Survival by Depth of Response and Efficacy by International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium Subgroup with Lenvatinib Plus Pembrolizumab Versus Sunitinib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma: Analysis of the Phase 3 Randomized CLEAR Study.

Background: The extent of tumor shrinkage has been deemed a predictor of survival for advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a disease with historically poor survival.

Objective: To perform an exploratory analysis of overall survival (OS) by tumor response by 6 mo, and to assess the efficacy and survival outcomes in specific subgroups.

Design, Setting, And Participants: CLEAR was an open-label, multicenter, randomized, phase 3 trial of first-line treatment of advanced clear cell RCC.

Changes in the tumor oxygenation but not in the tumor volume and tumor vascularization reflect early response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Background: Breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) allows for assessing tumor sensitivity to systemic treatment, planning adjuvant treatment and follow-up. However, a sufficiently large number of patients fail to achieve the desired level of pathological tumor response while optimal early response assessment methods have not been established now. In our study, we simultaneously assessed the early chemotherapy-induced changes in the tumor volume by ultrasound (US), the tumor oxygenation by diffuse optical spectroscopy imaging (DOSI), and the state of the tumor vascular bed by Doppler US to elaborate the predictive criteria of breast tumor response to treatment.

Gastric cancer epidemiology from 2009 to 2019 in Dnipro Region, Ukraine.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is in top-five the most frequent cancers in Ukrainian males and is the third cause of death among patients with cancer. GC keeps its leading position in cancer ranks despite the decline in incidence and mortality over the last 50 years. Local epidemiological information will help in better targeting medical and public health interventions.

Multivariate Curve Resolution Alternating Least Squares Analysis of In Vivo Skin Raman Spectra.

In recent years, Raman spectroscopy has been used to study biological tissues. However, the analysis of experimental Raman spectra is still challenging, since the Raman spectra of most biological tissue components overlap significantly and it is difficult to separate individual components. New methods of analysis are needed that would allow for the decomposition of Raman spectra into components and the evaluation of their contribution.

Durvalumab with or without tremelimumab versus the EXTREME regimen as first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: KESTREL, a randomized, open-label, phase III study.

Background: Patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) have a poor prognosis. The phase III KESTREL study evaluated the efficacy of durvalumab [programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody] with or without tremelimumab [cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) antibody], versus the EXTREME regimen in patients with R/M HNSCC.

Patients And Methods: Patients with HNSCC who had not received prior systemic treatment for R/M disease were randomized (2 : 1 : 1) to receive durvalumab 1500 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W) plus tremelimumab 75 mg Q4W (up to four doses), durvalumab monotherapy 1500 mg Q4W, or the EXTREME regimen (platinum, 5-fluorouracil, and cetuximab) until disease progression.

Cemiplimab plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in non-small cell lung cancer: a randomized, controlled, double-blind phase 3 trial.

First-line cemiplimab (anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1)) monotherapy has previously shown significant improvement in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) versus chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) and PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression ≥50%. EMPOWER-Lung 3 ( NCT03409614 ), a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 study, examined cemiplimab plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy as first-line treatment for aNSCLC, irrespective of PD-L1 expression or histology. In this study, 466 patients with stage III/IV aNSCLC without EGFR, ALK or ROS1 genomic tumor aberrations were randomized (2:1) to receive cemiplimab 350 mg (n = 312) or placebo (n = 154) every 3 weeks for up to 108 weeks in combination with four cycles of platinum-doublet chemotherapy (followed by pemetrexed maintenance as indicated).

Patient-reported Outcomes from JAVELIN Bladder 100: Avelumab First-line Maintenance Plus Best Supportive Care Versus Best Supportive Care Alone for Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma.

