Is prior cancer history a hindrance for non-small cell lung cancer patients to participate in clinical trials?

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the effect of a prior cancer history on the survivals of resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. METHODS: Kaplan-Meier method with a log-rank test was used to compare overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) between groups. Propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to reduce bias. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO)-penalized Cox multivariable analysis was used to identify the prognostic factors. RESULTS: A total of 4,102 eligible cases were included in this study. The rate of patients with a prior cancer was 8.2% (338/4,102). Patients with a prior cancer tended to be younger and have early-stage tumors when compared with those without prior cancer. Before PSM, the survivals of the patients with a prior cancer were similar to those of the patients without prior cancer (OS: P = 0.591; DFS: P = 0.847). After PSM, patients with a prior cancer and those without prior cancer still had comparable survival rates (OS: P = 0.126; DFS: P = 0.054). The LASSO-penalized multivariable Cox analysis further confirmed that a prior cancer history was not a prognostic factor for both OS and DFS. CONCLUSIONS: A prior cancer history was not associated with resected NSCLC patients' survivals, and we proposed that it might be reasonable for clinical trials to enroll the NSCLC patients with a prior cancer.

Risk of colon cancer-related death in people who had cancer in the past.

BACKGROUND: The rate of second primary malignancies (SPM) is gradually increasing. Yet, the risk of death from primary cancer vs. SPM is still not well understood. In this study, we investigated the survival of patients with colorectal cancer (as SPM) who had cancer in the past (prior cancer) and the risk factors of SPM death in this population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, we identified 1866 colon cancer patients with prior cancer in our main cohort and 43,959 colon cancer patients, including 37,440 patients with colon cancer as only malignancy and 6519 patients with colon cancer as subsequent colon cancer (SCC), in a second cohort and 3429 colon cancer patients, including 2371 patients with prior colon cancer (PCC) and 1058 patients with colon cancer as SPM, in a third cohort. After propensity score matching, 6519 pairs of subjects were identified in second cohort. RESULTS: Patients with prior prostate and breast cancer had a higher risk of developing colon cancer compared to those with gastrointestinal cancer. Also, colon cancer patients with different prior cancer had different survival rates. Furthermore, except for prior lung cancer (52.78 vs. 25.93%), most subjects died due to colon cancer complications. The ratio of colon cancer deaths to prior cancer deaths in patients with a low stage and high stage was 1.51 and 6.64, respectively. In addition, colon cancer-specific survival (CSS) and OS rates were significantly lower in subjects with colon cancer as the SPM than in those with PCC. Also, compared with PCC, SPM was associated with OS and CSS with HR 1.59 (95 CI 1.43-1.78) and HR 2.00 (95% CI 1.70-2.36). Furthermore, compared with only colon cancer, SCC was associated with OS and CSS with HR 1.23 (95 CI 1.17-1.29) and HR 1.13 (95% CI 1.06-1.21). CONCLUSIONS: Prior cancer was found to have an adverse impact on OS in patients with colon cancer (secondary cancer), most of whom died due to colon cancer as secondary cancer itself rather than prior cancer. Early detection and treatment strategies should be investigated in this population.

Impact of prior cancer on the overall survival of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Prior cancer history is an important exclusion criterion from clinical trials and may decrease their generalizability. This study aimed to investigate the impact of prior cancer on the prognosis of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and to describe their characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma diagnosed between 2010 and 2015 were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. The discrepancy in baseline characteristics was adjusted by propensity score matching. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were performed to assess the impact of prior cancer on overall survival. RESULTS: A total of 3412 individuals were identified, of which 418 (12.25%) had prior cancer. Prostate cancer was the most frequently detected type of prior cancer (18.42%). Nearly 45% of the prior cancers were diagnosed within 5 years before the nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Patients with prior cancer had an inferior survival compared to those without prior cancer (p < 0.001). Notably, patients with prior prostate, breast, hematological, and nasopharyngeal cancers had a non-inferior overall survival. Prior cancer history was an independent factor of poor overall survival (hazard ratio = 1.329, p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to provide the comprehensive insight that patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and prior cancer have lower overall survival. Different prior cancer types had a different impact on the clinical outcome, suggesting that the exclusion criteria should be individually defined by unique cancer types.

