A Pilot Randomized Trial Assessing the Effect of a Psychoeducational Intervention on Psychoneuroimmunological Parameters Among Patients With Nonmetastatic Breast Cancer.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine a potential benefit of the specific psychoeducational intervention "Learning to Live with Cancer" (LTLWC) for patients with operated nonmetastatic breast cancer, with respect to psychological variables and endocrine and immune parameters.

Methods: Fifty-two postmenopausal women with operated stage I to III breast cancer were randomized to either a breast cancer intervention group (BCIG, n = 30) who immediately began participating in the LTLWC intervention program or to a breast cancer control group (BCCG, n = 22). Matched healthy women were asked to participate as a noncancer comparison group (n = 26).

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Capecitabine, Oxaliplatin and Bevacizumab Followed by Concomitant Chemoradiation and Surgical Resection in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer with High Risk of Recurrence - A Phase II Study.

Aim: To evaluate feasibility and safety of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine, oxaliplatin and bevacizumab followed by concomitant standard chemoradiation and surgical resection in patients with high-risk locally advanced rectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-defined high-risk cT3/4 rectal cancer patients were treated with 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with capecitabine (1,000 mg/m twice daily days 1-14, 22-35, 43-56), oxaliplatin (130 mg/sqm on days 1, 22, 43) and bevacizumab (7.5 mg/kg on days 1, 22, 43) followed by capecitabine (825 mg/m twice daily on radiotherapy days week 1-4) concomitantly with radiotherapy (1.

Risk stratification for venous thromboembolism in patients with testicular germ cell tumors.

Background: Patients with testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) have an increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). We identified risk factors for VTE in this patient cohort and developed a clinical risk model.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study at the Medical University of Graz we included 657 consecutive TGCT patients across all clinical stages.

Neutrophil/Lymphocyte ratio has no predictive or prognostic value in breast cancer patients undergoing preoperative systemic therapy.

Background: The primary goal of preoperative systemic treatment (PST) in patients with breast cancer is downsizing of tumors to enhance the rate of breast conserving surgery. Additionally, preoperative systemic treatment offers the possibility to assess for chemosensitivity of early stage disease. In various cancers the prognostic value of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was demonstrated, indicating that high NLR determines worse prognosis of the patients.

TP53 Mutational Status and Prediction of Benefit from Adjuvant 5-Fluorouracil in Stage III Colon Cancer Patients.

We investigated the hypothesis that the varying treatment efficacy of adjuvant 5-fluorouracil (5FU) in stage III colon cancer is linked to the TP53 mutational status. ABCSG-90 was a prospective randomized trial in which effect of adjuvant 5FU was studied in stage III colon cancer patients. Tumor material of 70% of these patients (389/572) was available for analysis of the biomarker TP53 using a TP53-gene-specific Sanger sequencing protocol.

The genomic expression test EndoPredict is a prognostic tool for identifying risk of local recurrence in postmenopausal endocrine receptor-positive, her2neu-negative breast cancer patients randomised within the prospective ABCSG 8 trial.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine whether EndoPredict (EP), a novel genomic expression test, is effective in predicting local recurrence (LR)-free survival (LRFS) following surgery for breast cancer in postmenopausal women. In addition, we examined whether EP may help tailor local therapy in these patients.

Methods: From January 1996 to June 2004, 3714 postmenopausal patients were randomly assigned to either tamoxifen or tamoxifen followed by anastrozole within the prospective ABCSG 8 trial.

Combination of tumour markers CEA and CA19-9 improves the prognostic prediction in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Aims: Tumour markers including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) or carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) are frequently determined at the time of diagnosis in patients with pancreatic cancer. Several studies indicate a prognostic relevance of these markers in pancreatic cancer, but space for improvement with regard to the predictive accuracy and ability is given. In this work, the main focus is on mathematical combinations of these two tumour markers in order to validate an improvement of prognostic test results in terms of sensitivity and specificity.

LGR5 rs17109924 is a predictive genetic biomarker for time to recurrence in patients with colon cancer treated with 5-fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy.

We recently found variants in cancer stem cell genes (CD44, ALCAM and LGR5) significantly associated with increased time to recurrence (TTR) in patients with stage III and high-risk stage II colon cancer treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy. In this study, we validated these genetic biomarkers in a large and independent patient cohort (n=599). Patients who received 5-FU-based adjuvant chemotherapy (n=391) carrying at least one C allele in LGR5 rs17109924 had a significantly increased TTR compared with patients carrying the homozygous T/T variant (HR 0.

The derived neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio predicts poor clinical outcome in soft tissue sarcoma patients.

Background: Inflammation plays an important role in tumor proliferation and survival in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic impact of the pre-operative-derived neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) in a large cohort of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients after curative surgical resection.

Methods: The impact of preoperative dNLR on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in retrospectively evaluated 340 STS patients was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional models.

The lymphocyte to monocyte ratio in peripheral blood represents a novel prognostic marker in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Background: Intra-tumoral macrophages have been involved as important players in the pathogenesis and progression of cancer. Recently, inflammatory parameters of the systemic inflammatory response have also been proposed as usefully prognostic biomarkers. One of these, the lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) in peripheral blood has been shown as a prognostic factor in hematologic and some solid tumors.

