Mismatch Repair-Deficient Rectal Cancer and Resistance to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: Evaluate response of mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: dMMR rectal tumors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY) were retrospectively reviewed for characteristics, treatment, and outcomes. Fifty patients with dMMR rectal cancer were identified by IHC and/or microsatellite instability analysis, with initial treatment response compared with a matched MMR-proficient (pMMR) rectal cancer cohort. Germline and somatic mutation analyses were evaluated. Patient-derived dMMR rectal tumoroids were assessed for chemotherapy sensitivity. RESULTS: Of 21 patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (fluorouracil/oxaliplatin), six (29%) had progression of disease. In comparison, no progression was noted in 63 pMMR rectal tumors (P = 0.0001). Rectal cancer dMMR tumoroids reflected this resistance to chemotherapy. No genomic predictors of chemotherapy response were identified. Of 16 patients receiving chemoradiation, 13 (93%) experienced tumor downstaging; one patient had stable disease, comparable with 48 pMMR rectal cancers. Of 13 patients undergoing surgery, 12 (92%) had early-stage disease. Forty-two (84%) of the 50 patients tested positive for Lynch syndrome with enrichment of germline MSH2 and MSH6 mutations when compared with 193 patients with Lynch syndrome-associated colon cancer (MSH2, 57% vs 36%; MSH6, 17% vs 9%; P < 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Over one-fourth of dMMR rectal tumors treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy exhibited disease progression. Conversely, dMMR rectal tumors were sensitive to chemoradiation. MMR status should be performed upfront in all locally advanced rectal tumors with careful monitoring for response on neoadjuvant chemotherapy and genetic testing for Lynch syndrome in patients with dMMR rectal cancer.

Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Literature Review and Treatment Perspectives.

Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma is a prevalent and potentially aggressive disease. For more than a decade, treatment with sorafenib has been the only approved therapeutic approach. Moreover, no agent has been proven to prolong survival following the progression of disease after sorafenib treatment. However, in recent years, this scenario has changed substantially with several trials being conducted to examine the effects of immunotherapy and novel targeting agents. Several immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown promising results in early-stage clinical trials. Moreover, phase III trials with large cohorts have demonstrated remarkable improvement in survival with the use of new targeted therapies in second-line treatment. Treatment regimens involving the combination of two immune checkpoint inhibitors as well as immune checkpoint inhibitors and anti-angiogenic targeted therapies have shown potential to act synergistically in clinical trials. Recently, the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab evaluated in a phase III clinical trial has demonstrated survival superiority in the first-line treatment; it is the new considered standard of care. In this manuscript, we aimed to review the latest advances in the systemic treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma focusing on immunotherapy and targeted therapies.

Regorafenib in Combination with First-Line Chemotherapy for Metastatic Esophagogastric Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is critical to gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma growth and metastasis. Regorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor targeting angiogenic and stromal receptor tyrosine kinases. We evaluated whether regorafenib augments the antitumor effect of first-line chemotherapy in metastatic esophagogastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with previously untreated metastatic gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma received 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX6) every 14 days and regorafenib 160 mg daily on days 4 to 10 of each 14-day cycle. The primary endpoint was 6-month progression-free survival (PFS). To identify predictive biomarkers of outcome, we examined correlations between genomic characteristics of sequenced pretreatment tumors and PFS. RESULTS: Between August 2013 and November 2014, 36 patients with metastatic esophagogastric cancer were accrued to this single-center phase II study (NCT01913639). The most common grade 3-4 treatment-related adverse events were neutropenia (36%), leucopenia (11%) and hypertension (8%). The 6-month PFS was 53% (95% confidence interval [CI], 38%-71%), the objective response rate was 54% (95% CI, 37%-70%), and the disease control rate was 77% (95% CI, 67%-94%). Next-generation sequencing did not identify any genomic alterations significantly correlated with response, and there was no association between homologous recombination deficiency and PFS with platinum-based chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Regorafenib (one week on-one week off schedule) is well tolerated in combination with first-line FOLFOX but does not improve 6-month PFS relative to historical control. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Prognosis for metastatic esophagogastric cancer remains poor despite modern systemic therapy regimens. This phase II trial indicates that the combination of regorafenib and FOLFOX is well tolerated but does not add to the efficacy of first-line chemotherapy in metastatic esophagogastric cancer. Notably, recently reported data suggest potential synergy between regorafenib and the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab. As this study demonstrates that regorafenib plus FOLFOX is safe, and combined chemotherapy and immunotherapy show favorable toxicity profiles, future studies combining immunotherapy with regorafenib and chemotherapy may be feasible.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Review of Targeted and Immune Therapies.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma is the fifth most common cancer globally and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Despite the established efficacy of screening programs for at-risk individuals, most patients are diagnosed at later stages of disease, wherein the tumor characteristics or liver disease progressions do not allow for curative interventions. Many cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents have been tested in patients with advanced disease with disappointing outcomes and poor tolerance; therefore, no standard systemic therapy emerged until the approval of sorafenib in 2006. CONCLUSION: Despite the toxicity and low response rate, sorafenib had shown a significant survival benefit in phase III clinical trials, thus encouraging clinical research aimed at advancing the field of molecular therapy. Disrupted signaling pathways related to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) include the Wnt/ß-catenin, Ras/Raf/MAPK, phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase/Akt/mechanistic target of rapamycin, hepatocyte growth factor/c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition, IGF, vascular endothelial growth factor, and platelet-derived growth factor pathways, and a variety of agents targeting these pathways are currently under investigation. Additionally, better comprehension of the complex mechanisms underlying the ability of tumor cells to escape immune surveillance has led to impressive results with immunotherapy in many types of cancer, and this treatment strategy is currently being developed for HCC patients. Previous and ongoing targeted therapy and immunotherapy trials for HCC are discussed in this review.