Prior cancer history predicts the worse survival of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PURPOSE: Previous cancers can be observed in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, whether prior cancer diagnosis affects survival outcomes remains unknown. This study aimed to explore the impact of prior cancer on the survival of patients with NPC. METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from 666 NPC patients between 2006 and 2018. The patients in this study were divided into those without prior cancer, with prior head and neck cancer, and prior non-head and neck cancer. The demographic data and survival of these groups were then analyzed. The independent prognostic factors for NPC were determined using multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: We identified 25 NPC patients with prior cancer in our case series, most of whom had a history of colorectal cancer. Patients with a history of cancer were older than those without a history of cancer (p = 0.001). In the subgroup analysis stratified by the timing of prior cancer, NPC patients with prior non-head and neck cancer within 24, 36, 60, and 120 months showed worse survival than patients without prior cancer (all p < 0.05). When stratified by cancer stage, stage III NPC patients with prior non-head and neck cancer showed worse survival than patients without prior cancer (p < 0.001). Prior cancer and diabetes can predict worse survival in patients with stage III NPC. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that prior cancer and diabetes are independent prognostic factors in patients with stage III NPC.

Survival of women diagnosed with breast cancer and who have survived a previous cancer.

PURPOSE: Many women diagnosed with breast cancer have survived previous cancer; yet little is known about the impact of previous cancer on overall and cancer-specific survival. METHODS: This population-based cohort study using SEER-Medicare data included women (age ≥ 66 years) diagnosed with breast cancer between 2005 and 2015. Separately by breast cancer stage, we estimated effect of previous cancer on overall survival using Cox regression and on cause-specific survival using competing risk regression; all survival analyses adjusted for covariates. RESULTS: Of 138,576 women diagnosed with breast cancer, 8% had a previous cancer of another organ site, most commonly colorectal or uterine cancer or melanoma. Many of these women (46.3%) were diagnosed within 5 years of breast cancer. For all breast cancer stages except IV wherein there was no difference, women with vs. without previous cancer had worse overall survival. This survival disadvantage was driven by deaths due to the previous cancer and other causes. In contrast, women with previous cancer generally had favorable breast-cancer-specific survival, although this varied by stage. Overall survival varied by previous cancer type, timing, and stage; previous lung cancer, cancer diagnosed within 1 year of incident breast cancer, and previous cancer at a distant stage were associated with the worst survival. In contrast, women with a previous melanoma had equivalent overall survival to women without previous cancer. CONCLUSION: We observed variable impact of previous cancer on overall and breast-cancer-specific survival depending on breast cancer stage at diagnosis and the type, timing, and stage of previous cancer.

Effect of prior cancer on survival of hepatocellular carcinoma: implications for clinical trial eligibility criteria.

BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer history are usually excluded from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) clinical trials. However, whether previous malignancy affects the oncological outcomes of HCC patients has not been fully assessed. This study aimed to evaluate whether prior cancer compromised the survival of HCC patients. METHODS: Patients with HCC were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database between 2004 and 2015, and then they were classified into groups with and without prior cancer. The Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression analysis were adopted to evaluate whether prior cancer impacted clinical outcomes after propensity score matching (PSM) adjusting baseline differences. Validation was performed in the cohort from our institution. RESULTS: We identified 2642 HCC patients with prior cancer. After PSM, the median overall survival (OS) time were 14.5 and 12.0 months respectively for groups with and without prior cancer. Prior cancer did not compromise prognosis in patients with HCC (p = 0.49). The same tendency was found in subgroups stratified by tumor stages and cancer interval period: OS was similar between groups with and without prior cancer (both p values> 0.1). In the multivariate Cox regression model, prior cancer did not adversely impact patients' survival (HR: 1.024; 95% CI: 0.961-1.092). In the validation cohort from our institution, prior cancer had no significant association with worse outcomes (p = 0.48). CONCLUSION: For HCC patients, prior cancer did not compromise their survival, regardless of tumor stage and cancer interval period. Exclusion criteria for HCC clinical trials could be reconsidered.

