Phase II trial of sorafenib in combination with 5-fluorouracil infusion in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract  

     

What factors affect the odds of NSW cancer patients presenting with localised as opposed to more advanced cancer?

Abstract  

     

Adherence to the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations and cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

The World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations are lifestyle-based guidelines that aim to reduce cancer risk. A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies investigating associations between a score for adherence to the 2018 Cancer Prevention Recommendations and cancer risk was conducted.

Methods

MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus were searched for studies published to November 28, 2022. In meta-analysis, the estimated risk ratios and 95% CIs for adherence score as a continuous (per 1-point increment) and categorical (highest vs. lowest score category) variable using random-effects models were estimated.

Results

Eighteen studies (11 cohort; seven case-control) were included investigating incidence of breast (n = 7), colorectal (n = 5), prostate (n = 2), lung (n = 2), pancreatic (n = 1), endometrial (n = 1), unknown primary cancer (n = 1), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (n = 1), and overall (any) cancer (n = 1). The summary risk ratio per 1-point increment in adherence score was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.85–0.93; I² = 76.5%; n = 7) for breast cancer, 0.88 (95% CI, 0.84–0.91; I² = 26.2%; n = 4) for colorectal cancer, and 0.92 (95% CI, 0.86–0.98, I² = 66.0%; n = 2) for lung cancer. There were no significant associations with prostate or other cancers. Meta-analysis results using categorical adherence score variables were consistent with these findings.

Conclusions

Greater adherence to the 2018 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Prevention Recommendations was associated with lower risk of breast, colorectal, and lung cancers. Future studies investigating associations with risk of other forms of cancer are warranted.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42022313327.     

Health care costs of depression in patients diagnosed with cancer

Objective

Depression is common among patients diagnosed with cancer. Patients with cancer and depression use more health care services compared with nondepressed cancer patients. The current study seeks to estimate the added cost of depression in cancer patients in the first year after cancer diagnosis.

Methods

Health care charges were obtained for 2051 depressed and 11 182 nondepressed patients with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, diagnosis of cancer in the 2014 calendar year from the University of California San Diego Healthcare System. The annual health care charges for cancer patients with and without depression were analyzed using generalized linear models with a log‐link function and gamma distribution, covarying for age, sex, race/ethnicity, comorbid diseases, and presence of metastatic disease. Total cost data were broken down into several categories including ambulatory care, emergency department visits, and hospital visits.

Results

Depressed cancer patients had total annual health care charges that were 113% higher than nondepressed cancer patients (B = 0.76; P < .001). The estimated mean charges for depressed patients were $235 337 compared with $110 650 for nondepressed patients. Depressed cancer patients incurred greater charges than nondepressed patients in ambulatory care (B = 0.70; P < .001), emergency department charges (B = 0.31; P < .001), and hospital charges (B = 0.39; P < .001).

Conclusions

Depressed cancer patients incur significantly higher health care charges across multiple cost categories including ambulatory care, emergency department visits, and hospital visits. Future research should investigate if interventions for detecting and treating depression are effective for reducing health care use and costs in cancer patients.

     

Anti-tumor efficacy of gene vaccine expressing PSMA

Objective  

To observe anti-tumor eff ects of PVAX-PSMA gene vaccine.     

Low-grade extraskeletal osteosarcoma of the chest wall: case report and review of literature

Background  

Low-grade extraskeletal osteosarcomas (ESOS) are extremely rare.     

Circulating tumor DNA-based molecular residual disease detection for treatment monitoring in advanced melanoma patients

Background

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have substantially improved overall survival in patients with advanced melanoma; however, the lack of biomarkers to monitor treatment response and relapse remains an important clinical challenge. Thus, a reliable biomarker is needed that can risk-stratify patients for disease recurrence and predict response to treatment.

Methods

A retrospective analysis using a personalized, tumor-informed circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) assay on prospectively collected plasma samples (n = 555) from 69 patients with advanced melanoma was performed. Patients were divided into three cohorts: cohort A (N = 30), stage III patients receiving adjuvant ICI/observation; cohort B (N = 29), unresectable stage III/IV patients receiving ICI therapy; and cohort C (N = 10), stage III/IV patients on surveillance after planned completion of ICI therapy for metastatic disease.

Results

In cohort A, compared to molecular residual disease (MRD)-negative patients, MRD-positivity was associated with significantly shorter distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS; hazard ratio [HR], 10.77; p = .01). Increasing ctDNA levels from the post-surgical or pre-treatment time point to after 6 weeks of ICI were predictive of shorter DMFS in cohort A (HR, 34.54; p < .0001) and shorter progression-free survival (PFS) in cohort B (HR, 22; p = .006). In cohort C, all ctDNA-negative patients remained progression-free for a median follow-up of 14.67 months, whereas ctDNA-positive patients experienced disease progression.

Conclusion

Personalized and tumor-informed longitudinal ctDNA monitoring is a valuable prognostic and predictive tool that may be used throughout the clinical course of patients with advanced melanoma.     

Spontaneous regression of bone metastasis from renal cell carcinoma; A case report

Background  

Spontaneous regression of metastatic renal cell carcinoma is rarely observed.     

A drug interaction study evaluating the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of sorafenib in combination with capecitabine

Purpose  

To address tolerability and a possible pharmacologic interaction of capecitabine with sorafenib.     

Recreational physical activity and the risk of adult leukemia in Canada

Objective  

To examine the association between adult onset leukemia and recreational physical activity.     

Trabectedin has a low cardiac risk profile: a comprehensive cardiac safety analysis

Purpose  

This analysis provides a cross-study evaluation of the cardiac safety of trabectedin.     

Dietary habits and risk of pancreatic cancer: an Italian case–control study

Objective  

To investigate the association between dietary habits and pancreatic cancer.     

VEGF-A-independent and angiogenesis-dependent tumour growth in patients with metastatic breast cancer

Background  

The mechanisms of tumour progression during anti-VEGF-A treatment are poorly understood.     

Prospective evaluation of the drug-metabolizing enzyme polymorphisms and toxicity profile of docetaxel in Korean patients with operable lymph node-positive breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy

Background  

Inter-individual variability of pharmacokinetics may account for unpredictable toxicities of docetaxel.     

8q24 sequence variants in relation to prostate cancer risk among men of African descent: A case-control study

Background  

Human chromosome 8q24 has been implicated in prostate tumorigenesis.     

The association between height and prostate cancer grade in the Early Stage Prostate Cancer Cohort Study

Objective  

We examined the relationship between height and prostate cancer grade.     

Mass media exposure,social stratification,and tobacco consumption among Nigerian adults

Objective  

To assess the impact of mammography capacity on appointment wait times.     

Calcitonin-producing well-differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (carcinoid tumor) of the urinary bladder: case report

Background  

The occurrence of calcitonin-secreting primary carcinoid tumor of the urinary bladder is extremely rare.