Publications by authors named "Ioannis Boukovinas"

Background: Detection of minor DNA allele alterations is becoming increasingly important for early detection and monitoring of cancer. We describe a new method that uses ultraviolet light to eliminate wild-type DNA alleles and enables improved detection of minor genetic or epigenetic changes.

Methods: Pyrimidine-dependent UV-based minor-allele enrichment (PD-UVME) employed oligonucleotide probes that incorporated a UVA-sensitive 3-cyanovinylcarbazole (CNVK), placed directly opposite interrogated pyrimidines, such as thymine (T) or cytosine (C) in wild-type (WT) DNA.

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Precise classification of sarcomas is crucial to optimal clinical management. In this prospective, multicenter, observational study within the Hellenic Group of Sarcoma and Rare Cancers (HGSRC), we assessed the effect of expert pathology review, coupled with the application of molecular diagnostics, on the diagnosis and management of sarcoma patients. Newly diagnosed sarcoma patients were addressed by their physicians to one of the two sarcoma pathologists of HGSRC for histopathological diagnostic assessment.

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Purpose: A number of studies suggest that older patients may have reduced or no benefit from the addition of oxaliplatin to fluoropyrimidines as adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer (CC).

Materials And Methods: We studied the prognostic impact of age, as well as treatment adherence/toxicity patterns according to age, in patients with stage III CC who received 3 or 6 months of infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin/capecitabine and oxaliplatin (CAPOX) on the basis of data collected from trials from the ACCENT and IDEA databases. Associations between age and time to recurrence (TTR), disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), survival after recurrence (SAR), and cancer-specific survival (CSS) were assessed by a Cox model or a competing risk model, stratified by studies and adjusted for sex, performance status, T and N stage, and year of enrollment.

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Purpose: Immunoscore (IS) is prognostic in stage III colorectal cancer (CRC) and may predict benefit of duration (6 3 months) of adjuvant infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) chemotherapy. We sought to determine IS prognostic and predictive value in stage-III CRC treated with adjuvant FOLFOX or oral capecitabine and infusional oxaliplatin (CAPOX) in the SCOT and IDEA-HORG trials.

Methods: Three thousand sixty-one cases had tumor samples, of which 2,643 (1,792 CAPOX) were eligible for IS testing.

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Aims: The aim of this systematic literature review was to provide updated information on human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence in locally and regionally advanced (LA) and recurrent/metastatic (RM) head and neck cancer (HNC) worldwide.

Methods: Electronic searches were conducted on clinicaltrials.gov, MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, and ASCO/ESMO journals of congresses for interventional studies (IS; Phase I-III trials) as well as MEDLINE and Embase for non-interventional studies (NIS) of LA/RM HNC published between January 01, 2010 and December 31, 2020.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a very poor prognosis and limited treatment options, with a lack of comprehensive genomic data from large populations.
  • In a study involving 409 Greek patients, a genomic analysis using next generation sequencing (NGS) revealed that common mutations were found in genes, with 81.50% of samples showing the most frequent mutation.
  • The research also indicated potential treatment implications based on genomic findings, with an increase in possible benefit from NGS-oriented treatment from 1.91% to 13.74%, highlighting important characteristics and insights for PDAC in European patients.
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  • This study focused on collecting real-world evidence about treatment patterns and patient profiles for advanced melanoma in Greece between January 2015 and January 2018, using data from six oncology clinics.
  • A total of 225 patients were included, with a median age of 62.6 years; most were diagnosed with metastatic disease and had common metastatic sites in the lungs, lymph nodes, and liver.
  • Treatment options mostly involved targeted therapy (53.3%) and immunotherapy (45.3%), with the most common first-line regimens being combinations of BRAF inhibitors with MEK inhibitors and anti-PD-1 monotherapy.
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  • The study explores the effectiveness of PARP inhibitors in treating various cancers, focusing on the relationship between genomic loss of heterozygosity (gLOH) and gene alterations in patients.
  • It analyzes 406 tumor samples using next-generation sequencing (NGS), highlighting that nearly 21% of tumors displayed homologous recombination (HR) variations, while about 5% had gene alterations.
  • The findings suggest a strong correlation between high gLOH percentages and positive gene alterations, indicating that assessing gLOH could help identify more patients who may benefit from PARP inhibitors.
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  • - The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of the CureCancer platform for Greek cancer patients, focusing on their ability to register and report various personal and health-related information amid increasing cancer care complexity due to new treatments and the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • - Out of 159 invited patients, 144 registered (90.56%), and 114 completed the questionnaire (79.16%), indicating a strong interest and ease of use among participants; most were educated individuals with a median age of 54.5 years.
  • - The demographics revealed that a significant portion had breast and lung cancers, with many undergoing active therapy, highlighting the diverse cancer experiences and reporting trends of those participating in the study.
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Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a significant health problem, and the associated mortality rate is increasing.

Aim: We aimed to determine the clinical characteristics and prognosis for HCC in member countries of the OncoBridge Study Group.

Methods: We recruited 630 patients diagnosed with HCC between 2013 and 2019 from 4 countries (Türkiye, Russia, Georgia, and Greece).