Increasing trends in the prevalence of prior cancer in newly diagnosed lung, stomach, colorectal, breast, cervical, and corpus uterine cancer patients: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer survivors are frequently excluded from clinical research, resulting in their omission from the development of many cancer treatment strategies. Quantifying the prevalence of prior cancer in newly diagnosed cancer patients can inform research and clinical practice. This study aimed to describe the prevalence, characteristics, and trends of prior cancer in newly diagnosed cancer patients in Japan. METHODS: Using Osaka Cancer Registry data, we examined the prevalence, characteristics, and temporal trends of prior cancer in patients who received new diagnoses of lung, stomach, colorectal, female breast, cervical, and corpus uterine cancer between 2004 and 2015. Site-specific prior cancers were examined for a maximum of 15 years before the new cancer was diagnosed. Temporal trends were evaluated using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. RESULTS: Among 275,720 newly diagnosed cancer patients, 21,784 (7.9%) had prior cancer. The prevalence of prior cancer ranged from 3.3% (breast cancer) to 11.1% (lung cancer). In both sexes, the age-adjusted prevalence of prior cancer had increased in recent years (P values for trend < 0.001), especially in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. The proportion of smoking-related prior cancers exceeded 50% in patients with newly diagnosed lung, stomach, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of prior cancer in newly diagnosed cancer patients is relatively high, and has increased in recent years. Our findings suggest that a deeper understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of prior cancer in cancer patients is needed to promote more inclusive clinical research and support the expansion of treatment options.

Effect of prior cancer on survival outcomes for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: A history of prior cancer commonly results in exclusion from cancer clinical trials. However, whether a prior cancer history has an adversely impact on clinical outcomes for patients with advanced prostate cancer (APC) remains largely unknown. We therefore aimed to investigate the impact of prior cancer history on these patients. METHODS: We identified patients with advanced prostate cancer diagnosed from 2004 to 2010 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance baseline characteristics. Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazard model were utilized for survival analysis. RESULTS: A total of 19,772 eligible APC patients were included, of whom 887 (4.5 %) had a history of prior cancer. Urinary bladder (19 %), colon and cecum (16 %), melanoma of the skin (9 %) malignancies, and non-hodgkin lymphoma (9 %) were the most common types of prior cancer. Patients with a history of prior cancer had slightly inferior overall survival (OS) (AHR = 1.13; 95 % CI [1.02-1.26]; P = 0.017) as compared with that of patients without a prior cancer diagnosis. Subgroup analysis further indicated that a history of prior cancer didn't adversely impact patients' clinical outcomes, except in patients with a prior cancer diagnosed within 2 years, at advanced stage, or originating from specific sites, including bladder, colon and cecum, or lung and bronchus, or prior chronic lymphocytic leukemia. CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of APC patients with a prior cancer history had non-inferior survival to that of patients without a prior cancer diagnosis. These patients may be candidates for relevant cancer trials.

Does Prior Cancer Have an Influence on the Survival Outcomes of Patients with Localized Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors?

Objective To investigate the impact of prior non-pancreatic cancer on the survival outcomes of patients with localized pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs). Methods We reviewed the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database and selected patients with localized PanNETs diagnosed between 1973 and 2015. We divided the patients into two groups according to the presence or absence of prior non-pancreatic malignancy. Before and after propensity score matching, we compared the clinicopathological characteristics and studied the overall survival and cancer-specific survival. Results A total of 357 (12.9%) of 2778 patients with localized PanNETs had prior cancer. A total of 1211 cases with only a localized PanNET and 133 cases with a localized PanNET and prior cancer had complete data and met the inclusion criteria of the current study. Patients with prior cancer were associated with advanced age (>65 years, 57.9% prior cancer vs. 31.0% no prior cancer, P<0.001), later year of diagnosis (87.2% vs. 80.2%, P=0.049), a higher proportion of poorly differentiated/undifferentiated grade tumors (4.5% vs. 1.5%, P=0.025), and a higher proportion of no primary site surgery (19.5% vs. 10.4%, P=0.003). Prostate (29.32%), breast (18.05%), other genitourinary and retroperitoneal (16.54%), and gastrointestinal (12.78%) cancers were the most common prior cancer types. Most of the prior cancers (95.49%) were localized and regional, and only 4.51% of the prior cancers were distant. Patients with interval periods between the prior cancer and PanNET of ≤36 months, 36-60 months, 60-120 months, and >120 months accounted for 33.08%, 13.53%, 24.06%, and 29.32% of all cases with prior cancers, respectively. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed. The presence/absence of prior cancers did not impact survival outcomes of patients with localized PanNETs before and after propensity score matching (PSM). Further subgroups analysis showed that, patients with localized PanNETs and prior distant cancer had worse cancer-specific survival than patients with prior local/regional cancer or patients without prior cancer (P<0.001). No significant differences in cancer-specific survival were observed in terms of the different sites of the prior cancers and the different interval periods of prior cancers and PanNETs (P<0.05). Conclusions Patients with localized PanNETs and a history of prior cancer had survival outcomes that were comparable to those of patients with no history of prior cancer. Patients with localized PanNETs and prior cancer could be candidates for clinical trials if they satisfy all other conditions; aggressive and potentially curative therapies should be offered to these patients.