Uric acid levels in blood are associated with clinical outcome in soft-tissue sarcoma patients.

Background: Recent evidence indicates toward a role of uric acid (UA) as a potential antioxidant. Elevated UA levels were shown to be associated with better survival in various malignancies. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic relevance of pre-operative UA levels on cancer-specific survival (CSS) in soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients who underwent curative surgical resection.

MiR-96-5p influences cellular growth and is associated with poor survival in colorectal cancer patients.

Expression of miR-96-5p is frequently altered in various types of cancer and the KRAS oncogene has been identified as one of its potential targets. However, the biological role of miR-96-5p expression in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its ability to predict the clinical course of patients have not been investigated yet. In this study, we explored miR-96-5p expression in 80 CRC patients and evaluated the impact on clinical outcome by Kaplan-Meier curves and multivariate Cox proportional models.

Pre-treatment anemia is a poor prognostic factor in soft tissue sarcoma patients.

Background: Anemia refers to low hemoglobin (Hb) levels, represents a common symptom and complication in cancer patients and was reported to negatively influence survival in patients with various malignancies. In the present study, we aimed to explore the prognostic impact of pre-operative Hb levels on clinical outcome in a large cohort of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) patients after curative surgery.

Methods: Retrospective data from 367 STS patients, which were operated between 1998 and 2013, were included in the study.

Evaluation of uric acid as a prognostic blood-based marker in a large cohort of pancreatic cancer patients.

Background: Recently, chemical blood parameters gain more attraction as potential prognostic parameters in pancreatic cancer (PC). In the present study we investigated the prognostic relevance of the uric acid (UA) level in blood plasma at the time of diagnosis for overall survival (OS) in a large cohort of patients with PC.

Patients And Methods: Data from 466 consecutive patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were evaluated retrospectively.

The elevated preoperative platelet to lymphocyte ratio predicts decreased time to recurrence in colon cancer patients.

Background: Recent evidence indicates that tumor progression involves factors of systemic inflammation, such as platelets and lymphocytes. In this study, we investigated the prognostic relevance of the preoperative platelet to lymphocyte (P/L) ratio on time to recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS) in patients with stage II and III colon cancer (CC) who underwent curative resection.

Methods: In this retrospective study, 372 CC patients were included.

A functional germline variant in GLI1 implicates hedgehog signaling in clinical outcome of stage II and III colon carcinoma patients.

Purpose: Cumulating evidence indicates that germline variants in the Wnt, Notch, and Hedgehog pathways are involved in colon carcinoma progression and metastasis. We investigated germline polymorphisms in a comprehensive panel of Wnt, Notch, and Hedgehog pathway genes to predict time to recurrence (TTR) and overall survival in patients with stage II and III colon carcinoma.

Experimental Design: A total of 742 consecutively collected patients with stage II and III colon carcinoma were included in this retrospective study.

An internally and externally validated prognostic score for metastatic breast cancer: analysis of 2269 patients.

Background: The prognosis of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is extremely heterogeneous. Although patients with MBC will uniformly die to their disease, survival may range from a few months to several years. This underscores the importance of defining prognostic factors to develop risk-adopted treatment strategies.

The preoperative lymphocyte to monocyte ratio predicts clinical outcome in patients with stage III colon cancer.

Background: Inflammation has a critical role in the pathogenesis and progression of cancer. The lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) could be shown to be prognostic in haematologic neoplasia. In this study, we analysed the LMR with clinical outcome in stage II and III colon cancer patients.

The current and future role of the medical oncologist in the professional care for cancer patients: a position paper by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

The number of cancer patients in Europe is rising and significant advances in basic and applied cancer research are making the provision of optimal care more challenging. The concept of cancer as a systemic, highly heterogeneous and complex disease has increased the awareness that quality cancer care should be provided by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) of highly qualified healthcare professionals. Cancer patients also have the right to benefit from medical progress by receiving optimal treatment from adequately trained and highly skilled medical professionals.

External validation of the derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic marker on a large cohort of pancreatic cancer patients.

Background: With growing evidence on the role of inflammation in cancer biology, the presence of a systemic inflammatory response has been postulated as having prognostic significance in a wide range of cancer types. The derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (dNLR), which represents an easily determinable potential prognostic marker in daily practise and clinical trials, has never been externally validated in pancreatic cancer (PC) patients.

Methods: Data from 474 consecutive PC patients, treated between 2004 and 2012 at a single centre, were evaluated retrospectively.

Validation of C-reactive protein levels as a prognostic indicator for survival in a large cohort of pancreatic cancer patients.

Background: Recent evidence indicates that the host inflammatory response has an important role in the tumour progression. Elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels have been previously associated with poor prognosis in several cancer types including small-scale studies in pancreatic cancer (PC) patients. The purpose of the present study was to validate the prognostic impact of plasma CRP levels at date of diagnosis on cancer-specific survival (CSS) in a large cohort of PC patients.

Preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts clinical outcome in patients with stage II and III colon cancer.

Unlabelled: AIM/ BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a combined indicator of inflammation and immunology, is as yet unidentified regarding the clinical outcome of stage II and III colon cancer patients. We evaluated the effect of NLR on time-to-recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS) in selected patients.

Patients And Methods: A total of 504 patients with stage II and III colon cancer were included in this retrospective study.