Survival outcomes with 12 weeks of adjuvant or neoadjuvant trastuzumab in breast cancer.

Background: There is limited access to 1 year of adjuvant trastuzumab in resource-constrained settings. Most randomized studies have failed to prove non-inferiority of shorter durations of adjuvant trastuzumab compared to 1 year However, shorter durations are often used when 1 year is not financially viable. We report the outcomes with 12 weeks of trastuzumab administered as part of curative-intent treatment. Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of patients treated at Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, a tertiary care cancer center in India. Patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2)-positive early or locally advanced breast cancer who received 12 weeks of adjuvant or neoadjuvant trastuzumab with paclitaxel and four cycles of an anthracycline-based regimen in either sequence, through a patient assistance program between January 2011 and December 2012, were analyzed for disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity. Results: A total of 102 patients were analyzed with a data cutoff in September 2019. The median follow-up was 72 months (range 6-90 months), the median age was 46 (24-65) years, 51 (50%) were postmenopausal, 37 (36%) were hormone receptor-positive, and 61 (60%) had stage-III disease. There were 37 DFS events and 26 had OS events. The 5-year DFS was 66% (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 56-75%) and the OS was 76% (95% CI 67-85%), respectively. Cardiac dysfunction developed in 11 (10.7%) patients. Conclusion: The use of neoadjuvant or adjuvant 12-week trastuzumab-paclitaxel in sequence with four anthracycline-based regimens resulted in acceptable long-term outcomes in a group of patients, most of whom had advanced-stage nonmetastatic breast cancer.

Malignancies in HIV: the Indian scenario.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: India has the second largest number of HIV/AIDS patients in the world; however, studies done in the area of HIV-related malignancies are few. With the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy and treatment and prevention of opportunistic infections, an increase in life expectancy of HIV-infected individuals and an increase in HIV-related malignancies is expected. The purpose of this review is to put forth the Indian scenario of HIV-related malignancies. RECENT FINDINGS: About 2.5 million Indians have HIV/AIDS. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and cervical cancer were found to occur in a higher proportion among the HIV-infected individuals in India as compared with non-HIV-infected individuals. The incidence of AIDS-related primary central nervous system lymphoma is low in India. Kaposi's sarcoma is rare in India. Amongst the non-AIDS defining cancers anal cancer, testicular cancer, Hodgkin's disease, colon cancer and certain head and neck cancer sites in men and vaginal cancers among women were found to occur more frequently. SUMMARY: With the availability of highly active antiretroviral therapy an increased mortality and morbidity due to neoplastic diseases is expected in the future. As India is a large country and geographically and culturally diverse, large-scale studies need to be done linking the regional cancer centres with the AIDS centres across the country to evaluate the exact burden of HIV-related malignancies.