Impact of prior cancer history on the survival of patients with larynx cancer.

BACKGROUND: Patients with a prior history of cancer are commonly excluded from clinical trial. Increasing number of studies implied that a prior cancer did not adversely affect the clinical outcome among various types of cancer patients. However, the impact of prior cancer on survival of larynx cancer patients remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of prior cancer and assess its impact on survival of patients diagnosed with larynx cancer. METHODS: Patients with larynx cancer as the first or second primary malignancy diagnosed from 2004 to 2015 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to balance baseline characteristics. Kaplan-Meier method, multivariate Cox proportional hazard model, and multivariate competing risk model were performed for survival analysis. RESULTS: A total of 24,812 eligible patients with larynx cancer were included in the study, wherein a total of 2436 patients (9.8%) had a prior history of cancer. Prostate (36%), lung and bronchus (10%), urinary bladder (7%), and breast (6%) were the most common types of prior cancer. A prior cancer history served as a risk factor for overall survival (AHR =1.30; 95% CI [1.21-1.41]; P < 0.001) but a protective factor for cancer-specific mortality (AHR = 0.83; 95% CI [0.72-0.94]; P = 0.004) in comparison with those without prior cancer. The subgroup analysis showed that a prior history of cancer adversely affected overall survival of patients with larynx cancer in most subgroups stratified by timing and types of prior cancer, as well as by different clinicopathologic features. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated an adverse survival impact of a prior history of cancer on patients with larynx cancer. Except for a few particular prior cancer, clinical trials should be considered prudently for laryngeal cancer patients with prior cancers.

Effect of prior cancer on survival outcomes for patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma: a propensity score analysis.

BACKGROUND: With the increase in cancer survivors, more pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) are developing as second primary cancers. Whether a prior cancer has an inferior impact on survival outcomes in patients with PDAC remains unknown, and the validity of criteria used to exclude patients with prior cancers in clinical trials needs to be determined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic factors and assess the survival impact of a prior cancer in patients with second primary PDAC. METHODS: Patients with PDAC were retrospectively selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific mortality rates were compared between patients with and those without prior cancer. RESULTS: The data of 9235 patients with PDAC from 2004 to 2015 were retrieved from the SEER database, consisting of 438 (4.74%) patients with a prior cancer and 8797 (95.26%) patients without a prior cancer, the patients were then pair-matched using propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. The median OS rates were 7 months for both groups of patients with PDAC with and without prior cancer. These two groups of patients had similar survival rates and cancer-specific mortalities before and after the PSM analysis. In the multivariate analysis, a history of prior cancer was not a significant prognostic factor of OS in patients with PDAC. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PDAC who had a prior cancer had similar OS and cancer-specific mortality rates as those of patients without a prior cancer. The inclusion of patients with a prior cancer in the clinical trials of PDAC should be considered.

Impact of prior cancer history on the overall survival of patients newly diagnosed with cancer: A pan-cancer analysis of the SEER database.

