The standard of care for advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) was historically identified with platinum-based chemotherapy. Thanks to the advances in biological and genetic knowledge and technologies, new therapeutic agents have emerged in this setting recently: the immune checkpoint inhibitors and the fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors as the target therapy for patients harboring alterations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) pathway. However, chasing a tumor's tendency to recur and progress, a new class of agents has more recently entered the scene, with promising results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in cancer diagnoses and reductions in treatments. The aim of this work is to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on prostate cancer by evaluating whether there has been a shift towards more aggressive (Gleason) and more advanced tumors (stage IV) and a decline in treatments. The study was conducted on 1123 cases of prostate cancer incident in the Province of Reggio Emilia, Northern Italy, in the period of 2018-2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To identify characteristics associated with long-term progression-free survival (≥2 years) in patients with advanced ovarian cancer treated with niraparib first-line maintenance therapy in the phase III PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012 study.
Methods: In this post hoc analysis of PRIMA, patients randomized to niraparib were grouped based on investigator-assessed progression-free survival (progressive disease/censoring <2 years or ≥2 years after randomization). Variables assessed for predictive value were Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage at diagnosis, clinical response to platinum-based chemotherapy, number of prior chemotherapy cycles, primary tumor location, body mass index, categorical age, debulking surgery type, number of baseline target lesions, number of baseline non-target lesions, /homologous recombination-deficiency status, residual disease status, and duration from end of chemotherapy to randomization.
More than 20% of metastatic prostate cancer carries genomic defects involving DNA damage repair pathways, mainly in homologous recombination repair-related genes. The recent approval of olaparib has paved the way to precision medicine for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer with PARP inhibitors in this subset of patients, especially in the case of or pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants. In face of this new therapeutic opportunity, many issues remain unsolved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Vaginal cancer is a rare gynecologic malignancy. While in a localized disease, concurrent chemoradiation grants local control and better overall survival, in a metastatic setting, the management options are very limited. Furthermore, recurrent cervical, vulvar, and vaginal carcinomas notoriously develop resistance to treatment, and consequently, their prognosis is still poor.
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