Search

Background Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) risk developing multiple duodenal adenomas (MDAs), leading to duodenal cancer and death. We investigated the efficacy and safety of intensive downstaging polypectomy (IDP) for MDAs integrated with new-generation procedures. Methods This prospective phase II study, conducted at a tertiary cancer center, enrolled patients with FAP who had MDAs. We performed IDP including cold snare/forceps polypectomy (CSP/CFP) and underwater endoscopic mucosal resection (UEMR). The primary end point was the downstaging of Spigelman stage at 1-year follow-up. Results 2424 duodenal polyps in 58 patients with FAP underwent IDP, including 2413 CSPs in 57 patients, seven CFPs in one patient, and four UEMRs in four patients. Only one major adverse event was observed (grade 3 hyperamylasemia) without clinical manifestations. We performed additional UEMR, CSP, and CFP for one, 12, and 22 patients, respectively, during initial follow-up. Overall, 55 patients completed protocol examination; the Spigelman stage was significantly reduced at the 1-year follow-up endoscopy (P Conclusions IDP, including new-generation procedures, showed significant downstaging with acceptable adverse events for MDA in patients with FAP, even those with advanced-stage disease. Lesion selection for different resection techniques may be important for suitable and sustainable management of MDA in patients with FAP.

Combination therapy with cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors and hormonal therapy as the first-line and second-line treatments has already been shown to be effective in patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in clinical trials. On the other hand, in clinical practice, CDK4/6 inhibitors are used not only as first-/second-line but also as later-line hormonal therapies, or for patients receiving prior chemotherapy in metastatic setting. However, the efficacy and safety of combination therapy in these patients remain unclear. In this study, we evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of combination therapy with abemaciclib and hormonal therapy for chemotherapy-treated patients with HR+ HER2- MBC.This multi-institutional prospective cohort study will involve a total of 300 chemotherapy-treated patients with HR+ HER2- MBC. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints include overall survival, time to treatment failure, response rate, clinical benefit rate, and adverse events. The preplanned subpopulation analysis is the number of chemotherapy regimens for HR+ HER2- MBC (two or less vs. three or more), prior treatment history with CDK4/6 inhibitors other than abemaciclib (presence vs. absence) and menopausal status (pre vs. post). We also planned to determine PFS of the subpopulation treated with abemaciclib as maintenance therapy after chemotherapy.In this multi-institutional prospective cohort study, we evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of combination therapy with abemaciclib and hormonal therapy for chemotherapy-treated patients with HR+ HER2- MBC. We also evaluate this combination therapy as maintenance therapy in patients who respond to early-line chemotherapy.

Objective Patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) have a lifetime risk of developing duodenal adenomas approaching 100%, and the relative risk for duodenal cancer compared with the general population is high. We conducted a retrospective study to investigate the natural history of non-ampullary duodenal adenomas and risk factors for advanced lesions in patients with FAP. Methods Of 248 patients with 139 pedigrees at 2 institutes, we assessed 151 patients with 100 pedigrees with a pathogenic germline variant in the adenomatous polyposis coli gene, excluding mosaic variants. We evaluated the prevalence of duodenal non-ampullary adenomas in patients with FAP; the natural history of these adenomas during the observation period; and the risk factors for lifetime development of high-grade dysplasia, large (≥ 10 mm) duodenal adenomas, and Spiegelman stage IV until the end of observation. Results During the median observation period of 7 years, the incidence of patients with adenomas increased by 1.6 times, with more than 20 polyps increased by 1.7 times, with polyps of ≥ 10 mm increased by 5 times, with severe dysplasia increased by 22 times, and with stage IV at the last esophagogastroduodenoscopy increased by 9 times. Intramucosal cancer occurred in three patients (2%), but no patients developed invasive cancer during the observation period. Stage progression was observed in 71% of 113 patients. Conclusions Non-ampullary duodenal adenomas in patients with FAP frequently become exacerbated. Our findings suggest that patients with FAP who develop duodenal adenomas should be surveyed to prevent the development of duodenal cancer.

The efficacy of endocrine therapy combined with abemaciclib for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer has been established through pivotal clinical trials. However, abemaciclib-induced liver injury (AILI) can be a cause for dose reduction or discontinuation. Therefore, it is critical to understand the risk factors for AILI.This retrospective study analyzed data from patients who had received abemaciclib combined with endocrine therapy for metastatic breast cancer as first- or second-line therapy at our hospital between December 2018 and October 2021. Relevant data were extracted from their medical records. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify characteristics associated with AILI.Of the 52 eligible patients, 12 (23%) received an aromatase inhibitor (AI), and 40 (77%) received fulvestrant, concomitantly with abemaciclib. Fifteen (29%) of the patients developed liver injury after starting abemaciclib. Univariate analysis revealed the following risk factors for AILI: age ≥65 years (p=0.047), fatty liver disease (p=0.047), and concomitant use of an AI (p=0.002). Concomitant use of an AI was identified by multivariate analysis as an independent risk factor for AILI [odds ratio (OR)=10.23, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.02-51.91, p=0.005].Concomitant use of an AI could be the most significant factor associated with increased risk of AILI. Future research on the mechanism by which the use of an AI plus abemaciclib can cause liver injury, and prospective studies to validate our findings regarding AILI risk factors, are warranted.

