Long-Term Progression-Free Survival in Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patient Treated With Crizotinib.

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene rearrangements constitutes 3-5%. Crizotinib was approved for the first-line therapy of advanced ALK-positive NSCLC patients. We present a female patient with advanced ALK-positive NSCLC who was kept on crizotinib as first-line therapy and showed progression-free survival (PFS) of 48 months despite the data suggesting that the majority of patients on crizotinib show relapse within 1 year. Further studies should focus on the molecular and biological factors and the possible effect of the long-term use of this drug.

Middle East observational study in metastatic soft tissue sarcoma: an epidemiological study on the treatment patterns (MOON).

PURPOSE: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a heterogeneous group of rare mesenchymal neoplasms, accounting for < 1% of all newly diagnosed malignancies. These tumors can occur in almost any anatomic site though they most frequently occur in the extremities. The objective of the study was to describe the epidemiology, treatment paradigm, and real-world outcomes in the clinical management of metastatic STS (mSTS) in the Middle East and North Africa (MEA) region. METHODS: MOON was an observational, multicenter, retrospective patient chart review study which included 200 patients with mSTS in the final analysis. The primary objective of the study is exploratory, so it is presented using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: At the time of presentation, 62.0% patients had metastatic disease, 27.5% had received only their primary diagnosis and 10.0% had experienced a local recurrence. The most frequent STS localizations were lower extremities (74%), trunk (28.5%) and upper extremities (10.5%). Primary tumor was staged as T2b in the majority (60%) of patients. Surgical treatment was performed most often for the primary disease, whereas radiation therapy and chemotherapy were predominantly administered with palliative intent. A total of 38 patients received treatment with pazopanib. Thirteen adverse events (AEs) were attributed to pazopanib in eight patients. CONCLUSION: Adult patients treated for STS have al most equal gender ratio and mostly are middle aged. The majority of patients have metastatic disease and disease progression, and half of the patients died from the disease during the period of evaluation. This study obtained real-life data on the clinical management of STS in MEA countries which could be shared with the medical community.

Dosimetric prospective study comparing 2D and 3D planning for irradiation of supraclavicular and infraclavicular regions in breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to compare 2D plan and 3D plan regarding coverage of the target (supraclavicular and infraclavicular regions) and dose reaching the risk organs (using mean DVH). Depending on the results of this study, modifications can be made to the 2D conventional planning of supraclavicular and infraclavicular regions in order to achieve better coverage of the target tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a dosimetric study carried out at the radiation oncology department in NCI-Cairo University in the period from January 2012 to October 2012, on 15 patients with breast cancer who are eligible for supraclavicular and infraclavicular irradiation. For All patients, a 2D and a 3D plan were done. RESULTS: We found that the coverage of the supraclavicular and infraclavicular regions and the chest wall or breast together with levels I and II axilla (PTV) were significantly better with the 3D technique with less over dose than the 2D technique. That difference was highly significant and was most evident in MRM cases. Also we found that organs at risk received a dose in the 3D technique that was more than that received in the 2D technique, again that difference was highly significant and was also most evident in MRM cases but all doses were still within tolerance. CONCLUSIONS: From the present study we concluded that the coverage of the supraclavicular and infraclavicular PTV is significantly worse with the 2D technique using a single oblique field at a fixed depth of 3 cm for all patients despite their different builts.