Lung cancer in elderly patients: a retrospective analysis of practice in a single institution

Incidence of non-small cell lung cancer is increasing especially among elderly with about 40% arising in patients over 70 years old. Most of these elderly patients are under treated. Seventy-one patients with lung cancer over 70 years old were treated in Institut Paoli-Calmettes from January 2000 until December 2003 (male/female: 57/14). Median age was 75.5 years (70-92). OMS 0-1-2-3=4.2-60.6-25.4-4.2%, respectively. Comorbidities were represented by arterial hypertension, coronaropathy, cardiac failure, thrombo-embolism, respiratory failure, diabetes, vascular cerebral dysfunction, and renal failure. 29.6% of patients were without comorbidity, and 14.1% had at least three comorbidities. The averages of the Charlson comorbidity score and the Age-Charlson comorbidity score were 3.4 and 6.6, respectively. Histological characteristics: epidermo?d/adenocarcinoma/undifferentiated/small cells: 39.4%/26.8%/15.5%/9.9%. Most of them were advanced lung cancer: St IIIB=14 (19.7%) and St IV=37 (52.1%). Forty-six patients received chemotherapy (64.8%) with 40 patients (86.9%) with platin (carboplatin or cisplatin). The median number of treatment cycles was 4.1 (range 1-7). Two patients achieved complete response and 15 had partial response. The response rate was 39.6%. The 1-year survival rate was 48.5% and the estimated median survival time was 11 months (95%; 7-18 months) for all patients. The 1-year survival rate was 75% and 21.6% and the estimated median survival time was 25.9 months (95%; 12.6, ND) and 5.7 months (95%; 4.2-9.6) for stage IIIB and IV, respectively. Toxicities were judged acceptable with 19 hospitalizations after chemotherapy, for 16 patients who represent 34.8% of patients who received chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Chemotherapy is feasible in elderly patients with lung cancer. Patients should be evaluated for chemotherapy based on their performance status and comorbidities especially with geriatric assessment rather than age alone. The chemotherapy with platinum seems to be tolerable and effective.     

高危前列腺癌以根治手术为核心的治疗策略

高危前列腺癌最常用的定义由D＇Amico提出,即临床分期≥T2c,或Gleason评分8～10分,或前列腺特异抗原（PSA）≥20ng／mL,但是新近认为T2c的患者应该被归人中危组。最新版《中国泌尿外科疾病诊断治疗指南》,2009年欧洲泌尿外科学会和美国国立癌症综合网络（NCCN）的关于局限性前列腺癌的诊治指南中,把临床分期T3a,或Gleason评分8～10分,或PSA≥20ng／mL定义为高危前列腺癌。由于缺乏PSA筛查,国内局限性前列腺癌患者大部分属于高危。     

Adjuvant and salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy: outcome analysis of 307 patients with prostate cancer

Aim

In men with adverse pathology after radical prostatectomy, the most appropriate timing to administer radiotherapy (RT) remains a topic of debate. We analyzed in terms of efficacy, prognostic factors and toxicity the two therapeutic strategies: immediate postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) and salvage radiotherapy (SART).

Materials and methods

Between January 1995 and November 2010, 307 patients underwent adjuvant or salvage radiotherapy, after prostatectomy.

Results

In the PORT group, 42 patients (20.7 %) had biochemical failure, with a median time to biochemical failure of 1.8 years; two parameters (age at diagnosis and PSA pre-RT) resulted to be significant at the survival analysis for overall survival (p = 0.003 and p = 0.046, respectively). In the SART group, 33 patients (31.7 %) had biochemical relapse; sixteen patients died of prostate cancer; postoperative hormones therapy, conformal radiotherapy and level of PSA pre-RT >1.0 ng/ml resulted to be significant at the survival analysis, p = 0.009, p = 0.039 and p = 0.002, respectively.

Conclusion

Our study is limited by its retrospective and nonrandomized design. As such, decisions to treat with adjuvant or salvage radiotherapy and the time to initiate therapy were based on patient preference and physician counseling. Our recommendation is to suggest adjuvant radiotherapy for all patients with adverse prognostic factors and to reserve salvage radiotherapy for low-risk patients, when the biochemical recurrence occurs.     