Introduction: Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is a rare cancer-associated respiratory complication characterized by widespread tumor cell emboli in small arteries and arterioles of the lung. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer causing PTTM. The pathogenesis and molecular background of PTTM have not been clarified. Here we present a case of breast cancer that experienced early onset of liver metastasis after surgical resection of the primary tumor and rapid progression leading to death due to severe respiratory distress. Autopsy was performed and it revealed that the main cause of her death was PTTM. Comprehensive next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of the tissue obtained serially during the clinical course was performed. Case Presentation: A 48-year-old woman was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast, which was ER positive, PgR negative, and HER2 negative. FEC followed by docetaxel was administered as preoperative chemotherapy. Her tumor dramatically shrunk with chemotherapy and left partial mastectomy with left axillary lymph node dissection was performed. Histopathological analysis of the resected breast tissue revealed that there were a lot of residual cancer cells, which were ER negative, PgR negative, HER2 negative, and the result indicated that response to preoperative chemotherapy was insufficient. Additional two courses of FEC therapy were performed. Postoperative radiation therapy including the left supraclavicular lymph node area was given and adjuvant endocrine therapy with anastrozole started at the same time. At 3 months of anastrozole administration, she presented hepatic dysfunction and abnormal CT findings in the liver. Liver biopsy revealed multiple liver metastasis of breast cancer. Unresponsive to weekly paclitaxel and bevacizumab, she developed rapid respiratory failure leading to her death in two weeks. Postmortem microscopic analysis revealed an intimal fibrocellular proliferation in the pulmonary arterioles regardless of microscopic tumor emboli and extensive sinusoidal metastasis of the whole liver. NGS Analysis: We analyzed four specimens, breast cancer biopsy specimen at diagnosis, surgical resection specimen, liver needle biopsy specimen, and liver specimen obtained at autopsy, with the Ion AmpliSeq Comprehensive Cancer Panel (Thermo Fisher). The results were compared with NGS analysis of her normal lung tissue to exclude single nucleotide polymorphisms. Deep sequencing revealed that only TP53 R213* was detected as an oncogenic mutation in all four specimens. There were no mutations associated with the development of liver metastasis and her death. Comparison of the samples obtained between before and after liver metastasis revealed that STK11 loss and IKBKE amplification were harbored only in the specimens after liver metastasis. RNA sequencing analysis with the samples of initial biopsy and liver biopsy showed that the RNA expression associated with apoptosis and adhesion molecules was strongly suppressed in the liver sample. Conclusion: STK11 encodes a serine/threonine kinase, which organizes cell polarity and inhibits tumor growth. In the present patient, STK11 loss had occurred during the treatment and could induce rapid progression of her disease and PTTM. Citation Format: Fumie Fujisawa, Kei Kunimasa, Rieko Kano, Hiroki Kusama, Minako Nishio, Saki Matsui, Tetsuhiro Yoshinami, Nobuyoshi Kittaka, Shigenori Nagata, Toshinari Yagi, Takahiro Nakayama, Yasuhiro Tamaki, Fumio Imamura. SKT11 loss drives rapid cancer progression and fatal pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) in a breast cancer patient: A case report [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Virtual Symposium; 2020 Dec 8-11; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PS16-31.

We report a case of primary breast rhabdomyosarcoma. A 16-year-old girl noticed tumor of her right breast and consulted a local clinic. From the result of core needle biopsy, breast sarcoma was suspected, so she attended our hospital. Breast ultrasonography showed a mosaic pattern tumor occupying the whole right breast. CT images revealed an axillary node metastasis and no distant organ metastasis. Immunohistochemical staining of the tumor yielded positive results for desmin, MyoD1, and myogenin. Based on reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR), she was diagnosed as an alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma with PAX3-FKHR(FOXO1)fusion transcripts[t(2;13)(q35;q14)]. She underwent total mastectomy and dissection of axillary lymph nodes. After surgery, the whole-body magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) demonstrated metastases of sacrum and left foot, so she was under systemic chemotherapy.

Although comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) tests have been covered under the Japanese national health insurance program since 2018, the utility and issues of CGP tests have not been clarified. We retrospectively reviewed 115 patients with incurable pancreatic cancer (IPC) who underwent CGP tests in a Japanese cancer referral center from November 2019 to August 2021. We evaluated the results of CGP tests, treatments based on CGP tests, and survival time. Eight cases (6.9%) were diagnosed as tumor mutation burden-high (TMB-H) and/or microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H). The gene mutation rates of KRAS/TP53/CDKN2A/SMAD4 were 93.0/83.0/53.0/25.2%, respectively. Twenty-five patients (21.7%) had homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-related genetic mutations. Four patients (3.5%) having TMB-H and/or MSI-H were treated with pembrolizumab, and only two patients (1.7%) participated in the clinical trials. Patient characteristics were not significantly different between patients with and without HRD-related gene mutations. The median OS was significantly longer in the HRD (+) group than in the HRD (−) group (749 days vs. 519 days, p = 0.047). In multivariate analysis, HRD-related gene mutation was an independent prognostic factor associated with favorable OS. CGP tests for patients with IPC have the potential utility of detecting HRD-related gene mutations as prognostic factors as well as a therapeutic search.

