Comparative genomic characterization of melanoma of known and unknown primary.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to genomically characterize melanoma of unknown primary (MUP) in comparison to melanomas of cutaneous primary (MCP). METHODS: Eligible cases were collected from the MSK-IMPACT™ Clinical Sequencing Cohort published in the cBioPortal database. Genomic analysis was performed using a hybridization-capture-based next-generation sequencing assay designed to detect mutations, small insertions and deletions, copy number alterations, and genomic rearrangements. RESULTS: Among 462 patients of whom 18.4% had MUP, brain metastasis was more common among patients with MUP (23% vs 7.1%). The differences in genomic profiling between MCP and MUP did not reach statistical significance. The 187 MCP and 44 MUP patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors had a median overall survival of 49 and 44 months, respectively (p = 0.705). CONCLUSIONS: The differences in somatic mutation patterns and survival outcomes were not statistically significant. These findings may allude to similar carcinogenic processes but should be considered exploratory and interpreted with caution.

Beyond first-line systemic treatment for metastatic urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

Metastatic urothelial carcinoma of the bladder is a rarely curable disease. Patients receive systemic therapy with limited response rates and survival benefits. The rescue regimens of these patients who have failed first-line treatment had remained problematic until the recent advances. Several trials with novel regimens, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapy, to salvage relapsed urothelial carcinoma of the bladder have recently been published. However, the choice of an optimal treatment regimen remains challenging in the absence of randomized trials comparing regimen sequences. Daily clinical cases provoke the question of whether there is a preferred second-line regimen. This paper provides an overview of recent trials and proposes a management algorithm based on subgroup analyses and prognostic features.

The ESMO guideline strategy: an identity statement and reflections on improvement.

Guidelines should provide recommendations on the optimal management of a patient in specific clinical circumstances based on the scientific evidence. ESMO, as Europe's leading society in medical oncology produces a range of guideline products in order to assist the cancer specialist towards implementation of quality cancer care, as well as in order to provide information to patients establishing standards for up-to-date optimal management. The ESMO 'guideline products' include the Clinical Practice Guidelines, the complementing Consensus Conferences on focused clinical scenarios, as well as memory tools such as print and e-Pocket Guidelines and Patient Guides. In this manuscript, methodology, design and characteristics of the ESMO guideline products are explained and discussed by their strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to stimulate reflections on room for improvement and future strategy.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors during pregnancy: a systematic review of an uncommon but treatable malignancy.

Although modern social structure and medical advances have led to the increasing number of women childbearing in older age, cancer remains a rare diagnosis during pregnancy. There is little given information throughout the literature concerning gestation associated with the coexistence of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). In this review, we present 12 reported cases of GIST during pregnancy and we discuss the maternal and fetal outcome, as well as the therapeutic plan that was followed in each situation. From the collected data, 8 out of 12 cases had an uneventful outcome of their fetus. In 11 out of 12 cases surgical excision of the tumor was the treatment of choice, while seven women were treated with imatinib. Two of them were already on imatinib therapy during conception due to preexisting GIST diagnosis. Surgery remains the gold standard for the treatment of local or resectable GIST, while published data concerning the use of imatinib during pregnancy indicate that teratogenicity or fetal loss might be induced, especially if given during the first trimester of pregnancy. GIST during gestational period is a rare tumor in which a multidisciplinary approach should be designed, taking always into consideration that it has a favorable outcome on targeted treatment.

Neuroendocrine Merkel cell nodal carcinoma of unknown primary site: management and outcomes of a rare entity.

Merkel cell nodal carcinoma of unknown primary (MCCUP) is a rare neuroendocrine tumour with distinct clinical and biological behaviour. We conducted a review of retrospective data extracted from 90 patients focusing on the management and outcome of this disease. We also compared life expectancy of these patients with the outcome of patients with known Merkel primaries and with neuroendocrine cancers of unidentifiable primary. There is a limited body of data for this type of malignancy, however, patients with Merkel cell nodal carcinoma of unknown primary site, seem to have better survival when treated aggressively than patients with cutaneous Merkel tumours of the same stage and equal survival with patients with low-grade neuroendocrine tumour of unknown origin. The lack of prospective trials, and the inadequate data, hamper the management of these tumours. Establishment of treatment guidelines is urgently needed.

Mutational profiling of the RAS, PI3K, MET and b-catenin pathways in cancer of unknown primary: a retrospective study of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group.

