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Background: Malnutrition, defined as weight loss and unsatisfactory nutrient intake, is very common in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in either the early or palliative setting. Despite increased awareness, nutritional programs are not yet adequately implemented in these patients. There are several reasons for this delay: differences in composition, the expertise of the multidisciplinary teams involved in HNSCC patients' treatment, and economic and network resources conditioning faster or slower nutritional supply delivery. This situation affects the outcomes and the quality of life of HNSCC patients. Materials and methods: We investigated available literature about nutritional support in HNSCC patients and its impact on outcomes, prognosis, and quality of life, and we focused on the role of the multidisciplinary team. We considered 8,491 articles, and after excluding duplicates and manuscripts not written in English, 1,055 were analyzed and 73 were deemed eligible for the present work. Results: After the literature review, we can state that malnutrition, sarcopenia, and cachexia are associated with systemic inflammation and closely correlated with poor outcomes. An evaluation of the nutritional status of the multidisciplinary team before, during, and after therapy could improve patient outcomes, as the goal of the therapeutic approach is widely designed. Conclusions: We suggest that the treatment workflow definition is fundamental and propose a tailored nutritional approach that could benefit HNSCC patients' outcomes and quality of life. These results could be achieved by a multidisciplinary team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-associated death. Advances in the last decade have provided more options for treating hepatocellular carcinoma. The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors represents a leap forward and broadens the armamentarium for clinicians. In this article, we provide a state-of-the-art review of molecular therapy. We also detail the mechanisms of checkpoint inhibitor therapy, which blocks the interaction of programmed cell death receptor protein with programmed cell death ligand, reducing the immune checkpoint activity on regulatory T cells, thereby inhibiting tumor cell growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with cancer are considered at high risk for the novel respiratory illness coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). General measures to keep COVID‐19–free cancer divisions have been adopted worldwide. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of triage to identify COVID‐19 among patients with cancer. Methods: From March 20 to April 17, 2020, data were collected from patients who were treated or followed at the authors' institution in a prospective clinical trial. The primary endpoint was to estimate the cumulative incidence of COVID‐19–positive patients who were identified using a triage process through the aid of medical and patient questionnaires. Based on a diagnostic algorithm, patients with suspect symptoms underwent an infectious disease specialist's evaluation and a COVID‐19 swab. Serologic tests were proposed for patients who had symptoms or altered laboratory tests that did not fall into the diagnostic algorithm but were suspicious for COVID‐19. Results: Overall, 562 patients were enrolled. Six patients (1%) were diagnosed with COVID‐19, of whom 4 (67%) had the disease detected through telehealth triage, and 2 patients (33%) without suspect symptoms at triage had the disease detected later. Seventy‐one patients (13%) had suspect symptoms and/or altered laboratory tests that were not included in the diagnostic algorithm and, of these, 47 patients (73%) underwent testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibody: 6 (13%) were positive for IgG (n = 5) or for both IgM and IgG (n = 1), and antibody tests were negative in the remaining 41 patients. Conclusions: The triage process had a positive effect on the detection of COVID‐19 in patients with cancer. Telehealth triage was helpful in detecting suspect patients and to keep a COVID‐19–free cancer center. The overall incidence of COVID‐19 diagnosis (1%) and antibody positivity (13%) in patients with suspect symptoms was similar to that observed in the general population. The adoption of a structured triage process can be useful for the detection of coronavirus disease 2019 symptoms and signs. Oncology activities can be safely carried out during the pandemic with the aid of a triage process and containment measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article on epidermal growth factor receptor, published in the previous issue.

Background: To date, no predictive factors are recognized and applied in the therapeutic choice for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Due to significant side-effects and costs, which are relevant issues in this setting, optimization of treatments has become a priority., Case Report: We herein report a case of complete remission of metastatic renal cell carcinoma after 1 year of treatment with sunitinib. Since pancreatic metastases were detected by a 68Ga-DOTA-NOC positron emission tomography, it was decided to perform a histological revision of the specimens, with immunohistochemical staining for neuroendocrine markers on the primary tumor., Conclusion: On the basis of the detection of neuroendocrine markers on the primary neoplasm, together with pancreatic metastases positive on a 68Ga-DOTA-NOC positron emission tomography (PET), we hypothesize and discuss about a potential role of specific neuroendocrine markers as predictive indicators of response to sunitinib (and allegedly to other target therapies) in the treatment of this neoplasm., (Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)

Aims and Background: Often neglected by large clinical trials, patients with uncommon breast malignancies have been rarely analyzed in large series., Patients and Methods: Of 2,052 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and followed in our Institution from January 1985 to December 2009, we retrospectively collected data on those with uncommon histotypes, with the aim of investigating their presentation characteristics and treatment outcome., Results: Rare histotypes were identified in 146 patients (7.1% of our total breast cancer population), being classified as follows: tubular carcinoma in 75 (51.4%), mucinous carcinoma in 36 (24.7%), medullary carcinoma in 25 (17.1%) and papillary carcinoma in 10 patients (6.8%). Whereas age at diagnosis was not significantly different among the diverse diagnostic groups, patients with medullary and papillary subtypes had a higher rate of lymph node involvement, similar to that of invasive ductal carcinoma. Early stage diagnosis was frequent, except for medullary carcinoma. Overall, in comparison with our invasive ductal carcinoma patients, those with rare histotypes showed a significantly lower risk of recurrence, with a hazard ratio of 0.28 (95% CI, 0.12-0.62; P = 0.002)., Conclusions: According to our analysis, patients with uncommon breast malignancies are often diagnosed at an early stage, resulting in a good prognosis with standard treatment.