The ACOSOG Z0011 trial has resulted in the omission of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in early breast cancer patients with one or two metastatic sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). There has been increasing interest in the necessity of intraoperative assessment of SLNs in patients treated based on the Z0011 criteria. We evaluated the utility of intraoperative assessment in these eligible patients. A total of 1396 patients were treated following the Z0011 criteria from April 2012 to December 2019. We examined the proportion and clinicopathological features of patients who underwent ALND due to three or more metastatic SLNs and the sensitivity of intraoperative assessment. Only 16 (1.1%) patients had three or more metastatic SLNs diagnosed by intraoperative assessment, and they immediately underwent ALND. Of the clinicopathological factors, high clinical tumor stage (p = 0.002) and high Ki-67 labeling index value (p = 0.056) were more likely to be associated with the presence of three or more metastatic SLNs. The major independent risk factor for three or more metastatic SLNs was high clinical tumor stage (OR 3.94 [95% CI 1.42-11.0]; p = 0.009). Intraoperative assessment had low sensitivity (70.5%) and a high false-negative rate (29.5%) in detecting SLN metastases. The main finding of our study was the small proportion of patients who required ALND due to three or more metastatic SLNs according to the Z0011 criteria. The Z0011 strategy enables intraoperative assessment of SLNs to be omitted in early breast cancer patients.

Background: In the International Consensus Conference Guidelines for Advanced Breast Cancer, most experts agreed that the maintenance endocrine therapy after induction chemotherapy was reasonable. The combination therapy of bevacizumab (B) and paclitaxel (P) has proved to prolong progression free survival (PFS) and improve response rate in E2100 and MERiDiAN study for advanced and metastatic breast cancer (AMBC). Because of its long PFS, developing optimal therapeutic strategy of B+P to improve survival, including management of toxicity is crucial. However, it has not been assessed what therapy is optimal as maintenance therapy or how effective B+P re-challenge after failure of maintenance therapy is. Methods: In this multi-center randomized phase II study (KBCSG-TR1214), we compared endocrine therapy alone (E) and endocrine therapy with capecitabine (E+C) as a maintenance therapy after the induction chemotherapy with B+P. .Hormone receptor (HR)-positive and HER2-nagative patients who have experienced none or one prior chemotherapy for AMBC were enrolled. Patients without progression in 4-6 cycles of B+P were randomized to arm E (with E) or arm E+C (with E+C). In both arms, endocrine agents were decided by physician’s choice and in arm E+C, capecitabine (1657mg/m2 on day1 to 21 q4w) was added to E. After progression of either maintenance therapies, B+P started again as a re-challenge therapy. Primary end point was progression free survival (PFS) of maintenance therapy. Secondary end points include time to failure of strategy from randomization (TFS), efficacy of re-challenge therapy, overall survival (OS) and safety of induction therapy. Results:116 patients were enrolled until April 2016. 90 patients had been successful to shift to randomization. Median age was 59.8 years-old (34-81). 28 (60.9%) of 46 patients in arm E and 27 (61.4%) of 44 patients in arm E+C were administrated by aromatase inhibitor (AI) or AI+LH-RH analog. Median PFS of maintenance therapy was significantly longer in arm E+C (11.3month, 95%CI; 8.0-11.8) than in arm E (4.3months, 95%CI; 3.6-6.0) (HR:0.53, p=0.0054). Clinical benefit rate was 50.0% in arm E and 72.7% in arm E+C (p=0.0320). Median PFS, objective response rate and clinical benefit rate of P+B as re-challenge therapy following either E or E+C were 7.8months (95%CI; 6.7-9.5), 20.4% and 63.0%, respectively. There was a strong trend of improvement in OS at 24 months from randomization in arm E+C (73.0%) compared with in arm E (53.1%) (p=0.0524). We have not observed any new adverse toxicity profile regarding to E or E+C. Conclusions: Adding capecitabine to maintenance endocrine therapy was demonstrated to improve PFS and OS. To our knowledge, this is the first clinical trial to show the efficacy of endocrine therapy combined with metronomic chemotherapy as maintenance therapy after induction chemotherapy in HR-positive and HER2-negative AMBC patients. The concept of induction-maintenance could be a new therapeutic strategy for ABMC. (UMIN000008662). Citation Format: Tetsuhiro Yoshinami, Takahiro Nakayama, Masahiko Ikeda, Makiko Mizutani, Miki Yamaguchi, Yoshifumi Komoike, Tsutomu Takashima, Katsuhide Yoshidome, Junji Tsurutani, Mitsuhiko Iwamoto, Fumie Fujisawa, Hiroyuki Yasojima, Jun Yamamura, Hirotaka Morishima, Fuminori Aki, Tomomi Yamada, Satoshi Morita, Norikazu Masuda. Addition of capecitabine to maintenance endocrine therapy after induction therapy with bevacizumab plus paclitaxel in hormone receptor positive and HER2 negative metastatic breast cancer (KBCSG-TR1214) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-12-01.

