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PURPOSE In Armenia, colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers. It is in the third place by incidence. The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment and outcomes of CRC in Armenia during the last 9 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS For this retrospective hospital-based study, we have collected data from two main oncology centers in Armenia: National Oncology Center and “Muratsan” Hospital of Yerevan State Medical University. The information about patients with CRC who were treated at these two centers between January 1, 2010 and July 1, 2018 was collected from the medical records. Log-rank test and Kaplan-Meier curves were used for survival analysis. Prognostic factors were identified by Cox regression. RESULTS A total of 602 patients with CRC were involved in the final analysis. Median follow-up time was 37 months (range, 3-207 months). A total of 8.6% of patients had stage I, 32.9% stage II, 38.0% stage III, and 17.6% stage IV cancer; for 2.7% patients, the stage was unknown. The main independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) were tumor stage, grade, and histology. Adjuvant chemotherapy has been shown to improve survival in stage II colon cancer and stage III rectal but not in stage II rectal cancer. Radiotherapy did not yield survival improvement in stage II or III rectal cancer. Three- and 5-year OS rates were 62.9% and 51.8% for all stages combined and 79.7% and 68.5% for stages I-II, 62.5% and 48.4% for stage III, and 24.4% and 17% for stage IV respectively. CONCLUSION As seen from our results, our survival rates are lower than those of the developed world. Additional research is needed to identify the underlying reasons and to improve patients’ treatment and outcomes in Armenia.

BACKGROUND Every year in Armenia we have approximately 80–90 new pediatric cancer cases from which 10–15 are brain tumors (PBT). Here we try to summarize the current state of pediatric neuro-oncology in Armenia. DISCUSSION: In Armenia pediatric neuro-oncology is still in its first steps. Surgical treatment of PBTs is performed only in one medical center – “Sourb Astvatsamayr” Medical Center, with 7 practicing pediatric neurosurgeons. Radiation therapy service with two linear accelerators is located at the “National Oncology Center”, however there are no dedicated pediatric radiation neuro-oncologists, and 2 specialists are treating pediatric tumors. Chemotherapy for all pediatric cancers currently is performed at the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, established in February 2019 as a result of merging of all pediatric oncology units in the country. Among the 11 practicing pediatric hematologist/oncologists no one is dedicated specifically to PBTs. Since September 2017 we have started discussing all PBT cases (up to now 18 cases) through the telemedicine with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (SJCRH). In Sept 2019 neuro-oncology multidisciplinary team was created with the involvement of local and foreign specialists. On a weekly basis the multidisciplinary team discusses all new and problematic cases. The team also concentrates on adaptation of diagnostic and treatment guidelines for pediatric CNS tumors, creation of educational materials for different stakeholders, and identification of current problems and their possible solutions. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge this is the first report summarizing the current state of pediatric neuro-oncology in Armenia.

BACKGROUND Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the second most common malignant neoplasms among children worldwide. The current paper aims to analyze the situation in pediatric neuro-oncology in Armenia from the neurosurgical perspective. METHODS We have collected data of pediatric patients with CNS tumors treated in the Neurosurgery department of “Surb Astvasamayr” Medical Center from 01.01.2010 till 01.12.2019. Incidence by gender, age at diagnosis, and histopathology results were calculated. Survival rates were calculated based on the follow-up results performed until 30.12.2019. RESULTS Hospital-based data showed that during the previous 10 years 47 patients with CNS tumors received neurosurgical treatment in the unit, among them 66% were females. 38.3%, 31.9% and 29.8% of diagnosed patients were aged 0–4, 5–9, and 10–18 respectively. In 41 cases, the disease was not disseminated at diagnosis. The most common observed malignancies were low-grade gliomas (21.3%) and embryonal tumors (19.1%), followed by high-grade gliomas (14.9%) and ependymal tumors (8.5%). Follow-up information only for 33 patients is available. From them, 14 are dead and 19 alive. Survival rates in most common groups were 62.5%, 80%, 50%, and 50% respectively. The median follow-up time was 18 months (range 1–113 months). CONCLUSION Similar to the data reported in the literature, low-grade gliomas, and embryonal tumors are the most frequent pediatric CNS tumors in Armenia. On the other hand, the pediatric CNS tumor survival rates are lower compared to those reported in developed countries.

