Evaluating pain management practices for cancer patients among health professionals in cancer and supportive/palliative care units: a Belgian survey.

Background: Pain is reported in 66% of cancer patients with advanced disease. Adequate pain management is a cornerstone of comprehensive supportive cancer care.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess pain management in Oncology Units in Belgium.

Real-World Impact of Upfront Cytoreductive Nephrectomy in Metastatic Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated with First-Line Immunotherapy Combinations or Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (A Sub-Analysis from the ARON-1 Retrospective Study).

Background: About 20% of patients with renal cell carcinoma present with non-clear cell histology (nccRCC), encompassing various histological types. While surgery remains pivotal for localized-stage nccRCC, the role of cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) in metastatic nccRCC is contentious. Limited data exist on the role of CN in metastatic nccRCC under current standard of care.

Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma: Outcomes for Patients Receiving First-line Immune-based Combinations or Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors from the ARON-1 Study.

Background And Objective: Papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) is the most frequent histological subtype of non-clear cell RCC (nccRCC). Owing to the heterogeneity of nccRCC, patients are often excluded from large phase 3 trials focused on clear cell RCC, so treatment options for nccRCC remain limited. Our aim was to investigate the efficacy of first-line treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) or immuno-oncology (IO)-based combinations in patients with pRCC.

Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index in Patients Treated With First-Line Immune Combinations for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Insights From the ARON-1 Study.

Background: Systemic treatment with immune combinations is the gold standard for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) worldwide. The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) is a prognostic marker for several types of malignant neoplasms, including mRCC, in the era of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment. Data regarding the prognostic value of the SII in patients with mRCC treated with immunotherapy are scarce and controversial.

Characterization of the long-term effects of lethal total body irradiation followed by bone marrow transplantation on the brain of C57BL/6 mice.

Purpose: Total body irradiation (TBI) followed by bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is used in pre-clinical research to generate mouse chimeras that allow to study the function of a protein specifically on immune cells. Adverse consequences of irradiation on the juvenile body and brain are well described and include general fatigue, neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Yet, the long-term consequences of TBI/BMT performed on healthy adult mice have been poorly investigated.

Bone targeting agents, but not radiation therapy, improves survival in patients with bone metastases from advanced urothelial carcinoma receiving pembrolizumab: results from the ARON-2 study.

The ARON-2 study (NCT05290038) aimed to assess the real-world efficacy of pembrolizumab in patients recurred or progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy. This retrospective analysis reports the outcomes of urothelial carcinoma (UC) patients with bone metastases (BM). Medical records of patients with documented metastatic UC treated by pembrolizumab as second-line therapy were reviewed from60 institutions in 20 countries.

Use of concomitant proton pump inhibitors, statins or metformin in patients treated with pembrolizumab for metastatic urothelial carcinoma: data from the ARON-2 retrospective study.

Background: Concomitant medications may potentially affect the outcome of cancer patients. In this sub-analysis of the ARON-2 real-world study (NCT05290038), we aimed to assess the impact of concomitant use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), statins, or metformin on outcome of patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC) receiving second-line pembrolizumab.

Methods: We collected data from the hospital medical records of patients with mUC treated with pembrolizumab as second-line therapy at 87 institutions from 22 countries.

Real-world Outcome of Patients with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma and Intermediate- or Poor-risk International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium Criteria Treated by Immune-oncology Combinations: Differential Effectiveness by Risk Group?

Background: Renal c carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most common urinary cancers worldwide, with a predicted increase in incidence in the coming years. Immunotherapy, as a single agent, in doublets, or in combination with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), has rapidly become a cornerstone of the RCC therapeutic scenario, but no head-to-head comparisons have been made. In this setting, real-world evidence emerges as a cornerstone to guide clinical decisions.

Global Real-World Outcomes of Patients Receiving Immuno-Oncology Combinations for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma: The ARON-1 Study.

Background: Immuno-oncology combinations have achieved survival benefits in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Objective: The ARON-1 study (NCT05287464) was designed to globally collect real-world data on the use of immuno-combinations as first-line therapy for mRCC patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients aged ≥ 18 years with a cytologically and/or histologically confirmed diagnosis of mRCC treated with first-line immuno-combination therapies were retrospectively included from 47 International Institutions from 16 countries.

Real-world effectiveness of pembrolizumab as first-line therapy for cisplatin-ineligible patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma: the ARON-2 study.

Background: The advent of immune-checkpoint inhibitors has challenged previous treatment paradigms for advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC) in the post-platinum setting as well as in the first-line setting for cisplatin-ineligible patients. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of pembrolizumab as first-line treatment for cisplatin-ineligible UC.

Methods: Data from patients aged ≥ 18 years with cisplatin-ineligible UC and receiving first-line pembrolizumab from January 1st 2017 to September 1st 2022 were collected.

Clinico-Pathological Features Influencing the Prognostic Role of Body Mass Index in Patients With Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated by Immuno-Oncology Combinations (ARON-1).

Background: Obesity has been associated with improved response to immunotherapy in cancer patients. We investigated the role of body mass index (BMI) in patients from the ARON-1 study (NCT05287464) treated by dual immuno-oncology agents (IO+IO) or a combination of immuno-oncology drug and a tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) as first-line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

Patients And Methods: Medical records of patients with documented mRCC treated by immuno-oncology combinations were reviewed at 47 institutions from 16 countries.