Optimal treatment strategies for hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative advanced and/or metastatic breast cancer (AMBC) remain uncertain. We investigated the clinical usefulness of adding capecitabine to maintenance endocrine therapy after induction chemotherapy and the efficacy of reinduction chemotherapy. Patients who had received bevacizumab–paclitaxel induction therapy and did not have progressive disease (PD) were randomized to maintenance therapy with endocrine therapy alone (group E) or endocrine plus capecitabine (1657 mg/m2/day on days 1–21, q4w) (group EC). In case of PD after maintenance therapy, patients received bevacizumab–paclitaxel reinduction therapy. Ninety patients were randomized. The median progression-free survival (PFS) under maintenance therapy (primary endpoint) was significantly longer in group EC (11.1 {95% CI, 8.0–11.8} months) than in group E (4.3 {3.6–6.0} months) (hazard ratio, 0.53, p &lt, 0.01). At 24 months from the induction therapy start, the overall survival (OS) was significantly longer in group EC than in group E (hazard ratio, 0.41, p = 0.046). No difference was found in the time to failure of strategy (13.9 and 16.6 months in groups E and EC, respectively). Increased capecitabine-associated toxicities in group EC were tolerable. Addition of capecitabine to maintenance endocrine therapy may be a beneficial option after induction chemotherapy for HR-positive, HER2-negative AMBC patients.

Numerous databases for risk assessment of BRCA1/2 gene mutations contain insufficient data about Asians. Furthermore, few studies have reported the prevalence of germline BRCA1/2 mutations in Japanese patients, particularly those with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The present study was a retrospective analysis of data from patients with TNBC who underwent BRCA1/2 mutation testing at Osaka International Cancer Institute (Osaka, Japan) between October 2014 and March 2020. A total of 65 patients with TNBC underwent a test for BRCA1/2 mutations, and 13 (20.0%) had deleterious mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Furthermore, 12 out of 29 patients with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer had deleterious BRCA1/2 mutations, and only 1 of 34 without a family history had a mutation (41.4 vs. 2.9%; P=0.014). No patients aged >60 years had BRCA1/2 mutations; however, the age of diagnosis was not a significant risk factor for BRCA1/2 mutations (P=0.60). The prevalence of BRCA1/2 mutations in the present cohort of Japanese patients with TNBC was slightly higher than those reported in other larger studies from Europe and North America. Further data from large prospective studies are required to more precisely define the prevalence of BRCA1/2 mutations.

We experienced a case of breast cancer in which liver metastases spread rapidly and the patient died of pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM). PTTM is a fatal cancer-associated respiratory complication disease. To reveal genetic alterations of the clinical course, we performed next generation sequencing of the serial specimens using the Ion AmpliSeqTM Comprehensive Cancer Panel and RNA sequencing for transcriptomic data, followed by gene set analysis. The analysis revealed an oncogenic TP53 R213* mutation in all specimens and STK11 loss in tissues sampled after disease progression. Immunohistochemistry with an anti-STK11 antibody confirmed no STK11 expression in the samples after progression. Transcriptome analysis showed a significant downregulation of proteins associated with apoptosis in the specimens with STK11 loss. STK11 loss may have triggered the rapid progression of PTTM from a comprehensive genomic analysis.

Despite advances in the treatment of hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative metastatic breast cancer, the disease is rarely curable. In this review, we focus on the use of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors, examining clinical experience and the mechanisms underlying the development of resistance, and evaluating treatment options after failure to respond to CDK4/6 inhibitors. Current basic research supports the use of mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors after CDK4/6 inhibitor failure; however, more data are needed, particularly regarding treatment sequencing. Real-world data studies may help to fill the current knowledge gap, particularly where large-scale randomized controlled studies are not feasible.

