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The Authors reported a retrospective study of 100 Leiomyosarcoma (LMS), evaluating factors that may influence Overall Survival (OS), Local Recurrence Free Survival (LRFS), Metastasis Free Survival (MFS). Tumor Size (P=0,0009), Local Recurrence (P=0,0487), Distant relapse (P < 0,0001), Type of Presentation (P=0,0213) were significant risk factors affecting overall survival (OS). Tumor Size (P=0.024), age at diagnosis (P=0,0086), type of presentation (P < 0,0001) and Local Recurrence (P=0.0152) affected metastasis free survival (MFS). Type of presentation (P=0,001) was an independent prognostic factor of local recurrence-free survival (LRFS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Re-irradiation with stereotactic body RT (re-SBRT) is a valid treatment option for local relapse in prostate cancer after postoperative or definitive radiotherapy (RT). However, we need predictive factors to prevent the onset of late adverse events. Here we present a retrospective analysis conducted on a cohort of patients treated with re-SBRT through Cyberknife ® robotic system. The correlation between dosimetric data and incidence of late genitourinary (GU) toxicity was evaluated to establish a model to predict late GU Grade >2 adverse events in this population. Methods: We collected data of 50 consecutively patients treated from June 2012 to February 2016. All patients were affected by biochemical relapse defined by European Urology Association Criteria after definitive or postoperative radiotherapy, and macroscopic evidence of intra-prostatic or prostate bed recurrence was detected by 18F-choline PET/CT and MRI. Patients with metastatic or regional nodal disease were excluded. All patients underwent reSBRT using the CyberKnife ®robotic system, for a total dose of 30 Gy in 5 fractions every other day. Toxicity was assessed by the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) toxicity scale v.5. Relationship between late GU G>2 and Gross Target Volume (ccGTV), Dose to 50% of urinary bladder volume (DB50), Maximum dose within Planning Target Volume (Dmax), urethra Dmax (UDmax) and Total Equivalent Dose (tEQD2) administered to prostate or prostate bed was explored with logistic regression. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to find the optimal cut-off point for continuous variables significantly predictive for late GU adverse events. Results: After a median follow up of 48.2 months (6.4-86.3), late G> 2 GU toxicity occurred in 13 (26%) patients. At Univariate Analysis, no significant impact of ccGTV (p=0.38), DB50 (p=0.25), Dmax (p=0.88), and tEQD2 total was detected (p=0.76 ). Only UDmax showed significant association with Late G> 2 GU toxicity (p=0.02). ROC analysis showed that UDmax >34.12 Gy best predicted GU toxicity, with a positive and negative likelihood ratio of 3.56 (95% CI 1.1-11.3) and 0.69 (95% CI 0.4-1.1), respectively (AUC 0.66, p=0.06). Conclusion: These data suggest that higher urethral dose may be associated to higher risk of late G> 2 GU toxicity. Thus, due to the low number of events, larger series with long term follow up would be needed to better identify a model to predict late GU adverse events after re-SBRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by postoperative radiation therapy (RT) to the residual breast represents the current standard of care for most women affected by early breast cancer. However, standard postoperative regimens are characterized by postsurgical waiting time and potential acute and late locoregional adverse events. Several studies suggested that breast cancer cells can be more sensitive to high doses administered in short intervals. Preoperative robotic stereotactic radiotherapy (SBRT) followed by BCS may yield potential advantages in selected patients. An exploratory phase II study (ROCK trial – NCT03520894) was conducted in our institution. Materials: Women with histologically proven unifocal invasive hormonal receptors positive, HER2 negative breast cancer, sized less than 25 mm, with negative clinical nodal status, aged 50+ and eligible for BCS were enrolled. Fiducial markers were introduced in peri/ intralesional position. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used in addition to standard CT-based planning. Patients received 21 Gy in single fraction with CyberKnife® followed by BCS two weeks after preoperative SBRT. The primary endpoint was the acute skin toxic effect rate. Secondary objectives were the pathological response rate and the late adverse events rate. Echocardiography and spirometry were performed before preoperative SBRT and yearly thereafter. Translational research was conducted to identify correlations between radiogenomic, immunological and biochemical biomarkers with treatment-related response and toxicity. Results: From August 2018 to September 2021, a total of 70 patients were screened on mammography; 29 of them were eligible following inclusion criteria. Seven were excluded due to multiple foci disease at basal MRI, and 22 patients were successfully treated. All required dosimetric parameters and normal tissue constraints were met in all cases. Median age at diagnosis was 68 years (range 50-86) and median tumor size was 13 mm (range 7.5-25). All treated patients received surgery within 14 days from preoperative SBRT without any delay or complication. No patients experienced acute skin toxicity of grade (G) 2 or higher; only one patient had a G1 erythema one month