e12586 Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy among the women in Armenia (AM). Currently there is a knowledge gap regarding the morphology distribution of the BC in AM. Methods: The data on patients with BC diagnosed in 2015-2016 in the pathology lab “Davidyants Labs” in AM were retrospectively reviewed. Pts with Her2+ results by IHC were excluded from the study, due to unavailability to perform FISH or CISH analyses. Overall 361 pathology reports were evaluated. Results: The median age was 54 years; range [19-82]. Histopathological subtypes were defined for 305 pts, from which lobular carcinoma 57.4% of cases (175/305), ductal carcinoma 26.9% (82/305), mucinous carcinoma 2.6% (8/305), mixed type carcinoma (lobular and ductal) 2.6% (8/305), DCIS 2% (n = 6/305), non specified carcinoma 2% (6/305), medullary carcinoma 1% (n = 3/305) and others 5.6% (17/305). Within the cohort 8.5% (23/270) were grade 1, 65.9% grade 2 (178/270); 25.6% grade 3 (n = 69/270). Vascular or lymphatic invasion was present in 59.5% (50/84) and 64.7% (55/85), respectively. Staging distribution, based on pT pN data for 92 pts who went to primary surgery, was: 0 stage 7.6% (7/92), I stage 22.8% (21/92), II stage 41.3% (38/92), III stage 28.3% (26/92). Staging distribution based on ypT ypN data for 27 pts who went to surgery after neoadjuvant chemo was 0 stage 25.9% (7/27), I stage 18.5% (5/27), II stage 29.6% (8/27), III stage 25.9% (7/27). ER and PR were defined for 244 patients. ER positive 89.8% (219/244) of cases, PR pos. 73% (178/244), ER/PR pos. 72.5% (177/244) cases. Her receptor was defined for 237 patients. Her3+ 16.9% (40/237); Her2+ 12.7% (30/237); Her1+ 38% (90/237); Her0 32.5% (n = 77/237). We could not evaluate Her2+ status by FISH or CISH, so these results were excluded from the analysis. Ki67 was low (≤20) in 42.1% (101/240) of cases and high ( > 20) in 57.9% (139/240). Within the group Luminal A type was 41.4% (84/203); Luminal B 32.5% (66/203); Her positive 19.7% (40/203) and triple negative 6.4% (13/203). p53 and perineural invasion (Pn) was present in 32% (16/50) and 52% (26/50), respectively. Tumor leukocyte infiltration was determined for 16 patients. Leukocyte infiltration was positive in 43.7% (7/16) cases, negative in 25% (4/16) cases, minimal in 31.3% cases (5/16). Conclusions: BC in Armenian women presents with different epidemiological characteristics in comparison with other ethnicities. Lobular type BC is the most frequent type among Armenian women, however, differential diagnosis between lobular/ductal carcinomas was done without IHC (E-Cadherin), which rises the need for further studies on that regard.