Safety and efficacy of radiotherapy treatment in elderly patients with localized prostate cancer: A retrospective analysis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and the activity of radiotherapy treatment in patients aged ≥75 with prostate cancer (PC). From January 2000 to December 2007, 107 consecutive patients aged ≥75 years received radiotherapy with radical intent for PC. Eighty-one patients received radiotherapy in combination with a 6 months androgen suppression therapy. Variables considered were age, stage, co-morbidities according to the adult co-morbidity evaluation index (ACE-27) and performance status (PS). The median age was 79.1 years (range 76-87). The 23.4% of patients showed no co-morbidities, while the 46.7% had mild, 23.4% moderate, and 6.5% severe co-morbidities, respectively. All patients completed the planned radiation treatment. At a median follow-up of 37.8 months, the 5-year overall survival rate was 78%. There was a better survival for patients with no or mild co-morbidities (p < 0.0001) and a good PS (p = 0.009). The actuarial disease-free survival at 60 months was 75.8%. Difference in acute and late toxicity rate was detected between ACE-27 classes for diarrhea and marginally for urinary toxicity, but no difference was detected for different age. We conclude that compliance with radiotherapy is good and rate of toxicity is acceptable in elderly patients. Increasing severity of co-morbidity may sufficiently shorten remaining life expectancy to cancel gains with radical radiotherapy. Further prospective trials are needed to confirm these results.     

Safety and efficacy of radiotherapy treatment in elderly patients with localized prostate cancer: A retrospective analysis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and the activity of radiotherapy treatment in patients aged ≥75 with prostate cancer (PC). From January 2000 to December 2007, 107 consecutive patients aged ≥75 years received radiotherapy with radical intent for PC. Eighty-one patients received radiotherapy in combination with a 6 months androgen suppression therapy. Variables considered were age, stage, co-morbidities according to the adult co-morbidity evaluation index (ACE-27) and performance status (PS). The median age was 79.1 years (range 76–87). The 23.4% of patients showed no co-morbidities, while the 46.7% had mild, 23.4% moderate, and 6.5% severe co-morbidities, respectively. All patients completed the planned radiation treatment. At a median follow-up of 37.8 months, the 5-year overall survival rate was 78%. There was a better survival for patients with no or mild co-morbidities (p < 0.0001) and a good PS (p = 0.009). The actuarial disease-free survival at 60 months was 75.8%. Difference in acute and late toxicity rate was detected between ACE-27 classes for diarrhea and marginally for urinary toxicity, but no difference was detected for different age. We conclude that compliance with radiotherapy is good and rate of toxicity is acceptable in elderly patients. Increasing severity of co-morbidity may sufficiently shorten remaining life expectancy to cancel gains with radical radiotherapy. Further prospective trials are needed to confirm these results.     

Improved survival in an Asian cohort of young colorectal cancer patients: an analysis of 523 patients from a single institution

Background  Colorectal cancer (CRC) in the young is rare. Outcomes remain varied compared to older populations. The study reviews characteristics and overall survival (OS) of CRC in patients ≤50 years old. Materials and methods  Five hundred and twenty-three (14%) of 3,796 sporadic CRCs were identified. Patients were compared for demographics, tumour characteristics, treatment, and 5-year overall specific survival. Independent prognostic factors were evaluated. Results  The majority were males (54%) with a median age of 45 years (range 19–50 years). Sixty-three percent of the patients presented with advanced stage disease (stage III and IV), and tumours were predominantly left-sided (83%). A higher frequency of mucinous or signet ring cell histological subtypes (16% vs 9%, p = 0.028) as well as poorly differentiated tumours (30% vs 12%, p = 0.0001) were present in younger patients ≤40 years. With a median follow-up of 41 months, the 5-year OS is 58% (95% confidence interval 53–64%). Younger patients ≤40 years had significantly superior 5-year OS of 62% vs 58% in the age group 41–50 years old (p = 0.004). Multivariate analysis identified five independent prognostic features: age group of 41–50 years, poorly differentiated tumour grade, presence of perineural infiltration, high tumour stage, and carcinoembryonic antigen values ≥5 ng/ml. Conclusion  This study has revealed significantly improved 5-year survival in young CRC compared to those reported in the literature.     

Management and outcomes for patients with TTP: analysis of 100 cases at a single institution

The advent of plasma exchange has led to a dramatic improvement in the survival of patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), though approximately 10% of patients still die and a third suffer relapses. Clinical features that identify poor risk patients have not been clearly identified. We reviewed 100 patients who were treated for a first episode of TTP at the Cleveland Clinic between 2000 and 2012 to identify factors predictive of poor outcomes. On multivariate analysis, increasing age, especially age > 60 (RR: 7.08, 95% CI: 2.15–23.39, P = 0.002), severe neurological symptoms at presentation (RR: 18.37, 95% CI: I4.19–80.13, P < 0.001) and a persistently elevated LDH level after two plasma exchanges were predictive of mortality. Patients with ADAMTS13 activity above or below 5% did not differ in terms of clinical presentation or mortality and relapse rates, although ADAMTS13 activity > 5% was an independent predictor of adverse renal outcomes (need for dialysis and progression to chronic kidney disease). These variables may be useful for risk stratification and identification of patients who could potentially benefit from early institution of adjunctive therapy. Am. J. Hematol. 88:560–565, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Development and validation of a nomogram for predicting prostate cancer in patients with PSA ≤ 20 ng/mL at initial biopsy

