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Item does not contain fulltext, The addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) with cisplatin to interval cytoreductive surgery improves recurrence-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with stage III ovarian cancer. Homologous recombination deficient (HRD) ovarian tumors are usually more platinum sensitive. Since hyperthermia impairs BRCA1/2 protein function, we hypothesized that HRD tumors respond best to treatment with HIPEC. We analyzed the effect of HIPEC in patients in the OVHIPEC trial, stratified by HRD status and BRCAm status. Clinical data and tissue samples were collected from patients included in the randomized, phase III OVHIPEC-1 trial. DNA copy number variation (CNV) profiles, HRD-related pathogenic mutations and BRCA1 promotor hypermethylation were determined. CNV-profiles were categorized as HRD or non-HRD, based on a previously validated algorithm-based BRCA1-like classifier. Hazard ratios (HR) and corresponding 99% confidence intervals (CI) for the effect of RFS and OS of HIPEC in the BRCAm, the HRD/BRCAwt and the non-HRD group were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models. Tumor DNA was available from 200/245 (82%) patients. Seventeen (9%) tumors carried a pathogenic mutation in BRCA1 and 14 (7%) in BRCA2. Ninety-one (46%) tumors classified as BRCA1-like. The effect of HIPEC on RFS and OS was absent in BRCAm tumors (HR 1.25; 99%CI 0.48-3.29), and most present in HRD/BRCAwt (HR 0.44; 99%CI 0.21-0.91), and non-HRD/BRCAwt tumors (HR 0.82; 99%CI 0.48-1.42), interaction P value: 0.024. Patients with HRD tumors without pathogenic BRCA1/2 mutation appear to benefit most from treatment with HIPEC, while benefit in patients with BRCA1/2 pathogenic mutations and patients without HRD seems less evident.

Item does not contain fulltext, High stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) are associated with pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Histopathological assessment of sTILs in TNBC biopsies is characterized by substantial interobserver variability, but it is unknown whether this affects its association with pCR. Here, we aimed to investigate the degree of interobserver variability in an international study, and its impact on the relationship between sTILs and pCR. Forty pathologists assessed sTILs as a percentage in digitalized biopsy slides, originating from 41 TNBC patients who were treated with NAC followed by surgery. Pathological response was quantified by the MD Anderson Residual Cancer Burden (RCB) score. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated per pathologist duo and Bland-Altman plots were constructed. The relation between sTILs and pCR or RCB class was investigated. The ICCs ranged from -0.376 to 0.947 (mean: 0.659), indicating substantial interobserver variability. Nevertheless, high sTILs scores were significantly associated with pCR for 36 participants (90%), and with RCB class for eight participants (20%). Post hoc sTILs cutoffs at 20% and 40% resulted in variable associations with pCR. The sTILs in TNBC with RCB-II and RCB-III were intermediate to those of RCB-0 and RCB-I, with lowest sTILs observed in RCB-I. However, the limited number of RCB-I cases precludes any definite conclusions due to lack of power, and this observation therefore requires further investigation. In conclusion, sTILs are a robust marker for pCR at the group level. However, if sTILs are to be used to guide the NAC scheme for individual patients, the observed interobserver variability might substantially affect the chance of obtaining a pCR. Future studies should determine the 'ideal' sTILs threshold, and attempt to fine-tune the patient selection for sTILs-based de-escalation of NAC regimens. At present, there

Contains fulltext : 220827.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls.

Contains fulltext : 229843.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are a potential predictive biomarker for immunotherapy response in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). To incorporate sTILs into clinical trials and diagnostics, reliable assessment is essential. In this review, we propose a new concept, namely the implementation of a risk-management framework that enables the use of sTILs as a stratification factor in clinical trials. We present the design of a biomarker risk-mitigation workflow that can be applied to any biomarker incorporation in clinical trials. We demonstrate the implementation of this concept using sTILs as an integral biomarker in a single-center phase II immunotherapy trial for metastatic TNBC (TONIC trial, NCT02499367), using this workflow to mitigate risks of suboptimal inclusion of sTILs in this specific trial. In this review, we demonstrate that a web-based scoring platform can mitigate potential risk factors when including sTILs in clinical trials, and we argue that this framework can be applied for any future biomarker-driven clinical trial setting.

Contains fulltext : 206010.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)

Contains fulltext : 203016.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)

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Contains fulltext : 190963.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), INTRODUCTION: Primary debulking surgery (PDS) followed by adjuvant chemotherapy is historically recommended as first line treatment for advanced stage ovarian cancer. Two randomized controlled trials, however, showed similar efficacy and reduced toxicity with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery (NACT-IDS). Nevertheless, uptake of NACT-IDS varies widely between hospitals, which cannot be explained by difference in patient populations. In this survey, we therefore aimed to evaluate the views on NACT-IDS among all Dutch gynaecologists and medical oncologists involved in the treatment of ovarian cancer. STUDY DESIGN: An e-mail link to the online questionnaire was sent to all medical oncologists and gynaecologists in the Netherlands, regardless of their (sub)specializations. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used to analyse differences between groups. RESULTS: Three-hundred-forty physicians were invited to fill out the questionnaire. After two reminders, 167 of them responded (49%). Among the responders, 82% of the gynaecologists versus 93% of the medical oncologists considered the available evidence sufficiently convincing to treat advanced stage ovarian cancer patients with NACT-IDS (p=0.076). Moreover, 33% of gynaecologists and 62% of medical oncologists preferred NACT-IDS to PDS as first line treatment (p=0.001). While most responders (86%) indicated that selecting the right patients for NACT-IDS is difficult, those with bulky disease, FIGO stage IV or metastases near the porta hepatica were most likely to undergo NACT-IDS. CONCLUSION: The majority of Dutch gynaecologists and medical oncologists adopted NACT-IDS as an alternative treatment approach for advanced stage primary ovarian cancer. About two-thirds of medical oncologists and one-third of gynaecologists prefer NACT-IDS to PDS as first line treatment in this setting. Improving patient selection is considered of paramount importance.

