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Aim: This study aimed to identify predictive/prognostic factors in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients treated with cabazitaxel. Patients & methods: Patients were enrolled from March 2011 to December 2011 in an international expanded access program. In January 2012, when cabazitaxel became commercially available, a prospective study was initiated at University Federico II of Naples and at Rionero in Vulture Hospital. Results: Forty-seven patients were enrolled in this study. Patients received a median of nine cycles of cabazitaxel. Median progression-free survival was 7.0 months (95% CI: 5.7–8.0). Seventeen patients were still alive at the time of the analysis, with a median overall survival of 14 months (95% CI: 11–16). At multivariate analysis, a higher Gleason score (≥8) appeared to be associated with prolonged progression-free survival (hazard ratio: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.18–0.72); however, the higher Gleason score showed no statistical impact on overall survival. Conclusion: We hypothesize that the Gleason score has the potential to be incorporated in the clinical decision-making process for definition of treatment strategy in docetaxel-pretreated castration-resistant prostate cancer patients. We encourage further experimentation in this setting.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-cutaneous malignancy for men. The skeleton is the most common metastatic site but, following an improvement in survival, metastases in uncommon sites are being found more frequently in clinical practice, especially brain metastases. Despite the new drugs now available for metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer, no clinical evidence exists about their effectiveness on brain metastases. We describe the clinical history of 3 patients treated with cabazitaxel plus whole brain radiotherapy. These case reports demonstrate that cabazitaxel is highly active and well tolerated in brain metastases.

To evaluate the outcomes and potential prognostic factors in patients with non-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related Kaposi's sarcoma (KS).Patients with histologically proven non-AIDS-related KS treated with systemic chemotherapy were included in this retrospective analysis. In some cases, the human herpes virus 8 status was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The patients were staged according to the Mediterranean KS staging system. A multivariable model was constructed using a forward stepwise selection procedure. A P value0.05 was considered statistically significant, and all tests were two-sided.Thirty-two cases were included in this analysis. The average age at diagnosis was 70 years, with a male/female ratio of approximately 2:1. Eighty-four percent of the cases had classic KS. All patients received systemic chemotherapy containing one of the following agents: vinca alkaloid, taxane, and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin. Ten patients (31.5%) experienced a partial response, and a complete response was achieved in four patients (12.4%) and stable disease in sixteen cases (50%). Two patients (6.2%) were refractory to the systemic treatment. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 11.7 mo, whereas the median overall survival was 28.5 mo. At multivariate analysis, the presence of nodular lesions (vs macular lesions only) was significantly related to a lower PFS (hazard ratio: 3.09; 95%CI: 1.18-8.13, P = 0.0133).Non-AIDS-related KS appears mostly limited to the skin and is well-responsive to systemic therapies. Our data show that nodular lesions may be associated with a shorter PFS in patients receiving chemotherapy.