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In patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices CIEDs, including cardiac pacemakers (PM) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD), radiotherapy (RT) could compromise CIED function. Managing radiotherapy patients with CIED, has been a great practical and procedural challenge in radiotherapy and requires a structured multidisciplinary approach. A consensus document is presented as a result of a multidisciplinary working group involving cardiac electrophysiologists, Radiation Oncologists and Medical physicists. It aims to propose recommendations on risk stratification, management approach before, during and after radiation treatment/course of patients with CIED.

Resume Introduction En Tunisie, la prise en charge du lymphome de Hodgkin de l’adulte est standardisee depuis 1999. Nous rapportons les resultats du protocole national de traitement du lymphome de Hodgkin de l’adulte (MDH2008). Patients et methodes Notre etude prospective et multicentrique a interesse 444 patients pris en charge pour un lymphome de Hodgkin entre juillet 2008 et juin 2013 et traites selon le protocole MDH2008. L’âge median de nos patients etait de 30 ans et 62,8 % avaient des symptomes B. La repartition selon la classification d’Ann-Arbor etait la suivante : stade I (3 %), II (42 %), III (26 %) et stade IV (29 %). Le protocole MDH2008 est base sur une strategie therapeutique adaptee a la reponse a deux cycles de chimiotherapie. Resultats Une reponse ≥ 75 % a deux cycles a ete obtenue chez 43 % des patients et le taux de reponse en fin de traitement etait de 92,1 %. Le taux d’echec primaire etait a 11,4 %. L’existence d’un gros mediastin (IMT ≥ 0,35) etait le seul facteur predictif independant d’echec primaire (p = 0,000). Dix-neuf deces toxiques (4,35 %) ont ete constates. Le taux des rechutes etait a 7,8 %. Les taux de survie sans evenement, de survie sans rechute et de survie globale a cinq ans etaient respectivement de 75 %, 89 % et 90 %. L’adaptation du traitement a la reponse a deux cycles etait efficace dans les stades localises defavorables et les stades etendus. Conclusion Compare au MDH2002, ce protocole a permis de diminuer le taux d’echec primaire, le taux de deces toxique au BEACOPP renforce et le taux des rechutes chez nos patients.

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is an enzyme with an immunosuppressive effect whose function is diverted by tumor cells to counteract immune cell functions, inducing immune escape of tumor cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of IDO in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Compared to controls, NPC patients' plasma IDO activity was significantly higher, especially among patients with metastatic cancer (p=0.005). The immunohistochemical analysis revealed that high IDO expression was observed in 74% of NPC tissues and the epithelial IDO expression was inversely correlated to T-cell infiltration. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that whatever the localization, intratumoral or stromal, patients with a high IDO expression and low T-cell infiltration have significantly lower survival rates. Moreover, in multivariate analysis, intratumoral and stromal IDO expression were found to be independent prognostic factors for disease-free survival (p=0.016; HR: 3.52) and overall survival (p=0.015; HR: 4.76) respectively. Our findings provide evidence that IDO is involved in tumor immune evasion of NPC, suggesting that it could be a relevant therapeutic target for NPC.

In Tunisia, the management of Adult Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) has been standardized since 1999. We propose in this study to report the therapeutic results of the national protocol of adult HL treatment (MDH2008).Our study is prospective multicenter interesting 444 patients followed for HL between July 2008 and June 2013 and treated according to the MDH2008 protocol. The median age of our patients was 30 years. B symptoms were present in 62.8 % of our patients. According to the Ann Arbor classification, our patients were in stages I, II, III and IV in 3 %, 42 %, 26 % and 29 %, respectively. The MDH2008 protocol is based on a strategy adapted to the therapeutic response to 2 cycles of chemotherapy.Response≥75 % to 2 courses of chemotherapy was achieved in 43 % of patients and the response rate at the end of treatment was 92.1 %. Forty-eight patients (11.4 %) had primary failure. In the multi-variant study, bulky mediastinal mass (IMT≥0.35) was an independent predictive factor of primary failure (P: 0.000). Nineteen toxic deaths (4.35 %) were reported. The relapse rate was 7.8 %. Event free survival, relapse-free survival and overall survival at 5years were 75 %, 89 % and 90 %, respectively. Adaptation of the treatment to the 2 cycles response was effective in unfavorable early stages and advanced stages.Compared to MDH2002 (second version of Tunisian prospective protocol), the MDH2008 reduced the primary failure rate, the rate of toxic deaths with escalated BEACOPP and the rate of relapse in Tunisian patients.

Radiation-induced breast sarcoma is a late complication of radiation treatment. We report a case of an undifferentiated sarcoma occurring 8 years after breast conserving treatment, which required mastectomy taking pectoralis major.

