The impact of timing of temozolomide chemoradiotherapy for newly diagnosed glioblastoma on patient overall survival: A multicenter retrospective study.

Background: The optimal timing of initiating adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) chemoradiotherapy after surgery in patients with glioblastoma is contentious. This study aimed to determine whether the timing of adjuvant treatment affects their overall survival (OS).

Methods: Consecutive adult patients with histologically-confirmed newly diagnosed glioblastoma treated with adjuvant TMZ chemoradiotherapy across all neurosurgical centers in Hong Kong between 2006 and 2020 were analyzed.

Impact of Body Image Perception on Behavioral Outcomes in Chinese Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Sarcoma.

Purpose: To identify the prevalence and predictive factors of body image dissatisfaction among Chinese adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of sarcoma and to evaluate its associations with behavioral outcomes.

Methods: In total, 116 AYA survivors (response rate: 88%; 48.3% female; mean age 28.

Effectiveness of a self-determination theory-based smoking cessation intervention plus instant messaging via mobile application for smokers with cancer: Protocol for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aims: Despite evidence that patients living with cancer who continue to smoke after diagnosis are at higher risk for all-cause mortality and reduced treatment efficacy, many cancer patients continue to smoke. This protocol is for a study to test the effectiveness of a self-determination theory-based intervention (quit immediately or progressively) plus instant messaging (WhatsApp or WeChat) to help smokers with cancer to quit smoking.

Design: This will be a multi-centre, two-arm (1:1), single-blind, pragmatic, individually randomized controlled trial.

Brief Report: Updated Efficacy and Safety Data From an Integrated Analysis of Entrectinib in Locally Advanced/Metastatic ROS1 Fusion-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

• Genetic alterations in can lead to the expression of oncogenic fusion proteins in multiple tumor types, including in 1% to 2% of non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases. Approximately 40% of patients with fusion-positive NSCLC have baseline central nervous system (CNS) metastases, indicating the need for a treatment with CNS activity. Entrectinib, a potent ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor with activity in the CNS, has previously demonstrated overall and intracranial efficacy, and a manageable safety profile, in patients with fusion-positive NSCLC.

Updated efficacy and safety of entrectinib in NTRK fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

Objectives: NTRK fusions result in constitutively active oncogenic TRK proteins responsible for ∼ 0.2 % of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases. Approximately 40 % of patients with advanced NSCLC develop CNS metastases; therefore, treatments with intracranial (IC) efficacy are needed.

Associations between Lifestyle Factors and Neurocognitive Impairment among Chinese Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Survivors of Sarcoma.

Background: The effect of lifestyle on neurocognitive impairment among cancer survivors remain an understudied area. This study explored the association between lifestyle factors and neurocognitive outcomes (specifically, attention, memory, processing speed and cognitive flexibility) in AYA survivors (aged 15-39 years) of sarcoma.

Methods: This study recruited 116 AYA survivors (age 28.

Genomic Landscape of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in East Asia Using Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA) in Clinical Practice.

Plasma-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) has demonstrated the potential to guide the personalized treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Inherent differences in mutational genomic profiles of NSCLC exist between Asian and Western populations. However, the published mutational genomic data of NSCLC has largely focused on Western populations.

Repurposing sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) for cancer treatment - A Review.

Developed as an antidiabetic drug, recent evidence suggests that several sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), especially canagliflozin and dapagliflozin, may exhibit in vitro and in vivo anticancer activities in selected cancer types, including an inhibition of tumor growth and induction of cell death. When used in combination with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, SGLT2i may offer possible synergistic effects in enhancing their treatment efficacy while alleviating associated side effects. Potential mechanisms include a reduction of glucose uptake into cancer cells, systemic glucose restriction, modulation of multiple signaling pathways, and regulation of different gene and protein expression.

Phase III study of selpercatinib versus chemotherapy ± pembrolizumab in untreated positive non-small-cell lung cancer.

Selpercatinib, a novel, highly selective and potent, inhibitor of , demonstrated clinically meaningful antitumor activity with manageable toxicity in heavily pretreated and treatment-naive fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer patients in a Phase I/II clinical trial. LIBRETTO-431 (NCT04194944) is a randomized, global, multicenter, open-label, Phase III trial, evaluating selpercatinib versus carboplatin or cisplatin and pemetrexed chemotherapy with or without pembrolizumab in treatment-naive patients with locally advanced/metastatic fusion-positive nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer. The primary end point is progression-free survival by independent review.

Efficacy of Selpercatinib in Fusion-Positive Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: fusions are oncogenic drivers in 1 to 2% of non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). In patients with fusion-positive NSCLC, the efficacy and safety of selective RET inhibition are unknown.

Methods: We enrolled patients with advanced fusion-positive NSCLC who had previously received platinum-based chemotherapy and those who were previously untreated separately in a phase 1-2 trial of selpercatinib.

Patient-derived tumor organoid predicts drugs response in glioblastoma: A step forward in personalized cancer therapy?

