Presentations in suspected cancer

Author(s):  
David Cutter ◽  
Martin Scott-Brown

Malignant neoplastic disease includes a vast range of conditions that can originate from and can directly or indirectly affect virtually every organ system of the body. As a consequence of this, the presentation of malignancy can be similarly varied. While a diagnosis of malignancy may be clinically obvious in some cases, in others diagnosis and investigation may be delayed due to non-specific presentations and the attribution of symptoms to non-malignant conditions. Early diagnosis of cancer has an impact on the success of subsequent treatment and overall survival. It is therefore vital to maintain an appropriate level of clinical suspicion when deciding whether and how much to investigate patients with symptoms that could be secondary to an underlying malignancy.

2017 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 461a ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Cheol Kim ◽  
Navneet Dogra ◽  
Benjamin H. Wunsch ◽  
Joshua T. Smith ◽  
Stacey M. Gifford ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18727-e18727
Author(s):  
Robert Smith ◽  
Mei Xue ◽  
Natalie Dorrow ◽  
Prateesh Varughese ◽  
Cosima Hogea ◽  
...  

e18727 Background: Treatment for multiple myeloma (MM) over the past decade has significantly improved survival. In particular, 3 drug classes have altered the treatment paradigm for MM patients: proteasome inhibitors (PIs), immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), and CD38 monoclonal antibodies (anti-CD38s). Despite these advances, the majority of patients with MM will become refractory to PIs, IMiDs, and anti-CD38s, and limited evidence indicates these patients have poor outcomes. A retrospective study in the US showed that 275 patients treated at 14 academic institutions with prior exposure to a PI, IMiD, and anti-CD38 had median overall survival of 9.2 months. The aim of this study was to evaluate real-world treatment patterns and outcomes (duration of therapy and overall survival) of patients who had been treated with a PI, IMiD, and anti-CD38 in community practices in the US. Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted using the Integra Connect (IC) database. The IC database includes electronic health data from structured and unstructured fields from 12 community practices on the East and West Coast of the US. Adult patients with ≥2 ICD-9/ICD-10 codes for MM on at least 2 separate dates, who received MM treatment between Jan 1, 2016, and Dec 31, 2019, with treatment history that included at least one PI, one IMiD, and one anti-CD38 (triple exposed), and initiated a subsequent line of therapy (s-LOT) after becoming triple exposed, were included. Duration of length of s-LOT was defined as number of days from start of s-LOT to last-day supply of s-LOT. Overall survival was defined as the length of time from start of s-LOT through death or the date of the last office visit. Results: A total of 501 patients were included in this analysis. The median age of patients was 64.9 years; 50% were male; 50% had commercial insurance. 82.8% of patients had ECOG 0 or 1 at diagnosis and had received a median of 3 prior lines of therapy (LOTs) before initiating s-LOT. Prior to initiating s-LOT, 91% had been exposed to bortezomib, 81% to carfilzomib, 94% to lenalidomide, 82% to pomalidomide, and 100% to daratumumab. In s-LOT, 95% received treatment that included same drug or same drug class (30% received bortezomib, 48% carfilzomib, 31% lenalidomide, 47% pomalidomide, and 31% daratumumab). The median duration of s-LOT was 78 days and median survival was 10.3 months (308 days) from initiation of s-LOT. Conclusions: For triple-class exposed patients, there is a lack of consensus on the most efficacious approach to subsequent treatment. The present study shows a significant amount of retreatment with previously used agents or classes among these patients with short duration of therapy and poor survival. As has been previously noted, new strategies and agents targeting novel aspects of MM are needed to improve outcomes for these patients. Disclosures: This study (213286) was sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline.


Author(s):  
Victor M. Lu ◽  
Shelly Wang ◽  
David J. Daniels ◽  
Robert J. Spinner ◽  
Allan D. Levi ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVE Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) are rare tumors found throughout the body, with their clinical course in children still not completely understood. Correspondingly, this study aimed to determine survival outcomes and specific clinical predictors of survival in this population from a large national database. METHODS All patients with MPNSTs aged ≤ 18 years in the US National Cancer Database (NCDB) between 2005 and 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. Data were summarized, and overall survival was modeled using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. RESULTS A total of 251 pediatric patients with MPNSTs (132 [53%] females and 119 [47%] males) were identified; the mean age at diagnosis was 13.1 years (range 1–18 years). There were 84 (33%) MPNSTs located in the extremities, 127 (51%) were smaller than 1 cm, and 22 (9%) had metastasis at the time of diagnosis. In terms of treatment, surgery was pursued in 187 patients (74%), chemotherapy in 116 patients (46%), and radiation therapy in 129 patients (61%). The 5-year overall survival rate was estimated at 52% (95% CI 45%–59%), with a median survival of 64 months (range 36–136 months). Multivariate regression revealed that older age (HR 1.10, p < 0.01), metastases at the time of diagnosis (HR 2.14, p = 0.01), and undergoing biopsy only (HR 2.98, p < 0.01) significantly and independently predicted a shorter overall survival. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS In this study, the authors found that older patient age, tumor metastases at the time of diagnosis, and undergoing only biopsy significantly and independently predicted poorer outcomes. Only approximately half of patients survived to 5 years. These results have shown a clear survival benefit in pursuing maximal safe resection in pediatric patients with MPNSTs. As such, judicious workup with meticulous resection by an expert team should be considered the standard of care for these tumors in children.


2021 ◽  
Vol 309 ◽  
pp. 01109
Author(s):  
Priyanka Yadlapalli ◽  
Madhavi K Reddy ◽  
Sunitha Gurram ◽  
J Avanija ◽  
K Meenakshi ◽  
...  

Women are far more likely than males to acquire breast cancer, and current research indicates that this is entirely avoidable. It is also to blame for higher death rates among younger women compared to older women in nearly all developing nations. Medical imaging modalities are continuously in need of development. A variety of medical techniques have been employed to detect breast cancer in women. The most recent studies support mammography for breast cancer screening, although its sensitivity and specificity remain suboptimal, particularly in individuals with thick breast tissue, such as young women. As a result, alternative modalities, such as thermography, are required. Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI), as it is known, detects and records temperature changes on the skin’s surface. Thermography is well-known for its non-invasive, painless, cost-effective, and high recovery rates, as well as its potential to identify breast cancer at an early stage. Gabor filters are used to extract the textural characteristics of the left and right breasts. Using a support vector machine, the thermograms are then classified as normal or malignant based on textural asymmetry between the breasts (SVM). The accuracy achieved by combining Gabor features with an SVM classifier is around 84.5 percent. The early diagnosis of cancer with thermography enhances the patient’s chances of survival significantly since it may detect the disease in its early stages.


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