Small cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder is an uncommon tumor that has been described in case reports or small series. We report a new case in a 67-year-old male who presented with gross hematuria and irritative symptoms. Cystoscopy revealed an extensive mass of the bladder and computed tomography scan showed an important thickening of the bladder wall. Diagnosis of small cell carcinoma was established after radical cystectomy and microscopic examination. The patient received pelvic hemostatic radiotherapy and platinium-based chemotherapy. Three months after the diagnosis, he developed bone, renal and adrenal metastases.

We report the case of a 58-year-old Tunisian man who presented with a 2 months' history of left nasal obstruction and one episode of epistaxis. Nasal endoscopy revealed a polypoid mass of the left nasal septum. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a left nasal cavity tumor with erosion of the orbit. Diagnosis of nasal cavity lymphoepithelial carcinoma EBV positive was performed on biopsy. The patient was treated by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. No tumor recurrence has been reported with a follow-up of 12 months.

Nasopharyngeal cancers are essentially epidermoids (NPC) and dominated by the undifferentiated type (UCNT) in endemic areas. The standard treatment of NPC remain external beam radiotherapy but the results are poor in T3-4 lesions locally advanced (30-40% on event- free survival vs 80-90% in T1-T2) explained by a higher rate of relapse and metastases. Improvement of therapeutic results occurs with addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy, specially with the concomitant scheme (weekly cisplatin), with an increase of overall and diseasefree survivals for the advanced stages (Meta-analysis data). Despite these progresses, we have to evaluate the risk of long term sequelae of combined therapies in children and adolescents. We are observing however an epidemiologic transition with the increase of more localized cases in term of T and N disease.

Breast cancer is the first women's cancer. Conserving surgery associated with radiotherapy, is in progress. Her indications are frequent. The result for local control and global survival are the same as radical surgery.

Objectif Degager le profil epidemiologique du lymphome hodgkinien localise de l’adulte en Tunisie, etudier les aspects cliniques et paracliniques ainsi que les modalites et les resultats therapeutiques. Materiels et methodes Etude retrospective analytique et descriptive, colligee dans les services de cancerologie, radiotherapie et hematologie cliniques du centre hospitalier universitaire ainsi qu’au centre medical Ibn-Khaldoun de Sousse. Resultats L’âge moyen des 53 hommes et 61 femmes etait de 30,3 ans (17–75). Le delai de consultation moyen etait de 5,3 mois. Les adenopathies peripheriques ont constitue le maitre symptome. Du point de vue histologique et selon la classification de Lukes et Rye, le type scleronodulaire etait le plus frequent (74,6 % des cas), puis le type a cellularite mixte (24 malades). Le type a predominance lymphocytes n’a ete mis en evidence que chez cinq malades. Le lymphome etait de stade I dans 22 % des cas et de stade II dans 78 %. Des signes generaux cliniques ont ete retrouves chez 34,2 % des patients, 53,3 % de nos patients avaient une vitesse de sedimentation augmentee. Le traitement a ete une radiotherapie exclusive pour un patient, une radiotherapie et une chimiotherapie pour les autres. La radiotherapie a ete faite et achevee chez 111 patients, en mode classique bidimensionnel par des photons gamma de 1,25 MeV. La dose mediane de radiotherapie etait de 40 Gy en etalement et fractionnement classiques. Soixante et une radiotherapies etaient « involved field », 39 en mantelet, six en Y inverse, cinq dans les sites residuels. Quatre-vingt-neuf patients (84 %) etaient en situation de remission complete, dix de reponse partielle et sept de poursuite evolutive. Il a ete note 16 rechutes. La probabilite de survie globale a 5 ans etait de 84 %. Conclusion Les aspects epidemiologiques, cliniques, histologiques et les resultats therapeutiques dans notre serie sont comparables a ceux des series occidentales.

Background Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) demonstrates promising results as an accurate alternative to axillary lymph node dissection in patients with locally advanced breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). However and in the view of the insufficient data on women with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), SLNB is not recommended in this situation. The current study assessed identification and false-negative rates of SLNB after NAC for patients with IBC. Methods Between 2006 and 2009, twenty consecutive patients with clinically negative nodes after NAC for IBC (T4d) and who underwent SLNB and axillary lymph node dissection (levels I and II) by the same operator were assessed. Intraoperative Sentinel lymph node biopsy was performed with patent blue dye injections. Results The SLN could be identified in 16 of 20 patients (identification rate, 80%), the median of SLN removed per patient was 2 (range 1–3); nine (56%) had positive SLNB, and in 2 of those 9 patients (22%), the SLN was the only positive node with otherwise negative axillary nodes. Two (18%) patients' SLNB were false negative. Conclusions The SLN identification and false-negative rates after NAC for IBC were unacceptably high and based on the current findings, SLNB without systematic axillary lymph node dissection is unsuitable in this patient population.