[Immunotherapy in epithelial ovarian carcinoma: hope and reality]. / L'immunothérapie dans le cancer épithélial de l'ovaire : entre espoir et réalité

INTRODUCTION: Epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) has a worst prognosis with little progress in terms of survival for the last two decades. Immunology received little interest in EOC in the past, but now appears very important in the natural history of this cancer. This review is an EOC immunology state of art and focuses on the place of immunotherapy in future. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A systematic review of published studies was performed. Medline baseline interrogation was performed with the following keywords: "Ovarian carinoma, immunotherapy, T-lymphocyte, regulator T-lymphocyte, dendritic cells, macrophage, antigen, chemotherapy, surgery, clinical trials". Identified publications (English or French) were assessed for the understanding of EOC immunology and the place of conventional treatment and immunotherapy strategy. RESULTS: Intratumoral infiltration by immune cells is a strong prognotic factor in EOC. Surgery and chemotherapy in EOC decrease imunosuppression in patients. The antitumoral immunity is a part of the therapeutic action of surgery and chemotherapy. Until now, immunotherapy gave some disappointing results, but the new drugs that target the tolerogenic tumoral microenvironnement rise and give a new hope in the treatment of cancer. CONCLUSION: Immunology controls the EOC natural history. The modulation of immunosuppressive microenvironment associated with the stimulation of antitumoral immunity could be the next revolution in the treatment of cancer.

[Pregnancy management among teenagers under 15 years old: a multidisciplinary challenge]. / Prise en charge de la grossesse chez la mineure de moins de 15 ans: un challenge multidisciplinaire.

OBJECTIVE: Pregnancy before 15 years old remains a troublesome issue for medical teams which are not used to working with adolescents. The aim of this work is to study the outcome of the pregnancies among very young adolescents, the psycho-social context, the medical management, the professionals involved in it and the follow-up after pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective analysis from four cases, in the university hospital of Rennes, during the year 2011. RESULTS: All the pregnancies were terminated, half of them on a psychological indication. Three adolescents showed evidence of major psychological distress and two of them had a history of sexual abuse. The medical care was heterogeneous, from the first meet until the follow-up after pregnancy, including the medical abortion. A multidisciplinary teamwork was found in three of the four cases. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy before the age of 15 years old is a rare event and often ends with a medical abortion. The medical management of those vulnerable adolescents is complex and requires a multidisciplinary team approach all along the follow-up. A national evaluation of clinical practice in this area seems to be needed.

[Medical abortion from 12 through 14 weeks' gestation: a retrospective study with 126 patients]. / L'interruption volontaire de grossesse médicamenteuse de 12 à 14 semaines d'aménorrhée : étude rétrospective portant sur 126 patientes.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of medical abortion performed according to a single protocol from 12 through 14 weeks. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study of medical abortions from 12 through 14 weeks performed from January 2007 through March 2009. The protocol combined 600 mg de mifepristone orally, followed 48 h later by 400 µg of misoprostol, administered orally, and repeated after 3h, four times a day (during two days), if patient did not begin to abort. Outcome measures were the abortion rate, the rate of complication, the rate of manual uterine revision or vacuum aspiration, the time of expulsion and the misoprostol dose. RESULTS: The study included 126 medical abortions. The abortion rate was 98% and the secondary manual revision or vacuum aspiration rate was 41%. The mean time to expulsion was 10.4 (±8.8)h, and the mean misoprostol dose 1040 (±420) µg. Higher parity was significantly correlated with shorter time to expulsion (P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Medical abortion was consistently effective from 12 through 14 weeks but with high rate of secondary manual revision or vacuum aspiration.

[Acquired uterine arteriovenous malformations]. / Malformations artérioveineuses endo-utérines acquises.

Uterine arteriovenous malformations (AVM) may be responsible for vaginal bleeding potentially life-threatening. They are most often acquired following uterine trauma (curettage, cesarean section, artificial delivery/uterus examination) in association with pregnancy or gestational trophoblastic disease. We report three cases of patients having uterine AVM after curettage. The diagnostic management is important to avoid differential diagnoses (intra-uterine retention, hemangioma, gestational trophoblastic disease). It is based on serum hCG measurement and Doppler ultrasound, then confirmed on dynamic angio-MRI, which tends to replace angiography as first-line. The therapeutic management in cases of symptomatic AVMs is mostly embolization which offers the possibility for childbearing. Current data on subsequent pregnancies is reassuring even if they remain limited.

[Cesarean scar pregnancy: a case report of conservative management]. / Grossesse sur cicatrice de césarienne : un cas clinique de traitement conservateur.

A caesarean scar pregnancy is a rare type of ectopic pregnancy which engages the vital prognosis either by hemorrhage or by early uterine rupture. We report the case of a 38-years-old patient who presented an ectopic pregnancy developed inside a previous caesarean section scar. The diagnosis was made at eight weeks of gestation by ultra-sound and allowed a fast management. We chose a conservative medical treatment by methotrexate both systemic and in situ. A hemorrhagic complication occured in two months of the initial treatment, requiring an endovascular therapy as well.

[Epidemiology of HPV infection]. / Epidémiologie de l'infection à HPV.

HPV DNA testing using Hybrid Capture 2 (Digene) was added to a program of liquid based (Thinprep, Cytyc) cervical cancer screening in a population of sexually active women aged from 20 to 62 years, without the history of uterine cervix pathology. 14.32% of 3832 women in this population were HPV positive. Positivity peaked in women aged 25-29 (19.4%) and gradually decreased, with 8% of positivity after 60 years. Positivity was independently related to parity, tobacco use and was correlated to cervical pathology. The rate of positivity in this population seems to preclude the use of HPV testing as a primary screening tool.