Vitamin D Deficiency in Testicular Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review.

Testicular cancer (TC) is the most frequent tumor in young males. In the vast majority of cases, it is a curable disease; therefore, very often patients experience a long survival, also due to their young age at diagnosis. In the last decades, the role of the vitamin D deficiency related to orchiectomy has become an increasingly debated topic. Indeed, vitamin D is essential in bone metabolism and many other metabolic pathways, so its deficiency could lead to various metabolic disorders especially in long-term TC survivors. In our article, we report data from studies that evaluated the incidence of hypovitaminosis D in TC survivors compared with cohorts of healthy peers and we discuss molecular mechanisms and clinical implications.

Inherited Mutations in DNA Damage Repair Genes in Italian Men with Metastatic Prostate Cancer: Results from the Meet-URO 10 Study.

Background: The prevalence of pathogenic germline mutations in DNA damage repair (gDDR) genes in the Italian population is unknown. Objective: In this prospective multicenter cohort study, we evaluated the prevalence of gDDR alterations in the Italian population affected by metastatic prostate cancer (mPCa) and analyzed the impact on response to therapy, survival, and time to castration resistance. Design setting and participants: In an observational prospective trial, 300 consecutive Italian mPCa patients, enrolled in the Meet-Uro-10 trial from three academic Italian centers, were recruited between 2017 and 2019 and were screened for gDDR mutations in 107 genes. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: The primary endpoint was to assess the prevalence of gDDR mutations in the Italian population of patients with mPCa. The secondary endpoints included the association of gDDR subgroups with metastatic onset, Gleason score, and time to castration resistance. Results and limitations: We identified 297 valuable patients. Forty-six patients had a pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant (15.5%, 95% confidence interval: 11.4-19.6): the more frequent was gBRCA2 found in nine cases (3%), followed by gATM in five cases (1.7%). In patients without mutations, longer median overall survival was observed with the sequence docetaxel-androgen receptor signaling inhibitor (ARSI) than with the sequence ARSI-docetaxel (87.9 vs 42 mo, p = 0.0001). In a univariate analysis, the median time to castration resistance in gDDR mutated patients was 19.8 mo, versus 23.7 mo in no mutated patients (p = 0.024). There were no associations of gDDR subgroups with metastatic onset and Gleason score ≥8. In our cohort, variants of unknown significance in gDDR genes were found in 80 patients and might have a prognostic relevance. Conclusions: The study reported the prevalence of gDDR in the Italian population. The presence of gBRCA2 mutations correlates with a shorter time to the onset of castration resistance disease. Patient summary: The prevalence of gBRCA2 in the Italian population is 3%, which is similar to that in the Spanish population, identifying similarities between people of the Western Mediterranean area.

Inflammatory Biomarkers for Outcome Prediction in Patients With Metastatic Testicular Cancer.

Germ cell tumors are the most common malignant tumors in male young adults. Platinum-based chemotherapy has dramatically improved the outcome of metastatic germ cell tumor patients and overall cure rates now exceed 80%. The choice of medical treatment can be guided by the prognosis estimation which is an important step during the decision-making process. IGCCCG classification plays a pivotal role in the management of advanced disease. However, histological and clinical parameters are the available factors that condition the prognosis, but they do not reflect the tumor's molecular and pathological features and do not predict who will respond to chemotherapy. After first-line chemotherapy 20%-30% of patients relapse and for these patients, the issue of prognostic factors is far more complex. Validated biomarkers and a molecular selection of patients that reflect the pathogenesis are highly needed. The association between cancer-related systemic inflammation, tumorigenesis, and cancer progression has been demonstrated. In the last years, several studies have shown the prognostic utility of immune-inflammation indexes in different tumor types. This review analyzed the prognostic impact of inflammatory markers retrieved from routine blood draws in GCT patients.

Caregiver Emotional Burden in Testicular Cancer Patients: From Patient to Caregiver Support.

Testicular cancer is the most common tumor in young males aged 15-40 years. The overall cure rate for men with testicular cancer is >90%, so a huge number of these patients will become testicular cancer survivors. These people may feel some stress in the experience of diagnosis, treatment, and consequences that affects the quality of life, and during follow-up, especially when new issues and emotional distresses appear over time, such as late side-effects of treatments and emotional challenges including fear of tumor relapse, fertility and sexuality concerns, and social and workplace issues. The cancer experience has an impact not only on patients, but also on their relatives (e.g., spouses, parents, or siblings), who often have to assume a caregiving role for the duration of and following treatment for cancer. Moreover, the caregiver plays an important role in supporting a man with a testicular cancer, providing physical and emotional care. This review presents a summary of existing knowledge regarding the impact and the burden of testicular cancer on caregivers.

Vitiligo-like lesions in a patient treated with nivolumab for renal cell carcinoma.

RATIONALE: The introduction of immune check-point inhibitors (ICIs) in the treatment of solid neoplasms is associated with the need to know and manage a new type of side effects that are commonly defined immune-mediated adverse events. Dermatologic immune-mediated adverse events are relatively common. Vitiligo-like lesions, defined as hypopigmented skin lesions, have already been associated with the use of ICIs in particular in patients with malignant melanoma, probably due to a common autoimmune mechanism against both melanoma cells and normal melanocytes. The onset of vitiligo-like lesions is very rare in non-melanoma patients and nowadays only few cases are described in the literature. PATIENT CONCERNS: We described the case of a heavily pre-treated woman affected by renal cell carcinoma that has been treated with nivolumab for 2 years obtaining a stabilization of disease after an initial mild progression. After 9 months from the beginning of nivolumab, when the disease has reached its maximum stabilization, the patient developed vitiligo-like lesions of the back win halo nevi. DIAGNOSES: Vitiligo like lesion of the back not pre-existing before nivolumab treatment. The etiology was assumed to be nivolumab related as a result of an autoimmune activation against normal melanocytes. INTERVENTIONS: The patient was followed with dermatological evaluations without changes in nivolumab dose and schedule OUTCOMES:: No variations of the described lesions were recorded after the first description. The patients underwent a durable stabilization of her tumor. LESSONS: This case on the one hand is the first case of vitiligo-like lesions associated with ICIs in patients affected by renal cell carcinoma, and on the other hand it seems to confirm that the onset of immumomediate adverse reactions, but in particular vitiligo lesions, can probably be considered a sign of response to immunological treatments probably as a consequence of activation of the immune response.