Metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer in South India: A regional demographic study.

BACKGROUND: Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has varying epidemiological patterns in different countries and also in different regions of each country. In a country with a high prevalence of lung cancer such as India, regional variations in demography exist. AIM: A study of unique demographic trends of metastatic NSCLC patients presenting to our regional cancer center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We did a retrospective analysis of histologically confirmed metastatic NSCLC patients who presented to our Department of Medical Oncology between August 2012 and July 2014. RESULTS: A total of 304 patients were analyzed. About 55.6% of the patients were in the age group of 41-60 years. About 79.6% of the patients were symptomatic for <6 months before presentation. About 63.5% of the patients were smokers presenting with a median age of 59 years whereas nonsmokers formed 36.51% of the patients presenting with a median age of 47 (P < 0.001). About 82.6% of the male patients and 4.1% of female patients were smokers. Equal number of all patients had adenocarcinoma (AC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) histology. AC histology was more common in the nonsmoking group (62% of patients). SCC histology was seen in 54.3% of smokers. Metastasis to the contralateral lung and pleura was seen in 58.2% of patients. CONCLUSION: NSCLC presents at a young age. Smoking is a significant risk factor and it is common in the urban populations as in the rural areas. Both AC and SCC histologies presented in equal proportions.

Plasmablastic lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract: A rare entity with a dismal prognosis.

INTRODUCTION: Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare and aggressive type of mature B-cell lymphoma, which is usually associated with HIV infection. The most common site of PBL is the oral cavity. Involvement of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is rare, and literature is limited to few case reports and case series. AIMS: To retrospectively analyze the presentation, clinical findings, and outcome of patients presenting to our institute with a diagnosis of PBL involving the GI tract. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted at our institute from February 2008 to January 2015 on consecutive patients presenting with PBL involving the GI tract. The data were compared to various case reports and series published in peer-reviewed journals. RESULTS: There were four patients diagnosed with PBL of the GI tract; three male and one female. The location of involvement was in the stomach, ileocecal junction, ascending colon, and rectum. Only one patient was HIV-positive and was on combination antiretroviral therapy since 2 years. Among the three immunocompetent patients, only one survived with therapy; however, the patient relapsed within 6 months of completion of treatment. CONCLUSION: PBL was seen to have a uniformly aggressive clinical course with poor outcomes even with optimal treatment. The prognosis of immunocompetent patients appears to be worse than that of HIV-AIDS patients. Although the most common histologies seen with GI lymphomas are mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue type lymphomas or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, rarer and more aggressive histologies like PBL need to be kept in mind.