Radium-223 as an Additional Therapeutic Strategy in Highly Selected Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Case Report.

Radium-223 is commonly used in metastatic prostate cancer, targeting specifically bone metastases. The use of radium-223 remains, however, poorly evaluated in metastatic breast cancer. We report a case of radium-223 treatment in a 59-year-old patient with bone-only metastatic disease that progressed on multiple lines of systemic treatments.

The Evolution of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.

Urothelial carcinoma is an aggressive cancer and development of metastases remains a challenge for clinicians. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are significantly improving the outcomes of patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC). These agents were first used in monotherapy after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy, but different strategies explored the optimal use of ICIs in a first-line metastatic setting.

Improving the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the management of advanced urothelial carcinoma, where do we stand?

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly improved the outcome of patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC). If these agents were first used in monotherapy after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy, new strategies have been evaluated in the last years, including association of ICIs, ICI plus chemotherapy association or maintenance therapy. This maintenance concept allows a better management of mUC, which is particularly interesting in cisplatin-ineligible patients.

Efficiency of the four proteasome subtypes to degrade ubiquitinated or oxidized proteins.

The proteasome is responsible for selective degradation of proteins. It exists in mammalian cells under four main subtypes, which differ by the combination of their catalytic subunits: the standard proteasome (β1-β2-β5), the immunoproteasome (β1i-β2i-β5i) and the two intermediate proteasomes (β1-β2-β5i and β1i-β2-β5i). The efficiency of the four proteasome subtypes to degrade ubiquitinated or oxidized proteins remains unclear.

Pyloric Mucosal Diaphragm Associated with Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis: An Unusual Combination in a Male Neonate.

We describe herein the case of a 3-week-old baby with persistent nonbilious vomiting, due to a hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) associated with a congenital pyloric mucosal diaphragm. So far, an association between the two conditions has not been described. The diagnosis of a pyloric mucosal diaphragm was delayed because of its cooccurrence with HPS.

Diffusion-Weighted-Imaging infarct volume measurement tools show discrepancies leading to diverging thrombectomy decisions.

Background And Purpose: Recent clinical trials demonstrated the benefit of thrombectomy beyond 6h based on the automated measurement of infarct volume exclusively with the RAPID software. We aimed to compare eight tools commonly used for the measurement of infarct volume and see whether they would lead to similar thrombectomy decisions based on the Diffusion-weighted-imaging or computerized-tomography-perfusion Assessment with clinical mismatch in the triage of Wake-up and late-presenting strokes undergoing Neurointervention with Trevo (DAWN) trial imaging inclusion criteria.

Materials And Methods: The diffusion-weighted-imaging (DWI) infarct volume of 36 patients was measured with 3 automated tools (including RAPID) and 5 non-automated tools.

Phase 1 Study Evaluating the Association of the Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4/6 Inhibitor Ribociclib and Cetuximab in Recurrent/Metastatic p16-Negative Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck.

The majority of human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) present upregulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and frequent alterations in the cyclin D1-cyclin dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 (CDK 4/6)-retinoblastoma protein (pRb) pathway, resulting in cell cycle progression and tumor proliferation. This study investigated the combination of ribociclib, an orally highly selective inhibitor of CDK 4/6, and cetuximab in recurrent and/or metastatic (R/M) SCCHN. A phase I trial using a 3 + 3 design was performed to determine the dose limiting toxicity (DLT) and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of ribociclib with standard dose of weekly cetuximab in HPV-negative patients with R/M SCCHN.

Impact of a prehospital discrimination between trauma patients with or without early acute coagulopathy of trauma and the need for damage control resuscitation: rationale and design of a multicenter randomized phase II trial.

Background: The evidence of the Trauma Induced Coagulopathy Clinical Score (TICCS) accuracy has been evaluated in several studies but the potential effect of its use on patient outcomes needs to be evaluated. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact on mortality of a prehospital discrimination between trauma patients with or without a potential need for damage control resuscitation.

Methods: The trial will be designed as randomized phase II clinical trial with comparison of the experimental protocol against the standard of care.

Prospective validation of a lymphocyte infiltration prognostic test in stage III colon cancer patients treated with adjuvant FOLFOX.

Background: The prognostic value of lymphocyte infiltration (LI) of colorectal carcinoma (CC) has been demonstrated by several groups. However, no validated test is currently available for clinical practice. We previously described an automated and reproducible method for testing LI and aimed to validate it for clinical use.

Spinal Cord Infarction in the Course of a Septic Shock: About One Case and Review of the Literature.

We report the case of a patient admitted to our intensive care unit in the course of a septic shock, secondary to cholangitis. After rapid hemodynamic stabilization, antibiotherapy, and endoscopic extraction of bile ducts stones, she appeared to have developed flaccid paraplegia. The suspected diagnosis of medullar ischemia was confirmed by typical MRI findings.

Randomized Phase II Study of Cabazitaxel Versus Methotrexate in Patients With Recurrent and/or Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck Previously Treated With Platinum-Based Therapy.

Lessons Learned: Cabazitaxel has activity in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and taxane-resistant cell lines. For the first time, cabazitaxel was investigated in incurable patients with recurrent SCCHN. Patients were randomly assigned to cabazitaxel every 3 weeks or weekly methotrexate.