The interval between progression and therapy initiation is the key prognostic parameter in relapsing diffuse large B cell lymphoma: analysis from the Czech Lymphoma Study Group database (NIHIL).

Relapsing diffuse large B cell lymphomas (rDLBCL) represent a heterogeneous disease. This heterogeneity should be recognized and reflected, because it can deform the interpretation of clinical trial results. DLBCL patients with the first relapse and without CNS involvement were identified in the Czech Lymphoma Study Group (CLSG) database.

The incidence of biopsy-proven transformation in follicular lymphoma in the rituximab era. A retrospective analysis from the Czech Lymphoma Study Group (CLSG) database.

The aim of this study is to assess the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of biopsy-proven transformation in follicular lymphoma (FL) patients in the rituximab era. Transformation was analyzed in 1233 patients with initially diagnosed FL grades 1-3A, identified between 2002 and 2012 in the prospectively maintained Czech Lymphoma Study Group database. Only patients with histologically proven transformation (HT) were included.

Utilization and efficacy of second-line targeted therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: data from a national registry.

Background: It is well known that patient characteristics and survival outcomes in randomized trials may not necessarily be similar to those in real-life clinical practice. The aim of the present study was to analyse second line treatment strategies in the real-world practice and to estimate the outcomes of patients treated with second-line targeted therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Methods: This is a retrospective, registry-based study using data from the national registry of targeted therapies for mRCC.

Outcomes of Patients With Long-Term Treatment Response to Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-Targeted Therapy for Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer.

Background: Although targeted therapies with inhibitors of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are the mainstay of treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, there are limited data on the outcome of patients with long-term response to this treatment.

Patients And Methods: In a retrospective, registry-based study, patients continuously treated with first-line anti-VEGF agents for at least 24 months were included. In total, 219 patients had evaluable data and were included in the outcome analysis.

Comparing Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Young-onset and Late-onset Colorectal Cancer: An International Collaborative Study.

Background: Compared with the general population, the incidence of young-onset (YO) colorectal cancer (CRC) is increasing. However, a significant knowledge gap exists in the clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes for these patients.

Materials And Methods: Six international tertiary cancer centers conducted a retrospective study.

Locally advanced breast cancer in elderly patients.

Background: Although locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) is more common in the elderly population, there is little data on the clinical characteristics and survival of these patients. The aim of the present study was to compare different factors affecting survival in elderly patients with LABC.

Methods: Retrospective analysis was carried out on a cohort of 80 patients aged 70 to 96 years, diagnosed with LABC defined as T3 N1, T4 N0, any N2 or N3, and M0.

PET/CT imaging in polymyalgia rheumatica: praepubic F-FDG uptake correlates with pectineus and adductor longus muscles enthesitis and with tenosynovitis.

Background: The role of F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission computed tomography (F-FDG PET/CT) is increasing in the diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), one of the most common inflammatory rheumatic diseases. In addition to other locations, increased F-FDG accumulation has been detected in the praepubic region in some patients. However, a deeper description and pathophysiological explanation of this increased praepubic accumulation has been lacking.

Regorafenib in the Real-Life Clinical Practice: Data from the Czech Registry.

Objective: To describe the use of regorafenib for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in clinical practice in the Czech Republic, and to describe the clinical outcomes of patients in terms of safety and survival.

Patients And Methods: The data of patients treated with regorafenib were extracted from the national CORECT registry. The CORECT registry is a non-interventional post-marketing database, gathering information about patients with CRC and treated with targeted agents.

Efficacy and Toxicity of Panitumumab After Progression on Cetuximab and Predictive Value of MiR-31-5p in Metastatic Wild-type KRAS Colorectal Cancer Patients.

Background: In metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), panitumumab is generally considered to be ineffective after the progression on cetuximab therapy. However, few studies have demonstrated that a small subset of mCRC patients may benefit from panitumumab in this setting.

Patients And Methods: In our study, wild-type KRAS mCRC patients, enrolled into the nationwide Czech registry CORECT between January 2007 and December 2012, were screened for panitumumab therapy after progression on cetuximab.

Efficacy of Sunitinib in Elderly Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Data from Real-World Clinical Practice.

Background: Although a significant proportion of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) are elderly, the data on the outcomes of targeted therapies in this population are limited. The aim of the present retrospective registry-based study was to analyse efficacy and toxicity of sunitinib as the first-line targeted therapy of elderly mRCC patients.

Patients And Methods: The national RENal information system registry of mRCC patients treated with targeted agents in the Czech Republic was used as the data source.

Change in Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase Is Associated with Outcome of Patients with Advanced-stage NSCLC Treated with Erlotinib.

Background: Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) has been reported as a prognostic biomarker in malignant diseases. However, little is known on the dynamics of serum LDH levels during systemic treatment. We focused on the association of changes in serum LDH with outcome of patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with erlotinib.

The Prognostic Role of KRAS Mutation in Patients with Advanced NSCLC Treated with Second- or Third-line Chemotherapy.

Background/aim: The prognostic and predictive value of Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) mutation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is not well established. The present study aimed at the elucidation of the role of KRAS mutation in prediction of outcome of patients with advanced NSCLC receiving second- or third-line chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: The outcome of 127 patients with advanced NSCLC who recieved pemetrexed or docetaxel at second- or third-line therapy was retrospectively analyzed.