e15058 Background: Over the past few years PD-1/PD-L1 pathway blockade through immune checkpoint inhibitors appeared to be an effective treatment approach in advanced lung cancer. The current study aims to investigate the utilization of immunotherapy for lung cancer management purposes in Armenia. Methods: For this retrospective, hospital-based cohort study census sampling method was approached. Data was collected on all the patients who were diagnosed with stage III and IV lung cancer and passed treatment in the departments of Adult Solid Tumors in Hematology Center after prof. Yeolyan and Institute of Surgery after Mikaelyan from 01.05.2019 till 12.01.2020. The time period was selected based on the initiation of PD-L1 testing in Armenia. The prevalence of non-small cell (NSCLC) and small cell (SCLC) lung cancer was calculated. The patients’ PD-L1 testing performance, subsequent immunotherapy utilization, and developed adverse effects were evaluated. Results: According to the hospital-based data, during the mentioned time period 60 patients diagnosed with stage III and IV lung cancer received treatment in the two units. In the cohort, the patients’ median age was 65,5 years (range 46 – 88). The male-to-female ratio was 5.6. The prevalence of NSCLC and SCLC was 61.7% and 28.3% respectively. At the time of follow-up on 10.02.2020, 74.4% of NSCLC patients and 64.7% of SCLC patients were alive. Of the 43 NSCLC subjects, only 11 were checked for the PD-L1 status. Among them, 7 were determined to be PD-L1 positive and 5 of them received immunotherapy. For SCLC patients PD-L1 status wasn’t checked. Of 17 SCLC patients, only one has received immunotherapy. Overall only one case of immunotherapy related adverse effect was observed (severe rash and pruritus). At the time of follow-up, one of the six patients who underwent immunotherapy was dead. Conclusions: The presented data demonstrate a lack of PD-L1 test performance and underutilization of immunotherapy treatment. In the future, it is recommended to perform a nationwide study on the current topic to assess the immune checkpoint inhibitors impact on the survival rates of advanced lung cancer patients.

Background Giant cell tumor of bone (GCT) is a rare primary bone tumor, which can metastasize and undergo malignant transformation. The standard treatment of GCT is surgery. In patients with unresectable or metastatic disease, additional therapeutic options are available. These include blocking of the receptor activator of NF-kappa B ligand (RANKL) signaling pathway, which plays a role in the pathogenesis of GCT of bone, via the anti-RANKL monoclonal antibody denosumab. Case Presentation Herein we report on a female teenager who presented in a very poor clinical condition (cachexia, diplopia, strabismus, dysphonia with palsy of cranial nerves V, VI, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII) due to progressive disease, after incomplete resection and adjuvant radiotherapy, of a GCT which affected the cervical spine (C1 and C2) as well as the skull base; and who had an impressive clinical response to denosumab therapy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the youngest patient ever reported with a skull base tumor treated with denosumab. Conclusion In situations when surgery can be postponed and local aggressiveness of the tumor does not urge for acute surgical intervention, upfront use of denosumab in order to reduce the tumor size might be considered. Principally, the goal of denosumab therapy is to reduce tumor size as much as possible, with the ultimate goal to make local surgery (or as in our case re-surgery) amenable. However, improvement in quality of life, as demonstrated in our patient, is also an important aspect of such targeted therapies. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13052-017-0353-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background With advances in diagnostics and treatment approaches, patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) in developed countries can nowadays expect to have excellent outcomes. However, information about the characteristics and outcomes in the developing world is very scarce, and this is important given the fact that there are several reports about differences of disease characteristics depending on geographic location and the development level of the country. Materials and methods In this retrospective study we assessed the features of 36 adult (≥18 years old) patients with HL and their diagnosis and treatment and outcomes in the Clinic of Chemotherapy of Muratsan University Hospital of Yerevan State Medical University, Armenia, between 2008- 2014. Results All patients had classic HL and among them 19 (53%) had nodular sclerosis subtype, 8 (22%) mixed cellularity and 9 (25%) lymphocyte-rich. 16 (44.5%) patients were at stage II, 13 (36%) stage III and 7 (19.5%) stage IV. Median follow-up time was 24.5 months (range 1-71 months) and during the whole follow- up period only two relapses (early) were documented and there were no deaths. Twenty-three (64%) patients received a BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) regimen, and 13 (36%) ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine) regimen. A total of 25 (69.5%) patients received radiation in addition to chemotherapy. Conclusions Although the number of patients involved in the study is small and the median follow-up time was just two years, this retrospective study shows that treatment of HL can be successfully organized in a resource-limited setting.