Despite significant medical advances, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains a formidable therapeutic challenge. Advent of targeted capture sequencing and patients-derived organoid cultures may hold the key to scientifically sound individualized treatment approaches. We report on our initial experience of using the combination of these two technologies to create a tailored approach of systemic therapies for a patient with GBM, which challenges the conventional treatment paradigm, as well as specifically highlighting the complexities of such an approach and the potential for a more favorable treatment outcome.

Predictive biomarkers and tumor microenvironment in female genital melanomas: a multi-institutional study of 55 cases.

Female genital melanomas are rare. At diagnosis, most affected patients have advanced disease. Surgery remains the primary treatment, and adjuvant therapy is largely ineffective.

Regression of mutant adult glioblastoma after primary combined BRAF-MEK inhibitor targeted therapy: a report of two cases.

Background: Up to 15% of young adults with glioblastoma have the activating oncogenic mutation, an actionable target of the MAPK signal transduction pathway governing tumor cell proliferation. Small molecule inhibitors of BRAF and MEK, a downstream protein immediately following BRAF, have been shown to confer a survival advantage for patients with mutant advanced melanoma. We describe our experience using this combined target therapy for two patients with BRAF mutant glioblastoma (GBM) as primary treatment due to extenuating clinical circumstances that prohibited the prescription of standard treatment.

Analysis of Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus DNA in Nasopharyngeal Cancer After Chemoradiation to Identify High-Risk Patients for Adjuvant Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose The contribution of adjuvant chemotherapy after chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) remains controversial. Plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA is a potential biomarker of subclinical residual disease in NPC. In this prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial, we used plasma EBV DNA to identify patients with NPC at a higher risk of relapse for adjuvant chemotherapy.

A feasibility study on using tablet personal computers for self-reported symptom assessment in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients.

Aim: The study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an innovative tablet-assisted self-reported symptom assessment among newly diagnosed lung cancer patients.

Background: Routine symptom assessment for lung cancer patients in a fast-paced clinical environment is demanding. Mobile health technology offers a potential platform for symptom assessment and paves the way for tailored self-care intervention.

Adherence to the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research Guideline Is Associated With Better Health-Related Quality of Life Among Chinese Patients With Breast Cancer.

The 2007 World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) guideline provides recommendations for cancer prevention among cancer survivors. Limited data have examined whether guideline adherence is related to health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Chinese patients with breast cancer. An ongoing prospective cohort study involving 1,462 Chinese women with early-stage breast cancer assessed exercise, diet, and body mass index (BMI) at baseline and at 18-months follow-up after diagnosis.

PPARgamma agonists sensitize PTEN-deficient resistant lung cancer cells to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors by inducing autophagy.

We aimed to develop novel drug combination strategy to overcome drug resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR TKIs) in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a nuclear receptor, which upon activation upregulates phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) to inhibit cell signaling downstream of PI3K to mediate apoptosis. To this end, PTEN loss is a known mechanism contributing to resistance to EGFR TKIs.

Efficacy, Safety, and Pharmacokinetics of Axitinib in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Preclinical and Phase II Correlative Study.

We hypothesized that axitinib is active with an improved safety profile in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). We evaluated axitinib in preclinical models of NPC and studied its efficacy in a phase II clinical trial in recurrent or metastatic NPC patients who progressed after at least one line of prior platinum-based chemotherapy. We excluded patients with local recurrence or vascular invasion.

Drug combination approach to overcome resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in lung cancer.

The discovery of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR TKI) has led to unprecedented clinical response in a subset of lung cancer patients carrying the sensitizing EGFR mutations (L858R or exon 19 deletion). However, disease progression invariably occurs within a year after the initial TKI treatment, predominantly due to the development of acquired resistance caused by the secondary EGFR T790 M mutation. Numerous second generation irreversible and third generation EGFR T790 M selective EGFR TKIs have been developed to overcome resistance.

Profiles of lipids, blood pressure and weight changes among premenopausal Chinese breast cancer patients after adjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: Adjuvant chemotherapy improves outcome of patients with early breast cancer. However, chemotherapy may be associated with long term toxicities. In this retrospective cohort study, the objectives were to determine body weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure and fasting lipids levels of young premenopausal Chinese breast cancer patients after adjuvant chemotherapy.

Clinical utility of plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA and ERCC1 single nucleotide polymorphism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1) gene has been linked with sensitivity to platinum and radiation. The authors hypothesized that the ERCC1 genotype for the SNPs cytosine-to-thymine substitution at codon 118 (C118T) and cytosine-to-adenine substitution at codon 8092 (C8092A) is prognostic in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) who receive either radiotherapy (RT) or cisplatin plus RT.

Methods: The authors tested their hypothesis using biomarker screening samples from the Hong Kong NPC Study Group 0502 trial, which was a prospective, multicenter clinical trial that used post-RT plasma Epstein-Bar virus (EBV) DNA (pEBV) levels to screen patients with high-risk NPC for adjuvant chemotherapy.