Background: In JAVELIN Bladder 100, avelumab first-line maintenance plus best supportive care (BSC) significantly prolonged overall survival (OS; primary endpoint) versus BSC alone in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC) without disease progression with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Objective: To evaluate patient-reported outcomes (PROs) with avelumab plus BSC versus BSC alone.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A randomized phase 3 trial (NCT02603432) was conducted in 700 patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that had not progressed with first-line gemcitabine plus cisplatin or carboplatin.

Plain language summary of results from the JAVELIN Bladder 100 study: avelumab maintenance treatment for advanced urothelial cancer.

What Is This Summary About?: This is a plain language summary of an article originally published in . It is about initial results (collected in October 2019) from the JAVELIN Bladder 100 study (a clinical trial), which looked at avelumab maintenance treatment in people with advanced urothelial cancer. Urothelial cancer is the most common type of bladder cancer.

Classification of skin cancer using convolutional neural networks analysis of Raman spectra.

Background And Objective: Skin cancer is the most common malignancy in whites accounting for about one third of all cancers diagnosed per year. Portable Raman spectroscopy setups for skin cancer "optical biopsy" are utilized to detect tumors based on their spectral features caused by the comparative presence of different chemical components. However, low signal-to-noise ratio in such systems may prevent accurate tumors classification.

[Life-threatening complications following endoscopic recanalization of cicatricial tracheal stenosis].

The authors report an attempt of tracheal stenosis bougienage complicated by tracheal rupture. Particularities of diagnosis and treatment of patients with cicatricial stenoses of breathing pathways are analyzed.

Randomized phase 3 study of the anti-disialoganglioside antibody dinutuximab and irinotecan vs irinotecan or topotecan for second-line treatment of small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Topotecan is approved as second-line treatment for small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Irinotecan is also frequently used given its more convenient schedule and superior tolerability. Preclinical studies support disialoganglioside (GD2) as an SCLC target and the combination of dinutuximab, an anti-GD2 antibody, plus irinotecan in this setting.

[Method of surgical treatment of patients with combined pathological tortuosity of the common and internal carotid arteries].

Pathological tortuosity of the internal carotid artery ranks next to atherosclerosis amongst causes leading to development of ischaemic strokes. In some patients pathological tortuosity of the internal carotid artery is combined with pathological kinking of the common carotid artery. Existing methods of surgical treatment for such concomitant pathology include stegewise elimination of kinking of the internal then common carotid artery, with two anastomoses sequentially formed, thus increasing the overall duration of arterial cross-clamping an prolonging cerebral ischaemia.

[Metastatic basal cell carcinoma with a SMO gene mutation. A case report].

The authors describe a clinical case of a patient with metastatic basal cell carcinoma and secondary resistance to vismodegib. A mutation of unknown clinical significance was found in the gene encoding the transmembrane receptor protein Smoothened (SMO) protein, which suggests a defect in the Sonic Hedgehog (SH) pathway and may cause tumor resistance to the prescribed drug. Comprehensive genomic profiling and analysis have been used to diagnose the tumor.

Adjuvant atezolizumab after adjuvant chemotherapy in resected stage IB-IIIA non-small-cell lung cancer (IMpower010): a randomised, multicentre, open-label, phase 3 trial.

Background: Novel adjuvant strategies are needed to optimise outcomes after complete surgical resection in patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aimed to evaluate adjuvant atezolizumab versus best supportive care after adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy in these patients.

Methods: IMpower010 was a randomised, multicentre, open-label, phase 3 study done at 227 sites in 22 countries and regions.

MONARCH 2: Subgroup Analysis of Patients Receiving Abemaciclib Plus Fulvestrant as First-Line and Second-Line Therapy for HR, HER2-Advanced Breast Cancer.

Purpose: In MONARCH 2, abemaciclib plus fulvestrant significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) versus placebo plus fulvestrant in patients with hormone receptor positive (HR), HER2 advanced breast cancer. This exploratory analysis assessed the efficacy of abemaciclib plus fulvestrant across subgroups of patients receiving study therapy as first- or second-line treatment for metastatic disease.

