Curative treatments for colon cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic era

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, to protect patients with cancer, reduction in hospital access, reduction in myelosuppression risk, and postponing/withholding unnecessary treatments were important in order to reduce risk of infection. Little is known about the risk burden for patients with resected colorectal cancer (CRC). Use of an oral chemotherapy regimen represents a convenient, safe, and manageable therapy for both fit and elderly patients. In the metastatic setting, treatment of solitary metastases may be performed, omitting postresection chemotherapy due to lack of literature data. In case of unresectable CRC, short induction chemotherapy, followed by a maintenance phase, may improve compliance and reduce toxicity. In the adjuvant setting, a shorter duration (3 months) may be discussed with patients except in very high-risk cases. Clinical judgment may reduce the risk of COVID-19 exposure in patients with CRC. Oral regimens, treatment delay, and chemotherapy holiday are ways to minimize the global risk for patients during the COVID-19 era.

Solitary Liver Metastasis of Renal Cell Carcinoma 8 Years After Nephrectomy

Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common renal malignancy in adults. RCC can metastasize to various organs of the human body, including lung, bone, brain, liver, and adrenal gland. However, solitary metastases are relatively rare in clinical practice, and surgical treatment is still the preferred treatment.Case report: We present a 68-year-old male patient who was performed laparoscopic radical left nephrectomy for RCC 8 years ago. Postoperative routine examination revealed an occupying lesion in the liver. Further PET-CT suggested hepatic metastasis of RCC thus undergoing laparoscopic left hepatectomy. Pathology confirmed metastatic RCC in the liver. The patient recovered well after the operation, and there was no sign of recurrence during the follow-up for six months after the operation.Conclusion: Patients with renal carcinoma can still have recurrence and metastasis after radical nephrectomy for many years. Therefore, long-term close follow-up is beneficial to patients with radical nephrectomy.

Influence of Age, Estrogen receptor (ER),Progesterone receptor (PR) and Epidermal growth factor -2 (HER-2) in Breast Carcinoma Patient in correlation with Radionuclide Bone Scan – Single Institute Based Experience

Background: Breast carcinoma is a common type of malignancy in women worldwide. Radionuclide bone scintigraphy is recognized choice of investigation for the detection of bone metastases both in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. Biomarkers like Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR), Human Epidermal growth factor -2 (HER-2) also play important role in the management and prognosis of breast cancer. The study was aimed to find out the relationship between the MDP bone scan findingsand hormone receptor and HER-2 status of breast carcinoma patients referred to the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Mitford, Dhaka. Patients and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among 301 breast carcinoma patients between January 2018 and December 2019. Planar bone scan and SPECT (if needed) was done to all the patients after intravenous injection of 99mTc-MDP. Receptor status (ER, PR and HER-2) were documented from the patient’s medical records. Breast tumors were classified as (a) Triple positive- HER2-, ER-, and PR-positive) (b) Triple negative- HER2-, ER-, and PR-negative (c) Hormonereceptor (HR) positive (ER+/PR+) with HER-2 negative and d) HR negative (ER-/PR-) with HER-2 positive.Patients were broadly grouped according to age as A. less than 50 years (n = 59) and B. more than 50 (n = 260 ) years. Results: The mean age of the patients enrolled for this study was 59.02±9.3 with range of 32 to 81 years. Out of the 301 patients, positive bone scans were found in 105 (34.8%) and negative bone scan were found 196 (66.2%). Patients of group A (<50years) with triple negative and HR+/HER-status had no bone or bone with visceral metastases. Triple positive subtype had 2 bone metastases, and HR-/HER-2+ subtype had 2 bone metastases and 1 had bone with visceral metastases. Group B (> 50years) patients having HR+/HER2- receptor status showed 16% solitary metastases, 53.2% multiple metastases, 33.3% extensive bony metastases, 13.6% bone with visceral metastases. Triple negative subtype showed 36.0 % solitary metastases, 19.1% bone with visceral metastases. Triple positive subtype group had 40.0% solitary metastases, 34.0 % multiple metastases, 66.7% extensive bony metastases, and 13.6% bone with visceral metastases. HR-/HER-2+ subtype group had 8% solitary metastases, 12.8% multiple metastases, and 18.2 % bone metastases with visceral involvement Overall relationship between bone scan and hormone receptor subtype, showed that most of the patients had HR+/ HER-2-(35.2%) subtype and 25.6% patient had triple positive, 23.3% patient had triple negative and 15.9% patient had HR-/HER-2 – receptor subtype. This study showed the visceral involvement with bone metastases (13 % in HR+/HER-2- 52.2 % in triple negative, 13 % in triple positive, 21.7 % in HR-/HER-2+subtype). Highest bone only metastases (35) in triple positive and HR+/HER-2-(31) subtype. Most of the patiens who had bone metastases with visceral involvement belong to triple negative (52.2%) and HER-2 subtypes -HR-/HER-2+ (21.7%). The result was significant (P<0.001). Conclusion: It is observed from this study that triple positive and HR+/HER-2- were more likely to develop bone metastases than triple negative and HR-/HER-2-. Patients with bone scan negative and HR-/HER-2- or triple negative receptor status most likely develop visceral metastases Bangladesh J. Nuclear Med. 22(2): 114-118, Jul 2019

