Predictors for Adherence to Treatment Strategies in Elderly HNSCC Patients

Finding a cure may be less important than ensuring the quality of life in elderly patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The aim of this study was to determine predictors for adherence. Clinical and pathological data from patients ≥70 years with HNSCC (initial diagnoses 2004-2018) were investigated retrospectively. Evaluated clinical predictors included biological age (Charlson Comorbidity Index; CCI), patient health (Karnofsky Performance Status; KPS) and therapy data. A total of 1125 patients were included. The median age was 75 years, 33.1% reached CCI ≥6, and 53.7% reached KPS ≤ 70%. In total, 968 patients were adherent, whereas 157 were nonadherent. Nonadherent patients were significantly more often smokers (p = 0.003), frequent drinkers (p = 0.001), had a worse health status (p ≤ 0.001) and a lower biological age (p = 0.003), an advanced T classification and lymph node involvement or UICC stage (each p ≤ 0.001). Approximately 88.0% of the included patients received a curative treatment recommendation. A total of 6.9% discontinued the therapy, and 7.0% refused the therapy. With the increasing complexity of a recommended therapy, adherence decreased. The 5-year overall survival was significantly higher in adherent patients (45.1% versus 19.2%). In contrast to the chronological patient age, biological age is a significant predictor for adherence. The evaluated predictors for nonadherence need to be verified prospectively.

Clinicopathological Profile of Thyroid Carcinoma in Young Patients: An Indonesian Single-Center Study

Introduction. Thyroid cancer is the third most common cancer that occurs in children and adolescents. Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid malignancy. Although the mortality rate of thyroid malignancy in children is usually low, the disease recurrence is higher in children with more severe clinical presentation than in adults. This study aimed to determine the demographic and clinicopathological characteristics and outcome of pediatric and adolescent patients with thyroid malignancy in Indonesia. Methods. The retrospective study included all patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma aged <20 years, from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019. Twenty-nine subjects fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. We retrieved baseline characteristics, pathology features, TSH and fT4 status, radioactive iodine therapy data, and patients’ outcomes. Then, data were analyzed using the chi-square or Fisher’s exact method. Results. We identified 29 eligible subjects, including 3 boys and 26 girls. The most common type of thyroid carcinoma was PTC (96.5%), and follicular type (31%) was the predominant variant of PTC. Lymph node involvement occurred in 24% of patients, while distant metastasis occurred in 17.2% of patients with PTC. Twenty-four (82.7%) patients had stage 1 disease. Disease recurrence was recorded in 31% of patients during the study period with a median follow-up time of 24 months. Conclusion. PTC is the most frequent type of thyroid carcinoma among children and adolescents. This malignancy has a low mortality rate, but the recurrence rate remains high among younger patients than adults even during a short-term follow-up analysis. Distant metastasis and lymph node involvement are commonly found in this age group.

Incidence, Risk Factors and Prognosis of T4a Gastric Cancer: A Population-Based Study

Background: T4a gastric cancer (GC) is a subtype of advanced GC (AGC), which urgently needs a comprehensive grade method for better treatment strategy choosing. The purpose of this study was to develop two nomograms for predicting the prognosis of patients with T4a GC.Methods: A total of 1,129 patients diagnosed as T4a GC between 2010 and 2015 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) program database. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were performed to explore the independent predictors and to establish nomogram for overall survival (OS) of the patients, whereas competing risk analyses were performed to find the independent predictors and to establish nomogram for cancer-specific survival (CSS) of the patients. The area under the curve (AUC), calibration curve, decision curve analysis (DCA), and Kaplan–Meier analysis were performed to evaluate the nomograms.Results: Older age, larger tumor size, black race, signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC), more lymph node involvement, the absence of surgery, the absence of radiotherapy, and the absence of chemotherapy were identified as independent prognostic factors for both OS and CSS. In the training cohort, the AUCs of the OS nomogram were 0.760, 0.743, and 0.723 for 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS, whereas the AUCs of the CSS nomogram were 0.724, 0.703, and 0.713 for 1-, 3-, and 5-year CSS, respectively. The calibration curve and DCA indicated that both nomograms can effectively predict OS and CSS, respectively. The abovementioned results were also confirmed in the validation cohort. Stratification of the patients into high- and low-risk groups highlighted the differences in prognosis between the two groups both in training and in validation cohorts.Conclusions: Age, tumor size, race, histologic type, N stage, surgery status, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy were confirmed as independent prognostic factors for both OS and CSS in patients with T4a GC. Two nomograms based on the abovementioned variables were constructed to provide more accurate individual survival predictions for them.