Background: T-DM1 is an antibody-drug conjugate, which consists of trastuzumab, DM1, and linker. It has been established as standard of care for human epidermal receptor (HER) 2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC). At the first step, trastuzumab has to combine with extracellular domain of HER2. Then T-DM1 is delivered into HER2-positive cancer cells, and DM1 is released. After that, antitumor activity of DM1 can be exerted. In this way, T-DM1 works on HER2-positive cancer cells with high specificity. This retrospective study is aimed to examine whether HER2 status at disease progression on T-DM1 is related to efficacy of T-DM1. Patients: We identified 23 patients who started treatment with T-DM1 between February 2014 and March 2016 at our department. The data cut-off date was April 30, 2016. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of these 23 patients and investigated the following items: patient characteristics, time to failure (TTF), objective response, and results of re-biopsy. TTF were analyzed by the Kaplan–Meier method. The definition of HER2-positive was immunohistochemistry 3+, or FISH >2.2. Results: There were 23 patients who started administration of T-DM1 for MBC at our department in this period. All patients had HER2-positive MBC which was diagnosed as HER2 positive by examination of samples from primary tumor. At the time of data cut-off, five patients had continued T-DM1 therapy, and 18 patients had finished it due to disease progression in 15 patients and adverse events in three patients. Re-biopsy was conducted to 13 (87%) of 15 patients who experienced disease progression during TDM-1 therapy. Samples of re-biopsy were acquired from the site that showed progression during T-DM-1 therapy. Re-biopsy revealed that HER2 status had changed to negative in six (46%) patients (Negative group), and had remained positive in seven (54%) patients (Positive group). Patient characteristics are shown in table. Median TTF was 65.5 days (95% CI: 34-NA) in Negative group, 126 days (95%CI: 70-140) in Positive group, and 196 days (95%CI: 93-594) in all patients. Proportion of progressive disease (PD) was 83% (five in six patients) in Negative group, 43% (three in seven patients) in Positive group, and 39% (nine of 23 patients) in all patients. Patient characteristics All patients (23)Negative group (6)Positive group (7)Age at start T-DM1 (year) Median (rang)61 (38-80)63 (48-71)58 (38-78)ECOG PS 0-121 (91%)6 (100%)7 (100%)2-32 (9%)--ER and/or PgR positive13 (57%)5 (83%)4 (57%)ER and PgR negative10 (43%)1 (17%)3 (43%)Number of prior chemotherapy regimens for MBC Median (rang)2 (1-9)2 (1-9)2 (1-5)Prior Lapatinib10 (43%)2 (33%)4 (57%) Conclusions: In 46% of patients who received re-biopsy, HER2 status changed to negative. There was a trend that TTF was shorter and PD rate was higher in Negative group than in Positive group. We demonstrated that some of patients who experienced PD during T-DM1 therapy had HER2-negative MBC, and in these patients efficacy of T-DM1 was likely to be insufficient. In such a case that disease progression occurs in a few months of T-DM1 therapy, we have to consider whether its HER2 status remains positive or changes to negative. Citation Format: Yoshinami T, Hasegawa A, Fujisawa F, Kittaka N, Ishitobi M, Sugimoto N, Nakayama T, Toshinari Y, Tamaki Y, Imamura F. A retrospective study about re-biopsy at disease progression on T-DM1 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-22-24.

BACKGROUND Lapatinib and erlotinib are used for cancer treatment, showing large interindividual variability. Therapeutic drug monitoring may be useful for assessing the clinical outcomes and adverse events. A simple high-performance liquid chromatography UV method was developed for the determination of lapatinib and erlotinib in human plasma. METHODS An aliquot of plasma sample spiked with internal standard was treated with acetonitrile to precipitate the proteins. Lapatinib and erlotinib were separated on an octadecylsilyl silica gel column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, methanol, water, and trifluoroacetic acid (26:26:48:0.1) pumped at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 316 nm. RESULTS The calibration curves for lapatinib and erlotinib were linear (r = 0.9999) in the range of 0.125-8.00 mcg/mL. The extraction recoveries for both lapatinib and erlotinib at the plasma concentration of 0.125-8.00 mcg/mL were higher than 89.9% with coefficients of variation less than 3.5%. The coefficients of variation for intraday and interday assays of lapatinib and erlotinib were less than 5.1% and 6.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The present method can be used for blood concentration monitoring for lapatinib or erlotinib in exactly the same conditions.

Paclitaxel (PTX) is an essential anticancer drug used to treat breast cancer. Because it contains alcohol as a solvent, it is contraindicated in many Japanese breast cancer patients when they are suspected of alcohol intolerance. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) is one of several enzymes that catalyzes dehydrogenation of aldehydes, and plays an important role in ethanol metabolism. Deficiency of this isozyme is believed to be responsible for facial flushing and other unpleasant symptoms following ethanol intake. In this study, we examined the safety of PTX for patients with the ALDH2 GA genotype. We performed ALDH2 genotyping on 25 patients with various cancers who were suspected to be intolerant to alcohol based on an interview using a simple question. Ten patients with the ALDH2 GA genotype, including 5 breast cancer patients, underwent chemotherapy containing PTX up to 100 mg/m2 (range 80–100 mg/m2), and were questioned about 16 alcohol-related symptoms at 11 timepoints to evaluate sensitivity to alcohol. All patients completed the first course of planned chemotherapy with either no or grade 1 alcohol-related symptoms. Our study suggests that PTX up to 100 mg/m2 can be used safely for patients with the ALDH2 GA genotype. To confirm the necessity of a genotyping test for ALDH2, further studies evaluating alcohol sensitivity in response to PTX among patients with the ALDH2 AA genotype are required.

Despite the availability of newer classes of antibiotics, infection with multi-drug-resistant bacteria is a serious problem. To suppress the appearance of multi-drug-resistant bacteria and to avoid severe infection derived from febrile neutropenia (FN), we conducted cycling the administration of antibiotics for FN in patients with hematological malignancy. The treatment protocol consisted of the administration of four antibiotics each for 3 months in 1 year. The above regimen was repeated for 4 years. A total of 193 patients were registered in the protocol. The mean duration of the administration of cycling antibiotics was 5.9 days (range: 1-16 days). The frequency of FN before the study and during the study was unchanged until the third year, but decreased significantly in the fourth year. The frequency of detection of multi-drug-resistant bacteria in the first year was the same as that before the study was started, but dramatically decreased after the second year. Bacteriological treatment success rates were similar in each trimester and each year. The effective rate was not statistically different in each trimester and each year. We conclude that cycling the administration of antibiotics in patients with FN is useful for suppressing the appearance of multi-drug-resistant bacteria and for obtaining excellent clinical efficacy.

