Multicenter Database of Patients with Germ-Cell Tumors: A Latin American Cooperative Oncology Group Registry (LACOG 0515).

INTRODUCTION: Germ-cell tumors (GCTs) are the most common malignancy in young men. There is a paucity of data on GCTs in developing countries. LACOG 0515 study aimed to evaluate clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in patients with GCTs from Brazilian cancer centers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study evaluating male patients diagnosed with GCTs from 2000 to 2018 in 13 Brazilian hospitals. We described baseline characteristics, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: A total of 1232 patients were included, with a median age of 30 years. Histology was seminoma in 47.1% and non-seminoma GCT (NSGCT) in 52.9%. The primary tumor site was testis in 96.5%. At diagnosis, clinical stage I was present in 68.1% and 34.7% and clinical stages IS/II/III in 31.9% and 65.2% of patients with seminoma and NSCGT, respectively. Following orchiectomy, 55.2% of patients with clinical stage I were managed with surveillance. The 5-year disease-free survival rates among patients with stage I were 98.0% in seminoma and 92.3% in NSGCT, with 5-year OS of 99.6% and 97.6%, respectively. Among patients with advanced disease (IS, II, and III), the 5-year PFS were 88.7% in seminoma and 68.7% in NSGCT, with 5y-OS of 97.6% and 82.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This is the largest Brazilian cohort of GCTs. Our results show a high rate of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with clinical stage I. Although our data demonstrate slightly inferior PFS compared with the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group and other contemporary series, the OS rates were similar.

Curcuma longa (Turmeric) for Prevention of Capecitabine-Induced Hand-Foot Syndrome: A Pilot Study.

Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is common and frequently occurs in the first cycle of treatment in approximately 40% to 50% of patients who receive capecitabine. Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a plant used in Ayurvedic medicine with clinical activity in various inflammatory conditions. Our objective was to evaluate whether turmeric was active for the prevention of capecitabine-induced HFS. We included patients older than 18 years of age without previous exposure to capecitabine who were scheduled to receive this medication. Before starting treatment, after three weeks and at the end of six weeks, we evaluated dermatologic toxicity, conducted quality-of-life questionnaires (EORTC-QLQC30 and DLQI) and collected serum inflammatory biomarkers (inerleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), C-reactive protein (CRP), and albumin). We administered turmeric at a dose of 4 g/day (2 pills 12 hours apart) starting at the beginning of capecitabine treatment and lasting six weeks. We included 40 patients whose mean age was 62 years. Most were female (80%), 52% had breast cancer, and 47.5% had GI tumors. After the first cycle of capecitabine treatment, we observed that 11 of 40 patients developed HFS (27.5%; 95% CI [15, 42]), whereas four patients developed HFS equal or superior to grade 2 (10%; 95% CI [3.3, 23]). We did not find any correlations between the inflammatory markers tested and HFS. We show that turmeric combined with capecitabine seems to produce a lower rate of HFS, especially grade 2 or higher. These findings need to be reproduced in larger controlled studies.