Serum albumin is a strong predictor of survival in patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer treated with erlotinib.

Molecular targeted therapy based on tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), directed at epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is one of the novel effective agents in management of advanced-stage of Non Small Cell Lung cancer (NSCLC). However several candidate predictors have been extensively studied, apart from activating EGFR gene mutations, no reliable biochemical or molecular predictors of response to erlotinib have been validated. The aim of our retrospective study was to evaluate the association of baseline serum albumin with outcomes in a large cohort of patients with advanced-stage NSCLC treated with erlotinib.

Outcomes for Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Achieving a Complete Response on Targeted Therapy: A Registry-based Analysis.

Background: It is currently not known whether treatment with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) can be safely discontinued in patients achieving a complete response (CR).

Objective: To assess outcomes for patients with mRCC achieving CR on targeted therapy (TT) and the survival of patients discontinuing TT after CR.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A national registry was used to identify patients achieving CR during first-line TT using bevacizumab, sunitinib, sorafenib, or pazopanib.

Prognostic Significance of Serum Tumor Markers in Patients with Advanced-stage NSCLC Treated with Pemetrexed-based Chemotherapy.

Background: Tumor biomarkers represent effective tools for diagnostics and follow-up monitoring of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We focused on evaluating the predictive and prognostic role of the seven following tumor biomarkers: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin-19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1), fragments of cytokeratin 8, 18 and 19 (MonoTotal), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), chromogranin A, thymidine kinase (TK) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) in patients with advanced-stage NSCLC treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy.

Patients And Methods: In total, 114 patients with advanced-stage (IIIB or IV) non-squamous NSCLC treated with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy (monotherapy or combination with a platinum derivative) were included.

Pemetrexed Versus Erlotinib in the Second-line Treatment of Patients with Advanced-stage Non-squamous NSCLC Harboring Wild-type EGFR Gene.

Background: Pemetrexed and erlotinib represent different agents commonly used for the second-line treatment of patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: We analyzed data of 137 patients with advanced-stage non-squamous NSCLC treated with pemetrexed or erlotinib in the second line. All patients harbored a wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor gene.

G12V and G12A KRAS mutations are associated with poor outcome in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with bevacizumab.

The v-Ki-ras2 Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) mutations are found in 35-45 % of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases. Although the association between the RAS signaling and angiogenesis is well known, the negative predictive value of KRAS mutation has not been established in patients treated with bevacizumab. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between specific KRAS mutation types and outcome of patients with metastatic CRC treated with bevacizumab.

[Campylobacteriosis at the Department of Infectious Diseases of the University Hospital Brno in 2011-2013: a retrospective study].

Objective: To provide basic clinical, laboratory, and microbiological characteristics of adult patients with campylobacteriosis admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases University Hospital Brno (UHB), in 2011-2013.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical and laboratory parameters of 160 patients hospitalized with campylobacteriosis at the Department of Infectious Diseases, UHB from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2013.

Results: There was no lethality or bacteremia reported in the study group of 160 adult patients (n=160) with campylobacteriosis.

Impact of rituximab maintenance and maintenance schedule on prognosis in first-line treatment of follicular lymphoma. Retrospective analysis from Czech Lymphoma Study Group (CLSG) database.

Rituximab maintenance (RM) improves time to progression (PFS) in advanced follicular lymphoma (FL), but the impact of various RM schedules remains unknown. This study performed a retrospective evaluation of RM given for up to 2 years vs observation in 319 untreated FL patients (stage II-IV; grade 1-3A) responding to RCHOP induction and a comparison of two different RM schedules (RM8=eight doses given every 3 months and RM12=12 doses given every 2 months). A total of 183 patients received RM and 136 patients were observed; 5-year PFS was better in the RM arm, 74.

[When should empirical antibiotic therapy be indicated in acute community-onset diarrhea of suspected bacterial etiology].

Background: The aims of this study were to describe the basic parameters of adult patients with acute community-onset salmonellosis or campylobacteriosis responsible for more than 90 % of all cases of community-onset diarrhea in the Czech Republic, and, according to the results of this analysis, to update the diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms.

Materials And Methods: The data were collected retrospectively between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2013. Patients with systemic signs of infection having at least 2 signs of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) or with elevated serum procalcitonin levels (more than 0.

High serum level of C-reactive protein is associated with worse outcome of patients with advanced-stage NSCLC treated with erlotinib.

Erlotinib is a low molecular weight tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) directed at epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), widely used in the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although introduction of EGFR-TKIs have significantly extended survival of advanced-stage NSCLC patients, their efficacy in the entire patient population is relatively low. Aside from activating EGFR mutations, no reliable biochemical or molecular predictors of response to erlotinib have been established.

Bevacizumab with FOLFIRI or XELIRI in the First-line Therapy of Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma: Results from Czech Observational Registry.

Aim: To retrospectively compare the efficacy of two irinotecan-based chemotherapy regimens combined with bevacizumab in first-line therapy of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Patients And Methods: The data of 558 patients with mCRC treated with first-line bevacizumab plus irinotecan-containing regimen were obtained from the national CORECT registry that collects data of all patients with mCRC treated with targeted-agents. The treatment outcomes of patients treated with bevacizumab plus irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid (FOLFIRI) were compared to patients treated with bevacizumab plus irinotecan and capecitabine (XELIRI).