Evaluating the Efficacy of Different Treatment Intensities in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients: A Nationwide Cancer Registry-Based Study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of different treatment intensities (TIs) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Methods: The study assessed newly diagnosed, non-metastatic NPC patients from the Taiwan Cancer Registry between 2010 and 2017. TIs were divided into four groups: TI1 [radiotherapy (RT) alone or induction chemotherapy (IC) followed by RT); TI2 (concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) alone); TI3 (IC followed by CRT or CRT followed by adjuvant chemotherapy (AC)]; and TI4 (IC followed by CRT followed by AC).

Population-Based Prognostic Models for Head and Neck Cancers Using National Cancer Registry Data from Taiwan.

Purpose: This study aims to raise awareness of the disparities in survival predictions among races in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients by developing and validating population-based prognostic models specifically tailored for Taiwanese and Asian populations.

Methods: A total of 49,137 patients diagnosed with HNCs were included from the Taiwan Cancer Registry (TCR). Six prognostic models, divided into three categories based on surgical status, were developed to predict both overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival using the registered demographic and clinicopathological characteristics in the Cox proportional hazards model.

Palbociclib sensitizes ER-positive breast cancer cells to fulvestrant by promoting the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of ER-α via SNHG17/Hippo-YAP axis.

Purpose: Endocrine therapy is the anti-tumor therapy for human breast cancer but endocrine resistance was a major burden. It has been reported that Palbociclib and fulvestrant can be used in combination for the treatment of patients who are experiencing endocrine resistance. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear.

Looking Back: International Practice Patterns in Breast Radiation Oncology From a Case-Based Survey Across 54 Countries During the First Surge of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected cancer care worldwide, including radiation therapy (RT) for breast cancer (BC), because of risk-based resource allocation. We report the evolution of international breast RT practices during the beginning of the pandemic, focusing on differences in treatment recommendations between countries.

Materials And Methods: Between July and November 2020, a 58-question survey was distributed to radiation oncologists (ROs) through international professional societies.

Prognostic Comparison between Oncotype DX and a 23-Gene Classifier, RecurIndex, on the Taiwan Breast Cancer Population.

The applicability of the Oncotype DX (Genomic Health, Inc., Redwood City, CA, USA) recurrence score (RS) in Asian populations is unclear. A 23-gene classifier, RecurIndex (Amwise Diagnostics, Pte.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis from a Societal Perspective of Recurrence Index for Distant Recurrence (RecurIndex) in Women with Hormone Receptor-Positive and HER2-Negative Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

Purpose: A clinical-genomic prognostic multigene panel (RI-DR assay, RecurIndex), predicting the risk level of distant recurrence (DR) in early-stage breast cancer (EBC) patients with an Asian background, has been validated as a valuable tool for identifying high-risk patients to develop distant recurrence (metastasis). Although the clinical benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy from the assay's prediction is already proved, its affordability remains uncertain. This study is the first time in which the long-term cost-effectiveness of the RI-DR assay is evaluated.

Comparison between the use of hypofractionated and conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in early breast cancer: A single-center real-world study in Taiwan.

Background/purpose: This study aimed to analyze the long-term outcomes of hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation (WBI) (HF-WBI) compared with those of conventionally fractionated WBI (CF-WBI) for early breast cancer treated with breast-conservation surgery (BCS) and adjuvant WBI in Taiwan.

Methods: This study included patients treated at our institution between 2012 and 2016. All patients with early breast cancer received BCS (pT1-2, pN0, M0) and adjuvant WBI through one of two treatment schemes.

Correlation of ER, PR, and HER2 at the protein and mRNA levels in Asian patients with operable breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women. The estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) are the important biomarkers in the prognosis of breast cancer, and their expression is used to categorize breast cancer into subtypes. We aimed to analyze the concordance among ER, PR, and HER2 expression levels and breast cancer subtyping results obtained by immunohistochemistry (IHC, for protein) and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR, for mRNA) and to assess the recurrence-free survival (RFS) of the different subtypes as determined by the two methods.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy and checkpoint inhibitor for locally recurrent unresectable nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The treatment of local recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is challenging, and the role of reirradiation is controversial regarding the high risk for severe toxicity. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is a high-precision radiation technique that can spare surrounding normal tissues. Studies have demonstrated the high activity and low toxicity of both SBRT and anti-programmed-cell-death-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors for head and neck cancers.

The use of moderately hypofractionated post-operative radiation therapy for breast cancer in clinical practice: A critical review.

Post-operative radiation therapy (RT) reduces loco-regional recurrence rates and mortality in most patients with non-metastatic breast cancer. The aim of this critical review is to provide an overview of the applicability of moderately hypofractionated RT for breast cancer patients, focusing on factors influencing clinical decision-making. An international group of radiation oncologists agreed to assess, integrate, and interpret the existing evidence into a practical report to guide clinicians in their daily management of breast cancer patients.

DGM-CM6: A New Model to Predict Distant Recurrence Risk in Operable Endocrine-Responsive Breast Cancer.

To investigate the prognostic value of DGM-CM6 (Distant Genetic Model-Clinical variable Model 6) for endocrine-responsive breast cancer (ERBC) patients, we analyzed 752 operable breast cancer patients treated in a Taiwan cancer center from 2005 to 2014. Among them, 490 ERBC patients (identified by the PAM50 or immunohistochemistry method) were classified by DGM-CM6 into low- and high-risk groups (cutoff <33 and ≥33, respectively). Significant differences were observed between the DGM-CM6 low- and high-risk groups for 10-year distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS) in both lymph node (LN)- ( < 0.

