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PARP inhibitors, such as rucaparib, have been well characterized in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) associated with BRCA alterations, and the clinical activity of these agents has also been evaluated in patients with mCRPC associated with alterations in other non-BRCA DNA damage repair (DDR) genes, including RAD51B. There is likely a differential sensitivity to PARP inhibition based on the specific DDR gene altered, but research in this area is limited because of the low frequency of alterations in these genes. Here, we describe a mCRPC patient with a truncating rearrangement of RAD51B who had a radiographic and PSA response when treated with the PARP inhibitor rucaparib within the TRITON2 trial. We investigated the patients’ response parameters, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) fraction and tumor genomics longitudinally, using next-generation sequencing (NGS) of tissue and plasma. ctDNA fraction correlates with radiographic and PSA response and is lower during times of response. NGS did not reveal any potential genomic mechanism of acquired drug resistance. This case shows evidence for rucaparib activity in a rare patient with mCRPC and a RAD51B truncation.

Abstract Background The spread of the COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a rapid reorganization in all human and hospital activities, with impact on cancer patients. Aim An analysis of cancer patients fears, and awareness of COVID‐19 has been done in this study. Methods and results We analyzed cancer patients' reactions to the pandemic and their perception of oncological care reorganization, through a 12‐item survey, proposed at the peak of pandemic and 3 months later. Overall, 237 patients were included in the study. During the peak of pandemic 34.6% of patients were more worried about COVID‐19 than cancer versus 26.4% in the post‐acute phase (p = .013). Although 49.8% of patients in the acute phase and 42.3% in the post‐acute phase considered their risk of death if infected ≥50%, and more than 70% of patients thought to be at higher risk of complications, the majority of them did not consider the possibility to stop or delay their treatment. Patients were more interested in following news about COVID‐19 than cancer and they complied with all preventive measures in more than 90% of the cases. Conclusions Although cancer patients worried about COVID‐19 and evaluated the risk of complication or death due to COVID‐19 as extremely high, they were still asking for the best oncological treatment.

Background: As virtual reality (VR) has become more accessible, it has increasingly come into focus for clinical application. Therapy with VR shows potential as an engaging, effective, and economic way to improve cognitive abilities following a stroke. Objectives: While application of VR in clinical settings appears promising, its widespread use will crucially depend on acceptance of immersive head mounted display virtual reality (HMD-VR) systems when used in different patient groups. This study aimed to investigate acceptance of HMD-VR in stroke patients compared to a control group of healthy age-matched adults. Methods: The attitude towards HMD-VR, as one of the most important predictors of technology acceptance within the technology acceptance model framework, was assessed in 20 stroke patients and 20 age-matched healthy adults. Further HMD-VR acceptance related measures concerned self-reported user experience, computer self-efficacy and cybersickness (see also Huygelier et al., 2019). Additionally, performance measures for memory span and speed were recorded in two VR-tasks. Results: Both groups showed positive attitude above the neutral point of the scale and reported positive user experience in the VR-setting. Self-reported cybersickness was at modest levels and comparable in both groups. Controls had higher and more homogeneous scores in user experience, and performed notably faster in the VR-task while there were no significant differences in memory-span. Conclusion: The study results suggest that treatment provided by immersive HMD-VR is tolerated by older adults, including those who have had strokes. This was the case without prior acquaintance with the VR-device or -software, and it was neither hindered by negative attitudes towards VR, nor cybersickness.