 patients (61.0%) were followed by the Palliative Care Unit, and in 54 cases (13.0%), this care started during the last 3 days of life., Conclusions: The use of anti-cancer therapies and health care services in our clinical practice, except for the ICU, did not meet the Earle criteria for high-quality care. Concerning hospice care, more than half of the patients received hospice services before death, although in some cases, this care started close to the time of death.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is highly responsive to neoadjuvant polychemotherapy regimens including anthracyclines, taxanes, and, more recently, carboplatin. However, there is inadequate information on the individual contribution of each of these agents to the global activity of the combinations, and the use of combinations of up to four of these drugs is associated with relevant toxicity. Identifying single-drug activity in the clinical neoadjuvant setting is challenging. We developed patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) from several chemotherapy-naïve TNBC samples to assess the antitumor activity of single drugs and combinations of drugs. PDXs were established from chemotherapy-naïve TNBC samples. Nine TNBC PDX models (all of which corresponded to a basal-like phenotype according to the PAM50 classifier) were treated with carboplatin, docetaxel, and doxorubicin and the combination of docetaxel and carboplatin. Only one of nine PDX models showed sensitivity to doxorubicin, while eight of nine PDX models showed sensitivity to docetaxel and carboplatin as single agents. The 3 PDX models derived from patients with gBRCA-1 or gPALB2 mutations were very sensitive to carboplatin single agent. All 6 PDX models from patients without hereditary germ-line mutations showed increased sensitivity to the combination of docetaxel and carboplatin. In the present study, docetaxel and carboplatin single agents were active drugs against basal-like TNBC, while doxorubicin monotherapy showed low activity. The combination of docetaxel and carboplatin was more effective than the drugs used as single agents, except in the PDX from patients with gBRCA1/PALB2 mutations.

Background: Data on the incidence, etiology, and prognosis of non-ventilator-associated pneumonia in hospitalized patients with solid tumors are scarce. We aimed to study the characteristics of non-ventilator-associated pneumonia in hospitalized patients with solid tumors., Materials and Methods: This was a prospective noninterventional cohort study of pneumonia in patients hospitalized in an oncology ward in a tertiary teaching hospital. Pneumonia was defined according to the American Thoracic Society criteria. Patients were followed for 1 month after diagnosis or until discharge. Survivors were compared with nonsurvivors., Results: A total of 132 episodes of pneumonia were diagnosed over 1 year (9.8% of admissions to the oncology ward). They were health care-related (67.4%) or hospital-acquired pneumonia (31.8%). Lung cancer was the most common malignancy. An etiology was established in 48/132 episodes (36.4%). Knowing the etiology led to changes in antimicrobial therapy in 58.3%. Subsequent intensive care unit admission was required in 10.6% and was linked to inappropriate empirical therapy. Ten-day mortality was 24.2% and was significantly associated with hypoxia (odds ratio [OR], 2.1). Thirty-day mortality was 46.2%. The independent risk factors for 30-day mortality were hypoxia (OR, 3.3), hospital acquisition (OR, 3.1), and a performance status >1 (OR, 2.6). Only 40% of patients who died within 30 days were terminally ill., Conclusion: Pneumonia is a highly prevalent condition in hospitalized patients with solid tumors, even with nonterminal disease. Etiology is diverse, and poor outcome is linked to inappropriate empirical therapy. Efforts to get the empirical therapy right and reach an etiological diagnosis to subsequently de-escalate are warranted., Implications for Practice: The present study shows that pneumonia is a prevalent infectious complication in patients admitted to oncology wards, with a very high mortality, even in non-terminally ill patients. Etiology is diverse, and etiological diagnosis is reached in fewer than 40% of cases in nonintubated patients. Intensive care unit admission, a marker of poor outcome, is associated with inappropriate empirical therapy. These results suggest that, to improve prognosis, a more precise and appropriate antimicrobial empirical therapy for pneumonia in patients with solid tumors is necessary, together with an effort to reach an etiological diagnosis to facilitate subsequent de-escalation., (© AlphaMed Press 2020.)

Purpose: Genetic heterogeneity between primary tumors and their metastatic lesions has been documented in several breast cancer studies. However, the selection of therapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer and the search for biomarkers for targeted therapy are often based on findings from the primary tumor, mainly because of the difficulty of distant metastasis core biopsies. New methods for monitoring genomic changes in metastatic breast cancer are needed (ie, circulating tumor DNA [ctDNA] genomic analysis). The objectives of this study were to assess the concordance of genomic variants between primary and metastatic tumor tissues and the sensitivity of plasma ctDNA analysis to identify variants detected in tumor biopsies., Patients and Methods: Next-generation sequencing technology was used to assess the genomic mutation profile of a panel of 54 cancer genes in matched samples of primary tumor, metastatic tumor, and plasma from 40 patients with metastatic breast cancer., Results: Using Ion Torrent technology (ThermoFisher Scientific, Waltham, MA), we identified 110 variants that were common to the primary and metastatic tumors. ctDNA analysis had a sensitivity of 0.972 in detecting variants present in both primary and metastatic tissues. In addition, we identified 13 variants in metastatic tissue and ctDNA not present in primary tumor., Conclusion: We identified genomic variants present in metastatic biopsies and plasma ctDNA that were not present in the primary tumor. Deep sequencing of plasma ctDNA detected most DNA variants previously identified in matched primary and metastatic tissues. ctDNA might aid in therapy selection and in the search for biomarkers for drug development in metastatic breast cancer.

