Disparities in Access to Systemic Treatment for Breast Cancer in Thailand and Major Asian Territories.

Purpose: Breast cancer (BC) treatment has shifted from chemotherapy to targeted therapy. Several targeted agents have demonstrated an improvement in survival. Given that national healthcare resources were correlated with the cancer mortality-to-incidence ratio, we compared access to BC drugs in Thailand with that in other Asian countries.

Afatinib alone and in combination with vinorelbine or paclitaxel, in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer who failed or progressed on prior trastuzumab and/or lapatinib (LUX-Breast 2): an open-label, multicenter, phase II trial.

Purpose: Resistance to HER2 (ErbB2)-targeted therapy may be mediated by other members of the ErbB family. We investigated the efficacy and safety of the irreversible ErbB family blocker, afatinib, alone as first-line therapy in the advanced setting and in combination with vinorelbine or paclitaxel for those who progressed on afatinib monotherapy, in female patients with metastatic breast cancer who had failed or progressed on prior HER2-targeted therapy in the early disease setting.

Methods: In this phase II, single-arm, two-part study (ClinicalTrials.

Updated recommendations regarding the management of older patients with breast cancer: a joint paper from the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) and the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG).

Breast cancer is increasingly prevalent in older adults and is a substantial part of routine oncology practice. However, management of breast cancer in this population is challenging because the disease is highly heterogeneous and there is insufficient evidence specific to older adults. Decision making should not be driven by age alone but should involve geriatric assessments plus careful consideration of life expectancy, competing risks of mortality, and patient preferences.

Measurement invariance across gender and age groups, validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the short-form supportive care needs survey questionnaire (SCNS-SF34).

Background: Despite the wide use of the Short-Form Supportive Care Needs Survey Questionnaire (SCNS-SF34), the measurement invariance of the SCNS-SF34 across the main groups-gender and age-which might be of interest in the application of the instrument has never been confirmed. To provide an accurate assessment tool to evaluate the unmet needs of Chinese cancer patients, the present study aimed to assess the measurement invariance of the SCNS-SF34 across gender and age groups and to assess the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the SCNS-SF34.

Methods: The SCNS-SF34 was administrated to 1106 Chinese cancer patients.

Breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide and is curable in ~70-80% of patients with early-stage, non-metastatic disease. Advanced breast cancer with distant organ metastases is considered incurable with currently available therapies. On the molecular level, breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease; molecular features include activation of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2, encoded by ERBB2), activation of hormone receptors (oestrogen receptor and progesterone receptor) and/or BRCA mutations.

BioPATH: A Biomarker Study in Asian Patients with HER2+ Advanced Breast Cancer Treated with Lapatinib and Other Anti-HER2 Therapy.

Purpose: BioPATH is a non-interventional study evaluating the relationship of molecular biomarkers (PTEN deletion/downregulation, PIK3CA mutation, truncated HER2 receptor [p95HER2], and tumor HER2 mRNA levels) to treatment responses in Asian patients with HER2+ advanced breast cancer treated with lapatinib and other HER2-targeted agents.

Materials And Methods: Female Asian HER2+ breast cancer patients (n=154) who were candidates for lapatinib-based treatment following metastasis and having an available primary tumor biopsy specimen were included. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS).

Illness perceptions as predictors of psychological distress among head and neck cancer survivors: a longitudinal study.

Background: Leventhal's commonsense model implies illness perceptions influence illness outcomes. This study examined illness perceptions among head and neck cancer survivors, and whether these predicted subsequent psychological distress.

Methods: A total of 124 survivors of head and neck cancer (87% nasopharyngeal carcinoma; NPC) completed measures of psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS), illness perceptions (Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire; B-IPQ), dispositional optimism (revised Chinese version of the Life Orientation Test; C-LOT-R), and clinical and demographic data approximately12.

Factors predicting patient satisfaction in women with advanced breast cancer: a prospective study.

Background: The present study (1) examined patient satisfaction with care over the first year following the diagnosis of advanced breast cancer and (2) tested if unmet health system and information needs, physical symptom distress, and psychological distress predicted patient satisfaction.

Methods: Prospective study of 213 Chinese women with advanced breast cancer assessed while awaiting or receiving initial chemotherapy (baseline), then again at 1.5-, 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-baseline.

Pre-emptive and therapeutic adoptive immunotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Phenotype and effector function of T cells impact on clinical response.

Adoptive T cell therapy has emerged as a powerful strategy to treat human cancers especially haematological malignancies. Extension of these therapies to solid cancers remains a significant challenge especially in the context of defining immunological correlates of clinical responses. Here we describe results from a clinical study investigating autologous Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific T cells generated using a novel AdE1-LMPpoly vector to treat patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) either pre-emptively in at-risk patients with no or minimal residual disease (N/MRD) or therapeutically in patients with active recurrent/metastatic disease (ARMD).

Psychometric assessment of the Chinese version of the brief illness perception questionnaire in breast cancer survivors.

Objective: The eight-item Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) supposedly evaluates cognitive and emotional representations of illness. This study examined the validity and reliability of a traditional Chinese version of the B-IPQ in Hong Kong Chinese breast cancer survivors.

Methods: 358 Chinese breast cancer survivors who had recently ended their primary treatment completed this B-IPQ Chinese version.

