Contact Days Associated With Cancer Treatments in the CCTG LY.12 Trial.

Background: When cancer treatments have similar oncologic outcomes, the number of days with in-person healthcare contact (""contact days'') can help contextualize expected time use with each treatment. We assessed contact days in a completed randomized clinical trial.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the CCTG LY.

Pain Relief Reverses Hippocampal Abnormalities in Trigeminal Neuralgia.

Chronic pain patients frequently report memory and concentration difficulties. Objective testing in this population points to poor performance on memory and cognitive tests, and increased comorbid anxiety and depression. Recent evidence has suggested convergence between chronic pain and memory deficits onto the hippocampus.

A Prospective Economic Analysis of Early Outcome Data From the Alliance A041202/ CCTG CLC.2 Randomized Phase III Trial Of Bendamustine-Rituximab Compared With Ibrutinib-Based Regimens in Untreated Older Patients With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Introduction: The Alliance A041202/CCTG CLC.2 trial demonstrated superior progression-free survival with ibrutinib-based therapy compared to chemoimmunotherapy with bendamustine-rituximab (BR) in previously untreated older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. We completed a prospective trial-based economic analysis of Canadian patients to study the direct medical costs and quality-adjusted benefit associated with these therapies.

Minimization of resource utilization data collected within cost-effectiveness analyses conducted alongside Canadian Cancer Trials Group phase III trials.

Background: Cost-effectiveness analyses embedded within randomized trials allow for evaluation of value alongside conventional efficacy outcomes; however, collection of resource utilization data can require considerable trial resources.

Methods: We re-analyzed the results from four phase III Canadian Cancer Trials Group trials that embedded cost-effectiveness analyses to determine the impact of minimizing potential cost categories on the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. For each trial, we disaggregated total costs into component incremental cost categories and recalculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios using (1) only the top 3 cost categories, (2) the top 5 cost categories, and (3) all cost components.

Immune checkpoint-inhibitors and chemoradiation in stage III unresectable non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer resulted in an estimated 1.8 million deaths worldwide in 2018 and approximately 20% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are diagnosed with stage III unresectable disease. Phase III data from the PACIFIC trial show significantly improved progression-free survival for the checkpoint-inhibitor durvalumab given as consolidation following definitive chemoradiotherapy (cCRT).

Breaking the biomarker code: PD-L1 expression and checkpoint inhibition in advanced NSCLC.

Background: Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death among males and the second leading cause among females globally. Checkpoint inhibitors re-engage the immune system to fight cancer. This review evaluates phase III data on the use of checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of advanced NSCLC and addresses PD-L1 expression in predicting efficacy.

The Use of Immunohistochemistry Improves the Diagnosis of Small Cell Lung Cancer and Its Differential Diagnosis. An International Reproducibility Study in a Demanding Set of Cases.

Introduction: The current WHO classification of lung cancer states that a diagnosis of SCLC can be reliably made on routine histological and cytological grounds but immunohistochemistry (IHC) may be required, particularly (1) in cases in which histologic features are equivocal and (2) in cases in which the pathologist wants to increase confidence in diagnosis. However, reproducibility studies based on hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides alone for SCLC versus large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) have shown pairwise κ scores ranging from 0.35 to 0.

Future directions for bone metastasis research - highlights from the 2015 bone and the Oncologist new updates conference (BONUS).

In an era of reduced peer-reviewed grant funding, performing academic bone oncology-related research has become increasingly challenging. Over the last 10 years we have held an annual meeting to bring together clinicians, clinician/scientists and basic biomedical researchers interested in the effects of cancer and its treatment on skeletal tissues. In the past these "Bone and the Oncologist New Updates Conference (BONUS)" meetings have served as critical catalyst for initiating productive research collaborations between attendees.

Pointed Progress in Second-Line Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: The Rapidly Evolving Field of Checkpoint Inhibition.

Purpose: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is globally prevalent and associated with high rates of mortality. Immune checkpoint pathways are often exploited by tumors to evade immunity-mediated destruction, and checkpoint inhibitors can reactivate tumor-related immune responses. This review considers available clinical evidence for the use of checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of second-line advanced NSCLC.

A prognostic index model for predicting overall survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with abiraterone acetate after docetaxel.

Background: Few prognostic models for overall survival (OS) are available for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) treated with recently approved agents. We developed a prognostic index model using readily available clinical and laboratory factors from a phase III trial of abiraterone acetate (hereafter abiraterone) in combination with prednisone in post-docetaxel mCRPC.

Patients And Methods: Baseline data were available from 762 patients treated with abiraterone-prednisone.

Improvements in Radiographic Progression-Free Survival Stratified by ERG Gene Status in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients Treated with Abiraterone Acetate.

