Impact of early palliative care on additional line of chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients: results from the randomized study OSS.

Purpose: The most appropriate criteria and timing for palliative care referral remain a critical issue, especially in patients with metastatic breast cancer for whom long-term chemosensibility and survival are observed. We aimed to compare the impact of early palliative care including formal concertation with oncologists on decision for an additional line of chemotherapy compared with usual oncology care.

Methods: This randomized prospective study enrolled adult women with metastatic breast cancer and visceral metastases with a 3rd- or 4th-line chemotherapy (CT).

Public perceptions of the association between drug effectiveness and drug novelty in France during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, public debates overtly addressed the promises of new innovative drugs. Many of these debates pitted those who advocated for the development of new drugs by pharmaceutical companies against those who favored the repositioning of existing drugs. Our study explored perceptions of the association between drug novelty and effectiveness as well as perceptions of the role of the pharmaceutical industry in drug development.

Telemedicine in the emergency department to decrease personal protective equipment use: a before-and-after study.

Background: Personal protective equipment (PPE) used by healthcare workers was scarce during the COVID-19 pandemic The aim of this study was to assess whether telemedicine (using iPads) reduced PPE use in emergency department (ED) patients who were treated in contact isolation, and whether telemedicine had a positive effect on patient anxiety and satisfaction.

Methods: We conducted a prospective single centre before-and-after study including ED patients ≥18 years who were treated in contact isolation. PPE use, the Hospital Anxiety Scale and the 15-item Picker Patient Experience Questionnaire were compared between the control period (8 April to 14 April 2020) and intervention period (15 April to 24 April 2020).

[Pasteurella multocida meningoencephalitis in a 14-year-old child].

Pasteurella multocida is generally responsible for local infections through animal bites. It can be a cause of meningitis, which tends to affect people at the extreme ages of life or suffering from immunodeficiency. A 14-year-old teenager was hospitalized with typical signs of bacterial meningitis.

Prospective evaluation of serum anti-Müllerian hormone dynamics in 250 women of reproductive age treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Aim: Women of reproductive age with breast cancer generally receive gonadotoxic chemotherapy. Fertility issues are of great concern for them. However, little is known on ovarian damage during chemotherapy and its evolution during long-term follow-up.

Procedural sedation in the emergency department by Dutch emergency physicians: a prospective multicentre observational study of 1711 adults.

Objective: To describe our experience performing ED procedural sedation in a country where emergency medicine (EM) is a relatively new specialty.

Methods: This is a prospective observational study of adult patients undergoing procedural sedation by emergency physicians (EPs) or EM residents in eight hospitals in the Netherlands. Data were collected on a standardised form, including patient characteristics, sedative and analgesic used, procedural success, adverse events (classified according to World SIVA) and rescue interventions.

Systemic Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae infection not associated with endocarditis highlighting bacteriological diagnosis difficulties Case report and literature review.

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is mostly isolated in swine causing erysipelas. Human invasive infections due to E. rhusiopathiae remain poorly described and interestingly bacteraemia associated with endocarditis are a source of ineffective empirical antibiotherapy.

Efficacy and tolerance of everolimus in 123 consecutive advanced ER positive, HER2 negative breast cancer patients. A two center retrospective study.

Background: Since the publication of the Bolero-2 trial, everolimus has entered the routine care for advanced endocrine resistant luminal breast cancer (BC). We evaluated our practice 2 years after the French marketing authorization (July 2012).

Methods: One hundred and twenty three consecutive patients were treated with everolimus combined with endocrine treatment in two French Cancer Centers.

Circulating tumor cell thresholds and survival scores in advanced metastatic breast cancer: the observational step of the CirCe01 phase III trial.

The clinical validity of circulating tumor cell (CTC) count changes during chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients has been validated, but its clinical utility remains to be demonstrated. We report here the non-randomized run-in phase of the CirCe01 trial which was designed to evaluate CTC changes and thresholds to other palliative prognostic scores and establish CTC thresholds to be used in the randomized part of the study. CTC count (CellSearch®) and other prognostic parameters (serum albumin level, lymphocyte level, LDH level, prognostic inflammatory and nutritional index (PINI) and Barbot's score) were assessed in 56 metastatic breast cancer patients before the first cycle of third line chemotherapy.

Immediate versus deferred chemotherapy after radical cystectomy in patients with pT3-pT4 or N+ M0 urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (EORTC 30994): an intergroup, open-label, randomised phase 3 trial.

Background: Patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder have poor survival after cystectomy. The EORTC 30994 trial aimed to compare immediate versus deferred cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy after radical cystectomy in patients with pT3-pT4 or N+ M0 urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

Methods: This intergroup, open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial recruited patients from hospitals across Europe and Canada.

Survival of breast cancer patients with meningeal carcinomatosis treated by intrathecal thiotepa.

Treatment of breast cancer meningeal carcinomatosis (MC) relies on intrathecal chemotherapy. Thiotepa is one of the few drugs approved in this setting, although no large cohort has been reported. The aim of our retrospective study is to describe survival and prognostic factors of breast cancer patients treated by intrathecal thiotepa.

Risk of breast cancer by individual insulin use: an international multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE Several studies have been published in 2009 suggesting a possible association between insulin glargine and increased risk of malignancies, including breast cancer. The objective of this study was to assess the relation between the individual insulins (glargine, aspart, lispro, and human insulin) and development of breast cancer. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Seven hundred seventy-five incident cases of primary invasive or in situ carcinoma breast cancer occurring in women with diabetes from 92 centers in the U.

