Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with bevacizumab for locally advanced vulvar cancer.

Objectives: External beam radiation with sensitizing platinum is the recommended therapy for locally advanced vulvar cancers not amenable to curative surgery and is associated with considerable acute and chronic side effects. Radical vulvectomy post-radiation for persistent disease is often compromised with poor wound healing. We describe clinical outcomes for patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus bevacizumab followed by radical vulvectomy for locally advanced vulvar cancer.

Prognostic features of the tumor microenvironment in high-grade serous ovarian cancer and dietary immunomodulation.

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is a particularly lethal malignancy that is prognostically influenced by the immune profile of the tumor microenvironment (TME). TME immune profiles have been sub-categorized according to features associated with both survival outcomes as well as response to systemic therapies. Five suggested immune phenotypes have been described and correlated with overall survival outcomes.

Malignant peritoneal cytologic contamination with robotic hysterectomy for endometrial cancer.

Background: Malignant peritoneal cytology in endometrial cancer (EC) is not considered an independent adverse prognostic factor for uterine-confined disease and is not a determinant factor in the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system. NCCN Guidelines still recommend obtaining cytologies. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of peritoneal cytologic contamination following robotic hysterectomy for EC.

Fused Clitoral Hood Presenting as a Periclitoral Mass.

Background: Periclitoral masses are seldom reported. One cause is a congenitally fused clitoral prepuce (or clitoral hood).

Case: A patient was referred to our gynecologic oncology practice with a suspicious periclitoral mass for evaluation of possible malignancy.

A multicenter, single-arm, open-label, phase 2 study of apitolisib (GDC-0980) for the treatment of recurrent or persistent endometrial carcinoma (MAGGIE study).

Background: The current single-arm, open-label trial was designed to evaluate the activity of apitolisib (GDC-0980), a dual phosphoinositide 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR) inhibitor, in patients with advanced endometrial cancer (EC).

Methods: Patients with recurrent or persistent EC who were treated with 1 to 2 prior lines of chemotherapy but no prior PI3K/mTOR inhibitor received oral apitolisib at a dose of 40 mg daily during 28-day cycles until disease progression or intolerable toxicity occurred. Patients with type I/II diabetes who required insulin were excluded.

Lithium Toxicity Following Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Case Report.

We are presenting the first documented case of lithium toxicity after vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery in an 18 year-old female with psychiatric history of bipolar disorder who was treated with lithium. This case illustrates the need for closer monitoring of lithium levels following bariatric surgery. Both psychiatrists and surgeons should be aware of the potential risk of lithium toxicity following bariatric surgery, as well as the need to judiciously monitor lithium level and possibly adjust the dose of some medications.

In vitro chemoresponse in metachronous pairs of ovarian cancers.

Background/aim: An in vitro chemoresponse assay may aid effective therapy selection in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This study explores changes in chemoresponse between paired primary and recurrent EOC tumors.

Patients And Methods: RESULTS from metachronous tumors were examined in 242 patients.

Endothelial Kruppel-like factor 4 regulates angiogenesis and the Notch signaling pathway.

Regulation of endothelial cell biology by the Notch signaling pathway (Notch) is essential to vascular development, homeostasis, and sprouting angiogenesis. Although Notch determines cell fate and differentiation in a wide variety of cells, the molecular basis of upstream regulation of Notch remains poorly understood. Our group and others have implicated the Krüppel-like factor family of transcription factors as critical regulators of endothelial function.

In vitro chemoresponse in metachronous pairs of gyneclologic cancers.

Background: While most gynecologic cancers respond to first-line cytotoxic chemotherapy, treatment of recurrent disease is frequently associated with acquired drug resistance. In order to find an in vitro surrogate of this clinical phenomenon, a tumor chemoresponse assay was studied.

Methods/materials: Patients who had tissue submitted for repeated chemoresponse testing were identified through a retrospective search.