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  • The study aimed to assess the prevalence and significance of gene alterations in European prostate cancer patients using a specific genetic testing panel targeting 36 key genes.
  • A total of 196 patients were analyzed, revealing that 61% had gene alterations, with 17.3% specifically showing changes in homologous recombination repair (HRR) genes.
  • The presence of HRR gene alterations did not correlate with factors such as disease stage, age, or overall survival, highlighting the need for further research on their predictive value in treatment approaches.
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Background: Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) is an oral antimetabolite agent comprised of trifluridine, a thymidine-based nucleoside analogue that inhibits cell proliferation following its incorporation into DNA, and tipiracil that helps maintain the blood concentration of trifluridine by inhibiting the enzyme thymidine phosphorylase which inactivates trifluridine. It is approved as a third-line treatment option for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and is administered at 35 mg/m two times daily from day 1 to 5 and from day 8 to 12 every 28 days. The aim of this investigator-initiated retrospective study (RETRO-TAS; NCT04965870) was to document real-world data on the clinical efficacy of FTD/TPI in patients with chemorefractory mCRC.

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Background/aim: Real-world data on the EGFR mutational profile upon progression after first/second-generation EGFR-TKI treatment in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and treatment strategies employed thereon are needed.

Patients And Methods: This observational study was conducted in 23 hospital-based lung cancer Centers in Greece (protocol code: D133FR00126). Ninety-six eligible patients were consecutively enrolled between July-2017 and September-2019.

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  • A European registry was established for patients with advanced EGFR exon 20-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) diagnosed between January 2019 and December 2021, specifically excluding those enrolled in clinical trials.* -
  • The final analysis included data from 175 patients across nine countries, revealing a median age of 64 years, predominantly affecting women (56.3%) and mostly comprising adenocarcinoma cases (95.4%) with frequent bone (47.4%) and brain (32.0%) metastases.* -
  • Treatment patterns varied significantly: chemotherapy and chemotherapy-immunotherapy combinations were used in 33.8% and 18.2% of cases respectively, with disease control rates of
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  • * Researchers analyzed genetic data from 100 Greek men diagnosed with MBC between 1995-2015, examining BRCA1, BRCA2, and 43 other cancer-related genes.
  • * They found pathogenic variants in 13 patients, confirming BRCA2 as the primary genetic risk factor for MBC, while other genes had minimal involvement, complicating the assessment of their collective impact.
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Background/aim: Low expression of HER2 has defined a new "HER2-low" subgroup of breast cancer with distinct clinicopathological characteristics and both prognostic and predictive implications. The impact of low HER2 expression in metastatic hormone receptor-positive HER2-negative breast cancer treated with first-line CDK4/6 inhibitors has not been studied. Using real-world patient data, we aimed to identify prognostic differences in this patient population according to HER2 expression with immunohistochemistry.

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There are still diagnostic issues with lung cancer and mediastinum lymphadenopathy. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is a state of the art equipment for the diagnosis of lymphadenopathy and central lesions. To investigate the sample size with one pass.

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This non-interventional, multicenter, prospective study aimed to evaluate the real-world activity of trabectedin, and its impact on symptom burden and quality of life in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma (aSTS) treated in routine clinical settings in Greece. Patients with histologically confirmed aSTS newly initiated on trabectedin were enrolled. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 6 months.

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Introduction: Liquid biopsy is a useful tool for monitoring treatment outcome in solid tumors, including lung cancer. The relevance of monitoring CTCs and plasma ctDNA as predictors of clinical outcome was assessed in EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients treated with osimertinib.

Methods: Forty-seven EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients who had progressed on prior first- or second-generation EGFR inhibitors were enrolled in the study and treated with osimertinib, irrespective of the presence of the T790M mutation in the primary tumor or the plasma.

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Thromboprophylaxis, as a preventive measure for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT), may be beneficial for patients with active cancer and high-risk for thrombosis. The present post hoc analysis include a total of 407 patients enrolled in the Greek Management of Thrombosis study, who received thromboprophylaxis with tinzaparin. The objectives of the present analysis were: i) To obtain sufficient evidence for the administration of prophylaxis in patients with active cancer, irrespective of Khorana risk assessment model score; ii) to identify the selection criteria for both dose and duration of tinzaparin; and iii) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tinzaparin administered for CAT prophylaxis.

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Front-line bevacizumab (BEV) in combination with taxanes offers benefit in progression-free survival (PFS) in metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The medical records of mBC patients, treated with front-line BEV-based chemotherapy, were retrospectively reviewed in order to generate real life safety and efficacy data. Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative mBC treated with front-line BEV in combination with chemotherapy were eligible.

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Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer in Europe, with 1.931.590 people newly diagnosed in 2020.

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Background/aim: This study aimed to provide real-world safety and effectiveness data of everolimus (EVE) plus exemestane (EXE) in estrogen receptor positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (ER/HER2) advanced breast cancer (aBC).

Patients And Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted by 19 hospital-based oncologists in Greece. Eligible patients were treated with EVE+EXE in the first-line setting; EVE was initiated according to the approved label.

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