Gemcitabine or gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelium unfit for cisplatin-based chemotherapy: a randomized phase 2 study of the French Genitourinary Tumor Group (GETUG V01).

Background: The optimal chemotherapy for patients with advanced transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelium who are not eligible for cisplatin remains to be defined.

Objective: To assess the activity of gemcitabine alone (GEM) or in combination with oxaliplatin (GEMOX) in a randomized phase 2 trial.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The primary end point was the objective response rate according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria.

High independent prognostic and predictive value of circulating tumor cells compared with serum tumor markers in a large prospective trial in first-line chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer patients.

Background: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are a prognostic marker in metastatic breast cancer, but comparisons with serum tumor markers (CA 15-3, carcinoembryonic antigen and lactate dehydrogenase) variations are needed.

Patients And Methods: CTCs were counted with CellSearch® at baseline, before cycle 2 (C2) and cycle 3 or 4 (C3/4) in 267 metastatic breast cancer patients on first-line chemotherapy with/without targeted therapy.

Results: Baseline CTC detection rate was 65% with ≥1 CTC/7.

[Survival of breast cancers patients with meningeal carcinoma].

Purpose: Among all solid tumors breast cancer is the most common cause of meningeal carcinomatosis (MC). The purpose of this study was to analyze clinical and biological responses as well as overall survival in MC patients (pts) of breast primary treated with intrathecal methotrexate (MTX).

Methods And Materials: Single-center retrospective series of MC pts treated between 2000 and 2007.

[Brain metastases in breast cancer. Epidemiology and natural history. The Institut Curie experience].

Breast cancer is the second cause for brain metastases. Their incidence is rising, partly due to the therapeutic improvements which alter the natural history of breast cancer. Predictive factors for brain metastases have been identified: HER2 oncogene overexpression, lack of expression of hormone receptors, young age and triple negative status.

Targeted biotherapy in metastatic colorectal carcinoma: Current practice.

Targeted therapy has become an indispensable tool in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The combination of monoclonal antibodies with conventional polychemotherapy has proven its efficacy as the median overall survival now exceeds 24 months: these novel molecules act by targeting circulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the receptor of epidermal growth factor (EGFR). At the present time, no factor has been identified to predict the efficacy of bevacizumab, an inhibitor of circulating VEGF.

Concordant analysis of KRAS status in primary colon carcinoma and matched metastasis.

KRAS somatic mutations are the main predictive factor for non response to EGFR-targeted monoclonal antibodies in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. We compared KRAS mutational status in the primary tumour and the corresponding metastases (1 to 4 sites) in 38 mCRC patients. KRAS mutational status was analysed using direct sequencing, SNAPShot multiplex PCR and Scorpion Taqman PCR analysis.

Platinum-based chemotherapy in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: the Institut Curie experience.

Background: Although recent experimental data strongly suggest that platinum-based chemotherapy (PBCT) could improve the outcome of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), clinical data are lacking. Here, the authors reviewed clinical outcome in patients with metastatic TNBC treated with PBCT.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients (N=143) treated for metastatic breast cancer with PBCT between 2000 and 2008, at Institut Curie, Paris, France.

CEMARA an information system for rare diseases.

Rare diseases cover a group of conditions characterized by a low prevalence, affecting less than 1 in 2,000 people; 5000 to 7000 rare diseases have been currently identified in Europe. Most diseases do not have any curative treatment. They represent thus an important public health concern.

Epidemiology and outcome of invasive fungal diseases in patients with chronic granulomatous disease: a multicenter study in France.

Background: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare inherited phagocytic disorder resulting in an increased susceptibility to infections including invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) and inflammatory complications. This study is aimed at assessing the incidence, prevalence, and outcome of IFDs among CGD patients followed in France.

Methods: CGD patients were identified through the French national registry for primary immunodeficiencies (PID) held by the French national reference Centre of PID (Centre de Référence Déficits Immunitaires Héréditaires), which comprises a total of 3083 patients including 155 with CGD followed between 1976 and 2008.

Imatinib for progressive and recurrent aggressive fibromatosis (desmoid tumors): an FNCLCC/French Sarcoma Group phase II trial with a long-term follow-up.

Background: Imatinib evaluated as a new treatment option in patients with recurrent or established progressive aggressive fibromatosis/desmoid tumor (AF/DT).

Patients And Methods: Forty patients with unresectable and progressive symptomatic AF/DT were treated with imatinib (400 mg/day for 1 year) in a Simon's optimal two-stage phase II study (P(0) = 10%, P(1) = 30%, α = 5%, β = 10%). The primary end point was non-progressive at 3 months (RECIST).

Potential drug interactions in elderly cancer patients.

Introduction: Drug interaction constitutes a major challenge in elderly cancer patients. This study investigated the number and types of medications patients and potential drug interactions in these patients.

Methods: Treatments received by 105 cancer outpatients aged ≥70 years were analyzed using the French Thesaurus to identify drug-drug interactions according to four levels: contraindication, concomitant use not recommended, concomitant medications requiring precautions and concomitant medications to be taken into account.

A genomic and transcriptomic approach for a differential diagnosis between primary and secondary ovarian carcinomas in patients with a previous history of breast cancer.

Background: The distinction between primary and secondary ovarian tumors may be challenging for pathologists. The purpose of the present work was to develop genomic and transcriptomic tools to further refine the pathological diagnosis of ovarian tumors after a previous history of breast cancer.

Methods: Sixteen paired breast-ovary tumors from patients with a former diagnosis of breast cancer were collected.