Specificity of aminergic status in skin and tumor of C57BL/6-PlautmI.IBug-This Plau6FDhu/GFDhu mice with B16/F10 melanoma

Background. Systems of plasminogen activation and biogenic amines are involved in carcinogenesis, but their relationship has not been established. Aim – study of the quantitative specificity of biogenic amines in the skin and melanoma in urokinase-gene knockout mice. Materials and methods. Levels of catecholamines, histamine, serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (HIAA) were determined by ELISA in the skin and В16/F10 melanoma of urokinase (uPA) -gene knockout mice of both genders (n=24); С57ВL/6 mice (n=64) were controls (C). Results. Differential characteristics of melanoma development in uPA-deficient mice included: an earlier onset of the primary tumor and its slow growth, more pronounced in females, in combination with hemorrhages in the lungs of males and solitary metastases in the lungs of females. This was facilitated by higher levels of norepinephrine in the skin of males/females – by 4.8/4.9 times, histamine – by 3.6/1.7 (p<0.05) times and serotonin – by 3.4/8.3 times. Dopamine accumulated in melanoma in all uPA-gene knockout mice: in females –1.6 times (p<0.05), in males – 2.1 times higher than in intact skin, with a 2.5 times reduction of norepinephrine in females. Levels of histamine decreased, but exceeded controls: in females – by 1.8 times (p<0.05), in males –by 3.5 times. Levels of serotonin in uPA-deficient females were as high, while in males they were 3.4 times lower than in intact skin. Conclusions. The specificity of the aminergic system in the skin of uPA-gene knockout mice demonstrated the inhibition of local stress and contributed to the reduction of malignant potential of melanoma by increasing immune properties of the skin.

Radiotherapy for patients with locoregional and oligometastatic relapses of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy

Materials and methods. In our study, 21 patients with recurrent prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy and oligometastases were treated by salvage radiation therapy, which included radiotherapy treatment of recurrent tumors, regional pelvic lymph nodes, the prostate bed and stereotactic body radiation therapy to detected solitary metastases.Results. The average follow-up period was 19 ± 3.5 months. At the same time, 12 (57 %) of 21 patients are currently under observation for more than 1 year, and 1 patient for more than 5 years without signs of a biochemical recurrence. The indicator of biochemical control of the disease was 86 % (18 / 21 patients) with an average follow-up period of 19 months.Conclusion. It seems to us that further study of this problem can replace today's palliative standard of treatment for this special category of patients — hormonal and chemotherapy treatment, which has low effectiveness at a high incidence of toxicity.

A Single Liver Metastasis from Pleural Biphasic Mesothelioma

Virtually any malignancy can metastasize to the liver. Large solitary metastases are rare and can be difficult to distinguish from primary tumors. Malignant mesothelioma is often considered as a locally invasive cancer but tumor dissemination to extra-thoracic sites is possible, and the liver can be involved. Herein, we present a rare case of pleural mesothelioma with a solitary large liver metastasis diagnosed postmortem in a ninety-two-year-old man with 35 years of exposure to asbestos. Results of immunohistochemical staining of the pleural and liver tumor were similar, both positive for low-molecular weight keratins, calretinin, vimentin, and podoplanin, and negative for Claudin-4, TTF1, CEA, BerEP4, CK7, CK19, CK20, BAP1, Hep Par1, p40, and WT1. Fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) for p16/CDKN2A was also performed and a homozygous deletion was detected in both tumors, supporting the diagnosis of mesothelioma. Reporting this case, we would like to point out that extra-thoracic dissemination from pleural mesothelioma, even if exceptional, can occur. In cases where differential diagnoses are challenging, the value of ancillary techniques and a practical approach to diagnostic work-up is of primary importance.

