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Glucocorticoids, which are administered with chemotherapy, cause hyperglycemia. Glycemic variability among breast cancer patients without diabetes is not well known. A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving early-stage breast cancer patients without diabetes who received dexamethasone prior to neoadjuvant or adjuvant taxane chemotherapy between August 2017-December 2019. Random blood glucose levels were analyzed, and steroid-induced hyperglycemia (SIH) was defined as a random glucose level of >140 mg/dL. A multivariate proportional hazards model was used to identify the risk factors of SIH. Out of 100 patients, the median age was 53 years (IQR: 45-63.5). A total of 45% of patients were non-Hispanic White, 28% Hispanic, 19% Asian, and 5% African American. The incidence of SIH was 67%, and glycemic fluctuations were highest in those with glucose levels of >200 mg/dL. Non-Hispanic White patients represented a significant predictor for time to SIH, with a hazard ratio of 2.5 (95% CI: 1.04, 5.95, p = 0.039). SIH was transient in over 90% of the patients, and only seven patients remained hyperglycemic after glucocorticoid and chemotherapy completion. Pretaxane dexamethasone-induced hyperglycemia was observed in 67% of the patients, with the greatest glycemic lability in those patients with blood glucose levels of >200 mg/dL. The non-Hispanic White patients had a higher risk of developing SIH.

Background:Preclinical and retrospective data suggest that cytoreductive radical prostatectomy may benefit a subset of men who present with metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa). Herein, we report the results of the first planned Phase 1 study on cytoreductive surgery. Methods:From four institutions, 36 patients consented to the study. However, four did not complete surgery because of rapid disease progression (n = 3) and another because of an intraoperatively discovered pericolonic abscess. Men with newly diagnosed clinical mPCa to lymph nodes or bones were eligible. The primary endpoint was the rate of major perioperative complications (Clavien-Dindo Grade 3 or higher) occurring within 90 days of surgery. Results:The mean age at surgery was 64.0 years. The 90-day overall complication rate was 31.2% (n = 10), of which two (6.25%) were considered major complications: one acute tubular necrosis requiring temporary dialysis and one death. In men with more than 6 months of follow-up, 67.9% had prostate specific antigen nadir ≤0.2 ng/mL, while one patient experienced a rapid rise in prostate specific antigen and another a widely disseminated disease that resulted in death 5 months after surgery. Altogether, these results demonstrate that cytoreductive radical prostatectomy is safe and surgically feasible in selected patients who present with mPCa . Yet, there may be a small subset of patients in whom surgery may cause a significant harm. Conclusion:Therefore, cytoreductive surgery in men with mPCa should be limited to clinical trials until robust data are available.

Introduction: Mesenchymal epidermal transition and vascular endothelial growth factor pathways are important in mediating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumorigenesis and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) resistance. We hypothesized that treatment with cabozantinib plus erlotinib in EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC following progression on EGFR TKI therapy may allow tumors to overcome this resistance or restore sensitivity to therapy regardless of T790M status. Methods: Patients with advanced NSCLC, known EGFR mutation and progressive disease on an EGFR TKI immediately prior to enrollment without intervening therapy were enrolled. Patients received erlotinib 150 mg and cabozantinib 40 mg daily. The primary endpoint was evaluation of efficacy by objective response rate. Secondary endpoints included assessment of progression free survival (PFS), overall survival, change in tumor growth rate, safety and toxicity, and the evaluation of specific EGFR mutations and MET amplification in pre-treatment tissue and plasma. Results: Thirty-seven patients were enrolled at 4 centers. Four patients had partial response (10.8%) and 21 had stable disease (59.5%). A greater than 30% increase in tumor doubling time was observed in 79% of assessable patients (27/34). Median PFS was 3.6 months for all patients. Diarrhea (32%) was the most common grade 3 adverse event; 3 patients had asymptomatic grade 4 elevation of amylase and lipase. Conclusions: Combination erlotinib and cabozantinib demonstrates activity in a highly pretreated population of patients with EGFR mutation and progression on EGFR TKI. Further elucidation of beneficial patient subsets is warranted. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT01866410.