The aim of this study was to construct a nomogram for predicting prostate cancer (PCa) in patients with PSA ≤ 20 ng/mL at initial biopsy.The patients with PSA ≤ 20 ng/mL who underwent prostate biopsy were retrospectively included in this study. The nomogram was developed based on predictors for PCa, which were assessed by multivariable logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration plots and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the performance of the nomogram.This retrospective study included 691 patients, who were divided into training set (505 patients) and validation set (186 patients). The nomogram was developed based on the multivariable logistic regression model, including age, total PSA, free PSA, and prostate volume. It had a high area under the curve of 0.857, and was well verified in validation set. Calibration plots and DCA further validated its discrimination and potential clinical benefits. Applying the cut-off value of 15%, our nomogram would avoid 42.5% of unnecessary biopsies while miss only 4.4% of PCa patients.The nomogram provided high predictive accuracy for PCa in patients with PSA ≤ 20 ng/mL at initial biopsy, which could be used to avoid the unnecessary biopsies in clinical practice.     

高危前列腺癌患者淋巴结转移的危险因素分析

［摘要］　目的　探讨影响高危前列腺癌患者淋巴结转移(lymph node metastasis,LNM)的危险因素。方法　选取2016年1月至2020年12月新疆医科大学第一附属医院收治的105例高危前列腺癌患者的临床资料,均经腹膜外途径腹腔镜下前列腺癌根治术（eLRP）+扩大盆腔淋巴结清扫（ePLND）治疗。根据淋巴结病理结果分为病例组（LNM阳性,14例）和对照组（LNM阴性,91例）。比较两组术前年龄、体质量指数（BMI）、前列腺特异性抗原（PSA）、格里森评分（GS）、穿刺阳性针数百分比（PPBC）、前列腺体积（PV）和前列腺癌临床分期。采用二元logistic回归和列线图分析影响患者LNM的因素。结果　病例组GS>8分、前列腺癌临床分期>T2c期的人数比例大于对照组,PPBC高于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。二元logistic回归分析结果显示,前列腺癌临床分期>T2c期（OR=7.128,95%CI：1.316～38.618）、PSA 10～20 ng/ml（OR=10.679,95%CI：1.014～112.512）、GS>8分（OR=16.387,95%CI：2.147～125.092）和更大的PV（OR=2.938,95%CI：1.266～6.822）是促进患者发生LNM的危险因素（P<0.05）。列线图分析显示,前列腺癌临床分期和GS有较高的预测价值。结论　PSA、GS、前列腺癌临床分期及PV均与高危前列腺癌LNM的发生有关,且以前列腺癌临床分期和GS预测价值最高。     

Controversies in prostate cancer radiotherapy: consensus development

The GU Radiation Oncologists of Canada (GUROC) had a consensus meeting in November 2000 to discuss and develop consensus on four controversial areas: risk assessment of localized prostate cancer, conformal radiotherapy, role of brachytherapy in prostate cancer and combined hormonal therapy and radiotherapy for prostate cancer. The meeting was a success and resulted in consensus being achieved on a number of areas. The group agreed on three risk groupings: low risk, intermediate risk and high risk localized prostate cancer based on clinical stage, Gleason score and PSA level. The participants agreed that based on available toxicity data from randomized controlled trials, conformal treatment techniques should be offered to patients receiving prostatic radiotherapy. Consensus was reached on the role of dose escalation in each of the three risk groups and is summarized in the article. At present there is insufficient evidence from randomized clinical trials to recommend the use of brachytherapy over current other standard therapy (radical prostatectomy or external beam radiotherapy). Non randomized published studies show promising short and intermediate term results. Where ever possible patients should be approached about participation in ongoing RCT's evaluating brachytherapy versus current other standard therapy. Outside a clinical trial the participants felt permanent seed implants should be considered an acceptable treatment option for appropriate patients with low risk prostate cancer. Based on randomized controlled trials the group agreed that patients with high risk disease should be treated with prolonged (up to 2-3 years) adjuvant hormonal therapy. Part of this hormonal treatment may be given in a neoadjuvant fashion. The group agreed that adjuvant hormones should not be routinely used in low and intermediate risk patients. Neoadjuvant hormones have been demonstrated to improve outcome in patients with bulky tumors. The role of neoadjuvant hormones in other patients with intermediate and low risk prostate cancer is unclear and will be clarified with the publication of recently completed studies. The consensus meeting strongly endorsed continued accrual to current studies investigating clinically relevant questions.     