Key Clinical Message Cardiogenic shock can occur due to compression of the four pulmonary veins and the left atrium by a mediastinal tumor. Steroid infusion can be a temporary alternative therapy before obtaining a definite diagnosis and performing an intervention with stents to dilate the pulmonary veins.

126 Background: Nivo was approved in heavily treated MGC patients in September 2017 in Japan. HPD have been reported in patients with various tumor types treated with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody therapy, but no data was existed in gastric cancer. Methods: We retrospectively compared tumor growth kinetics (TGK) on Nivo or IRI as salvage line and TGK on last treatment in patients with MGC in our hospital. The TGK ratio (TGKR, ratio of the slope of tumor growth before treatment and the slope of tumor growth on treatment) was calculated. HPD was defined as a TGKR ≥ 2. Results: 51 patients have been treated Nivo (n = 31) or IRI (n = 20) as salvage line before Aug 2018 in our hospital. The median age was 67 years (range 37-81) in Nivo and 68 years (range 46-80) in IRI.; 20 males and 11 females in Nivo and 16 males and 4 females in IRI; PS 0-1/2 score 19/12 in Nivo and 19/1 in IRI. Thirty-five patients (Nivo : IRI = 16:19) had target lesions according to RECIST 1.1 and performed CT pre, baseline and during treatment. HPD were observed in seven patients (44%) with Nivo. On the contrary, only one patient (5%) experienced HPD with IRI. Median PFS and OS (HPD vs. non-HPD) were 2.1 versus 3.5 months (HR: 0.29 (0.083-0.98), p = 0.046) and 5.3 versus 6.6 months (HR: 0.44 (0.078-2.5), p = 0.35) with Nivo. The rate of grade3-4 irAEs were colitis (6%), interstitial pneumonia (6%), and mytosis (3%) with Nivo. No treatment-related death and pseudo-progression were observed. Conclusions: HPD is more common with Nivo compared with IRI in patients with MGC as salvage line and associated with poor PFS in patients treated with Nivo. Further analysis will be warranted.

A 27-year-old man with advanced colon cancer that was resistant to conventional chemoradiotherapies was treated with reduced-intensity allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). After obtaining complete donor-type chimerism, there was an apparent graft-versus-tumor effect accompanied by severe hepatic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) showing hyperbilirubinemia, resulting in a stable disease condition that lasted for 18 months, which had not been seen previously in his previous disease history. The antitumor effect observed in this patient was insufficient for the patient to achieve complete remission, because the disease was at an already widespread and treatment-resistant stage. He finally died of hepatic failure due to extensive liver GVHD 65 months after the diagnosis of the advanced colon cancer and 29 months after the allogeneic PBSCT. Prospective studies are necessary to achieve better clinical results in patients with advanced colon cancer.

A 22-year-old Japanese man was diagnosed with Sézary syndrome with large cell transformation. His skin lesions persisted after treatment with 7 cycles of CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone), psoralen and ultraviolet light A, and total skin electron beam irradiation. He subsequently underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplantation by reduced-intensity conditioning from a human leukocyte antigen-identical unrelated donor. He developed grade II of acute graft-versus-host disease and extensive-type chronic graft-versus-host disease. He has no signs of disease 36 months after the transplantation. The prognosis of patients with advanced stage of mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome is very poor. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, especially by reduced-intensity conditioning, is expected to become a curative treatment option, and graft-versus-tumor effect might play a critical role for sustained remission.

Objective: Invasive fungal infection is one of the major causes of death in neutropenic patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Although prophylactic antifungal therapy with fluconazole (FLCZ) has become the standard care for these patients, there remains a need for more effective and cost-beneficial alternative drugs. Patients and Methods: We conducted a prospective study to evaluate the usefulness of the administration of micafungin (MCFG) as a prophylactic antifungal therapy for patients undergoing allogeneic SCT. The results were compared with previous data for patients who had received FLCZ. Results: A total of 44 patients who underwent allogeneic SCT were enrolled in the study. Data from 29 patients who received allogeneic SCT using prophylactic FLCZ before this study were used as historical control data. Underlying diseases included acute leukemia (n=16), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (n=11), myelodysplastic syndrome (n=6), and others (n=11) in the MCFG group and acute leukemia (n=18), chronic myelogenous leukemia (n=6), and others (n=5) in the FLCZ group. The median durations of administration of MCFG and FLCZ were 36 and 34 days, respectively. Prophylactic success, defined as the absence of proven, probable, and possible invasive fungal infection (IFI) until the end of prophylactic therapy was achieved in 36 (87.8%) of the 41 evaluated patients in the MCFG group and in 65.5% of the patients in the FLCZ group (p=0.038). No patients in the MCFG group showed proven or probable IFI, whereas proven or probable IFI was observed in 3 patients in the FLCZ group. Four patients in the MCFG group required dose escalation due to febrile neutropenia. Although one patient in the MCFG group required the discontinuation of MCFG due to allergic skin eruption (grade 2), none of the other patients in either group required dose reduction due to adverse effects. Conclusions: Although the study design was not a prospective randomized trial, our results indicate that the administration of MCFG at a daily dose of 100 mg is promising for prophylactic antifungal therapy in patients undergoing allogeneic SCT.

