Utilization of miRNAs as Biomarkers for the Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Metastasis in Gynecological Malignancies.

Gynecological cancer is a term referring to malignancies that typically involve ovarian, cervical, uterine, vaginal, and vulvar cancer. Combined, these cancers represent major causes of morbidity and mortality in women with a heavy socioeconomic impact. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that are intensively studied in the field of cancer and changes in them have been linked to a variety of processes involved in cancer that range from tumorigenesis to prognosis and metastatic potential.

Integrative multi-omics analyses to identify the genetic and functional mechanisms underlying ovarian cancer risk regions.

To identify credible causal risk variants (CCVs) associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we performed genome-wide association analysis for 470,825 genotyped and 10,163,797 imputed SNPs in 25,981 EOC cases and 105,724 controls of European origin. We identified five histotype-specific EOC risk regions (p value <5 × 10) and confirmed previously reported associations for 27 risk regions. Conditional analyses identified an additional 11 signals independent of the primary signal at six risk regions (p value <10).

Nanoparticle-Mediated Hyperthermia and Cytotoxicity Mechanisms in Cancer.

Hyperthermia has the potential to damage cancerous tissue by increasing the body temperature. However, targeting cancer cells whilst protecting the surrounding tissues is often challenging, especially when implemented in clinical practice. In this direction, there are data showing that the combination of nanotechnology and hyperthermia offers more successful penetration of nanoparticles in the tumor environment, thus allowing targeted hyperthermia in the region of interest.

A Rare Case of Thyroid Metastasis From Colorectal Cancer: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges.

The incidence of thyroid metastases among patients suffering from primary colorectal cancer is rare, and only a few cases have been described in the literature. As these metastases are usually asymptomatic, they most frequently present as incidentalomas on follow-up imaging. Hereby, we present and discuss an interesting case of metastatic sigmoid adenocarcinoma of the thyroid gland, diagnosed and treated at our institution.

The Role of EMT-Related lncRNAs in Ovarian Cancer.

Ovarian cancer (OC) is one of the deadliest cancers worldwide; late diagnosis and drug resistance are two major factors often responsible for high morbidity and treatment failure. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a dynamic process that has been closely linked with cancer. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been also associated with several cancer-related mechanisms, including EMT.

Real-world Data and Economic Evaluation of Nivolumab in Previously Treated Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Greek Patients.

Background/aim: Nivolumab is an FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) for patients with advanced, pre-treated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, treatment profiles and patient outcomes often differ in routine clinical practice while the financial impact of approved therapies is largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the efficacy, tolerability, and economic impact of nivolumab in real-world settings (RWS) in Greece.

Incidence of Disease Recurrence in Patients With Colon and Upper Rectum Adenocarcinoma Stage II and III Receiving Adjuvant Capecitabine Monotherapy: Do Number of Chemotherapy Cycles and Relative Dose Intensity of the Drug Play a Role?

Introduction/background: Adjuvant capecitabine monotherapy is an option for colon and upper rectum adenocarcinoma patients, providing they have stage II disease with an intermediate risk of recurrence, or stage III but they are above 70's or they have comorbidities. We wanted to examine whether the number of chemotherapy cycles and the relative dose intensity (RDI) of capecitabine monotherapy in the adjuvant setting are affecting disease recurrence.

Patients And Methods: We included patients with completely resected stage II and III colon and upper rectum cancer who received adjuvant capecitabine monotherapy, from 2003 until May 2020.

Circulating miRNA Expression Profiles and Machine Learning Models in Association with Response to Irinotecan-Based Treatment in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancer represents a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Despite improvements, chemotherapy remains the backbone of colorectal cancer treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate the variation of circulating microRNA expression profiles and the response to irinotecan-based treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer and to identify relevant target genes and molecular functions.

Skin metastases from gastric cancer, a rare entity masquerading as erysipelas: A case report.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Skin metastases from internal organs are rare; skin metastasis from GC occurs even more rarely than skin metastases originating from other organs, and is associated with systematic disease and poor prognosis. The present study described an interesting and rare case of an extensive skin rash in a 42-year-old man diagnosed with GC, which was mainly affecting his left hemithorax, abdomen and back.

Dose-dense sequential adjuvant chemotherapy in the trastuzumab era: final long-term results of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group Phase III HE10/05 Trial.

Background: Dose-dense sequential chemotherapy with anthracyclines and taxanes achieved an 18% reduction of recurrence risk in early breast cancer (BC). The optimal chemotherapy schedule and interval between cycles remain under investigation.

Methods: Overall, 990 patients were randomised to receive either three cycles of epirubicin (E, 110 mg/m) every 2 weeks followed by 3 cycles of paclitaxel (T, 200 mg/m) every 2 weeks followed by three cycles of intensified CMF (Control Arm A, E-T-CMF) that was previously used in BC or three cycles of epirubicin followed by three cycles of CMF followed by nine consecutive weekly cycles of docetaxel (wD) 35 mg/m (Arm B, E-CMF-wD) or nine consecutive weekly cycles of paclitaxel (wT) 80 mg/m (Arm C, E-CMF-wT).

Synchronous Gastric Adenocarcinoma and Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma in the Pelvis: A Rare Case Presentation.

Multiple primary cancer (MPC) is defined as more than one primary tumour diagnosed at the same patient, either simultaneously or sequentially. Its incidence is low and varies in reporting among medical centers. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) while gastric cancer (GC) is the fifth most frequently diagnosed malignancy.

