Precision Oncology in Older Cancer Patients: A Single-Center Experience.

In the last two decades, next-generation sequencing (NGS) has facilitated enormous progress in cancer medicine, in both diagnosis and treatment. However, the usefulness of NGS in older cancer patients is unclear. To determine the role of NGS in older cancer patients, we retrospectively assessed demographic, clinicopathologic, and disease-specific data from 100 randomly selected cancer patients (any subtype/stage) who underwent NGS testing in 2020 at our institution and compared the treatment outcomes (progression-free survival [PFS] and overall survival [OS]) in the younger and older patient cohorts (A [n = 34] and B [n = 66]: age < 70 and ≥70 years, respectively).

Corticosteroid therapy in older adults with cancer: Expert recommendations from a task force of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology.

Corticosteroids are used frequently in oncology and many patients require short- or long-term corticosteroid therapy. General clinical guidelines and recommendations exist on the use of corticosteroids; however, evidence is lacking for recommendations on their appropriate use in older adult with cancer. Treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) has dramatically improved over the last decade with 5-hydroxytryptamine type 3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonists and neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptor antagonists or a combination of both.

[Side effects of oncology drugs in elderly patients].

Cancer is a disease of old age with approximately 50% of new cancer cases occurring in humans aged 65 years and older and this number is expected to rise to 58% by 2030. Chemotherapy remains a standard part of cancer treatment, alongside new therapies such as immunotherapy and targeted therapies. However, older patients are at increased risk of chemotherapy-induced toxicity compared to younger adults.

Clinical and pathological factors and outcome of central nervous system metastasis in breast cancer.

Background: In Switzerland, approximately 6000 new breast cancer cases and 1300 deaths are reported annually. Brain metastasis from breast cancer (BMBC) has a major effect on prognosis. This study aimed to identify prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) in a cohort of Swiss patients with BMBC.

[Immunotherapy: also in elderly patients ?].

The emergence of immunotherapy has generated great enthusiasm in oncology improving the prognosis of pathologies such as melanoma, lung cancer, kidney cancer, bladder and head and neck cancers. This enthusiasm concerns also older patients in view of the good tolerance of immunotherapy in young people. However, advanced age is linked to changes in the immune system, called immunosenescence, which could have a negative impact on the efficacy and toxicity of immunotherapy treatment.

Using Big Data in oncology to prospectively impact clinical patient care: A proof of concept study.

Objective: Big Data is widely seen as a major opportunity for progress in the practice of personalized medicine, attracting the attention from medical societies and presidential teams alike as it offers a unique opportunity to enlarge the base of evidence, especially for older patients underrepresented in clinical trials. This study prospectively assessed the real-time availability of clinical cases in the Health & Research Informatics Total Cancer Care™ (TCC) database matching community patients with cancer, and the impact of such a consultation on treatment.

Materials And Methods: Patients aged 70 and older seen at the Lynn Cancer Institute (LCI) with a documented malignancy were eligible.

Structural analysis of Heschl's gyrus in schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations.

Background/aims: Heschl's gyrus (HG) is functionally involved in the genesis of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). This dysfunction seems to be structurally facilitated. The aim of the study was to analyze macrostructural features of HG in a group of patients reporting AVH who demonstrated white matter diffusion tensor imaging abnormalities reported previously.