Introduction: Low grade serous ovarian carcinoma (LGSOC) is a rare subtype of ovarian cancer (OC) that is challenging to treat due to its relative chemoresistance. Given that LGSOC patients often recur in the peritoneal cavity, novel intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy should be explored. Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosolized chemotherapy (PIPAC) is a method that has demonstrated peritoneal disease control in cancers with peritoneal metastases. Methods: NCT04329494 is a US multicenter phase 1 trial evaluating the safety of PIPAC in recurrent ovarian, uterine, and GI cancers with peritoneal metastases. This analysis describes the outcomes of a sub-cohort of four LGSOC patients treated with IP cisplatin 10.5 mg/m², doxorubicin 2.1 mg/m² PIPAC q4-6 weeks. Primary endpoints included dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) and incidence of adverse events (AE). Secondary endpoints were progression free survival (PFS) and treatment response based on radiographic, intraoperative, and pathological findings. Results: Four patients with LGSOC were enrolled of which three were heavily pretreated. Median prior lines of therapy was 5 (range 2-10). Three patients had extraperitoneal metastases, and two patients had baseline partial small bowel obstructive (SBO) symptoms. Median age of patients was 58 (38-68). PIPAC completion rate (=2 PIPACs) was 75%. No DLTs or Clavien-Dindo surgical complications occurred. No G4/G5 AEs were observed, and one G3 abdominal pain was reported. One patient had a partial response after 3 cycles of PIPAC and completed an additional 3 cycles with compassionate use amendment. Two patients came off study after 2 cycles due to extraperitoneal progressive disease. One patient came off study after 1 cycle due to toxicity. Median decrease in peritoneal carcinomatosis index between cycles 1 and 2 was 5.0%. Ascites decreased in 2 out of 3 patients who had =2 PIPACs. Median PFS was 4.3 months (1.7-21.6), median overall survival was 11.6 months (5.4-30.1), and objective response rate was 25%. Conclusion: PIPAC with cisplatin/doxorubicin is well tolerated in LGSOC patients without baseline SBO symptoms. IP response was seen in 2 out of 3 patients that completed =2 PIPAC cycles. Further study of PIPAC for patients with recurrent disease limited to the IP cavity and with no partial SBO symptoms should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence has suggested that cytoreductive prostatectomy (CRP) allows superior oncologic control when compared to current standard of care androgen deprivation therapy alone. However, the safety and benefit of cytoreduction in metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) has not been proven. Therefore, we evaluated the incidence of complications following CRP in men newly diagnosed with mPCa. A total of 68 patients who underwent CRP from 2006 to 2014 at four tertiary surgical centers were compared to 598 men who underwent radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer (PCa). Urinary incontinence was defined as the use of any pad. CRP had longer operative times (200 min vs 140 min, P < 0.0001) and higher estimated blood loss (250 ml vs 125 ml, P < 0.0001) compared to the control group. However, both overall (8.82% vs 5.85%) and major complication rates (4.41% vs 2.17%) were comparable between the two groups. Importantly, urinary incontinence rate at 1-year after surgery was significantly higher in the CRP group (57.4% vs 90.8%, P < 0.0001). Univariate logistic analysis showed that the estimated blood loss was the only independent predictor of perioperative complications both in the unadjusted model (OR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.02-1.37; P = 0.025) and surgery type-adjusted model (OR: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.01-1.36; P = 0.034). In conclusion, CRP is more challenging than radical prostatectomy and associated with a notably higher incidence of urinary incontinence. Nevertheless, CRP is a technically feasible and safe surgery for selecting PCa patients who present with node-positive or bony metastasis when performed by experienced surgeons. A prospective, multi-institutional clinical trial is currently underway to verify this concept.

