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OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the factors affecting survival in operated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and the possible prognostic effect of primary tumor localization on treatment outcomes. METHODS: In this study, 98 patients with curatively-operated PDAC, who were followed up and treated for the years 2008 through 2018, were enrolled. Metastatic and locally advanced stages and patients under 18 years of age were excluded from this study. Patients were divided into two groups based on the primary tumor localization as *head or *body/tail. RESULTS: Sixty-seven (68.3%) patients were male and 31 (31.7%) were female, with a median age of 62 years (range, 35-82 years). The numbers of patients with a primary tumor located in *head vs.*body/tail were 74 (75.4%) vs. 24 (24.6%), respectively. Patients with a primary tumor located in *head vs.*body/tail; median disease-free survival was 16.0 months vs. 13 months (p=0.972), respectively, with corresponding median overall survival was 25 months vs. 33 months (p=0.698). The level of carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA) at diagnosis (Hazard ratio[HR], 1.09 95%CI, 1.01-1.18), stage III disease (HR, 2.09 95%CI, 1.16-4.35), and receiving adjuvant treatment (HR, 0.20 95%CI, 0.09-4.34) were the independent predictors of survival. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that high levels of CEA at diagnosis and stage III disease adversely affected the survival in non-metastatic PDAC patients, while receiving adjuvant therapy had a positive effect on survival. The findings suggest that primary tumor localization did not affect survival in operated PC patients. The results on this issue are still inconsistent and under debate in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Squamous cell esophageal cancer (ESCC) is a highly fatal malignancy. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting survival in patients with metastatic and non-metastatic ESCC. METHODS: Between 2008 and 2016, 107 patients with ESCC who were followed up in an oncology clinic were included in the analysis. Patients were grouped based on the stage of disease as clinical-stage II to IV. RESULTS: Of the 107 patients, 55 (55.1%) of them were male and 52 (48.6%) of them were female. The mean age was 60.8 years. Based on the clinical-stage, 28 (26.2%) patients had stage II disease, 33 (30.8%) had stage III disease, and 46 (43.0%) had stage IV disease. Twenty-nine (27.1%) patients with the non-metastatic disease underwent surgery following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT), while 29 (27.1%) patients received definitive CRT. Twenty-six (56.5%) patients with metastatic disease received chemotherapy (CT). While median overall survival (mOS) could not be reached in patients who underwent surgery following neoadjuvant CRT, mOS for patients receiving definitive CRT versus patients treated with surgery alone-was 22.0 months and 24.0 months, respectively (p=0.008). In the metastatic stage, mOS was 8.0 months for the patients treated with a first-line CT and 3.0 months for patients receiving best supportive care (p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, factors predicting survival in patients with the non-metastatic disease were ECOG PS 3-4 (Hazard ratio [HR], 6.13), undergoing surgery (HR, 0.22), clinical-stage III disease (HR, 3.19), and presence of recurrence (HR, 24.12). For patients with metastatic disease, ECOG PS 3-4 (HR, 3.31), grade-III histology (HR, 3.39), liver metastasis (HR, 2.53), and receiving CT (HR, 0.15) were the factors associated with survival in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: In our study, surgery and early clinical-stage increased survival, whereas experiencing recurrence adversely affected survival in non-metastatic ESCC. In the metastatic stage, ECOG PS 3-4, grade-3 histology and liver metastasis adversely affected survival, while receiving CT significantly improved survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma (MCAC) is a distinct subtype of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). The prognostic and predictive significance of mucinous histology remains controversial. It was aimed to investigate the prognostic and/or predictive role of mucinous histology in left-sided metastatic CRC (mCRC) with wild-type RAS. This is a retrospective multicenter study of mCRC treated with first line anti-EGFR combined 5-fluorouracil based chemotherapy (CT). Patients were stratified according to presence (>50% extracellular mucin) or absence of mucinous histology. Survival analyses were performed firstly regardless of treatment options and then performed as separating according to CT regimens. Additional analyses were performed for MCAC patients considering backbone CT regimens. A total of 125 patients were included, consisting of 40 (32.0%) patients with MCAC and 85 (68.0%) patients with non-MCAC. Median follow-up time was 19.7 months. