Feasibility of a tailored home-based exercise intervention during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of a home-based moderate-to-vigorous intensity, phased (introduction, intermediate, maintenance), exercise prescription in breast cancer patients receiving cardiotoxic neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Methods: Nineteen breast cancer patients were randomized to intervention or control for the duration of chemotherapy (16-24 weeks). The intervention was one aerobic exercise session at 80-90% VO for 25 min/week and 65%-75% VO for ≥ 50 min/week.

Durable complete responses off all treatment in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma after sequential immunotherapy followed by a finite course of BRAF inhibitor therapy.

We report 3 cases of durable complete response (CR) in patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma who were initially treated unsuccessfully with sequential immunotherapies (high dose interleukin 2 followed by ipilimumab with or without concurrent radiation therapy). After progression during or post immunotherapy, these patients were given BRAF inhibitor therapy and developed rapid CRs. Based on the concomitant presence of autoimmune manifestations (including vitiligo and hypophysitis), we postulated that there was a synergistic effect between the prior immune therapy and the BRAF targeting agents.

Fatal malignant metastastic epithelioid angiomyolipoma presenting in a young woman: case report and review of the literature.

Epithelioid angiomyolipomas (EAMLs) are rare mesenchymal tumors whose malignant variant is extremely uncommon and highly aggressive. Treatment strategies include chemo radiation, transcatheter arterial embolization and surgical resection, which has remained the mainstay treatment. Targeted therapies including mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors such as Temsirolimus may offer some hope for progressive malignant EAMLs that are not amenable to other treatment modalities.