Mediastinal and hilar sarcoid-like reaction in a patient treated with dabrafenib and trametinib for metastatic melanoma: A case report and review of the literature.

BRAF/MEK inhibitors are considered standard of care in the treatment of advanced BRAF-mutated malignant melanoma, and have been, in rare cases, associated with granulomatous reactions, mostly limited to skin lesions. The present study reported the case of a patient with metastatic melanoma developing a sarcoid-like reaction manifesting as asymptomatic mediastinal and right hilar lymphadenopathy while on antineoplastic therapy with dabrafenib and trametinib. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of isolated lymphadenopathy as a manifestation of drug-induced sarcoid-like reaction under dabrafenib and trametinib.

Prophylaxis of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism with low-molecular-weight heparin-tinzaparin: Real world evidence.

Thromboprophylaxis, as a preventive measure for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT), may be beneficial for patients with active cancer and high-risk for thrombosis. The present post hoc analysis include a total of 407 patients enrolled in the Greek Management of Thrombosis study, who received thromboprophylaxis with tinzaparin. The objectives of the present analysis were: i) To obtain sufficient evidence for the administration of prophylaxis in patients with active cancer, irrespective of Khorana risk assessment model score; ii) to identify the selection criteria for both dose and duration of tinzaparin; and iii) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tinzaparin administered for CAT prophylaxis.

The potential role of the combined PARP-1 and VEGF inhibition in severe SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection.

Introduction: During the evolution of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, several drug candidates have been proposed for repositioning towards a quest for more effective treatments.

Methodology: We reviewed recent literature (Pubmed, Google, Clinicaltrials.gov), as of the middle of May 2021, for evidence regarding the potential benefit from poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase inhibitors and vascular endothelial growth factor blockade in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The Role of Exosomal Non-Coding RNAs in Colorectal Cancer Drug Resistance.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed worldwide with high morbidity; drug resistance is often responsible for treatment failure in CRC. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) play distinct regulatory roles in tumorigenesis, cancer progression and chemoresistance.

Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed database in order to sum up and discuss the role of exosomal ncRNAs (ex-ncRNAs) in CRC drug resistance/response and their possible mechanisms.

Polygenic risk modeling for prediction of epithelial ovarian cancer risk.

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have the potential to improve risk stratification. Joint estimation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) effects in models could improve predictive performance over standard approaches of PRS construction. Here, we implemented computationally efficient, penalized, logistic regression models (lasso, elastic net, stepwise) to individual level genotype data and a Bayesian framework with continuous shrinkage, "select and shrink for summary statistics" (S4), to summary level data for epithelial non-mucinous ovarian cancer risk prediction.

Real-World Data on Treatment Management and Outcomes of Patients with Newly Diagnosed Advanced Epithelial Ovarian Cancer in Greece (The EpOCa Study).

New treatment modalities have been recently introduced in the management of ovarian cancer (OC). Herein, we sought to investigate their implementation in routine clinical practice and examine the real-world management of OC in Greece. EpOCa was a non-interventional, multicenter, retrospective study in patients with advanced epithelial OC.

An Observational Study to Assess the Molecular Epidemiology and Direct Medical Costs of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Mutations in Patients with Advanced EGFR Mutation-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Afatinib in Real-World Clinical Settings in Greece.

Purpose: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the preferred first-line option for patients with advanced, EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Afatinib, a second-generation irreversible EGFR-TKI, has been extensively used in Greece in this setting; however, real-world data regarding molecular epidemiology and financial implications of afatinib use are lacking.

Materials And Methods: This was an observational, non-interventional, multicenter, retrospective cohort study, based on real-world data collected from the medical charts/records of patients treated with afatinib between 15/03/2015 and 25/06/2020 and were recorded on a web-based data capture system.

Tumor Genotyping and Homologous Recombination Repair Gene Variants in Patients With Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: Is Pathogenic Enough?

Unlabelled: Our hypothesis was that the predictive accuracy of pathogenic variants in genes participating in the homologous recombination repair (HRR) system in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) could be improved by considering additional next-generation sequencing (NGS) metrics. NGS genotyping was performed in tumor tissue, retrospectively and prospectively collected from patients with EOC, diagnosed from 8/1998 to 10/2016. Variants were considered clonal when variant allele frequencies corresponded to >25%.

AGAPP: efficacy of first-line cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil with afatinib in inoperable gastric and gastroesophageal junction carcinomas. A Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group study.

Purpose: Gastric cancer is the fifth most common neoplasm worldwide with high rates of mortality. Afatinib, a low molecular, irreversible potent inhibitor of ErbB trans-membrane receptor family, has shown promising results according to preclinical and phase I clinical trial data when combined with chemotherapy. We aimed at evaluating the safety and efficacy of the combination of cisplatin, 5FU with afatinib in molecularly unselected patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Association between homeobox protein transcript antisense intergenic ribonucleic acid genetic polymorphisms and cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) represents a rare but highly aggressive malignancy that is often challenging to diagnose, especially in early stages. The role of existing tumor biomarkers for CCA diagnosis, remains controversial due to their low sensitivity and specificity. Increasing evidence has implicated long non-coding ribonucleic acid polymorphisms with cancer susceptibility in a variety of tumor types.