Risk factors for a high Comprehensive Complication Index score after major hepatectomy for biliary cancer: a study of 229 patients at a single institution

BackgroundThe Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI) is a new tool to evaluate the postoperative condition by calculating the sum of all complications weighted by their severity. The aim of this study was to identify independent risk factors for a high CCI score (≥40) in 229 patients after major hepatectomies with biliary reconstruction for biliary cancers.MethodsThe CCI was calculated online via www.assessurgery.com. Independent risk factors were identified by multivariable analysis.Results57 (25%) patients were classified as having CCI ≥ 40. On multivariable analysis, volume of intraoperative blood loss (≥2.5 L) (p = 0.004) and combined pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) (p = 0.006) were independent risk factors for CCI ≥ 40. A high level of maximum serum total bilirubin was identified as independent risk factors for a high volume of intraoperative blood loss. Liver failure (p = 0.046) was more frequent in patients with combined PD than in those without.DiscussionPatients who undergo preoperative external biliary drainage for severe jaundice might have impaired production of coagulation factors. When blood loss during liver transection becomes difficult to control, surgeons should consider various strategies, such as second-stage biliary or pancreatic reconstruction. In patients planned to undergo major hepatectomy with combined PD, preoperative portal vein embolization is mandatory to prevent postoperative liver failure.     

Follow-up of high-risk patients with differentiated thyroid cancer without persistent disease after initial therapy

This study evaluated the follow-up of high-risk patients with thyroid cancer after initial therapy. A total of 125 high-risk patients (tumor >4 cm and/or extrathyroid invasion and/or lymph node metastases, and age >45 years), with complete resection of the tumor, were selected. All patients underwent total thyroidectomy and ablation with (131)I[3.7-5.5 GBq (100-150 mCi)]. Eighteen patients (14.8%) presenting metastases on post-dose whole-body scan (RxWBS) were excluded. The negative predictive value of stimulated Tg < or =1 ng/ml in combination with neck US during first assessment (612 mo. after ablative therapy) was 96.2% for the absence of recurrence up to 5 years. This value increased to 98.7% when adding WBS performed with 185 MBq (5 mCi) (131)I (DxWBS). The positive predictive value (PPV) of stimulated Tg >1 ng/ml was 52% for the detection of the presence of metastases up to 5 years; however, considering only patients with initially negative DxWBS and US, the PPV was 19% (9% if Tg of 110 ng/ml vs. 40% if Tg >10 ng/ml). Tg levels decreased spontaneously in patients with stimulated Tg >1 ng/ml during first assessment, negative US and DxWBS, and no recurrence during follow-up, with Tg being undetectable in half these patients at the end of 5 years. Twenty patients presented uptake in the thyroid bed upon DxWBS during the first year after ablative therapy, with stimulated Tg and US being negative, and were not treated with 131I; these patients did not relapse and no uptake on DxWBS was observed in 60% after 5 years. Recurrence after 5 years was only 1.3% in patients without apparent disease (negative US and DxWBS) and stimulated Tg <1 ng/ml. An algorithm for the follow-up of high-risk patients after initial therapy is presented in this study.     

血清 PSA、PSAD 检测在前列腺癌骨转移诊断中的价值

目的探讨血清前列腺特异性抗原(PSA)、前列腺特异性抗原密度(PSAD)检测在前列腺癌(PCa)骨转移诊断中的价值。方法经前列腺穿刺活检或手术后病理检查确诊的238例PCa患者,根据ECT、X线、CT及MRI结果诊断骨转移组112例、非骨转移组126例;分析血清PSA、PSAD水平与PCa骨转移的关系。结果以血清PSA>20 ng/m L为骨转移诊断标准,两组骨转移阳性率有统计学差异(P<0.05),其诊断骨转移敏感度性76.79%,特异性为82.54%。以血清PSAD>0.40 ng/(m L·cm3)为骨转移诊断标准,两组骨转移阳性率有统计学差异(P<0.05),其诊断骨转移敏感性82.14%,特异性为75.40%。以血清PSA>20 ng/m L联合PSAD>0.40 ng/(m L·cm3)为临界值诊断骨转移敏感性、特异性分别为82.14%和84.13%。应用ROC曲线确定诊断PCa骨转移的临界值,血清PSA为20 ng/m L,PSAD为0.40 ng/(m L·cm3)。结论血清PSA、PSAD均为判断PCa患者有无骨转移的可靠指标,PSA+PSAD联合检测有助于预测PCa骨转移。