Complementarity-determining region (CDR3) size spectratyping has often been used to analyze the clonal expansion of T-cells. CDR3 size spectratyping has been useful in the analysis of the oligoclonal expansion of T-cells in virus infection, graft-versus-leukemia effect (GVL), graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and immune reconstitution of T-cells after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). We analyzed 26 T cell receptor (TCR)-beta-chain subfamilies (VB) in 25 patients who underwent allo-SCT. Fifteen of these patients developed acute GVHD (aGVHD). Many TCR-VB were skewed in the early stage. In these TCR-VB subfamilies, VB6 was most often skewed at the time of skin aGVHD. We then analyzed the average score of the complexity of 26 TCR-VB spectratypings in patients with or without cGVHD. The patients who developed chronic GVHD (cGVHD) had a lower average score of TCR-VB complexity than that of patients without cGVHD (P = 0.010). In particular. the patients who developed the quiescent type and de novo type of cGVHD from 4 months after allo- SCT had a lower average score of TCR-VB complexity at 3 months than that of the patients who had no cGVHD (P = 0.0055). These results suggest that we might be able to consider a possible development of cGVHD by analyzing TCR-VB spectratyping after allo-SCT.

Aims: To explore the biomarker for predicting the occurrence of adverse events in myeloma patients treated by intravenous bortezomib, we measured proteasome activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Methods: Samples were obtained from 34 bortezomib-naïve patients. Proteasome activity was measured at pre- and postchemotherapy phase by using a synthetic substrate. Results: Bortezomib injection resulted in a dramatic decrease in proteasome activity, reaching 32.4 ± 18.79% (mean ± SD) of the pretreatment level at 1 h, but it generally recovered at the end of the first course. In total, 6 patients manifested with severe bortezomib-induced peripheral neuropathy (sBIPN) in the second-third course. There was a nonsignificant trend for these patients to have lower levels of the relative proteasome activity at the end of the first course than those without sBIPN (median: 74.03 vs. 103.2%, p = 0.052). Moreover, in all of them, proteasome activity did not recover to the pretreatment level, whereas no patients with complete recovery manifested with sBIPN. Analysis with Fisher's exact test demonstrated that incomplete recovery of proteasome activity is a significant risk factor for sBIPN (p = 0.014). Conclusion: Patients with incomplete recovery of proteasome activity are at high risk for developing sBIPN, and the susceptible patients can be indicated by monitoring proteasome activity.

Reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus (VZV), presenting as localized zoster or as disseminated infection, is a common and potentially serious complication in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients. We retrospectively studied anti-VZV immunoglobulin G titers by the immune adherence hemagglutination method after HSCT and also studied VZV DNA by real-time PCR during clinical VZV reactivation using cryopreserved serum samples. No significant difference was found between anti-VZV titers in 13 patients with VZV infection (localized zoster in 11 patients and disseminated zoster in 2 patients) and in 13 subjects without VZV infection at each time point after HSCT. Preexisting anti-VZV titers of disseminated zoster cases tended to be lower than those of localized zoster cases ( P = 0.10). Serum VZV DNA copy numbers at the onset of disseminated zoster cases tended to be higher than those of localized zoster cases ( P = 0.09). A strong inverse correlation was found between preexisting anti-VZV titer and serum VZV DNA at onset ( r = −0.90, P = 0.006). In HSCT recipients, preexisting antibody does not prevent the development of VZV reactivation but may contribute to decreased viral load at onset, resulting in a mild clinical course.

A 55-year-old woman with an exudative, necrotizing left breast tumor consulted Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital and Cancer Center. We diagnosed her as advanced ER+, PgR-, HER2- invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast by tumor needle biopsy. FDG-PET/CT revealed multiple lymph node, pulmonary, bone, and hepatic metastases. Systemic chemotherapy with biweekly bevacizumab and weekly paclitaxel(PTX)was administered. The chemotherapy induced a widespread tumor lysis in her left chest wall. We continued chemotherapy, and the ulcer has been healing gradually. We recognized that bevacizumab with PTX successfully brought about a rapid, good local response, and improved the patient's quality of life.

A 56-year-old woman with a poor-prognosis chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (CAEBV) infection underwent reduced-intensity stem cell transplantation (RIST) using cryopreserved cord blood (CB). Administration of EBV-seronegative CB cells following a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen was effective and well tolerated. Complete remission with no symptoms, low titers of EBV-related antibodies, and an undetectable level of EBV DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells continued for 16 months after RIST. This report is the first of successful RIST with CB for an adult with CAEBV infection. The results also show that a graft-versus-CAEBV effect can be achieved in an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation setting.

