Anticancer therapy within the last 30 days of life: results of an audit and re-audit cycle from an Australian regional cancer centre.

Background: The therapeutic landscape in medical oncology continues to expand significantly. Newer therapies, especially immunotherapy, offer the hope of profound and durable responses with more tolerable side effect profiles. Integrating this information into the decision making process is challenging for patients and oncologists.

Pembrolizumab Induced Ocular Hypotony With Near Complete Vision Loss, Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis and Arthritis.

Clinical outcomes for patients with advanced melanoma have improved significantly with the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors. These agents have distinct adverse effects with the potential for heightened host immune responses manifesting as an autoimmune reaction in any organ. We report a unique case who developed pembrolizumab induced arthritis, ocular hypotony with vision loss and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.

Chemotherapy and biologic use in the routine management of metastatic colorectal cancer in Australia: is clinical practice following the evidence?

Background: Emerging evidence on the optimal use of chemotherapy and biologics in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer should impact management in routine care. Recent studies have demonstrated benefits for initial triplet chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin and irinotecan, FOLFOXIRI) and for initial treatment with an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor (EGFRi) in patients with a RAS wild-type tumour and a left-sided primary tumour.

Aim: To explore evolving pattern of metastatic colorectal cancer care over time in Australia.

Risk of febrile neutropenia and early treatment cessation in men receiving standard and dose-reduced 3-weekly docetaxel for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Background: Docetaxel is an effective therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC); however, many patients experience febrile neutropenia (FN) and cease treatment early due to toxicity. It is not known whether lower dose (LD) q3-weekly docetaxel impacts toxicity or efficacy.

Methods: Multicenter retrospective study included 166 patients with mCRPC who received q3-weekly docetaxel between 2010 and 2015.

Standard-dose pembrolizumab in combination with reduced-dose ipilimumab for patients with advanced melanoma (KEYNOTE-029): an open-label, phase 1b trial.

Background: Reduced-dose nivolumab in combination with standard-dose ipilimumab improves objective response and progression-free survival compared with standard-dose ipilimumab alone, but increases toxicity. We assessed the safety and anti-tumour activity of standard-dose pembrolizumab in combination with reduced-dose ipilimumab.

Methods: In this open-label, phase 1b trial, we recruited patients from 12 medical centres in Australia, New Zealand, and the USA.

Outcomes for patients with synchronous and metachronous primary lung cancer after diagnosis of head and neck cancer.

Background: Not-infrequently patients with head and neck cancer are also diagnosed with synchronous lung cancer or metachronous primary lung cancer, which complicates the treatment decisions and prognosis.

Methods: Patients were identified from a database of patients with head and neck cancer with second primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Results: Thirty-four eligible patients (15 with synchronous lung cancer and 19 with metachronous lung cancer) were identified.

Efficacy and toxicity of PACEBOM chemotherapy in relapsed/refractory aggressive lymphoma in the rituximab era.

Aim: Relapsed/refractory (R/R) aggressive lymphoma outcomes are poor. There is no standard treatment. PACEBOM (prednisolone, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, bleomycin, vincristine and methotrexate) has shown efficacy for several lymphoma subtypes in published reports.