Activity of CDK4/6 inhibitors and parameters affecting survival in elderly patients in age-subgroups: Turkish Oncology Group (TOG) retrospective study.

Highly selective inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6is) have emerged as a standart of care for first- and second-line therapies in combination with endocrine therapy (ET) for HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. It has been reported that combination therapy is more effective than ET alone and is safe in elderly patients as well as young patients. Nevertheless, elderly and very old patients with HR+/HER2-MBC treated with CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4/6i) combinations are relatively underrepresented in randomized controlled trials.

Treatment efficacy of ribociclib or palbociclib plus letrozole in hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Ribociclib, palbociclib and abemaciclib are currently approved CDK4/6 inhibitors along with aromatase inhibitors as the first-line standard-of-care for patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. The authors report retrospective real-life data for 600 patients with estrogen receptor- and/or progesterone receptor-positive and HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who were treated with ribociclib and palbociclib in combination with letrozole. The results demonstrated that the combination of palbociclib or ribociclib with letrozole has similar progression-free survival and overall survival benefit in real life for the patient group with similar clinical features.

The percentage of ALK-positive cells and the efficacy of first-line alectinib in advanced non-small cell lung cancer: is it a novel factor for stratification? (Turkish Oncology Group Study).

Introduction: Alectinib is an effective second-generation ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) used in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC. Recent studies demonstrated that the percentage of ALK-positive tumor cells in patient groups receiving crizotinib might affect outcomes. This study aimed to investigate whether the percentage of ALK-positive cells had a predictive effect in patients with advanced NSCLC who received first-line Alectinib as ALK-TKI.

Real-world data on efficacy and safety of first-line alectinib treatment in advanced-stage, ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer patients: a Turkish Oncology Group study.

In this multicenter study, the authors aimed to determine the real-life efficacy and safety of first-line alectinib. This retrospective trial included advanced-stage, ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer patients who were treated with first-line alectinib in terms of ALK-tyrosine kinase inhibitors, regardless of previous chemotherapy. The co-primary end points were progression-free survival both for all patients and for the treatment-naive population.

The evaluation of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity: comparison of Doppler and tissue Doppler-derived myocardial performance index.

Background: Doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent used in a wide spectrum of cancers. However, cardiotoxic effects have limited its clinical use. The early detection of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity is crucial.

The acute effect of tropisetron on ECG parameters in cancer patients.

Objectives: The 5-hydroxytryptamine 3 receptor antagonists, including tropisetron, ondansetron, granisetron, and dolasetron are agents used effectively for supportive care. They are used for the prevention and treatment of chemotherapy and radiotherapy-induced emesis. Despite their overall excellent safety profile, some electrocardiographic changes related to heart rate and repolarization were reported.

The acute effect of trastuzumab infusion on ECG parameters in metastatic breast cancer patients.

Objectives: Although trastuzumab therapy is known to be associated with congestive heart failure, its arrhythmogenic potential has not been studied in detail. The purpose of this study was to determine the acute influence of trastuzumab infusion on electrocardiogram (ECG) parameters in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Twenty patients with HER2 overexpressing metastatic breast cancer and normal cardiac function were enrolled in this single-centre prospective study.