The population of cancer survivors with prior cancer is rapidly growing. Whether a prior cancer diagnosis interferes with outcome is unknown. We conducted a pan-cancer analysis to determine the impact of prior cancer history for patients newly diagnosed with cancer. We identified 20 types of primary solid tumors between 2004 and 2008 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Demographic and clinicopathologic variables were compared by χ2 test and t-test as appropriate. The propensity score-adjusted Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the impact of prior cancer on overall survival (OS). Among 1,557,663 eligible patients, 261,474 (16.79%) had a history of prior cancer. More than 65% of prior cancers were diagnosed within 5 years. We classified 20 cancer sites into two groups (PCI and PCS) according to the different impacts of prior cancer on OS. PCI patients with a prior cancer history, which involved the colon and rectum, bone and soft tissues, melanoma, breast, cervix uteri, corpus and uterus, prostate, urinary bladder, kidney and renal pelvis, eye and orbits, thyroid, had inferior OS. The PCS patients (nasopharynx, esophagus, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, lung, ovary and brain) with a prior cancer history showed similar OS to that of patients without prior cancer. Our pan-cancer study presents the landscape for the survival impact of prior cancer across 20 cancer types. Compared to the patients without prior cancer, the PCI group had inferior OS, while the PCS group had similar OS. Further studies are still needed.

Is cancer history really an exclusion criterion for clinical trial of lung cancer? Influence of gastrointestinal tract cancer history on the outcomes of lung cancer surgery.

Objective: Exclusion of patients with a history of other cancer treatment except in situ situation has been considered to be inevitable for clinical trials investigating survival outcome. However, there have been few reports confirming these influences on surgical outcome of lung cancer patients ever. Methods: Multi-institutional, individual data from patients with non­small cell lung cancer resected between 2000 and 2013 were collected. The patients were divided into two groups: those with a history of gastrointestinal tract cancer (GI group) and those without any history (non-GI group). We compared the outcomes with well-matched groups using propensity scoring to minimize bias related to the nonrandomness. The influence of gastrointestinal tract cancer stage, disease-free interval, and treatment method for gastrointestinal tract cancer on the surgical outcome of non­small cell lung cancer was examined. Results: We analyzed 196 patients in the GI group and 3732 in the non-GI group. In unmatched cohort, multivariate analyses showed that a history of gastrointestinal tract cancer did not affect overall survival or recurrence-free survival. Independent predictors of poor prognosis included older age, male sex, high carcinoembryonic antigen levels and advanced clinical stage of non­small cell lung cancer. The two groups in the matched cohort demonstrated equivalent overall survival and recurrence-free survival, even in patients with clinical stage I. Gastrointestinal tract cancer stage, disease-free interval and treatment method for gastrointestinal tract cancer were not associated with outcomes. Conclusions: History of early gastrointestinal tract cancer completely resected is not always necessary for exclusion criteria in clinical trial of lung cancer.

Impact of prior cancer history on survival in brain malignancy: A propensity score-adjusted, population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with a Prior Cancer History (PCH) are often excluded from clinical trials. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that prior cancer history does not present adverse outcomes on cancer patients. The evidence on the survival of brain cancer patients in this regard remains widely unknown. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to estimate the prevalence and impact of prior cancer on survival of patients diagnosed with brain cancer. Data of patients who were diagnosed with brain cancer as their first or second primary malignancy between 2000 and 2019 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to ensure comparable baseline characteristics among the patients. Survival analysis was conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method, as well as multivariate Cox proportional hazard and multivariate competing risk models. RESULTS: Out of 42 726 patients, 1189 (2.78%) had PCH. Genitourinary (40.4%), Breast (13.6%), Hematologic and Lymphatic (11.4%), and Gastrointestinal malignancies (11.3%) were the most common types of prior cancer. PCH served as a significant risk factor for Overall Survival (OS) (Adjusted Hazard Ratio [AHR] 1.26; 95% CI [1.15-1.39]; p < .001) but did not have a statistically significant impact on Brain Cancer-Specific Survival (BCSS) (AHR 0.97; 95% CI [0.88-1.07]; p = .54). Glioblastoma exhibited the most substantial and statistically significant impact on survival as compared to other histological types. Of all the organs systems, only prior Gastrointestinal and Hematologic and Lymphatic malignancies had a statistically significant impact on OS of patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that PCH does not exert a substantial impact on the survival of brain cancer patients, except in cases involving gastrointestinal or hematologic and lymphatic PCH, or when the brain cancer is glioblastoma.

