miR-200c-3p, miR-222-5p, and miR-512-3p Constitute a Biomarker Signature of Sorafenib Effectiveness in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Sorafenib constitutes a suitable treatment alternative for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in whom atezolizumab + bevacizumab therapy is contraindicated. The aim of the study was the identification of a miRNA signature in liquid biopsy related to sorafenib response.

Methods: miRNAs were profiled in hepatoblastoma HepG2 cells and tested in animal models, extracellular vesicles (EVs), and plasma from HCC patients.

Radical cancer treatment is safe during COVID-19: the real-world experience of a large London-based Comprehensive Cancer Centre during the first wave.

Background: During the COVID pandemic, there was a paucity of data to support clinical decision-making for anticancer treatments. We evaluated the safety of radical treatments which were delivered whilst mitigating the risks of concurrent COVID-19 infection.

Methods: Using descriptive statistics, we report on the characteristics and short-term clinical outcomes of patients undergoing radical cancer treatment during the first COVID-19 wave compared to a similar pre-pandemic period.

Intratumoral Hydrogen Peroxide With Radiation Therapy in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer: Results From a Phase 1 Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Hydrogen peroxide (HO) plays a vital role in normal cellular processes but at supraphysiological concentrations causes oxidative stress and cytotoxicity, a property that is potentially exploitable for the treatment of cancer in combination with radiation therapy (RT). We report the first phase 1 trial testing the safety and tolerability of intratumoral HO + external beam RT as a novel combination in patients with breast cancer and exploratory plasma marker analyses investigating possible mechanisms of action.

Methods And Materials: Twelve patients with breast tumors ≥3 cm (surgically or medically inoperable) received intratumoral HO with either 36 Gy in 6 twice-weekly fractions (n = 6) or 49.

A log-rank-type test to compare net survival distributions.

In population-based cancer studies, it is often interesting to compare cancer survival between different populations. However, in such studies, the exact causes of death are often unavailable or unreliable. Net survival methods were developed to overcome this difficulty.

Prostatic adenocarcinoma presenting with metastatic frontal bone involvement and orbital invasion.

We present a rare case of prostatic adenocarcinoma presenting with metastatic frontal bone involvement with subsequent spread to the orbit. Although prostatic adenocarcinoma has a strong tendency to metastasize to bone, particularly axial skeletal bone, frontal bone involvement is rare and subsequent orbital involvement is even more so.

Quantitative techniques in 18FDG PET scanning in oncology.

The clinical applications of (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose ((18)FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) in oncology are becoming established. While simple static scanning techniques are used for the majority of routine clinical examinations, increasing use of PET in clinical trials to monitor treatment response with (18)FDG and novel tracers reflecting different pharmacodynamic end points, often necessitates a more complex and quantitative analysis of radiopharmaceutical kinetics. A wide range of PET analysis techniques exist, ranging from simple visual analysis and semiquantitative methods to full dynamic studies with kinetic analysis.

Abscess caused by vancomycin-resistant Lactobacillus confusus.

Several isolates of vancomycin-resistant Lactobacillus confusus from human sources have been described, but to our knowledge, no well-documented infection attributable to this organism has been published. A thumb abscess caused by this bacterium in a healthy 49-year-old male is reported here. He was successfully treated by surgical drainage and cephalothin.