A new clinical-genomic model to predict 10-year recurrence risk in primary operable breast cancer patients.

This study aimed to validate the long-term prognostic value of a new clinical-genomic model, Distant Genetic Model-Clinical Variable Model 6 (DGM-CM6), developed in Asia as a prognostic panel for all subtypes of breast cancer. We included 752 operable stage I-III breast cancer patients representing all subtypes treated from 2005 to 2014 as the validation cohort. The median follow-up was 95.

Development of a prediction model for breast cancer based on the national cancer registry in Taiwan.

Background: This study aimed to develop a prognostic model to predict the breast cancer-specific survival and overall survival for breast cancer patients in Asia and to demonstrate a significant difference in clinical outcomes between Asian and non-Asian patients.

Methods: We developed our prognostic models by applying a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model to Taiwan Cancer Registry (TCR) data. A data-splitting strategy was used for internal validation, and a multivariable fractional polynomial approach was adopted for prognostic continuous variables.

Protein arginine methyltransferase 3-induced metabolic reprogramming is a vulnerable target of pancreatic cancer.

Background: The biological function of protein arginine methyltransferase 3 (PRMT3) is not well known because very few physiological substrates of this methyltransferase have been identified to date.

Methods: The clinical significance of PRMT3 in pancreatic cancer was studied by database analysis. The PRMT3 protein level of human pancreatic tumors was detected by immunoblotting and immunohistochemical staining.

Clinical-Genomic Models of Node-Positive Breast Cancer: Training, Testing, and Validation.

Purpose: There is no useful model for predicting the risk of recurrence in node-positive patients regardless of breast cancer subtype. We developed and validated 2 clinical-genomic models (recurrence index [RI]-local recurrence [LR]) and RI-distant recurrence (RI-DR) for stratifying these patients into low- and high-risk groups.

Methods And Materials: The 4 data sets were (1) training group (n = 112); (2) testing group (n = 46); (3) validation group (n = 388); and (4) E-MTAB-365 data set (n = 426).

A preliminary report of head-to-head comparison of 18-gene-based clinical-genomic model and oncotype DX 21-gene assay for predicting recurrence of early-stage breast cancer.

Background: The information of Oncotype DX applied in Asian breast cancer patients is limited. A recurrence index for distant recurrence (RI-DR) has been developed for early-stage breast cancer (EBC) from tumor samples in Chinese patients. In this study, we compared the prognostic performance of the Oncotype DX (ODx) recurrence score (RS) with the RI-DR for any recurrence risk type.

Survival without adjuvant chemotherapy for selected patients with stage II and III nasopharyngeal carcinoma after concurrent chemoradiotherapy alone.

Background: The role of adjuvant chemotherapy after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is controversial. We report our phase II prospective study of withholding adjuvant chemotherapy in a subgroup of patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage II and III NPC with low risk for metastasis.

Methods: Between April 1998 and December 2008, 263 patients with stage II (AJCC 1997 T2aN0, T1-T2aN1; AJCC 2010 T1N1) NPC or stage III (AJCC 1997 T1-T2aN2; AJCC 2010 T1N2) NPC were enrolled.

Validation of the 18-gene classifier as a prognostic biomarker of distant metastasis in breast cancer.

We validated an 18-gene classifier (GC) initially developed to predict local/regional recurrence after mastectomy in estimating distant metastasis risk. The 18-gene scoring algorithm defines scores as: <21, low risk; ≥21, high risk. Six hundred eighty-three patients with primary operable breast cancer and fresh frozen tumor tissues available were included.

Association of a Bundled-Payment Program With Cost and Outcomes in Full-Cycle Breast Cancer Care.

Importance: Value-driven payment system reform is a potential tool for aligning economic incentives with the improvement of quality and efficiency of health care and containment of cost. Such a payment system has not been researched satisfactorily in full-cycle cancer care.

Objective: To examine the association of outcomes and medical expenditures with a bundled-payment pay-for-performance program for breast cancer in Taiwan compared with a fee-for-service (FFS) program.

Trend in and Correlates of Undergoing Radiotherapy in Taiwanese Cancer Patients' Last Month of Life.

Context: A significant proportion of cancer patients at end of life (EOL) undergo radiotherapy, but this evidence is not from nationwide population-based studies.

Objectives: The aims of this population-based study were to investigate the trend in undergoing radiotherapy among Taiwanese cancer patients' last month of life (EOL radiotherapy) in 2001-2010 and to identify factors associated with EOL radiotherapy.

Methods: This was a population-based retrospective cohort study analyzing data from Taiwan's national death registry, cancer registry, and National Health Insurance claims for EOL radiotherapy using multilevel generalized linear mixed modeling.

An Eighteen-Gene Classifier Predicts Locoregional Recurrence in Post-Mastectomy Breast Cancer Patients.

We previously identified 34 genes of interest (GOI) in 2006 to aid the oncologists to determine whether post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) is indicated for certain patients with breast cancer. At this time, an independent cohort of 135 patients having DNA microarray study available from the primary tumor tissue samples was chosen. Inclusion criteria were 1) mastectomy as the first treatment, 2) pathology stages I-III, 3) any locoregional recurrence (LRR) and 4) no PMRT.