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Introduction The peripheral nervous system is one of the target organs of immune‐related adverse events. Peripheral facial nerve palsy, also called Bell's palsy, which is induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors, is quite rare, and its clinical features are not well known. Case presentation A man with renal cell carcinoma who received rechallenging immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy developed unilateral facial palsy and was diagnosed with Bell's palsy. He did not have any severe immune‐related adverse events during his previous immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. Corticosteroid therapy was immediately initiated, and his facial palsy symptoms promptly improved. Conclusion Physicians should be aware that Bell's palsy can occur as an immune‐related adverse event. Additionally, careful observation is necessary during rechallenge with immune checkpoint inhibitors, even in patients who did not have previous immune‐related adverse events.

Abstract Background A self-help workbook is expected to support cancer patients to cope with physical and psychosocial distress, to facilitate communication with medical staff, and to improve quality of life (QOL). We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-help workbook intervention on QOL and survival. Methods From June 2014 to March 2015, patients with breast, colorectal, gastric, and lung cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy were randomized into an intervention group (n = 100) or control group (n = 100). Intervention group participants received workbooks originally made for this study, read advice on how to cope with distress, and filled out questionnaires on the workbooks periodically. EORTC QLQ-C30 was evaluated at baseline, at 12 weeks, and at 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was Global Health Status / QOL scale (GQOL). Results No significant interaction was observed between the intervention and time in terms of GQOL or any of the functional scales. Among the 69 patients who continued cytotoxic chemotherapy at 24 weeks, the intervention was significantly associated with improved emotional functioning scores (P = 0.0007). Overall survival was not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions Self-help workbook intervention was feasible in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Although the effect of the intervention was limited, a post-hoc subset analysis suggested that the intervention may improve emotional functioning among patients who receive long-term cytotoxic chemotherapy. Trial registration UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000012842 . Registered 14 January 2014.

The tumor shrinkage effect of gemcitabine is considered to be limited in cases of advanced gallbladder cancer, and there are few reports of complete response to gemcitabine therapy in patients with this cancer. Therefore, the treatment continuation strategy in these patients, after a complete response has been achieved, still remains to be established. Here, we present the case of a 77-year-old patient with unresectable gallbladder cancer, who after showing complete response to gemcitabine monotherapy administered for 5 years, showed early relapse within only 11 months of discontinuation of the drug. Thus, it is necessary to establish a suitable treatment continuation strategy for patients who show complete response to gemcitabine treatment.

Background: Everolimus, a potent mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, has shown anticancer activity against various types of cancer, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, little information is available on the efficacy and safety of the combination of everolimus and radiotherapy. We report a case of radiation-induced esophagitis that might have been exacerbated by the sequential administration of everolimus. Case Presentation: A 63-year-old Japanese man with RCC complained of back pain, and magnetic resonance imaging revealed vertebral metastases. He received radiotherapy (30 Gy/10 fractions) to the T6-10 vertebrae. Everolimus was administered immediately after the completion of radiotherapy. One week later, he complained of dysphagia, nausea and vomiting. An endoscopic examination of the esophagus showed erosive esophagitis in the middle to lower portions of his thoracic esophagus, corresponding to the irradiation field. Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware that everolimus might lead to the unexpected exacerbation of radiation toxicities.

Background/Aim: Synchronous colorectal cancer, which occurs in approximately 4.8-8.4% of all colorectal cancers, has a genetic profile with a higher rate of v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1 (BRAF) mutation and microsatellite instability-high than solitary colorectal cancer. However, little information is available on heterogeneity among tumor lesions because of difficulty in performing genetic tests in all lesions in clinical practice. Case Report: A 44-year-old man presented with multiple recurrent lung metastases 42 months after the endoscopic resection of early stage synchronous ascending and sigmoid colon cancers. The genetic testing of sigmoid colon cancer tissue samples, their state being more advanced than that of ascending colon cancer, revealed a v-Ki-ras 2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog mutation (G13C) and BRAF wild type. However, the tumor was refractory to initial chemotherapy and rapidly progressed to new liver metastases. Therefore, we suspected that there may be biological heterogeneity between the primary sigmoid colon lesion and liver metastases. Next, we performed next-generation sequencing on circulating tumor DNA from the patient's plasma (Foundation One Liquid CDx®), which revealed the V600E mutation of BRAF, suggesting that there was genetic heterogeneity among the synchronized primary lesions, one of which was responsible for the chemo-refractory rapid-growing liver metastases. Conclusion: Genetic profiling with liquid biopsy at the time of recurrence and metastasis may be useful in patients with multiple synchronous cancers because there is less heterogeneity between primary and metastatic sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]