Microbial and Metabolic Gut Profiling across Seven Malignancies Identifies Fecal and Formic Acid as Commonly Altered in Cancer Patients.

The key association between gut dysbiosis and cancer is already known. Here, we used whole-genome shotgun sequencing (WGS) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to conduct metagenomic and metabolomic analyses to identify common and distinct taxonomic configurations among 40, 45, 71, 34, 50, 60, and 40 patients with colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, lymphoid neoplasms and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), respectively, and compared the data with those from sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HC). α-diversity differed only between the lymphoid neoplasm and AML groups and their respective HC, while β-diversity differed between all groups and their HC.

Longitudinal analysis of circulating tumor cell numbers improves tracking metastatic breast cancer progression.

Hormone-responsive breast cancer represents the most common type and has the best prognosis, but still approximately 40% of patients with this type can develop distant metastases, dramatically worsening the patient's survival. Monitoring metastatic breast cancer (mBC) for signs of progression is an important part of disease management. Circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection and molecular characteristics gain importance as a diagnostic tool, but do not represent a clinical standard and its value as a predictor of progression is not yet established.

Immediate breast reconstruction in breast cancer patients with the use of Serasynth and SeragynBR synthetic meshes. Single-oncological center experience, analysis of complications.

<br><b>Introduction:</b> The use of meshes in mastectomies with immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) has become the gold standard.</br> <br><b>Aim:</b> The use of meshes in mastectomies with immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) has become a gold standard. The purpose of the study was to analyze the complications and own experience with the use of Serasynth fully absorbable and SeragynBR partially absorbable synthetic meshes.

Breast cancer but not the menopausal status is associated with small changes of the gut microbiota.

Background: Possible relationships between gut dysbiosis and breast cancer (BC) development and progression have been previously reported. However, the results of these metagenomics studies are inconsistent. Our study involved 88 patients diagnosed with breast cancer and 86 cancer-free control women.

Expression of Soluble Form of Aurora A as a Predictive Factor for Neoadjuvant Therapy in Breast Cancer Patients: A Single-Center Pilot Study.

Purpose: To search for new predictive breast cancer biomarkers. We analyzed the serum concentrations of biomarkers involved in carcinogenesis, which can also be targeted by therapy.

Methods: In a single-center prospective study, the serum levels of Aurora A, thymidine kinase 1, and human epidermal growth factor receptor type 3 (HER3) were determined in 119 women with BC before neoadjuvant treatment using ELISA kits.

Prognostic value of coronary atherosclerosis and CAC score for the risk of chemotherapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD): The protocol of ANTEC study.

Background: Cardiological complications of oncological treatment, including the most serious one, heart failure, constitute a significant and still unsolved clinical problem. A history of dyslipidemia and complications of atherosclerosis, including coronary artery disease, are established risk factors for cardiotoxicity in cancer patients. In recent years, a protective effect of statin treatment on the development of heart failure in cancer patients has been observed.

PD-L1-Positive High-Grade Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients Respond Better to Standard Neoadjuvant Treatment-A Retrospective Study of PD-L1 Expression in Relation to Different Clinicopathological Parameters.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is typically a high-grade breast cancer with poorest clinical outcome despite available treatment modalities with chemo-, immuno- and radiotherapy. The status of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is a prognostic factor closely related to programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expressed on T lymphocytes modulating antitumor immunity. Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are showing promising results in a subset of breast cancer patients in both neo- and adjuvant settings.

The Impact of Dietary Counselling on Achieving or Maintaining Normal Nutritional Status in Patients with Early and Locally Advanced Breast Cancer Undergoing Perioperative Chemotherapy.

Obesity is an independent prognostic factor and is associated with poorer response to oncological treatment of breast cancer. Obesity is associated with shorter overall survival and shorter time to recurrence. The study included 104 breast cancer patients qualified for neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Neoadjuvant Pertuzumab Plus Trastuzumab in Combination with Docetaxel and Carboplatin in Patients with HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: Real-World Data from the National Institute of Oncology in Poland.

Neoadjuvant systemic therapy has now become the standard in early breast cancer management. Chemotherapy in combination with trastuzumab +/- pertuzumab targeted therapy can improve the rates of pathologic complete response (pCR) in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Achieving a pCR is considered a good prognostic factor, in particular, in patients with more aggressive breast cancer subtypes such as TNBC or HER2-positive cancers.

Intracranial Response Rate in Patients with Breast Cancer Brain Metastases after Systemic Therapy.

Brain metastases are detected in 5% of patients with breast cancer at diagnosis. The rate of brain metastases is higher in HER2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer patients (TNBC). In patients with metastatic breast cancer, the risk of brain metastases is much higher, with up to 50% of the patients having two aggressive biological breast cancer subtypes.

Health-related quality of life in older patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer: Comparing pertuzumab plus trastuzumab with or without metronomic chemotherapy in a randomised open-label phase II clinical trial.