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10.7 months in all patients, and PFS was lower in MCAC than non-MCAC (9.9 vs. 12.0 months, respectively, P=0.005). Median overall survival (OS) was 25.7 months in all patients. OS was lower in MCAC than non-MCAC (22.8 vs. 29.7 months, respectively, P=0.005). When considering backbone CT regimens, in multivariate analyses, mucinous histology was an independent prognostic factor for OS in both for mFOLFOX6 (HR: 1.92, P=0.04) and FOLFIRI (HR: 2.04, P=0.04) groups and was associated with poor PFS in only mFOLFOX6 (HR: 3.86, P<0.001) group. When outcomes were analyzed for the MCAC group, median OS of MCAC patients receiving mFOLFOX6 and FOLFIRI was 22.47 and 14.22 months, respectively (P=0.41). Median PFS of MCAC patients receiving mFOLFOX6 and FOLFIRI was 10.15 and 8.11 months, respectively (P=0.73). The study revealed poor prognosis of mucinous histology, both in whole study population and in backbone CT groups. Moreover, lower PFS of MCAC patients was revealed in only mFOLFOX6 group and this finding may be a valuable issue for the future research. However, considering all analyses, the present results did not indicate a special benefit of any backbone CT regimen for MCAC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retroperitoneal sarcomas (RPS) account for approximately 15% of all soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and encompass a heterogeneous group of tumors with limited multimodality treatment options. Surgical resection with negative margins remains the standard primary treatment for patients with localized RPS. In this multicenter study, we aimed to demonstrate the real-world data on factors affecting survival in RPS treated with upfront surgery. We included a total of 197 patients who underwent curative-intent resection of a primary non-metastatic RPS between 2000-2020 at ten experienced medical oncology departments in Turkey. The median follow-up was 33 months. The median age of patients was 53 years, 57.4% of patients were female. Univariate analysis revealed that; tumor size, grade, necrosis, resection margin status, were factors affecting recurrence-free survival (RFS) (p= 0.002, p= 0.044, p= 0,024, p= 0.003 respectively). Age, tumor size, stage, resection margin status were factors affecting overall survival (OS) (p= 0.038, p= 0.001, p= 0.032, p< 0.001, respectively). In multivariate analysis, tumor size and resection margin status were independent factors affecting RFS and OS (all p-values < 0.05). Our study demonstrated that tumor size, and resection margin status were the main factors affecting survival in resected RFS. In comparison, adjuvant chemotherapy (CT), radiotherapy (RT), or multimodality treatment did not show OS and RFS advantages. We believe that advances in the molecular characterization of these tumors might help clinicians to detect the best candidates for adjuvant therapies in RPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some retrospective studies in different populations have evaluated the prognostic value of microsatellite instability status (MSI) in patients with gastric cancer (GC). A small number of studies have focused on the effect of MSI status on the outcome of GC patients who have received adjuvant chemotherapy (CT). Medical records of 318 patients with stage II or III GC who had been treated with adjuvant CT after D2 gastrectomy between 2016 and 2019 were scanned. Eligible patients were divided into two groups: MSI-H and microsatellite stable (MSS). The determinant factors were examined using Cox regression analysis. A statistical significance level of alpha was accepted as p < 0.05. The study included 207 GC patients and 21 (10.1%) MSI-high patients. A median disease-free survival was not reached (95% CI NR) in MSI-H patients, whereas a median disease-free survival was 30 months in MSS patients (95% CI 24.3-35.6) (p= 0.046). A median overall survival (OS) was not reached in MSI-H patients, whereas a median overall survival of 46 months (95% CI: 28.8 - 60.1) was reached in MSS patients (p= 0.032). In the multivariate Cox regression analysis for OS, female gender and MSI-H status were positive predictors of OS, whereas stage III disease negatively affected OS (p= 0.009, p= 0.030, and p= 0.009, respectively). Microsatellite instability status may be a prognostic factor in stage II and III Turkish GC patients who have received adjuvant oxalip..based CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluoropyrimidine+cisplatin/oxaliplatin+trastuzumab therapy is recommended for the first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma. However, there is no comprehensive study on which platinum-based treatment should be preferred. This study aimed to compare the treatment response and survival characteristics of patients with HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer who received fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and leucovorin (mFOLFOX)+trastuzumab or cisplatin and fluorouracil (CF)+trastuzumab as first-line therapy. It was a multicenter, retrospective study of the Turkish Oncology Group, which included 243 patients from 21 oncology centers. There were 113 patients in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm and 130 patients in the CF+trastuzumab arm. The median age was 62 years in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm and 61 years in the CF+trastuzumab arm (P = 0.495). 81.4% of patients in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm and 83.1% in the CF+trastuzumab arm had gastric tumor localization (P = 0.735). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly higher in the mFOLFOX+trastuzumab arm (9.4 months vs. 7.3 months, P = 0.024). The median overall survival (OS) was similar in both groups (18.4 months vs. 15.1 months, P = 0.640). Maintenance trastuzumab was continued after chemotherapy in 101 patients. In this subgroup, the median OS was 23.3 months and the median PFS was 13.3 months. In conclusion, mFOLFOX+trastuzumab is similar to CF+trastuzumab in terms of the median OS, but it is more effective in terms of the median PFS in the first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic gastric and GEJ cancer. The choice of treatment should be made by considering the prominent toxicity findings of the chemotherapy regimens.

