Pembrolizumab 400 mg every 6 weeks as first-line therapy for advanced melanoma (KEYNOTE-555): Results from cohort B of an open-label, phase 1 study.

Intravenous pembrolizumab 400 mg every 6 weeks was approved across tumor types based on pharmacokinetic modeling, which showed exposures consistent with previous standard dosing of 200 mg or 2 mg/kg every 3 weeks, and early results of cohort B of the phase 1 KEYNOTE-555 study. Results after ≥1 year of potential follow-up for all patients in cohort B of KEYNOTE-555 are presented. Patients aged ≥18 years with previously untreated stage III/IV melanoma received pembrolizumab 400 mg every 6 weeks for ≤18 cycles.

Meeting report: Considerations for trial design and endpoints in licensing therapeutic HPV16/18 vaccines to prevent cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally with a disproportionate impact on women in low- and middle-income countries. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for increased vaccination, screening, and treatment to eliminate cervical cancer. However, even with widespread rollout of human papillomavirus (HPV) prophylactic vaccines, millions of women who previously acquired HPV infections will remain at risk for progression to cancer for decades to come.

Barriers and Challenges to Implementing a Quality Improvement Program: Political and Administrative Challenges.

Quality improvement (QI) programs have rapidly grown in health care over recent years. Despite increasing evidence of successful QI initiatives resulting in improved outcomes, the adoption and implementation of QI programs remain a challenge worldwide. This paper briefly describes political and administrative barriers that impede the implementation of QI programs, including political and ideological factors, socioeconomic and educational barriers, and barriers related to data collection, privacy, and security.

Perspectives on common chronic diseases in adult cancer patients in South Africa.

There is a rising noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden in low- and middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) bears a higher burden than the global average with South Africa (SA) enduring the highest regional burden. SA among other southern African countries also bears a high prevalence of HIV and other chronic communicable diseases.

PAM50 intrinsic subtypes, risk of recurrence score and breast cancer survival in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients-a South African cohort study.

Purpose: Treatment decision making for patients with breast cancer increasingly depends on analysis of markers or systems for estimating risk of breast cancer recurrence. Breast cancer intrinsic subtypes and risk of recurrence (ROR) scores have been found to be valuable in predicting survival and determining optimal treatment for individual patients. We studied the association of breast cancer survival with the PAM50 gene expression assay in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients.

The Looming Threat: Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Recent trends in cancer epidemiology in low‐ and middle‐income countries show the need for urgent action. This article focuses on sub‐Saharan Africa, where populations are showing an increased risk for diseases associated with the Western lifestyle, including cancer.

Survival of south african women with breast cancer receiving anti-retroviral therapy for HIV.

Purpose: Breast cancer outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa is reported to be poor, with an estimated five-year survival of 50% when compared to almost 90% in high-income countries. Although several studies have looked at the effect of HIV in breast cancer survival, the effect of ARTs has not been well elucidated.

Methods: All females newly diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from May 2015-September 2017 at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic and Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital were enrolled.

Impact of HIV infection on overall survival among women with stage IV breast cancer in South Africa.

Purpose: Advanced breast cancer (BC) at diagnosis is common in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including among women living with HIV (WLWH). In public hospitals across South Africa (SA), 10-15% of women present with stage IV BC, compared to < 5% in the United States (US); 20% of new BC diagnoses in SA are in WLWH. We evaluated the impact of HIV on overall survival (OS) among women with stage IV BC.

Political economy of covid-19: extractive, regressive, competitive.

The political economy of covid-19 reflects longstanding patterns of resource extraction linked to racial discrimination, marginalisation, and colonialism, write

Primary results from CECILIA, a global single-arm phase II study evaluating bevacizumab, carboplatin and paclitaxel for advanced cervical cancer.

Objective: Adding bevacizumab to cisplatin-paclitaxel for advanced cervical cancer significantly improves overall and progression-free survival. We evaluated bevacizumab with a widely used carboplatin-paclitaxel backbone.

Methods: Patients with metastatic/recurrent/persistent cervical cancer not amenable to curative surgery and/or radiotherapy received 3-weekly bevacizumab 15 mg/kg, paclitaxel 175 mg/m, and carboplatin AUC 5 until progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Introducing health technology assessment in Tanzania.