Purpose: Prognostic value of pathologic complete response (pCR) and extent of pathologic response attained with anthracycline-free platinum plus taxane neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is unknown. We report recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) according to degree of pathologic response in patients treated with carboplatin plus docetaxel NAC., Patients and Methods: One-hundred and ninety patients with stage I-III TNBC were treated with neoadjuvant carboplatin (AUC6) plus docetaxel (75 mg/m 2 ) every 21 days × 6 cycles. pCR (no evidence of invasive tumor in breast and axilla) and Residual cancer burden (RCB) were evaluated. Patients were followed for recurrence and survival. Extent of pathologic response was associated with RFS and OS using the Kaplan-Meier method., Results: Median age was 51 years, and 52% were node-positive. pCR and RCB I rates were 55% and 13%, respectively. Five percent of pCR patients, 0% of RCB I patients, and 58% of RCB II/III patients received adjuvant anthracyclines. Three-year RFS and OS were 79% and 87%, respectively. Three-year RFS was 90% in patients with pCR and 66% in those without pCR [HR = 0.30; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.14-0.62; P = 0.0001]. Three-year OS was 94% in patients with pCR and 79% in those without pCR (HR = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.10-0.63; P = 0.001). Patients with RCB I demonstrated 3-year RFS (93%) and OS (100%) similar to those with pCR. On multivariable analysis, higher tumor stage, node positivity, and RCB II/III were associated with worse RFS., Conclusions: Neoadjuvant carboplatin plus docetaxel yields encouraging efficacy in TNBC. Patients achieving pCR or RCB I with this regimen demonstrate excellent 3-year RFS and OS without adjuvant anthracycline., (©2018 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Purpose: Recent studies demonstrate that addition of neoadjuvant (NA) carboplatin to anthracycline/taxane chemotherapy improves pathologic complete response (pCR) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Effectiveness of anthracycline-free platinum combinations in TNBC is not well known. Here, we report efficacy of NA carboplatin + docetaxel (CbD) in TNBC., Experimental Design: The study population includes 190 patients with stage I-III TNBC treated uniformly on two independent prospective cohorts. All patients were prescribed NA chemotherapy regimen of carboplatin (AUC 6) + docetaxel (75 mg/m 2 ) given every 21 days × 6 cycles. pCR (no evidence of invasive tumor in the breast and axilla) and residual cancer burden (RCB) were evaluated., Results: Among 190 patients, median tumor size was 35 mm, 52% were lymph node positive, and 16% had germline BRCA1/2 mutation. The overall pCR and RCB 0 + 1 rates were 55% and 68%, respectively. pCRs in patients with BRCA-associated and wild-type TNBC were 59% and 56%, respectively (P = 0.83). On multivariable analysis, stage III disease was the only factor associated with a lower likelihood of achieving a pCR. Twenty-one percent and 7% of patients, respectively, experienced at least one grade 3 or 4 adverse event., Conclusions: The CbD regimen was well tolerated and yielded high pCR rates in both BRCA-associated and wild-type TNBC. These results are comparable with pCR achieved with the addition of carboplatin to anthracycline-taxane chemotherapy. Our study adds to the existing data on the efficacy of platinum agents in TNBC and supports further exploration of the CbD regimen in randomized studies. Clin Cancer Res; 23(3); 649-57. ©2016 AACR., Competing Interests: Authors’ Disclosures of Potential Conflicts of Interest No potential conflicts of interest for all of the authors, (©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.)

To explore the uterine effects of administration of compounds that exert their bone-sparing functions through estrogen receptors, we administered 17beta-E2, raloxifene, or genistein to ovariectomized mice and analyzed the uterus weight and histology 4 weeks after beginning the treatments. Results indicated that raloxifene and genistein have partial agonistic properties on the uterus in estrogen-depleted mice, and that genistein induced apoptosis and several atypias in the glandular epithelium of endometrium, as demonstrated in hematoxylin-eosin-stained histological sections.

Several data implicate the immune system in bone lost after estrogen deficiency, however, some of the effects on the immune system of estrogen deficiency or of estrogen receptor (ER) modulation are not well established. In this study, the effect of ER agonists on the immune system in ovariectomized mice is analyzed. Mice were ovariectomized and were administered 17beta-estradiol (E2), raloxifene (RAL) or genistein (GEN). The effect of a 4-week treatment on bone turnover and on several parameters that reflect the status of the immune system was studied. Results show that ovariectomy provoked both uterine atrophy and thymic hypertrophy. Although RAL corrected thymic hypertrophy, only E2 corrected both. Ovariectomized mice showed increased levels of serum calcium and cathepsin K gene expression and decreased levels of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, which suggests that there is a persistent alteration in bone metabolism. Moreover, ovariectomy increased B-cells and CD25+ cells, and decreased the percentages of T-cells and Cbfa1 gene expression in bone marrow (BM). All ER agonists corrected, although to different degrees, changes induced by the ovariectomy. Furthermore, results showed that it is essential to adjust ER agonist doses to avoid immunosuppression, since all ER agonists decreased BM T-cell levels.