Impact of prior cancer history on survival of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The impact of prior cancer history on survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients remains unknown. The present study assessed the impact of prior cancer history on survival of patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. METHODS: Patients with primary hypopharyngeal cancer diagnosed between 2004 and 2015 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to balance baseline characteristics. One-to-one PSM, Kaplan-Meier method, and log-rank test were performed for survival analysis. RESULTS: We included 5017 patients with hypopharyngeal cancer. Prior cancer history had no significant impact on overall survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients in comparison with those without prior cancer history (p = 0.845, after PSM). Subgroup analysis showed that prior cancer history had no significant effect on overall survival of hypopharyngeal cancer patients. CONCLUSION: More hypopharyngeal cancer patients with prior cancer history should be considered for clinical trials. However, further prospective studies are needed.

Impact of prior cancer diagnosis on pancreatic cancer outcomes: A Danish Nationwide, population-based Cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The overall survival of pancreatic cancer (PC) remains low, underlining the need of further research to improve PC directed therapy. Some patients with PC may have experienced a prior cancer, refraining them from inclusion in clinical trials, despite not knowing the precise effect of a prior cancer on disease course of PC. OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of prior cancer on the disease course in patients with PC. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study including Danish patients diagnosed with PC between 2004 and 2020 crosslinking data from the Danish Cancer Registry, the Danish National Patient Registry among several other databases. Using the Kaplan-Meier estimator, we calculated the overall and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) disease stage stratified survival, comparing patients with and without prior cancer. Furthermore, using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), we presented a covariate-adjusted model of the average treatment effect in the treated (ATT) of prior cancer on the overall PC survival and stratified for AJCC disease stage. RESULTS: We included 11,147 patients diagnosed with PC, of which 906 (8.1%) had a prior cancer. Comparing patients with and without prior cancer, the IPTW-adjusted survival, indicated a slightly better survival (ATT: 1.5 months; 95% CI: 0.7; 2.2 months). After stratifying by PC tumor stage, the difference was restricted to patients with stage IV PC disease (ATT: 1.1 months; 95% CI: 0.5; 1.7 months). Patients with prior cancer were slightly less prone to present with stage IV PC disease and were more likely to not receive active treatment compared with patients without prior cancer. CONCLUSION: Prior cancer was associated with a slightly better survival in patients with PC, but only in patients with stage IV PC disease. This is likely explained by lead time bias.

Revisiting Exclusion of Prior Cancer in Clinical Trials of Male Breast Cancer.

Background: Eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials present challenges to enrollment. Many trials exclude patients with a prior cancer. This common practice may be especially detrimental to trials of rare cancers, such as male breast cancer, that struggle to accrue adequate numbers of participants. Objectives: To estimate prevalence of prior cancer among men newly diagnosed with breast cancer and describe characteristics of men with prior cancer compared to those without. Methods: We identified men diagnosed with breast cancer between 2011-2015 using population-based data from National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of cancer registries. We used sequence number and diagnosis year to identify cancers diagnosed prior to breast cancer (inclusive of prior breast, different, and unknown types of cancer). We compared sociodemographic, tumor, and treatment characteristics of men with and without prior cancer using chi-square tests. Results: Among 2317 men, nearly one quarter (24.3%) had any prior cancer, and the majority (58.7%) of these were of a different cancer type. A higher proportion of men with a prior cancer of a different type were older, had smaller (≤ 2 cm) breast tumors, were diagnosed with stage 0-1 breast cancer, and did not receive surgery compared to men without any prior cancer; there were no statistically significant differences by race and ethnicity, county median income, hormone receptor status, or surgery type. Conclusion: Given prevalence of prior cancer in this rare and understudied population of men diagnosed with breast cancer, including men with prior cancer in clinical trials may improve accrual.

Effect of prior cancer history on survival of patients with esophageal carcinoma: a propensity score matching, population-based study.