Introduction: European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) phase II trial (75111-10114) demonstrated that combining pertuzumab with trastuzumab plus cyclophosphamide (TPM) improved median progression-free survival by seven months compared with pertuzumab and trastuzumab (TP) in older/frail patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC). This publication reports the findings of the health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) outcomes.

Material And Methods: HRQoL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the EORTC Elderly specific module (QLQ-ELD14 at baseline, week 9, 27, and 52.

Limitations of Systemic Oncological Therapy in Breast Cancer Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy, affecting middle-age and older women frequently suffering from other chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease. The risk of breast cancer development in women on renal replacement therapy (peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis) is higher than in the general population. Chronic kidney disease does not limit surgical treatment or radiotherapy; however, it affects the pharmacokinetics of drugs used in the systematic treatment to a different extent, increasing their toxicity and the risk of adverse drug reactions.

Effects of Germline Mutations on Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Prognosis.

Germline and mutations confer an increased lifetime risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Several studies have investigated prognosis among mutation carriers and noncarriers, but the prognostic impact on outcomes of breast cancer patients has not been determined. The aim of this study was to determine the prognosis of TNBC patients with and without germline mutation.

Buparlisib plus fulvestrant versus placebo plus fulvestrant for postmenopausal, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative, advanced breast cancer: Overall survival results from BELLE-2.

Background: Buparlisib, a pan-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, plus fulvestrant in the BELLE-2 study significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative advanced breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: In this phase III study, patients were randomised 1:1 to buparlisib (100 mg/day; continuously in 28-day cycles) or placebo, plus fulvestrant (500 mg on cycle 1 day 15, and day 1 of subsequent cycles). Overall survival (OS) was assessed in the overall population and patients with known PI3K pathway status (both had shown significant PFS improvements).

Primary angiosarcoma of the breast-series of 11 consecutive cases-a single-centre experience.

Angiosarcomas of the breast are rare parenchymal malignancies of the chest wall. Surgery is the main treatment modality with chemotherapy and radiotherapy used in case of recurrence. With generally unfavourable prognosis and lack of clear treatment guidelines due to its rarity and scarcity of available data, angiosarcoma of the breast is a challenging clinical situation for both oncologist and patient.

Determinants of prolonged survival for breast cancer patient groups with leptomeningeal metastasis (LM).

The study aimed to assess factors affecting survival of breast cancer patients suffering leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) and to compare survivals in patients with LM as the first and only site of metastases at presentation to patients with LM and metastases in other organs, along with selecting a patient group which had the best survival outcomes. Subject groups consisted of 187 patients consecutively referred during 1999-2015. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify factors associated with prolonged survival from LM.

Buparlisib plus fulvestrant versus placebo plus fulvestrant in postmenopausal, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer (BELLE-2): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial.

Background: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway activation is a hallmark of endocrine therapy-resistant, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. This phase 3 study assessed the efficacy of the pan-PI3K inhibitor buparlisib plus fulvestrant in patients with advanced breast cancer, including an evaluation of the PI3K pathway activation status as a biomarker for clinical benefit.

Methods: The BELLE-2 trial was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study.

Retracing Circulating Tumour Cells for Biomarker Characterization after Enumeration.

Background: Retracing and biomarker characterization of individual circulating tumour cells (CTCs) may potentially contribute to personalized metastatic cancer therapy. This is relevant when a biopsy of the metastasis is complicated or impossible to acquire.

Methods: A novel disc format was used to map and retrace individual CTCs from breast-cancer patients and nucleated cells from healthy blood donors using the CytoTrack platform.

Correlation between CA-125 serum level and response by RECIST in a phase III recurrent ovarian cancer study.

Objectives: To evaluate in a large phase III recurrent ovarian cancer trial (OVA-301): 1) the concordance between CA-125 level vs. best overall response (OR) and progression-free survival (PFS) determined by radiological assessment 2) the impact of early CA-125 changes over the subsequent radiological response, and 3) the prognostic value of CA-125 response and CA-125 PFS to predict radiological response and PFS.

Methods: Assessment of response in the entire randomized population was performed by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.

Multicenter phase III randomized trial comparing docetaxel and trastuzumab with docetaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab as first-line chemotherapy for patients with HER2-gene-amplified metastatic breast cancer (BCIRG 007 study): two highly active therapeutic regimens.

Purpose: Docetaxel-trastuzumab (TH) is effective therapy for HER2-amplified metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Preclinical findings of synergy between docetaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab (TCH) prompted a phase III randomized trial comparing TCH with TH in patients with HER2-amplified MBC.

Patients And Methods: Two hundred sixty-three patients were randomly assigned to receive eight 3-week cycles of TH (trastuzumab plus docetaxel 100 mg/m(2)) or TCH (trastuzumab plus carboplatin at area under the serum concentration-time curve 6 and docetaxel 75 mg/m(2)).