Purpose: Gene fusions leading to androgen receptor-modulated ERG overexpression occur in up to 70% of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancers (mCRPC). We assessed the association between ERG rearrangement status and clinical benefit from abiraterone acetate.

Experimental Design: COU-AA-302 is a phase III trial comparing abiraterone acetate and prednisone versus prednisone in chemotherapy-naïve mCRPC.

Risk of incremental toxicities and associated costs of new anticancer drugs: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: There are increasing reports of rare but serious toxicities caused by new anticancer drugs, and there are costs associated with their management.

Methods: We identified anticancer drugs approved by the U.S.

Hotspot activating PRKD1 somatic mutations in polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinomas of the salivary glands.

Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA) is the second most frequent type of malignant tumor of the minor salivary glands. We identified PRKD1 hotspot mutations encoding p.Glu710Asp in 72.

Long-term complications in men who have early or late radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy.

Introduction: Choosing adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) or salvage RT after radical prostatectomy (RP) for locally advanced prostate cancer is controversial. Performing RT early after RP may increase the risk of urinary complications compared to RT performed later. We evaluated the urinary complication rates of men treated with surgery followed by early or late RT.

A phase I dose escalation trial of tremelimumab (CP-675,206) in combination with gemcitabine in chemotherapy-naive patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Background: Tremelimumab (CP-675,206) is a fully human monoclonal antibody binding to cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA4) on T cells that stimulates the immune system by blocking the CTLA4-negative regulatory signal. Combination with standard chemotherapy may strengthen antitumor therapy. This is a phase Ib, multisite, open-label, nonrandomized dose escalation trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of tremelimumab combined with gemcitabine in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Epiregulin gene expression as a biomarker of benefit from cetuximab in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.

Background: Anti-EGFR antibody, cetuximab, improves overall survival (OS) in K-ras wild-type chemotherapy-refractory colorectal cancer. Epidermal growth factor receptor ligand epiregulin (EREG) gene expression may further predict cetuximab benefit.

Methods: Tumour samples from a phase III clinical trial of cetuximab plus best supportive care (BSC) vs BSC alone (CO.

A phase II multicentre study of ziv-aflibercept in combination with cisplatin and pemetrexed in patients with previously untreated advanced/metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of ziv-aflibercept in combination with cisplatin and pemetrexed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: This single arm, multicentre phase II trial enrolled patients with previously untreated, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC. Patients received intravenous ziv-aflibercept 6 mg kg(-1), pemetrexed 500 mg m(-2), and cisplatin 75 mg m(-2), every 21 days for up to six cycles.

In compressed lung tissue microscopic sections of adenocarcinoma in situ may mimic papillary adenocarcinoma.

Context: Surgical removal and pathologic handling of lung tissue has a compressive effect upon its architecture. The effect of surgical atelectasis on morphology has not been examined in depth, especially with respect to lung adenocarcinomas.

Objective: To examine the influence of surgical atelectasis on morphologic lepidic growth pattern, mimicking papillary adenocarcinoma pattern.

Bias in reporting of end points of efficacy and toxicity in randomized, clinical trials for women with breast cancer.

Background: Phase III randomized, clinical trials (RCTs) assess clinically important differences in end points that reflect benefit to patients. Here, we evaluate the quality of reporting of the primary end point (PE) and of toxicity in RCTs for breast cancer.

Methods: PUBMED was searched from 1995 to 2011 to identify RCTs for breast cancer.

Penetration of anticancer drugs through tumour tissue as a function of cellular packing density and interstitial fluid pressure and its modification by bortezomib.

Background: Limited penetration of anticancer drugs in solid tumours is a probable cause of drug resistance. Our previous results indicate that drug penetration depends on cellular packing density and adhesion between cancer cells.

Methods: We used epithelioid and round cell variants of the HCT-8 human colon carcinoma cell lines to generate tightly and loosely packed xenografts in nude mice.

Ocular toxicity of targeted therapies.

Molecularly targeted agents are commonly used in oncology practice, and many new targeted agents are currently being tested in clinical trials. Although these agents are thought to be more specific and less toxic then traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy, they are associated with a variety of toxicities, including ocular toxicity. Many of the molecules targeted by anticancer agents are also expressed in ocular tissues.

25-Hydroxy vitamin-D, obesity, and associated variables as predictors of breast cancer risk and tamoxifen benefit in NSABP-P1.

Observational studies suggest that host factors are associated with breast cancer risk. The influence of obesity, vitamin-D status, insulin resistance, inflammation, and elevated adipocytokines in women at high risk of breast cancer is unknown. The NSABP-P1 trial population was used for a nested case-control study.