Cancer of unknown primary origin (CUP) had a poor prognosis, determined by clinico-histological characteristics, partly due to the lack of insights on its biology. We screened tumour DNA from 87 patients with CUP for CTNNB1 (coding exons 2,3,4,5), MET (coding exon 18), PIK3CA (coding exons 9,20), KRAS (coding exons 1,2), BRAF (coding exon 15) gene mutations by using dd-sequencing and evaluated their impact on prognosis. Mutated gene incidences in the 87 CUP cases were: KRAS 11 (12.6 %), BRAF 5 (5.7 %), PIK3CA 8 (9 %), MET 6 (6.7 %) and CTNNB1 18 (20.7 %). Several mutations in the KRAS gene were not the commonly encountered mutations in other solid tumours. Activating mutations were observed in 10.2 % in KRAS, 4.5 % in BRAF, 6.6 % in PIK3CA, 4.5 % in MET, and 19.5 % in CTNNB1. Activating mutations in PIK3CA coding exon 9 were inversely correlated with MET coding exon 18 activating mutations (p = 0.036). MET activating mutations were prognostic for poor Progression-Free Survival (median PFS 5 vs 9 months, p = 0.009) and Overall Survival (median OS 7 vs 20 months, p = 0.005). The complex profile of either CTNNB1 or MET mutations also had an adverse prognostic significance (median OS 11 vs 21 months, p = 0.015). No other gene mutation exhibited prognostic significance. In multivariate analysis, poor performance status, male gender, visceral disease and adenocarcinoma histology, but not gene mutations, were independently associated with poor patient outcome. CTNNB1 gene mutations are frequent, and along with MET mutations have an adverse prognostic effect in patients with CUP.

Insights into the epithelial mesenchymal transition phenotype in cancer of unknown primary from a global microRNA profiling study.

PURPOSE: We sought to study the microRNA regulation of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), the acquisition of migratory, mesenchymal-like properties of epithelial cells, in cancer of unknown primary (CUP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied the global expression profile of 982 microRNAs by means of microarray technology in 68 CUP cases immunohistochemically characterised as EMT-positive (n = 5 by % of cells or n = 10 by a semiquantitative H-score) or EMT-negative. RESULTS: EMT-suppressive miRNAs such as miR-203 and members of the miR-200 family (miR-200a,b,c and miR-141) presented a 2.45 to 3.64-fold lower expression level in the EMT-positive cases without, however, reaching statistical significance. MiR-205, a squamous tissue-specific marker, was very variable in the data set. Excluding CUP cases with squamous cell histology, miR-205, miR-203 and the miR-200 family exhibited a trend of downregulation in EMT-positive cases. A similar pattern of miRNA expression was detected when the comparison took place between EMT-positive vs EMT-negative cases according to the H-score. Moreover, miR-203, miR-205 and miR-200c were numerically downregulated in those tumours with high expression of the EMT marker N-cadherin. CONCLUSIONS: The EMT-suppressive miR-203 and miR-200 family were consistently but non-significantly downregulated in CUP with the EMT phenotype. A larger study is warranted to further explore the role of microRNAs in CUP.

Renal cell carcinoma in pregnancy: a rare coexistence.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is rarely diagnosed during pregnancy and its management represents a real challenge. As the symptomatology might mimic other common pregnancy-related disorders, the diagnosis is often delayed. RCC should be considered in women of childbearing age who present with recurrent or refractory urinary tract symptoms, flank pain, or a palpable mass. Ultrasound appears to be the imaging procedure of choice followed by the magnetic resonance imaging for evaluating the urinary system in pregnant women. The probability of cure is directly related to the stage or degree of tumor dissemination. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment.

The current and future role of the medical oncologist in the professional care for cancer patients: a position paper by the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

The number of cancer patients in Europe is rising and significant advances in basic and applied cancer research are making the provision of optimal care more challenging. The concept of cancer as a systemic, highly heterogeneous and complex disease has increased the awareness that quality cancer care should be provided by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) of highly qualified healthcare professionals. Cancer patients also have the right to benefit from medical progress by receiving optimal treatment from adequately trained and highly skilled medical professionals. Built on the highest standards of professional training and continuing medical education, medical oncology is recognised as an independent medical specialty in many European countries. Medical oncology is a core member of the MDT and offers cancer patients a comprehensive and systemic approach to treatment and care, while ensuring evidence-based, safe and cost-effective use of cancer drugs and preserving the quality of life of cancer patients through the entire 'cancer journey'. Medical oncologists are also engaged in clinical and translational research to promote innovation and new therapies and they contribute to cancer diagnosis, prevention and research, making a difference for patients in a dynamic, stimulating professional environment. Medical oncologists play an important role in shaping the future of healthcare through innovation and are also actively involved at the political level to ensure a maximum contribution of the profession to Society and to tackle future challenges. This position paper summarises the multifarious and vital contributions of medical oncology and medical oncologists to today's and tomorrow's professional cancer care.

