Early tumor shrinkage as a predictive factor of metastatic renal cell carcinoma in molecular targeted therapy: A single institutional study.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of metastatic sites and early tumor shrinkage (eTS) as prognostic predictive factors of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) in molecular targeted therapy. A total of 209 advanced RCC cases treated with sorafenib, sunitinib, axitinib, pazopanib, temsirolimus and everolimus from our single institution were included in the present study. Several known prognostic predictive factors, including metastatic sites and the rate of eTS, were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival estimate analysis followed by Cox's proportional hazards model analysis. eTS was measured by three independent physicians. Four metastatic sites in the liver, bone, lymph nodes and brain as well as greater eTS were identified as potential independent predictors of overall survival (OS) in several cohorts: i) Metastatic RCC (n=194); ii) metastatic clear cell RCC (n=119); and iii) mRCC patients with eTS data (n=127). In sub-analyses of patients treated with each 1st line tyrosine kinase inhibitor, eTS was identified as a potentially potent predictor of OS in patients treated with axitinib. The liver, bone, lymph nodes, brain metastases and eTS were identified as independent predictive factors of OS by analyzing a limited Japanese cohort.

Clinical outcome of high dose rate brachytherapy with external beam radiotherapy for high-risk prostate cancer: a single institutional retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: : This study investigated the clinical outcome of neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy followed by high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT, called NEH) with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) patients in our institution. : From 2007 to 2012, 192 high-risk PCa patients underwent neoadjuvant treatment-EBRT-NEH ( n = 192). Relations between clinical factors (prostate-specific antigen; PSA, cT stage, Gleason score) and biochemical recurrence were retrospectively analyzed. : The 5- and 7-year overall survival rates were 97.9 and 91.1%. By PSA levels (PSA 20 ng/ml, 20 ng/ml < PSA≤50 ng/ml and PSA > 50 ng/ml), 5-year biochemical recurrence-free survival rates were 85.7, 84.7 and 54.5%, respectively. There were no significant differences between biochemical recurrence and cT stage or Gleason score. : We found that NEH can contribute to better biochemical recurrence free survival of high-risk PCa patients with PSA below 50 ng/ml. High-risk PCa patients with PSA over 50 ng/ml may require more aggressive local or systemic treatment.

Clinical Impact of Consolidative and Salvage Radiotherapy for Lymph Node Metastasis in Upper Urinary Tract Urothelial Carcinoma.

A 75-year-old Japanese male was referred to our institution for the evaluation of a left ureteral tumor in the ureterovesical junction. Computed tomography and pathologic examination under ureteroscopy revealed an invasive left ureteral urothelial carcinoma with left obturator nodal metastasis without distant metastasis. First, the patient underwent systemic chemotherapy (gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy). We then performed left radical nephroureterectomy and extended lymph node dissection. Pathological examination revealed that the tumor was a high-grade invasive urothelial carcinoma with left common iliac and pelvic lymph node metastasis (pT3N2). Unfortunately, metastases appeared in the common iliac and para-aortic lymph nodes immediately after the operation; therefore, the previous first-line chemotherapy was readministered and second-line chemotherapy (gemcitabine and paclitaxel chemotherapy) was also performed. We also performed consolidative radiotherapy and salvage radiotherapy (boost, 20 Gy/10 fractions to the inferior para-aortic, and left common iliac regions containing swollen lymph nodes). The patient has shown no evidence of recurrence or metastasis even approximately 4 years after the initial diagnosis of advanced UUT-UC with lymph node metastasis. Our case suggests that consolidative or salvage radiotherapy combined with surgery and chemotherapy may provide clinical benefit for selected cases of advanced UUT-UC with lymph node metastasis.

Validation of nomogram-based prediction of survival probability after salvage re-irradiation of head and neck cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Treatment outcomes after salvage re-irradiation in patients with recurrent head and neck cancer vary widely due to heterogeneous patient characteristics, and it is difficult to evaluate optimal re-irradiation schedules. This study aimed to validate a nomogram, originally developed by Tanvetyanon et al., used to predict the survival probability of patients with recurrent head and neck cancer after re-irradiation. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients with recurrent head and neck cancer who underwent salvage re-irradiation between June 2007 and November 2011 were evaluated. The median total dose used for initial radiotherapy was 60 Gy (range, 22-72). Re-irradiation sites included the nasopharynx or Rouviere's node (n = 14), external ear (n = 4), neck lymph node (n = 3) and other sites (n = 7). Overall survival after re-irradiation was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the 2-year survival probability was estimated using Tanvetyanon's nomogram. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients were treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy using a median total dose of 30 Gy (range, 15-40) in 1-7 fractions and six patients were treated with conventional external beam radiotherapy using 45 Gy (range, 23.4-60) in 10-30 fractions. The 2-year overall survival was 21.7% (95% confidence interval: 9.3-41.3), and the 2-year survival probability was 16.8% (95% confidence interval: 9.9-23.6). The 2-year overall survival in 20 patients with unfavorable prognosis (median 2-year survival probability, 5.5%) and in 8 patients with favorable prognosis (median 2-year survival probability, 45%) were 11.0 and 45.7%, respectively (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that Tanvetyanon's nomogram accurately estimates the survival probability in patients with recurrent head and neck cancer after re-irradiation.