Real-World Assessment of Cancer Drugs Using Local Data Uploaded to the Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy Dataset in England.

Aims: In England, not all cancer drugs are routinely funded; new medicines are first appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Funding can be temporarily given through the Cancer Drugs Fund while further information is collected. The Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) dataset collects information on all patients receiving chemotherapy in England.

COVID-19 and liver cancer: lost patients and larger tumours.

Background: Northern England has been experiencing a persistent rise in the number of primary liver cancers, largely driven by an increasing incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) secondary to alcohol-related liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Here we review the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary liver cancer services and patients in our region.

Objective: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with newly diagnosed liver cancer in our region.

Perioperative ECX chemotherapy in older adults with gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Perioperative epirubicin, cisplatin and 5-FU or capecitabine (ECF/X) chemotherapy is recognised as a standard of care for patients with resectable gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma; however, there is limited evidence regarding its use in older patients. The aims of this study were to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of perioperative ECX chemotherapy in patients aged ≥70 years-old (group 1) compared with a younger population (group 2), and to assess differences in the histology of these groups.

Methods: 212 patients in our centre were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy for potentially resectable gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma between February 2009 and January 2014.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs): an insight into clinical practice with review of literature.

Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) are rare mesenchymal tumours of the gastrointestinal tract. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical management of all patients with GIST presenting to a regional multidisciplinary upper gastrointestinal cancer group in the north of England.

Methods: Clinical, pathological, immunohistochemical treatment strategies, follow-up and outcome data on all patients with GIST between 2007 and 2012 were reviewed.

Vandetanib plus gemcitabine versus placebo plus gemcitabine in locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma (ViP): a prospective, randomised, double-blind, multicentre phase 2 trial.

Background: Erlotinib is an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has shown a significant but only marginally improved median overall survival when combined with gemcitabine in patients with locally advanced and metastatic pancreatic cancer. Vandetanib is a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGFR2, RET, and EGFR, all of which are in involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. We investigated the clinical efficacy of vandetanib when used in combination with gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.