after BCS. Two patients reported a pathological complete response, according to Chevallier’s classification. At a median follow up of 18 months, no patients experienced locoregional recurrence or distant metastases. No clinically meaningful changes were observed regarding left-ventricular ejection fraction and spirometric parameters. Conclusion: Results from the ROCK trial showed that single fraction preoperative robotic SBRT is a feasible technique in selected breast cancer patients with a good safety profile and encouraging activity. This new approach warrants further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast angiosarcomas (BAs) are rare but serious events that may arise after radiation exposure. Disease outcome is poor, with high risk of local and distant failure. Recurrences are frequent also after resection with negative margins. The spectrum of vascular proliferations associated with radiotherapy in the setting of breast cancer has expanded, including radiation-associated atypical vascular lesions (AVLs) of the breast skin as a rare, but well-recognized, entity. Although pursuing a benign behavior, AVLs have been regarded as possible precursors of postradiation BAs. We report an unusual case of a 71-year-old woman affected by welldifferentiated bilateral cutaneous BA, diagnosed 1.9 years after adjuvant RT for synchronous bilateral breast cancer. Whole-life clinical followup is of crucial importance in breast cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent malignancy among females worldwide. Despite several efforts and improvements in early diagnosis and treatment, there are still tumors characterized by an aggressive behavior due to unfavorable biology, thus quite difficult to treat. In this view, searching for novel potential biomarkers is mandatory. Among them, in the recent years data have been gathered addressing ion channel as important players in oncology. Methods: A retrospective pilot study was performed on 40 BC samples by means of immunohistochemistry in order to evaluate hERG1 potassium channels expression in BC. Results: We provide evidence that hERG1 is expressed in all the BC samples analyzed. hERG1 expression was significantly associated with molecular subtype with the highest expression in Luminal A and the lowest in basal-like tumors (p = 0.001), tumor grading (the highest hERG1 expression in well-moderate differentiated tumors, p = 0.020), estrogen receptors (high hERG1 expression in ER-positive samples, p = 0.008) and Ki67 proliferative index (high hERG1 scoring in samples with low proliferative index, p = 0.038). Also, a p value close to significance was noticed for the association between hERG1 and HER2 expression (p = 0.079). At the survival analysis, patients with high hERG1 expression turned out to have a longer progression-free survival, although statistical significance was not reached (p = 0.195). The same trend was observed analyzing local relapse free-survival (LRFS) and metastases-free survival (MFS): patients with higher hERG1 scoring had longer LRFS and MFS (p = 0.124 and p = 0.071, respectively). Conclusions: The results of this pilot study provide the first evidence that the hERG1 protein is expressed in primary BC, and its expression associates with molecular subtype. hERG1 apparently behaves as a protective factor, since it contributes to identify a subset of patients with better outcome. Overall, these data suggest that hERG1 might be an additional tool for the management of BC, nevertheless further investigations are warranted to better clarify hERG1 role and clinical usefulness in BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Liposarcoma (LPS) is a malignant mesenchymal tumor and the most common soft tissue sarcoma. Four different subtypes are described: well differentiated (WD) LPS or atypical lipomatous tumor (ALT), dedifferentiated (DD) LPS, myxoid LPS, and pleomorphic LPS (PLS). The objective of the study was to investigate prognostic factors and clinical outcome of liposarcoma.Methods: We retrospectively examined the clinico-pathological features of a series of 307 patients affected by Liposarcoma at a mean follow-up of 69 months (range 6-257). ALT/WD LPS were analyzed separately. The influence of site, size, type of presentation, grading, histotype and local recurrence on local and systemic control and survival was assessed.Results: The statistical analysis indicated that only surgical margins represented a significant prognostic factor for local recurrence in ALT/WD LPS (P = 0.0007) and other subtypes of LPS (P = 0.0055). In myxoid, PLS and DD LPS, significant prognostic factors for metastasis free survival (MFS) were surgical margins (P = 0.0009), size of the tumor (P = 0.0358), histology (P = 0.0117) and local recurrence (P = 0.0015). In multivariate analysis, surgical margins (0.0180), size (0.0432) and local recurrence (0.0288) correlated independently with MFS. Margins (P = 0.0315), local recurrence (P = 0.0482) and metastases (P < 0.0001) were prognostic factors for overall survival (OS).Conclusion: Marginal surgery can be an accepted treatment for ALT/WD LPS. In other liposarcoma subtypes (Myxoid, DD, PLS) wide or radical surgery is recommended as the margins significantly influence local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), metastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS). Local recurrence and metastases were significant prognostic factors for OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]