Nivolumab + Ipilimumab as Immunotherapeutic Boost in Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: A Nonrandomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Studies with nivolumab, an approved therapy for metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) after platinum-based chemotherapy, demonstrate improved outcomes with added high-dose ipilimumab.

Objective: To assess efficacy and safety of a tailored approach using nivolumab + ipilimumab as an immunotherapeutic boost for mUC.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this phase 2 nonrandomized trial, patients with mUC composed 2 cohorts.

Health-related Quality of Life in Patients with Previously Treated Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma from EV-301: A Phase 3 Trial of Enfortumab Vedotin Versus Chemotherapy.

Background And Objective: In comparison to chemotherapy, enfortumab vedotin (EV) prolonged overall survival in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial carcinoma in EV-301. The objective of the present study was to assess patient experiences of EV versus chemotherapy using patient-reported outcome (PRO) analysis of health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: For patients in the phase 3 EV-301 trial randomized to EV or chemotherapy we assessed responses to the validated European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) at baseline, weekly for the first 12 wk, and then every 12 wk until discontinuation.

Tailored immunotherapy approach with nivolumab with or without ipilimumab in patients with advanced transitional cell carcinoma after platinum-based chemotherapy (TITAN-TCC): a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 trial.

Background: Nivolumab is used after platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Studies suggest improved outcomes for dual checkpoint inhibition with high ipilimumab doses. We aimed to examine the safety and activity of nivolumab induction and high-dose ipilimumab as an immunotherapeutic boost as a second-line treatment for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

Tailored Immunotherapy Approach With Nivolumab in Advanced Transitional Cell Carcinoma.

Purpose: Several anti-programmed cell death (ligand)-1 (PD-[L]1) immune checkpoint inhibitors are approved in advanced/metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC). Recently, improved activity of an anti-PD-1/anticytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte-4 (CTLA-4) combination versus anti-PD-1 monotherapy has been reported. We report a response-based approach starting treatment with nivolumab monotherapy with nivolumab/ipilimumab as immunotherapeutic boost.

REGO-ACT: assessment of physical activity during treatment with regorafenib for metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: A frequent side effect of the multikinase inhibitor regorafenib is fatigue. Physical activity has shown potential in reducing cancer-related fatigue.

Methods: This non-interventional pilot study assessed physical activity levels of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients treated with regorafenib based on median daily step counts measured at 1‑week intervals using a pedometer.

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin in Patients with Locally Advanced Bladder Cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with methotrexate-vinblastine-doxorubicin-cisplatin (MVAC) is the standard of care for muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer. Gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GC) shows similar efficacy with less toxicity in the metastatic setting and has therefore often been used interchangeably with MVAC. We report on the efficacy and safety of neoadjuvant GC in patients with locally advanced urothelial cancer.

[Austrian guideline for palliative sedation therapy (long version) : Results of a Delphi process of the Austrian Palliative Society (OPG)].

Background: Palliative sedation therapy (PST) is an important and ethically accepted therapy in the care of selected palliative care patients with otherwise unbearable suffering from refractory distress. PST is increasingly used in end-of-life care. Austria does not have a standardized ethical guideline for this exceptional practice near end of life, but there is evidence that practice varies throughout the country.

ESMO / ASCO Recommendations for a Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology Edition 2016.

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) are publishing a new edition of the ESMO/ASCO Global Curriculum (GC) thanks to contribution of 64 ESMO-appointed and 32 ASCO-appointed authors. First published in 2004 and updated in 2010, the GC edition 2016 answers to the need for updated recommendations for the training of physicians in medical oncology by defining the standard to be fulfilled to qualify as medical oncologists. At times of internationalisation of healthcare and increased mobility of patients and physicians, the GC aims to provide state-of-the-art cancer care to all patients wherever they live.

War and peace? The oncologic and the palliative care perspective on personalized cancer treatment in a patient with advanced cancer.

Personalized cancer treatment utilizing targeted therapies in a tailored approach is based on tumor and/or patient-specific molecular profiles. Recent clinical trials continue to look for new potential targets in heavily pretreated patients or rare disease entities. Careful selection of patients who may derive benefit from such therapies constitutes a challenge.

[Case report of a patient with renal cell cancer and his fateful progress - Breaking Bad News].

"Breaking Bad News" outlines a pathway for medical and other professional staff to deliver bad news to patients, clients, their families and carers. Bad news can mean different things to different people. Basically, it means any information which adversely and seriously affects an individual point of view of future or situations without any feeling of hope.

Influence of age and gender on associations of body mass index with bone mineral density, bone turnover markers and circulating calcium-regulating and bone-active sex hormones.

Although it is well known that body mass index (BMI) and bone mineral density (BMD) are positively correlated, the mechanisms by which adiposity reduces the risk of osteoporotic fractures are not fully understood. The present study was initiated to gain deeper insight into the mechanisms underlying the osteoprotective effect of adiposity, and to assess particularly the relevance that BMI-associated changes in circulating hormone levels could have for the build-up of additional bone mineral density. Using data from a previous study on a large cohort of healthy adult Austrians, we analyzed correlations of BMI with (i) BMD at sites in the lumbar spine and hip region, (ii) bone resorption and formation markers, (iii) circulating levels of vitamin D, parathyroid hormone, testosterone and estrogen, and (iv) rates of daily vitamin D and calcium intake.

[Meaningfullness and duration of palliative chemotherapy with regard to the quality of life of palliative patients].

I am reporting on a 74-year-old female patient with primary pulmonary and hepatic metastatic colon cancer. In the course of three-and-a-half years the patient decided to receive multiple cycles of palliative chemotherapy, irradiation of the liver and of the upper body. As a result of the extended anti-tumour therapy, remissions of the advanced cancer disease could be achieved repeatedly, which lead to a substantial increase of the patient's quality of life.

[Quality of life and ethics as basic questions in geriatric oncology].

Optimal care for elderly cancer patients requires empathy and alertness about impaired autonomy and an exceptional quality of care. Specific to geriatric oncology is the particular need of attention and care for the patients. Most important from a conceptual point of view is to identify that this will result in additional demands.

[Clinical relevance of biomarkers in cancer related bone disease].

Biomarkers as biochemical substances of collagen metabolism are produced during bone turnover and can be determined as parameters of bone metabolism not only in serum, but also in urine. These growth and decomposition products of the bone are already used to determine bone metabolism in osteoporosis and to prove efficacy of antiresorptive therapy. Metastases of the bone likewise show a higher rate of bone turnover.