Patients And Methods: Improvements were estimated using Cox models, and a test of interactions of subgroups with treatment was performed.

[Laparoscopic subtotal distal gastrectomy for distal gastric cancer].

Objective: To analyze the primary results of laparoscopic distal gastrectomy in patients with distal gastric cancer.

Material And Methods: There were 21 laparoscopic distal gastrectomies in patients with distal gastric cancer. Mean age of patients was 63.

Long-term efficacy and safety of CT-P6 versus trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer: final results from a randomized phase III trial.

Purpose: Equivalent efficacy was demonstrated for the biosimilar CT-P6 and trastuzumab following neoadjuvant therapy for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-positive early breast cancer. Following adjuvant treatment, efficacy and safety were comparable between treatments. We report updated safety and efficacy data after up to 3 years' follow-up.

[Soft tissue clear cell sarcoma. A report of three cases].

The paper describes three cases of soft tissue clear cell sarcoma, a rare melanin-producing malignant tumor, which is diagnosed in 52-to-87-year-old women. It provides a clinical and morphological description of the tumor and the results of immunohistochemical tests.

[Laparoscopic subtotal distal resection for distal gastric cancer].

Objective: To analyze the primary experience of laparoscopic distal gastrectomy in patients with distal gastric cancer.

Material And Methods: There were 21 laparoscopic distal gastrectomies in patients with antrum malignancies. Mean age of patients was 63.

Immuno-hormonal network in postmenopausal women: disturbance in breast cancer patients.

Introduction: Antibodies to estradiol and progesterone (Es and Pg) modulated their blood serum concentration and biological effects in immunized animals. Antibodies to membrane steroid receptors acted as hormone agonists or antagonists in cell cultures.

Material And Methods: Here we studied the levels of Es and Pg, idiotypic immunoglobulin (Ig) A1 and anti-idiotypic IgG2 specific to Es and Pg in the serum of postmenopausal women (82 healthy donors and 443 breast cancer patients).

Lenvatinib plus Pembrolizumab or Everolimus for Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Lenvatinib in combination with pembrolizumab or everolimus has activity against advanced renal cell carcinoma. The efficacy of these regimens as compared with that of sunitinib is unclear.

Methods: In this phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned (in a 1:1:1 ratio) patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma and no previous systemic therapy to receive lenvatinib (20 mg orally once daily) plus pembrolizumab (200 mg intravenously once every 3 weeks), lenvatinib (18 mg orally once daily) plus everolimus (5 mg orally once daily), or sunitinib (50 mg orally once daily, alternating 4 weeks receiving treatment and 2 weeks without treatment).

In vivo diagnosis of skin cancer with a portable Raman spectroscopic device.

In this study, we performed in vivo diagnosis of skin cancer based on implementation of a portable low-cost spectroscopy setup combining analysis of Raman and autofluorescence spectra in the near-infrared region (800-915 nm). We studied 617 cases of skin neoplasms (615 patients, 70 melanomas, 122 basal cell carcinomas, 12 squamous cell carcinomas and 413 benign tumors) in vivo with a portable setup. The studies considered the patients examined by GPs in local clinics and directed to a specialized Oncology Dispensary with suspected skin cancer.

Atezolizumab and nab-Paclitaxel in Advanced Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Biomarker Evaluation of the IMpassion130 Study.

Background: Understanding the impact of the tumor immune microenvironment and BRCA1/2-related DNA repair deficiencies on the clinical activity of immune checkpoint inhibitors may help optimize both patient and treatment selection in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. In this substudy from the phase 3 IMpassion130 trial, immune biomarkers and BRCA1/2 alterations were evaluated for association with clinical benefit with atezolizumab and nab-paclitaxel (A+nP) vs placebo and nP in unresectable (P+nP) locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

Methods: Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to nab-paclitaxel 100 mg/m2 (days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle) and atezolizumab 840 mg every 2 weeks or placebo until progression or toxicity.