Background The addition of pembrolizumab (pembro) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is standard of care for the treatment of early triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) after KEYNOTE-522 trial demonstrated improved pathologic complete response (pCR) rates with the combination. However, the optimal treatment strategy for TNBC remains uncertain as questions persist about which patients benefit from pembro and the best treatment schedule and regimen. We identified real-world clinical characteristics and treatment variables associated with response to NAC plus pembro. Methods Patients with early TNBC treated with NAC plus pembro between February 2020 and September 2023 were identified. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression to identify factors associated with pCR. Cox proportional hazard prediction models were used to identify predictors of invasive disease-free survival and overall survival in this cohort. Results A pCR was achieved in 75 (63.6%) of 118 patients. Age at diagnosis (P  = .04), Ki-67 (P  = .004), duration from start of pembro to surgery (P  = .006) and NAC to surgery (P  = .01), number of cycles of pembro (P  = .04) and NAC (P  = .02), and completion of at least 8 cycles of pembro (P  = .015) and NAC (P  = .015) were each significantly associated with pCR in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, patients younger than 55 years at time of diagnosis (vs age > 55 years) and those completing at least 8 cycles of pembro remained predictive of pCR (OR's 2.50, 2.49, P  = .035 and.037, respectively). Conclusions In this real-world analysis of patients with TNBC treated with NAC plus pembro, younger age and the completion of at least 8 cycles of pembrolizumab were associated with pCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundThe presence of lymph nodes (LN) within the prostatic anterior fat pad (PAFP) has been reported in several recent reports. These PAFP LNs rarely harbor metastatic disease, and the characteristics of patients with PAFP LN metastasis are not well-described in the literature. Our previous study suggested that metastatic disease to the PAFP LN was associated with less severe oncologic outcomes than those that involve the pelvic lymph node (PLN). Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the oncologic outcome of prostate cancer (PCa) patients with PAFP LN metastasis in a larger patient population.MethodsData were analyzed on 8800 patients from eleven international centers in three countries. Eighty-eight patients were found to have metastatic disease to the PAFP LNs (PAFP+) and 206 men had isolated metastasis to the pelvic LNs (PLN+). Clinicopathologic features were compared using ANOVA and Chi square tests. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the time to biochemical recurrence (BCR).ResultsOf the eighty-eight patients with PAFP LN metastasis, sixty-three (71.6%) were up-staged based on the pathologic analysis of PAFP and eight (9.1%) had a low-risk disease. Patients with LNs present in the PAFP had a higher incidence of biopsy Gleason score (GS) 8-10, pathologic N1 disease, and positive surgical margin in prostatectomy specimens than those with no LNs detected in the PAFP. Men who were PAFP+ with or without PLN involvement had more aggressive pathologic features than those with PLN disease only. However, there was no significant difference in BCR-free survival regardless of adjuvant therapy. In 300 patients who underwent PAFP LN mapping, 65 LNs were detected. It was also found that 44 out of 65 (67.7%) nodes were located in the middle portion of the PAFP.ConclusionsThere was no significant difference in the rate of BCR between the PAFP LN+ and PLN+ groups. The PAFP likely represents a landing zone that is different from the PLNs for PCa metastasis. Therefore, the removal and pathologic analysis of PAFP should be adopted as a standard procedure in all patients undergoing radical prostatectomy.

Population-based practice patterns in the United States reveal continent diversions are only performed in 8%-10.4% of patients. 1-4 Ideally, for patients undergoing radical cystectomy the choice of urinary diversion should be influenced by clinical factors and patient preference, with discussions surrounding quality of life. Unfortunately, receipt of continent diversion has been shown to be influenced by a plethora of other factors such as surgeon preference/training, geography, socioeconomic status, gender, and hospital volume. 1-3 Thus, by providing detailed instruction and long-term follow-up, we hope to mitigate some of these disparities by changing the perceptions regarding feasibility and complications of continent diversions. To provide step-by-step instruction and to report long-term clinical outcomes in bladder cancer patients receiving an Indiana pouch continent cutaneous urinary diversion (CCUD) after robot-assisted radical cystectomy. After Institutional Review Board approval, a prospectively maintained bladder cancer database was queried for patients with T1-T4, N0-N1, M0 bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy with CCUD at a tertiary referral center from 2004 to 2020. Complications at 30- and 90-day were recorded according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Continence rates were recorded by chart review. A total of 97 patients were included with a median follow-up of 93 months. Clinically, 91.8% had ≤T2 disease and 29.9% received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The median length of surgery was 8.0 hours, length of hospital stay was 8.3 days, and urinary continence rate was 99.0%. The overall complication rate was 73.2% and 76.5% at 30- and 90-day, respectively. The major complication rate (Clavien III-V) was 17.5% at 30-day and 22.7% at 90-day. The most common major complications were abdominal infection and uretero-colonic stricture. The readmission rate was 21.4% and median overall survival was 108 months. CCUD provides exceptional functional outcomes with acceptable complication rates compared to other diversion types. CCUD is a reliable reconstructive option and with this step-by-step video as a reference, we hope it will be offered to more patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]