Background: When conducting esophageal cancer clinical trials, prior cancer history is frequently considered an exclusion criterion due to the assumption that prior malignancy may exert significant interference with the prognosis in patients with esophageal carcinoma. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of prior cancer on survival of patients with esophageal cancer and provide valuable assistance for trial design. Methods: Data regarding patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer between 2011 and 2016 were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and divided into two groups depending on the presence or absence of prior cancer history. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to minimize the confounding bias caused by covariates. Subsequently, Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare all-cause and esophageal cancer-specific survival between patients with and without prior cancer. Results: Among 17,123 patients with esophageal carcinoma included in this study, 2,224 (13%) patients had prior cancer history. Before PSM, Kaplan-Meier curves between the two groups classified by prior cancer history showed no significant differences in all-cause (HR =1.047, 95% CI: 0.995-1.102, P=0.077) and esophageal cancer-specific survival (HR =0.986, 95% CI: 0.928-1.048, P=0.65). Similar results were obtained after PSM. In multivariate Cox analysis, prior malignancy was not significantly associated with all-cause (HR =1.002, 95% CI: 0.936-1.072, P=0.965) and esophageal cancer-specific survival (HR =0.964, 95% CI: 0.890-1.045, P=0.374). Subgroup analysis stratified by timing of prior cancer demonstrated that prior cancer had no significant effect on prognosis in the recent latency period subgroups (P>0.05). Furthermore, patients with a prior cancer of lung and bronchus (P=0.013) or head and neck (P=0.012) displayed significantly worse survival than patients without prior cancer, while other types of prior cancer showed no significant effect. Conclusions: The findings suggest that prior cancer is likely not a definite factor that has an impact on all-cause and esophageal cancer-specific survival. Therefore, exclusion criteria of prior cancer history in esophageal cancer clinical trials should be seriously reconsidered.

Association between a prior cancer history and prognosis in adult patients with high­grade glioma.

Patients with a prior cancer history are often excluded from clinical trials. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of prior cancer history on patients with high-grade glioma. Data of patients with high-grade glioma as the first or second primary malignancy were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to balance the heterogeneity baseline characteristics. The survivals of patients with or without prior cancers were analyzed. A total of 46,200 patients were included in this study, 2471 (5.3 %) of whom carried a prior cancer history. Prostate (37.7 %), breast (12.2 %), colon and rectal (7.9 %), and skin (6.9 %) cancers were the most common types of prior cancers. Overall survival rates were similar between patients with and without a prior cancer history (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.96-1.08; P = 0.525). However, a prior cancer history served as a protective factor against glioma-specific mortality (sub-distribution HR = 0.90; 95 % CI, 0.84-0.96; P = 0.001) in comparison with having no prior cancer history. The subgroup stratified by time intervals and types of prior cancer history showed that a prior cancer history was not a significant prognostic factor for survival in patients, except for breast cancers within 5 years and prostate cancers over 5 years. Our study shows that except for patients with high-grade gliomas with a history of stable tumors, the inclusion of patients with a prior history of tumors in clinical trials requires careful consideration.

The incidence of cancer recurrence and new cancer following commencement of dialysis.

Background: Patients with kidney failure have a higher cancer risk compared with the age-matched general population. However, the outcomes of incident dialysis patients with a prior cancer history are unknown. Methods: Using Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry data (2000-2019), the outcomes and survival probabilities of incident dialysis patients with prior cancers and having experienced a cancer recurrence or having developed a new cancer after dialysis commencement were described. Results: Of 4912 patients with prior cancers before dialysis commencement, 323 (7%) and 343 (7%) patients experienced cancer recurrence or developed new cancers after dialysis initiation, respectively. The median time from dialysis commencement to cancer recurrence was 1.2 years [interquartile range (IQR) 0.5-2.8] and was 2.0 years (IQR 0.7-4.0) for new cancer occurrence. Of those with cancer recurrence, 80% presented with metastatic disease and one in two patients died from cancer, with a median time from cancer recurrence to death of 0.5 years (IQR 0.2-1.7). Of those who developed new cancer, urinary tract and respiratory cancers were the most frequent cancer types, with a median time from new cancer diagnosis to death of 1.3 years (IQR 0.4-3.1). The 3-year survival probabilities on dialysis following cancer recurrence and new cancer were 19% [95% confidence interval (CI) 15-24] and 41% (35-47), respectively. Conclusion: Among incident dialysis patients with a prior cancer history, 14% experienced cancer recurrence or developed a new cancer. Patients who experienced cancer recurrence or developed new cancer have poor outcomes, with ˂50% surviving beyond 3 years. These findings suggest the need to have a greater understanding of the characteristics, cancer screening, treatment responses and reasons for commencing dialysis in patients with kidney failure and prior cancer history, which may help in the shared clinical decision-making process when considering dialysis for these patients.