This study was designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of oxaliplatin combined with weekly boluses of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and low doses of leucovorin (LV) and to determine objective response, progression-free survival, and overall survival of patients with previously untreated advanced colorectal cancer. Seventy-nine patients enrolled in an observational, multicenter, prospective, open-label phase II study received intravenous (I.V.) infusions of oxaliplatin 85 mg/m2 over the course of 2 hours on days 1 and 14 and LV 20 mg/m2 over the course of 2 hours and 5-FU 500 mg/m2 as a bolus on days 1, 7, and 14 every 4 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred. Seventy-nine patients were evaluable for safety, and data from 70 patients were used for efficacy analysis. The objective response rate was 51.4%. Complete responses occurred in 7 patients (10%), and partial responses occurred in 29 patients (41.4%). Disease control, defined as response or stable disease, was obtained in 56 of 70 patients (80%). The median duration of response was 8.34 weeks (range, 7.3-11.5 weeks). The median time to progression was 7.13 months (range, 6.28-7.72 months), and median overall survival time was 15 months (range, 12.32-18.37 months). Acute dose-limiting toxicities were grade 3/4 diarrhea and neutropenia, which occurred in 10.5% and 3.9% of patients, respectively. Among the 70 patients who experienced neurosensory toxicity, it was estimated that only 1.3% had grade 3 symptoms. Preliminary data showed that the regimen is at least as active as other regimens combining oxaliplatin and infusional schedules of 5-FU and might be more convenient for patients because it avoids the need for I.V. catheter implantation.

Carcinoma of the prostate has been treated by monochemotherapy, polychemotherapy, intraarterial chemotherapy, combined chemo and hormone therapy and growth factor antagonists. Difficulties exist in evaluating the efficacy of chemotherapy due to the scant number of patients treated and the different criteria used to assess response. Monochemotherapy has achieved a response rate (complete and partial) of less than 20% in randomized studies and that obtained with polychemotherapy is only slightly higher. The studies that have been conducted comparing these two treatment modalities have not clearly demonstrated the superiority of the latter. The duration of response is short and is measured in weeks. There is no standard treatment. Adriamycin, fluorouracil and cyclophosphamide appear to be the most effective cytostatic agents. There is no evidence that chemotherapy improves survivorship, and in comparison to symptomatic treatment, the former has been superior. The combination of chemotherapy with hormone therapy as a first line of treatment can improve the response rate slightly and enhance survivorship, although further studies are warranted to determine this definitely. Recruitment with androgens increases the response, but may entail risks. The growth factor antagonists have extended the therapeutic possibilities in prostate carcinoma, but further studies are warranted to determine its true value.

Subacute paraneoplastic cerebellous degeneration is a rare syndrome which is found in less than 1% of patients with cancer. Small cell cancer of the lung and of the ovary are the two neoplasms most frequently associated to this entity. Two patients with small cell lung cancer who initially had a cerebellous syndrome in which no sign of macroscopic cerebellous lesion could be demonstrated by either computerized tomography or nuclear magnetic resonance of the head are presented. One of the patients was evaluated at autopsy. Both patients were treated with polychemotherapy with which partial response was obtained. Neurologic symptomatology was not alleviated in the first patient with death due to bronchopneumonia at 5.5 months of initiation of the disease, while improvement of the cerebellous paraneoplastic syndrome was achieved in the second patient. The different evolution of subacute paraneoplastic cerebellous degeneration in two patients in whom antibodies were not demonstrated and in whom initial response of the tumor to chemotherapy was achieved may be explained by the second patient having undergone prolonged treatment of 6 cycles suggesting a strict relation ship between the tumor and subacute cerebellous degeneration which, to date, remains unknown.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the results obtained in the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with the PAVI chemotherapy protocol (cisplatin, adriamycin, etoposide and ifosfamide)., Methods: Over a period of 3 years, 41 patients with a mean age of 57 years were treated. Twenty-two patients were considered as having limited disease (LD) and 19 disseminated disease (DD). Survival was studied by the Kaplan and Meier method., Results: The percentage of complete response (CR) achieved was 42%, LD 52% and 27% for DD, with partial responses (PR) being achieved in 50%, 43% in LD and 60% in DD. With a mean follow up of 32 months, the mean 2 length of response was 13 months in the patients with CR and 9 months in those with PR. The median of survival in LD was 22 months and 10 months for patients with DD. Prolonged survival of over 2 years, was only achieved in LD (16%). Five patients died in relation with the treatment. Hematologic toxicity was doses-limited with the greatest toxicity being found in patients with DD under the Karnofsky index (KI)., Conclusions: The PAVI protocol is effective in the treatment of small cell lung cancer and a good median of survival may be achieved in patients with limited disease. Toxicity is elevated and is fundamentally found in patients with disseminated disease and under the Karnofsky index, with its use not being recommended in these cases.