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the effect of pretreatment albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score on treatment outcomes in pancreatic cancer (PC) patients with liver metastasis at the time of diagnosis treated with chemotherapy (CT) in the first-line setting., Methods: This was a retrospective study of 273 PC patients ≥18 years of age who had liver metastasis at the time of diagnosis and received CT in the first-line. ALBI score was calculated through the following formula; [(log10 bilirubin (μmol/L)×0.66)+[albumin(g/l)×-0.0852]. Patients were stratified into 3 categories based on the ALBI score as follows; grade I:ALBI ≤-2.60, grade II:-2.60-1.39., Results: A total of 273 patients, [180 (65.9%) men and 93 (34.1%) women], were evaluated. The median age was 60 years. ALBI grade was I in 45 (16.4%) patients, II in 156 (57.1%) patients, and III in 72 (26.5%) patients. Based on the ALBI grade, median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 9 months in grade I patients, 6 months in grade II patients, and 4 months in grade III patients (p=0.002), with median overall survival (mOS) durations of 12 months vs. 8 months vs. 5 months, respectively (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that ALBI grade II (HR,1.543) or III (HR,2.260) negatively affected survival., Conclusion: A higher pretreatment ALBI grade is related to worse OS and PFS in PC patients with liver metastasis treated with a first-line CT, and therefore it can help predict the treatment outcomes in these patients.

Objective: Squamous cell esophageal cancer (ESCC) is a highly fatal malignancy. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting survival in patients with metastatic and non-metastatic ESCC., Methods: Between 2008 and 2016, 107 patients with ESCC who were followed up in an oncology clinic were included in the analysis. Patients were grouped based on the stage of disease as clinical-stage II to IV., Results: Of the 107 patients, 55 (55.1%) of them were male and 52 (48.6%) of them were female. The mean age was 60.8 years. Based on the clinical-stage, 28 (26.2%) patients had stage II disease, 33 (30.8%) had stage III disease, and 46 (43.0%) had stage IV disease. Twenty-nine (27.1%) patients with the non-metastatic disease underwent surgery following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT), while 29 (27.1%) patients received definitive CRT. Twenty-six (56.5%) patients with metastatic disease received chemotherapy (CT). While median overall survival (mOS) could not be reached in patients who underwent surgery following neoadjuvant CRT, mOS for patients receiving definitive CRT versus patients treated with surgery alone-was 22.0 months and 24.0 months, respectively (p=0.008). In the metastatic stage, mOS was 8.0 months for the patients treated with a first-line CT and 3.0 months for patients receiving best supportive care (p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, factors predicting survival in patients with the non-metastatic disease were ECOG PS 3-4 (Hazard ratio [HR], 6.13), undergoing surgery (HR, 0.22), clinical-stage III disease (HR, 3.19), and presence of recurrence (HR, 24.12). For patients with metastatic disease, ECOG PS 3-4 (HR, 3.31), grade-III histology (HR, 3.39), liver metastasis (HR, 2.53), and receiving CT (HR, 0.15) were the factors associated with survival in multivariate analysis., Conclusion: In our study, surgery and early clinical-stage increased survival, whereas experiencing recurrence adversely affected survival in non-metastatic ESCC. In the metastatic stage, ECOG PS 3-4, grade-3 histology and liver metastasis adversely affected survival, while receiving CT significantly improved survival., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors., (Copyright: © 2020 by Istanbul Northern Anatolian Association of Public Hospitals.)

Purpose: Local treatments for isolated synchronous or metachronous liver metastases in colorectal cancer (CRC) have been shown to improve overall survival (OS). The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting OS in CRC patients with isolated liver metastasis in whom the primary tumor and corresponding liver metastasis were treated with curative intent using local ablative or surgical methods., Methods: A total 47 surgical operated CRC patients presenting with an initial or subsequent isolated liver metastasis, who were treated with local surgical or ablative treatment for liver metastasis with curative intent, were enrolled in this study between 2007 and 2017. The possible factors affecting OS were analyzed., Results: Of the 47 patients, 35 (74.5%) were male. The median age was 61 (25 - 80) years. Thirty-four (72.3%) patients underwent liver metastasectomy, while 13 (27.7%) patients were treated with non-surgical local ablative therapies (NSLAT) for liver metastasis. Median OS (mOS) could not be reached in patients who underwent metastasectomy at the time of diagnosis compared to 55 months in those undergoing metastasectomy following a chemotherapy period (p = 0.03). Patients treated with NSLAT had a mOS of 60 months compared to ''not reached'' in those who underwent liver metastasectomy (p = 0.45). mOS was higher in patients with pT4 stage vs. with