Role of metastases-directed therapy (MDT) in the management of solitary metastatic prostate cancer.

143 Background: Systemic treatment in the management of metastatic prostate cancer is inevitable. However, there is a growing interest in metastases-directed therapy (MDT). We sought to investigate the efficacy of MDT in treating patients with solitary metastatic prostate cancer and hence, delaying initiation of systemic treatment (i.e., Androgen deprivation therapy or chemotherapy). Methods: We retrospectively identified 61 patients treated with targeted therapy in the form of surgery (n = 30), stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) (n = 25), or cryotherapy (n = 7) for their solitary metastases prostate cancer. Complete response was defined by achieving a PSA value of ≤0.2 ng/ml plus resolution of the solitary metastatic lesion on C-11 choline PET choline scan, while incomplete response was defined by a residual PSA of > 0.2 ng/ml and/or radiographic evidence of disease following metastases-targeted therapy. Results: Mean (±SD) age was 68.4 (±7.8) yrs., median (IQR) primary Gleason Score was 7 (7-9) and median (IQR) pre-MDT PSA was 2 (1.3-3.8) ng/ml. Median (IQR) time from primary treatment of the prostate to MDT was 5.1 (2.7-10.1) years. None of the patients were on hormone therapy at the time of presentation with solitary metastases prostate cancer. 30 patients had bone metastases, 29 patients had lymph node metastases, 1 patient had soft tissue metastasis (pelvic metastatic mass), and another patient had visceral metastasis (to the lung). 42% of the patients (n = 26) achieved complete response to targeted therapy. Median time to initiation of 2nd line systemic treatment following MDT was 17.8 months for the complete responders versus 9.3 months for incomplete responders. 11% of the patients (n = 7) did not require 2nd line therapy after their MDT for a mean (±SD) time of 56.9 (±22.5) months. Conclusions: The use of targeted therapy in the management of patients with solitary metastatic disease or low-volume metastatic disease can provide comparable outcomes to those of systemic treatment. Further studies are warranted.

Intracerebral immunotherapy for brain tumors.

e13522 Background: Immunotherapy is a promising approach for the treatment of brain tumors, but available data are still inconclusive. The main drawback is represented by transport across the blood–brain barrier of high molecular weight drugs. Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) has been designed to overcome some difficulties. We wondered whether a CED strategy based on the use of novel immune checkpoint inhibitors could be effective. Methods: Frameless biopsy by fluorescein tracer and neuronavigation-assisted system, followed by an injection of nivolumab 40mg/4mL into the brain lesion, were offered to patients with: a) high grade gliomas (HGG) inoperable or progressed during or after standard treatment (i.e. surgery and radio-chemotherapy); b) HGG at first diagnosis or after disease progression treated with radical surgery (nivolumab delivered in the surgical cavity after tumor removal); c) other brain tumors or solitary metastases judged suitable for surgical procedure. PD-L1 expression was assessed in all patients, but it was not a strict criterion for accrual. Standard therapy, usually based on chemotherapy, radiotherapy or both, was sequentially administered to patients able to tolerate such an approach. End-points were safety, response rate, disease control, predictive value of PD-L1 expression. This is a non-sponsored monocentric, real life, basket trial approved by Ethical Committee (EudraCT number: 2018-001560-33). Results: Since August 2018, 17 patients with brain tumors (16 HGG and 1 heavily pretreated medulloblastoma) and 5 patients with brain metastasis (of lung and gastrointestinal cancers) were enrolled. Median age was 63 years (range 26-83). After a median follow up of three months (range 1-6), all patients are alive and in good clinical conditions. No signs of neurologic toxicity due to intracerebral nivolumab were observed. Brain MRI performed at 4 to 12 weeks after nivolumab CED revealed findings suggesting a perivascular lymphocyte infiltration. Correlation between PD-L1 expression and treatment efficacy will be evaluated over time. Conclusions: Intracerebral nivolumab appears to be a feasible and safe option for patients with HGG and brain metastases at the dose investigated in the study. Long-term follow up could contribute to well understand the role of this strategy. Clinical trial information: 2018-001560-33.