Lung cancer in pregnancy: report of nine cases from an international collaborative study.

OBJECTIVE: Lung cancer is an uncommon diagnosis during pregnancy. The combination of smoking in young women, increased maternal age during pregnancy, and increasing incidence of lung cancer worldwide may cause an increase of pregnancy associated lung cancer. The aim of this study was to describe all cases of lung cancer during pregnancy, registered in the international Cancer in Pregnancy registration study (CIP study; www.cancerinpregnancy.org). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We present nine cases, all advanced lung cancer during the course of pregnancy. Collected data included demographic features of the study patients, cancer treatment, pregnancy outcome as well as maternal and fetal outcomes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Nine pregnant patients from 4 European centres with a median age of 33 years old (range, 26-42) were included. The median gestational age at diagnosis was 17 weeks (range, 6-28). All patients presented with metastatic disease including bone, lung, brain, spinal cord, pleura, lymph nodes, adrenal and liver. Histopathology was compatible with adenocarcinoma in 4 patients, non-small cell lung cancer with unidentified subtype in 2 patients and squamous-cell, large-cell and a poorly differentiated carcinoma in 3 patients, respectively. Eight patients were treated with systemic therapy, five of them during gestation. No responses were seen. The maternal postpartum outcome was poor with less than one year survival following delivery. One patient experienced a spontaneous abortion and three pregnancies were terminated. Five infants were all born premature due to poor maternal status by cesarean section, with a median gestational age of 30 weeks (range 26-33). To summarize, lung cancer in pregnancy has a dismal maternal outcome in our series. We add nine new cases and discuss both therapeutic and prognostic results.

Prognostic significance of RACGAP1 mRNA expression in high-risk early breast cancer: a study in primary tumors of breast cancer patients participating in a randomized Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group trial.

PURPOSE: RACGAP1 is a Rac GTPase-activating protein involved in cell growth regulation, cell transformation and metastasis. The aim of the present study was to explore the prognostic and/or predictive significance of RACGAP1 mRNA expression on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in high-risk early breast cancer patients and compare it to that of Ki67 protein expression and to the Nottingham prognostic index (NPI). METHODS: A total of 595 high-risk breast cancer patients were treated in a two-arm trial evaluating postoperative dose-dense sequential chemotherapy with epirubicin followed by CMF with or without paclitaxel. RNA was extracted from 314 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary tumor tissue samples followed by one-step quantitative RT-PCR for assessing RACGAP1 mRNA expression. RESULTS: High RACGAP1 mRNA expression (above the median) was associated with poor DFS (log-rank, p = 0.002) and OS (p < 0.001). High histological grade, as well as high Ki67 protein expression, was more frequent in the high-expression group of RACGAP1. Results of the Cox multivariate regression analysis revealed that high RACGAP1 mRNA expression independently predicted poor overall survival (Wald's p = 0.008). High Ki67 protein expression was also an adverse prognostic factor for death (p = 0.016), while high NPI score values were not. CONCLUSIONS: High RACGAP1 mRNA expression, as assessed by qRT-PCR, was found to be of adverse prognostic significance in high-risk early breast cancer patients treated with dose-dense sequential chemotherapy. The utility of RACGAP1 mRNA expression in patient selection for treatment with aggressive chemotherapy regimens should be further explored and validated in larger cohorts.

Optimal therapeutic management of patients with distinct clinicopathological cancer of unknown primary subsets.

Cancer of unknown primary sites (CUP) is a compilation of various malignant entities--the majority of which behave aggressively and carry poor prognosis. CUP is classified into two different clinicopathological groups: the unfavourable (poor-prognosis) and the favourable (good-prognosis) group. Patients with favourable subsets are treated relevant to the hidden primary tumour chemotherapy regimens and/or radiotherapy. These patients exhibit better responses and prolonged survival. On the other hand, patients of unfavourable subsets are treated with various chemotherapy combinations of platinum- or taxane-containing regimens. Unfortunately, responses and overall survival in this group of CUP patient are not very promising. Several independent prognostic factors have been associated with survival of CUP patients. Since CUP is not an unknown disease, emerging therapeutic innovations are warranted.

Intracellular signalling via the AKT axis and downstream effectors is active and prognostically significant in cancer of unknown primary (CUP): a study of 100 CUP cases.