Patient Management with Eribulin in Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Clinical Practice Guide.

Eribulin, an antimicrotubule chemotherapeutic agent, is approved for the treatment of pretreated metastatic breast cancer (mBC) based on the positive outcomes of phase II and phase III clinical trials, which enrolled mainly Western patients. Eribulin has recently been approved in an increasing number of Asian countries; however, there is limited clinical experience in using the drug in certain countries. Therefore, we established an Asian working group to provide practical guidance for eribulin use based on our clinical experience.

Measuring and Validating a General Cancer Predisposition Perception Scale: An Adaptation of the Revised-IPQ-Genetic Predisposition Scale.

Background: Illness perceptions are linked to individual help-seeking and preventive behaviors. Previous illness perception studies have identified five dimensions of illness-related experience and behaviour. The Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) for genetic predisposition (IPQ-R-GP) was developed to measure illness perceptions in those genetically-predisposed to blood disease.

Illness perceptions among cancer survivors.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to document in Hong Kong Chinese cancer survivors cross-sectional associations between illness perceptions, physical symptom distress and dispositional optimism.

Methods: A consecutive sample of 1036 (response rate, 86.1%, mean age 55.

Goal adjustment influence on psychological well-being following advanced breast cancer diagnosis.

Objective: A diagnosis of advanced breast cancer (ABC) challenges a woman's ambitions. This longitudinal study explored (1) if goal adjustment disposition influenced psychological adjustment patterns among women with ABC and (2) if dispositional hope and optimism moderate effects of goal adjustment on psychological adjustment.

Methods: One hundred ninety three out of 225 women with ABC were assessed while they were awaiting/receiving initial chemotherapy, then again at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months post-baseline.

Risk factors and natural history of breast cancer in younger Chinese women.

Aim: To investigate the age differences in the risk factors, clinicopathological characteristics and patterns of treatment of female breast cancer patients.

Methods: Seven thousand one hundred and fifty-two women with primary breast cancer from the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Registry were recruited after receiving patients' consent, they were asked to complete standardized questionnaires which captured their sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors associated with breast cancer development. Among them, clinicopathological data and patterns of treatment were further collected from medical records of 5523 patients with invasive breast cancers.

The needs of parents of children with visual impairment studying in mainstream schools in Hong Kong.

Objectives: This study attempted to use a validated and standardised psychometric tool to identify the specific needs of parents of children with visual impairment studying in mainstream schools in Hong Kong. The second aim was to compare their needs with those of parents of mainstream school children without special education needs and parents having children with learning and behavioural problems.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Novel therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma--where are we.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is endemic in Southern China, and the South-East Asia including Hong Kong. We still see patients recur after primary treatment with radiotherapy or chemo-irradiation. Management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma remains one of the biggest clinical challenges.

The evolution of supportive care needs trajectories in women with advanced breast cancer during the 12 months following diagnosis.

Purpose: This longitudinal study examined if the evolution of supportive care needs differed over the first year following the diagnosis of advanced breast cancer and examined factors differentiating these trajectories.

Methods: Two hundred twenty-eight of 276 Chinese women with advanced breast cancer were assessed while they were awaiting or receiving initial chemotherapy, then again at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months post-baseline. Supportive care needs (SCNS-34-Ch), psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale), symptom distress (MSAS-Ch), and patient satisfaction (PSEQ-9) were assessed at baseline; supportive care needs were reassessed at each follow-up assessment.

Association of exon 19 and 21 EGFR mutation patterns with treatment outcome after first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: This study investigated whether there were differential survival outcomes to first-line tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer harboring different subtypes of exon 19 and exon 21 mutations on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR).

Methods: Of 452 patients with stage IIIB and IV non-small-cell lung cancer, 192 patients (42.5%) harbored EGFR mutation and 170 (37.

Characterization of CACNA2D3 as a putative tumor suppressor gene in the development and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Apart from β-catenin accumulation, loss of 3p21 is one of the most frequent genetic alterations in numerous malignancies including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Herein, we characterized a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene (TSG) CACNA2D3, a voltage-dependent subunit alpha 2 delta 3 of a calcium channel complex. Downregulation of CACNA2D3 was frequently detected in primary NPCs and NPC cell lines compared with their nontumorigenic counterparts.

Condition-specific measure was more responsive than generic measure in colorectal cancer: all but social domains.

Objective: To examine the responsiveness of generic and condition-specific instruments based on the anchor of self-reported level of global change in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Study Design And Setting: Three hundred thirty-three patients with CRC were surveyed at two assessments at baseline and follow-up at 6 months from September 2009 to July 2010 using the Short Form-12 Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Colorectal (FACT-C) measures. The responsiveness of the two measures was evaluated using standardized effect size, standardized response mean, responsiveness statistic, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

SIRT6 modulates paclitaxel and epirubicin resistance and survival in breast cancer.

In this study, we report the identification of a novel role of SIRT6 in both epirubicin and paclitaxel resistance in breast cancer. We found that SIRT6 protein levels are elevated in paclitaxel- and epirubicin-resistant MCF-7 cells compared with the parental sensitive cells. SIRT6 knockout and depletion sensitized cells to both paclitaxel and epirubicin treatment, whereas SIRT6 ectopic overexpression led to increased resistance to paclitaxel and epirubicin.