Objectives: Health technology assessment (HTA) is a cost-effective resource allocation tool in healthcare decision-making processes; however, its use is limited in low-income settings where countries fall short on both absorptive and technical capacity. This paper describes the journey of the introduction of HTA into decision-making processes through a case study revising the National Essential Medicines List (NEMLIT) in Tanzania. It draws lessons on establishing and strengthening transparent priority-setting processes, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Clinico-pathological characteristics among South African women with breast cancer receiving anti-retroviral therapy for HIV.

Purpose: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. South Africa has the largest global burden of HIV infection and the largest anti-retroviral treatment (ART) program. This study aimed to analyse the association of HIV and ART use with breast cancer clinico-pathological characteristics.

Barriers to early presentation of breast cancer among women in Soweto, South Africa.

Purpose: Reported breast cancer incidence is rising in South Africa, where some women are diagnosed late and have poor outcomes. We studied patient and provider factors associated with clinical stage at diagnosis among women diagnosed at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg in 2015-2016.

Methods: From face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaires we compared self-reported socioeconomics, demographics, comorbidities, risk factors, personal and health system barriers, and from patient clinical records, clinical staging, receptor subtype, and tumor grade among 499 consecutive women newly diagnosed with advanced stage (III/IV) breast cancer versus those diagnosed early (stage 0/I/II).

Observed benefit and safety of aflibercept in elderly patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: An age-based analysis from the randomized placebo-controlled phase III VELOUR trial.

Objectives: Aflibercept (ziv-aflibercept) significantly improves progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) when added to 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and irinotecan (FOLFIRI), compared with FOLFIRI alone, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer previously treated with oxaliplatin-based therapy. This subset analysis of the VELOUR study investigates aflibercept plus FOLFIRI versus placebo plus FOLFIRI according to age.

Methods: Efficacy and safety were analyzed by treatment arm and age (≥ or <65years).

Access to Cancer Therapeutics in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Cancer is rapidly becoming a major health care problem, especially in developing countries, where 60% of the world's total new cases are diagnosed. The success of new antineoplastic medicines and modern radiation devices to cure a good proportion of patients with cancer and to alleviate the suffering of many more has been achieved at a dramatic cost. Therefore, it has become mandatory for health care authorities and pharmaceutical companies to cooperate to use and develop resources in an efficient manner to improve health care delivery to patients with cancer worldwide.

Panitumumab versus cetuximab in patients with chemotherapy-refractory wild-type KRAS exon 2 metastatic colorectal cancer (ASPECCT): a randomised, multicentre, open-label, non-inferiority phase 3 study.

Background: The anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies panitumumab and cetuximab are effective in patients with chemotherapy-refractory wild-type KRAS exon 2 metastatic colorectal cancer. We assessed the efficacy and toxicity of panitumumab versus cetuximab in these patients.

Methods: For this randomised, open-label, phase 3 head-to-head study, we enrolled patients (from centres in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia) aged 18 years or older with chemotherapy-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2 or less, and wild-type KRAS exon 2 status.

Final results from PRIME: randomized phase III study of panitumumab with FOLFOX4 for first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: The Panitumumab Randomized trial In combination with chemotherapy for Metastatic colorectal cancer to determine Efficacy (PRIME) demonstrated that panitumumab-FOLFOX4 significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) versus FOLFOX4 as first-line treatment of wild-type (WT) KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), the primary end point of the study.

Patients And Methods: Patients were randomized 1:1 to panitumumab 6.0 mg/kg every 2 weeks + FOLFOX4 (arm 1) or FOLFOX4 (arm 2).

Aflibercept versus placebo in combination with fluorouracil, leucovorin and irinotecan in the treatment of previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer: prespecified subgroup analyses from the VELOUR trial.

Purpose: The antiangiogenic agent aflibercept (ziv-aflibercept in the United States) in combination with 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) significantly improved survival in a phase III study of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) previously treated with an oxaliplatin-based regimen. In the present analysis, outcomes were evaluated in prespecified subgroups to assess the consistency of the treatment effect.

Methods: Patients were randomised to receive FOLFIRI plus aflibercept or placebo every 2weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred.

The cost of injury and trauma care in low- and middle-income countries: a review of economic evidence.

Introduction: Injuries are a significant cause of mortality and morbidity, of which more than 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Given the extent of this burden being confronted by LMICs, there is need to place injury prevention at the forefront of public health initiatives and to understand the costs associated with injury. The aim of this article is to describe the extent to which injury-related costing studies have been conducted in LMICs.