BACKGROUND: Hypothesising that cancer of unknown primary (CUP) may harbour unique characteristics, we present a translational study of the immunohistochemical expression and clinical correlation of key PTEN/AKT pathway molecules. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected 100 paraffin-embedded CUP tissue blocks. We studied using tissue microarrays the expression of PTEN, phospho-AKT, Cyclin D1, p21, phospho-RPS6. From the percentage of staining tumour cells and the literature, we selected cut-offs to classify the expression of each biomolecule. We correlated IHC expression with clinical data. RESULTS: PTEN, pAKT, and pRPS6 showed frequent expression. At univariate analysis, high IHC expression of pAKT and pRPS6 displayed statistically significant association with worse survival. Prognosis was worse upon concurrent high IHC expression of pMAPK and pAKT {median overall survival = 8 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.3-10.7] versus 17 months [95% CI 13.1-20.9]}. In multivariate analysis, high p21 was associated with better survival (risk ratio [RR] = 0.34 [95% CI 0.16-0.73], P = 0.005). High expression of pAKT (RR = 2.39 [95% CI 1.23-4.66], P = 0.01) or pRPS6 (RR = 2.76 [95% CI 1.31-5.84], P = 0.008) was associated with worse survival. CONCLUSIONS: p21 expression conferred favourable prognosis, while high pAKT or pRPS6 expression predicted worse prognosis. Concurrent MAPK and pAKT expression had a marked adverse impact on survival.

Prognostic utility of angiogenesis and hypoxia effectors in patients with operable squamous cell cancer of the larynx.

Angiogenesis is active in localised laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. We assessed relative messenger RNA (mRNA) and immunohistochemical (IHC) expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGF) A, B, C, their receptors VEGFR1, 2, 3, Neuropilins 1, 2 (NRP1, 2) and Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1A (HIF1A) in paraffin-embedded localised laryngeal carcinomas. In 289 patients with T3-4 (77.8%), node-negative (84.1%) tumours of the larynx, high VEGFA and VEGFR1 mRNA correlated with advanced T stage, while low VEGFB and VEGFC mRNA with alcohol abuse and supraglottic primary, respectively (p<0.05). Age <55 was associated with high IHC expression of VEGFA, C and poor tumour differentiation with high IHC VEGFA. At a median follow-up of 74.5months, patients with VEGFR1-high tumours had significantly poorer disease-free survival (Hazard Ratio [HR] 1.93, p=0.008) and shorter overall survival (OS, HR 1.71, p=0.041). An association with dismal OS was seen for high VEGFR3 tumoural mRNA expression (HR 1.76, p=0.02). IHC expression of VEGF family proteins in the tumour was not prognostic and had poor concordance with mRNA expression (kappa<0.1, p=NS). In multivariate analysis, node-positive status, non-supraglottic localization, high VEGFR1 mRNA and high IHC VEGFA expression were significantly associated with relapse, while node-positive status, high VEGFR1 and VEGFC mRNA expression in the tumour with risk of death. In laryngeal cancer, upregulated mRNA expression of VEGFR1 and VEGFC is associated with poor patient outcome.

Undergraduate training in oncology: an ESO continuing challenge for medical students.

During the last six years the European School of Oncology (ESO) opened an undergraduate programme for European medical students, aiming to further improve their oncology knowledge and clinical skills. In this endeavour a 5-day course is organized every summer at the University of Ioannina, Greece, where distinguished European oncologists introduce preselected medical students to cancer medicine. The programme includes teaching of several oncological topic regarding diagnosis and treatment of the most common tumours; interactive case presentations and discussions were also incorporated. An overall of 229 medical students, mostly from European medical schools, have been taking part to this intensive summer course, from 2004 to 2009. This article presents the detailed educational programme, the evaluation results and the outcome of the last six ESO courses; an assessment of the oncological curricula available across European faculties is also presented.

Prognostic significance of UBE2C mRNA expression in high-risk early breast cancer. A Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group (HeCOG) Study.

BACKGROUND: The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis. Components of the UPS have recently been implicated in breast cancer progression. In the present study, we sought to explore the prognostic and/or predictive significance of UBE2C messenger RNA (mRNA) expression on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in high-risk operable breast cancer patients. METHODS: Five hundred and ninety-five high-risk breast cancer patients were treated in a two-arm trial evaluating postoperative, dose-dense sequential chemotherapy with epirubicin followed by CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil) with or without paclitaxel (Taxol). RNA was extracted from 313 formalin-fixed primary tumor tissue samples followed by one-step quantitative RT-PCR for assessment of mRNA expression of UBE2C. RESULTS: High UBE2C mRNA expression was associated with poor DFS (Wald's P = 0.003) and OS (Wald's P = 0.005). High tumor grade, as well as high Ki67 protein expression, was more frequent in the high-expression group of UBE2C. Results of the Cox multivariate regression analysis revealed that high UBE2C mRNA expression remained an independent adverse prognostic factor for relapse (P = 0.037) and death (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: High UBE2C mRNA expression was found to be of adverse prognostic significance in high-risk breast cancer patients. These findings need to be validated in larger cohorts.