A 23-year-old female patient was diagnosed as having Hodgkin lymphoma (mixed cellularity type, clinical stage III B) in September 2000. She underwent ABVD chemotherapy and irradiation of a mediastinal lesion, resulting in complete remission. However, the disease reoccurred three month after the completion of initial treatment. She was admitted to our hospital for allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Thoractic vertebra, lumbar vertebra and iliac bone lesions were detected by FDG-PET, and a diagnosis of bone marrow infiltration was made. She received re-induction chemotherapy but did not achieve complete remission. A residual lesion in her bone marrow was detected by FDG-PET. She underwent unrelated allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in May 2002. Preconditioning was VP-16, CY and TBI. Engraftment of white blood cells was on day 15. Skin GVHD was detected at the same time and she was treated with steroid hormones, resulting in improvement. No residual mass could be detected by FDG-PET on day 60. However, she suffered from fever on day 80. Aggravation of the disease was revealed and she died from progression of the disease on day 120. FDG-PET is useful for the monitoring disease status and for determining the optimal timing of various treatments.

Prophylactic effect of itraconazole (ITCZ) in mycosis associated with hematological malignancy was studied. In a total of 12 patients of hematological malignancy admitted to Hokkaido University Hospital from April, 2001 to March, 2002, six patients received 100 mg per day of ITCZ and the other six received 200 mg per day of ITCZ. ITCZ was administrated from the starting of chemotherapy, and from the time point capable of oral administration in bone marrow transplantation patients. ITCZ administration was finished based on docter's judgement. As the results of this study, three cases with 100 mg per day of ITCZ had mycosis, but none with 200 mg per day of this drug had it. Mild itching associated with ITCZ was found only one case. In conclusion, we suggest that ITCZ is effective and safe drug in terms of prophylaxis of mycosis.

High costs of molecule-targeted drugs such as rituximab, ibritumomab and tositumomab have given rise to an economical issue for treating patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF), which are also expensive, are widely used for treating neutropenia after chemotherapy. In Japan, lenograstim at 2 μg/kg (almost 100 μg/body) or filgrastim at 50 μg/m2 (almost 75 μg/body) is commonly administered for patients with NHL after chemotherapy. Therefore, cost-effectiveness is an important issue in treatment for NHL. Patients with advanced-stage NHL who needed chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) or a CHOP-like regimen with or without rituximab were enrolled in this randomized cross-over trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of low-dose G-CSF. Half of the patients were administered 75 μg filgrastim in the first course after neutropenia and 50 μg lenograstim in the second course, and the other half were crossed over. Forty-seven patients were enrolled in this cross-over trial, and twenty-four patients completed the trial. Frequencies of leukocytopenia and neutropenia of grade 4 were similar in patients who received filgrastim courses and those who received lenograstim courses (p=0.6366 in leukocytopenia and p=0.2207 in neutropenia, respectively). Durations of leukocytopenia and netropenia of grade 4 in each treatment course were not different statistically (p=0.3892 in leukocytopenia and p=0.1476 in neutropenia, respectively), and each period of G-CSF administration in both courses was not different statistically (p=0.0676). Frequency of fever higher than 37.5 degrees (p=0.6826) and duration of fever (p=0.7455) were also not statistically different in the two treatment courses. Documented infection containing FN after chemotherapy was not statistically different (p=0.1213). Although the administration dose of G-CSF was not determined on the basis of body weight or body surface area, eight febrile patients were not administered insufficient dose of G-CSF. Therefore, compared with the standard-dose G-CSF course (filgrastim at 75 μg), there was no statistically increased frequency of antibiotic usage in the low-dose G-CSF course (lenograstim at 50 μg) (p=0.2199). The total cost of G-CSF in the low-dose G-CSF (lenograstim at 50 μg) course was significantly lower than that in the standard-dose G-CSF (filgrastim at 75 μg) course (p

Evaluation of minimal residual disease (MRD) provides prognostic information on various hematological malignancies. We describe here the efficacy of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR)-based analysis of major bcr/abl mRNA in cases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Ph-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL), especially in cases administered imatinib mesilate (imatinib) followed by stem cell transplantation (SCT). Twenty-one patients with CML or Ph+ALL were enrolled as subjects to determine the usefulness of RQ-PCR-based measurement of bcr-abl/abl ratios. Seven of the 21 patients were administered imatinib before allogeneic SCT. Hematological relapse or failure of treatment by SCT was observed in 2 out of those patients who showed bcr-abl/abl ratios of more than 0.002%, and 5 of the 7 patients showed both RQ-PCR and RT-PCR negativity immediately after SCT. All of the 5 patients who were not administered imatinib before allogeneic SCT showed RQ-PCR negativity immediately after SCT, but the results of RT-PCR were positive in 3 patients at the same time points, and the results became negative by donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) or appearance of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Administration of imatinib before SCT was thought to result in an earlier remission. On the other hand, 8 patients who were administered imatinib without SCT showed a remarkable decrease in bcr-abl/abl ratios. However, the ratio gradually rose in one patient with Ph+ALL, enabling prediction of hematological relapse preceding detection by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis. Standardization of RQ-PCR analysis of bcr-abl mRNA will help prediction of early hematological relapse in patients with MRD. In conclusion, RQ-PCR positivity immediately after SCT in patients pre-treated with imatinib suggests risk of recurrence.