Impressive response to immunotherapy in a metastatic gastric cancer patient: could somatic copy number alterations help patient selection?

BACKGROUND: Metastatic gastric cancer (GC) is an incurable and aggressive disease with a poor prognosis. Immunotherapy is an attractive approach for treating patients with cancer, and studies using immunotherapy have shown promising results in melanoma, kidney and non-small cell lung cancers, among others. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of a 50-year-old woman with metastatic GC whose cancer had progressed after first-line chemotherapy and who received pembrolizumab as an experimental treatment. Molecular analyses showed that her tumor was negative for PD-L1 expression, contained microsatellite stability and several focal somatic copy number alterations. The patient experienced an almost complete response after eleven cycles of treatment. Her symptoms related to the disease disappeared, and the medication was well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Despite reports of promising responses in some patients, immunotherapy is not suitable for all patients; therefore, we explored the molecular characteristics that could explain the exceptional response and clinical benefits observed in our patient.

Gastric Metastasis of Breast Cancer: A Case Series.

Gastric metastasis is rare but it can be the initial symptom of cancer. The second leading cause of this type of metastasis is breast cancer. A lack of clinical signs and nonspecific side effects of the treatment of primary tumors can lead to the misdiagnosis of metastatic gastric cancer. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy with biopsy and immunohistochemistry should be used for diagnosis. Treatment is palliative; it includes chemo, endocrine, and radiation therapies. Four patients with breast cancer and gastric metastasis were identified. All the patients tested positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors, and received chemotherapy and hormone therapy. One patient underwent surgery and two received radiation therapy. Patients with breast cancer and gastrointestinal symptoms should be investigated for gastric metastasis, given its morbidity and negative impact on quality of life.

Case Report: Pulmonary Alveolar Calcification as a Result of Severe Hypercalcemia due to Acute Lymphoblatic Leukemia.

Severe hypercalcemia is a rare metabolic disorder in pediatric medicine. This report describes a rare case of severe hypercalcemia and its clinical manifestations in a 2-year-old toddler. The radiological findings caused by hypercalcemia and osteolysis were emblematic of the osteolytic lesions. Hypercalcemia led to massive pulmonary alveolar calcification. The hypercalcemia was successfully treated with pamidronate, a bisphosphonate drug class. Further investigation resulted in a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The patient is currently on chemotherapy and has a favorable prognosis. Although severe hypercalcemia alone is an unusual finding as the first sign for ALL, this should be considered, not to mention the radiological images resulted from calcium deposits.

[The latest developments in control of fungal infections in neutropenic patients]. / Os mais recentes desenvolvimentos no controle de infecções fúngicas em pacientes neutropênicos.

Fever is the main expression of infections in immunocompromised patients and, therefore, an extremely important sign (1). Although none are pathognomonic, the several fever patterns described for infectious and inflammatory pathologies are, unfortunately, not yet proven applicable to immunocompromised patients, making the treatment of this specific group of patients an even greater challenge. Some of these patients, especially the elder and those under treatment with corticosteroids, may present with severe cases of infection and no fever, calling for more careful monitoring. In view of the diagnostic uncertainties, of the few clinical signs and of the potential for quick progression to severe infections, fever in neutropenic patients is considered a medical emergency (2, 3). Patients with a neutrophil count<500/mm3 are those who present a greater number of fever episodes. Before the era of empirical antibiotic therapy, febrile neutropenia was the cause of 70% of chemotherapeutic treatment related deaths (4). With new additions to the antimicrobial arsenal and the introduction of wide-range antibiotics, treatment outcomes for this condition improved significantly, allowing for the use of more toxic and often more efficient chemotherapy regimens.

Complete Radiologic Response in an Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma Treated with Temozolomide and Bevacizumab.

In this case report, we describe a rare case of a 32-year-old man who presented a highly aggressive, fast growing anaplastic oligodendroglioma five years after being treated with whole brain radiotherapy for a CNS recurrence of a lymphoblastic lymphoma. Initially, the patient was submitted to a surgical intervention and partial tumor resection, which allowed us to establish the pathologic diagnosis and the presence of a 1p deletion. Shortly after the operation the tumor grew back, exerting important mass effect. Since no radiation therapy or surgery could be used and the patient faced a critical condition, chemotherapy was started with a combination of temozolomide and bevacizumab. Immediately after the first cycle a marked clinical and radiological improvement was documented.