Publications by authors named "Volkmar Mueller"
Purpose: Patient-reported outcomes have not been sufficiently implemented into the routine care of cancer patients because the existing instruments are often too long and complex or not cancer-specific. The aim of this study is the determination of psychometric properties and item reduction of a newly developed health-related quality of life (HrQoL) questionnaire for use in oncological clinical routines.
Methods: This observational study with a repeated measurements design included oncological inpatients and outpatients.
Purpose: Tumor microenvironment (TME) immune markers have been correlated with both response to neoadjuvant therapy and prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Here, immune-cell activity of breast cancer tumors was inferred by expression-based analysis to determine if it is prognostic and/or predictive of response to neoadjuvant paclitaxel-based therapy in the GeparSepto (G7) trial (NCT01583426).
Experimental Design: Pre-study biopsies from 279 patients with HER2-negative breast cancer in the G7 trial underwent RNA-seq-based profiling of 104 immune-cell-specific genes to assess inferred Immune Cell Activity (iICA) of 23 immune-cell types.
Article Synopsis
- Scientists are studying special cancer cells in the blood called Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) to understand how they behave and what they mean for breast cancer patients.
- They created a new test to find these cells that doesn't only look for one marker called EpCAM, which can miss some cells.
- Their research showed that while cells with high EpCAM levels are linked to worse outcomes, low EpCAM cells could still provide important information about the tumor and should not be ignored.
Importance: It is estimated that up to 50% of patients with ERBB2 (HER2)-positive metastatic breast cancer (MBC) will develop brain metastases (BMs), which is associated with poor prognosis. Previous reports of the HER2CLIMB trial have demonstrated that tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine provides survival and intracranial benefits for patients with ERBB2-positive MBC and BMs.
Objective: To describe overall survival (OS) and intracranial outcomes from tucatinib in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine in patients with ERBB2-positive MBC and BMs with an additional 15.
The prognostic relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in breast cancer is well established. However, little is known about the association of CTCs and site of first metastasis. In the SUCCESS A trial, 373 out of 3754 randomized high-risk breast cancer patients developed metastatic disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: At present, maintenance therapy with the antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab or with PARP-inhibitors represent two options for BRCA-wildtype ovarian cancer patients, after platinum-based first line chemotherapy. The identification of molecular markers to predict patient response to different maintenance therapies remains a major challenge. In the present study we analyzed the predictive potential of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) to identify ovarian cancer patients that might benefit from an antiangiogenic therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: In HER2CLIMB, tucatinib significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer. We evaluated the impact of tucatinib on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in HER2CLIMB.
Methods: Patients were randomised 2:1 to tucatinib or placebo combined with trastuzumab and capecitabine.
Therapeutic options in recurrent or metastasized vulvar squamous cell cancer (VSCC) not amenable to radiotherapy or radical surgery are limited. Evidence for the use of targeted therapies is sparse. All patients with VSCC treated at the Gynecological Cancer Center Hamburg-Eppendorf 20132019 were retrospectively evaluated for targeted therapeutic approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The aim of this multicenter cross-sectional study was to analyze a cohort of breast (BC) and gynecological cancer (GC) patients regarding their interest in, perception of and demand for integrative therapeutic health approaches.
Methods: BC and GC patients were surveyed at their first integrative clinic visit using validated standardized questionnaires. Treatment goals and potential differences between the two groups were evaluated.
Article Synopsis
- Cancer patients often face physical and emotional challenges, but these issues are not always recognized or addressed in standard clinical practice.
- The study seeks to create a brief, effective questionnaire to assess health-related quality of life (HrQoL) in these patients, ensuring better patient-centered care.
- Conducted in two parts, the study involved interviews with patients and discussions with healthcare professionals to develop the questionnaire, which was then tested on over 770 cancer patients for effectiveness and reliability.
Purpose: In the HER2CLIMB study, patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer with brain metastases (BMs) showed statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) with tucatinib. We describe exploratory analyses of intracranial efficacy and survival in participants with BMs.
Patients And Methods: Patients were randomly assigned 2:1 to tucatinib or placebo, in combination with trastuzumab and capecitabine.
Background: Distant metastases from squamous cell cancer of the vulva (VSCC) are encountered rarely and are associated with a poor prognosis. Cerebral metastases have only been described anecdotally.
Case History: A 51-year old woman was diagnosed with hepatic metastases due to VSCC.
Article Synopsis
- * A study analyzed circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from 46 breast cancer patients and found ESR1 mutations in 12 of them, specifically in those treated with EDT, indicating that these mutations may develop during therapy.
- * The presence of ESR1 mutations was mainly in metastatic lesions and not in primary tumors, suggesting that single-cell CTC analysis could help identify patients who need alternative therapies before their condition worsens.
Article Synopsis
- * Out of 73 patients, only 3 (4.1%) had HPV-positive tonsillar smears, while a high concordance (91%) was observed in cervical smears for HPV detection using two different assays.
- * The findings indicate a low prevalence of oropharyngeal HPV infections in patients with HSIL, highlighting the need for larger studies to pinpoint which HPV types may be missed by certain detection methods.
Background: The prognostic relevance of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) at the time of primary diagnosis has been well established. However, little information is available regarding their prognostic relevance to follow-up care.
Methods: The multicenter, open-label, phase III SUCCESS A trial compared two adjuvant chemotherapy regimens followed by 2 vs 5 years of zoledronate for early-stage, high-risk breast cancer patients.
Background: Elderly patients are underrepresented in clinical trials in gynecological cancer, even though they are disproportionally often affected. This study aimed to evaluate the disposition and apprehension of elderly patients toward study participation.
Methods: 112 elderly gynecological cancer patients (median age 70) were surveyed in a multicenter cross-sectional study.
Article Synopsis
- The research focuses on Metastasis-Associated in Colon Cancer-1 (MACC1), which activates the HGF/MET pathway, known to indicate poor outcomes in breast cancer.
- The study analyzed MACC1 expression in 105 breast cancer samples using Western-Blot and immunohistochemistry methods.
- Findings reveal that high MACC1 levels are linked to shorter disease-free survival, particularly in lymph-node-negative patients and those with estrogen receptor-positive tumors, suggesting MACC1 could be a valuable prognostic marker in treatment decisions.
Background: We conducted a meta-analysis in nonmetastatic breast cancer patients treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) to assess the clinical validity of circulating tumor cell (CTC) detection as a prognostic marker.
Methods: We collected individual patient data from 21 studies in which CTC detection by CellSearch was performed in early breast cancer patients treated with NCT. The primary end point was overall survival, analyzed according to CTC detection, using Cox regression models stratified by study.
Discordance in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) Phenotype Between Primary Tumor and Circulating Tumor Cells in Women With HER2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer.
JCO Precis Oncol
November 2017
Purpose: Discordance in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status between primary tumor and metastases might have important implications for treatment response and therapy decisions. Here, we evaluate both the frequency of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and the factors predicting HER2 discordance between primary tumor and CTCs as a potential surrogate for tumor biology and tumor heterogeneity in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Patients And Methods: The number of CTCs in 7.
Cement augmentation via percutaneous vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty for treatment of spinal metastasis is a well-established treatment option. We assessed whether elevated intrametastatic pressure during cement augmentation results in an increased dissemination of tumour cells into the vascular circulation. We prospectively collected blood from patients with osteolytic spinal column metastases and analysed the prevalence of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) at three time-points: preoperatively, 20 minutes after cement augmentation, and 3-5 days postoperatively.
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