Contains fulltext : 189747.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)

Contains fulltext : 174404.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), OBJECTIVE: The identification of a marker for early progression of preinvasive lesions into invasive pelvic high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) may provide novel handles for innovative screening and prevention strategies. The interplay between cancer cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) is one of the main principles in cancer development and growth, but has been largely neglected in preinvasive lesions. This is the first study addressing the involvement of the ECM in the "step-by-step" transition of normal fallopian tube epithelium into preinvasive lesions, and eventually the progression of preinvasive lesions into invasive HGSC. METHODS: The expression of highly sulfated chondroitin sulfate (CS-E), a characteristic glycosaminoglycan of the cancer-associated ECM, was assessed by immunohistochemistry in a large cohort of precursor lesions of the full spectrum of HGSC development, including 97 serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas (STICs), 27 serous tubal intraepithelial lesions, and 24 p53 signatures. In addition, the immunological reactivity in the microenvironment was evaluated. RESULTS: Increased stromal expression of highly sulfated CS-E was observed in 3.7%, 57.7%, and 90.6% of serous tubal intraepithelial lesions, STICs, and invasive HGSCs, respectively (P < 0.001). No or limited expression was found in p53 signatures and normal tubal epithelium (compared with STIC, P < 0.001). A gradual increase in the amount of CS-E expression between STIC and paired HGSC was demonstrated. Intense stromal CS-E expression in STIC was significantly associated with an immune infiltrate (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that increased stromal CS-E expression is related to the degree of the tubal epithelium abnormality. Specific alterations in the ECM (ie, CS-E expression) occur early in pelvic HGSC development and may represent a novel biomarker of early cancer progression, useful for the identification of novel clinical strategies.

Contains fulltext : 154270.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), BACKGROUND: Trials failed to demonstrate additional value of completion axillary lymph node dissection in case of limited sentinel lymph node metastases in breast cancer patients undergoing breast conserving therapy. It has been suggested that the low regional recurrence rates in these trials might partially be ascribed to accidental irradiation of part of the axilla by whole breast radiation therapy, which precludes extrapolation of results to mastectomy patients. The aim of the randomized controlled BOOG 2013-07 trial is therefore to investigate whether completion axillary treatment can be safely omitted in sentinel lymph node positive breast cancer patients treated with mastectomy. DESIGN: This study is designed as a non-inferiority randomized controlled multicentre trial. Women aged 18 years or older diagnosed with unilateral invasive clinically T1-2 N0 breast cancer who are treated with mastectomy, and who have a maximum of three axillary sentinel lymph nodes containing micro- and/or macrometastases, will be randomized for completion axillary treatment versus no completion axillary treatment. Completion axillary treatment can consist of completion axillary lymph node dissection or axillary radiation therapy. Primary endpoint is regional recurrence rate at 5 years. Based on a 5-year regional recurrence free survival rate of 98 % among controls and 96 % for study subjects, the sample size amounts 439 per arm (including 10 % lost to follow-up), to be able to reject the null hypothesis that the rate for study and control subjects is inferior by at least 5 % with a probability of 0.8. Results will be reported after 5 and 10 years of follow-up. DISCUSSION: We hypothesize that completion axillary treatment can be safely omitted in sentinel node positive breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy. If confirmed, this study will significantly decrease the number of breast cancer patients receiving extensive treatment of the axilla, thereby diminishing the risk of morbi

Contains fulltext : 137479.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), OBJECTIVES: Appendectomy is often recommended in patients with mucinous borderline ovarian tumours (mBOTs) based on studies suggesting that metastatic disease from a primary appendiceal tumour can mimic mBOT. The present study assessed the incidence of mucinous neoplasms in the appendix associated with the presence of mBOT. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed in two university hospitals in the Netherlands between 1990 and 2011. All patients with mBOT and/or a mucinous appendiceal tumour were included. RESULTS: Of 127 patients included, 98 had a primary mBOT and 29 had a primary mucinous appendiceal tumour. In patients with a mBOT, the appendix was either removed at prior surgery (4%), resected as part of the staging procedure showing no pathological abnormalities (13%), described as normal and not resected (58%), or not described and not resected (25%). During a median follow-up period of 5 years (range 2-23), two patients developed a recurrence in which the appendix was not involved. In all patients with a primary mucinous tumour of the appendix, the appendix appeared abnormal at the time of surgery. Eight of these patients (28%) were diagnosed with invasive ovarian metastases. A review of the literature including the cases from this study identified 510 mucinous ovarian tumours with borderline features and 214 associated appendectomies, of which 4 (1.9%) contained a primary appendiceal malignancy. CONCLUSIONS: A thorough inspection of the appendix should be performed in patients with a mucinous ovarian tumour with borderline features. An appendectomy should only be performed when the appendix is macroscopically abnormal.