Lymph Node Involvement in Early-Stage Cervical Cancer: Is Lymphangiogenesis a Risk Factor? Results from the MICROCOL Study

Background: In patients with cervical cancer, the presence of tumoral lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI) is the main risk factor for pelvic lymph node metastasis (PLNM). The objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of several markers of lymphangiogenesis in early-stage cervical cancer and their correlation with PLNM and tumoral recurrence. Materials and Methods: Seventy-five patients with early-stage cervical carcinoma underwent sentinel lymph node (SLN) sampling in association with complete pelvic lymph node dissection. Primary tumors were stained with the following markers: Ki67, D2-40, CD31 and VEGF-C. A 3-year follow-up was performed to evaluate the disease-free survival. Results: Overall, 14 patients (18.6%) had PLNM. Positive LVSI was seen in 29 patients (38.6%). There was a significant correlation between LVSI evidenced by H/E staining and PLNM (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between high Ki67, CD31, D2-40, and VEGF-C staining with PLNM or tumor recurrence. Conclusions: Our data support that lymphatic spread does not require the proliferation of new lymphatic endothelial cells in early-stage cervical cancer. These results emphasize the importance of pre-existing peritumoral lymphatic vessels in the metastatic process in early cervical cancer. None of the markers of lymphangiogenesis and proliferation assessed in this study were predictive of PLNM or recurrence.

Implication of FDG-PET/CT in patients with potentially operable colorectal lung metastases

Objectives This prospective study assessed the role of F-18-FDG-PET/CT in clinical staging for patients with colorectal cancer planned for pulmonary metastasectomy by thoracotomy or video-assisted surgery. Patients and methods In addition to conventional imaging, we performed 86 F-18-FDG-PET/CT studies in 76 patients with potentially resectable metastatic colorectal lung metastases. We then investigated the effect that PET/CT had on further clinical management. Based on the results from the 47 thoracotomies performed, we compared the number of pulmonary metastases discovered after histologic examination with the number predicted by the conventional computed tomography (CT) as an independent part of the F-18-FDG-PET/CT examination and by the F-18-FDG-PET component. Results F-18-FDG-PET/CT led to changes in treatment regime and diagnostic planning in many patients. In five patients PET/CT revealed previously undetected local recurrence of the primary colorectal cancer, in four patients hepatic metastases, in three patients bone metastases, in two patients soft-tissue metastases, and in three patients histologically preoperatively proven N2 or N3 station lymph node involvement. These all constituted exclusion criteria, and consequently the previously planned pulmonary metastasectomy was not performed. The sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) for detection of pulmonary metastases were 84.2% and 36.4% for CT and 75.0% and 61.6% for F-18-FDG-PET study. The calculated sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of F-18-FDG-PET/CT for detecting thoracic lymph node involvement were 85.7%, 93.0%, 66.7%, and 97.5%, respectively. Furthermore, we found that F-18-FDG-PET/CT may predict thoracic lymph node involvement based on the SUV of pulmonary nodules. Conclusions F-18-FDG-PET/CT has a clear role in the diagnostic workup for pulmonary metastatic colorectal cancer and may save patients from futile surgery. It cannot, however, be relied on to detect all possible pulmonary and nodal metastases, which surgeons must always consider when making treatment decisions.

Kimura Disease as a Rare Cause of Proptosis: A Case Report

Kimura disease (KD) is a rare chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown aetiology that primarily affects the head and neck region with lymph node involvement. Young to middle-aged adult Asian males are predominantly affected. The most common presentation is painless subcutaneous swelling in the head and neck region, while proptosis or orbital involvement is very rarely reported. KD shares some features with other inflammatory and neoplastic disorders, including lymphoma; thus, investigations to confirm the diagnosis should not be delayed. Systemic corticosteroids are commonly used to treat KD and show an excellent response; however, the optimal treatment is still uncertain, and KD has a high recurrence rate. We describe the case of a patient with KD who presented with proptosis and post-auricular swelling, which responded well to oral prednisolone treatment.