Racial disparities in incidence & survival of Kaposi's sarcoma in the United States.

Background & objectives: : In the United States (US), Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is usually seen in the patients affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The racial differences in the incidence rates and survival of patients with KS have been reported in the US. We undertook this study to analyse the disparities in the race-specific incidence rate and survival of KS patients of two different races in the US based on SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) database. Methods: Data on KS patients of African-American (AA) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) races who were diagnosed during 1973-2013 were extracted from SEER database to estimate the incidence rates and survival of KS patients. Results: A total of 18,388 NHWs and 3,455 AAs were diagnosed with KS. The age-adjusted incidence rate (AAIR) of KS in patients aged 20-44 yr was 3.8 times higher in AAs than in NHWs. The decline in AAIR of KS among NHWs started during 1989-1994 and preceded decline in the AAIR of AAs. After introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), the incidence continued to decline, but the decrease in the AAIR in AAs [annual percentage change (APC): -6.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): -8.8 to -3.5] was slower than that in NHWs (APC: -10.9; 95% CI: -12.6 to -9.1). The hazard ratio for all-cause mortality in KS patients of the AA race increased from 1.1 (95% CI: 1-1.2) in 1981-1995 to 1.55 (95% CI: 1.4-1.7) in 1996-2013 as compared to those of the NHW race. Interpretation & conclusions: : Several significant racial disparities that emerged after HAART introduction in the incidence and survival of KS patients continued to persist, despite improvement in care of patients with HIV. Further studies need to be done to find out the underlying factors leading to these disparities.

A Comparative Study of Primary Adenoid Cystic and Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma of Lung.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC) and pulmonary adenoid cystic carcinoma (PACC) are the two major types of primary salivary gland-type (PSGT) lung cancers. The demographic profile, clinicopathological features, and predictors of survival as an overall group have not been described for PSGT cancers of lung. METHODS: In this study, we analyzed demographic, clinical, and survival data from 1,032 patients (546 PMEC and 486 PACC) who were diagnosed of PSGT lung cancer in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database from 1973 to 2014. RESULTS: The PSGT constituted 0.09% of all lung cancers with age-adjusted incidence rate of 0.07 per 100,000 person-years and change of -32% from 1973 to 2014. The incidence of PMEC was slightly higher than PACC but there were no differences in the age and sex distribution. PACCs (55%) were significantly higher at trachea and main bronchus while PMECs were more common at peripheral lungs (85%). Most of the tumors were diagnosed at an early stage and were low grade irrespective of histology. As compared to PMEC, significantly higher number of patients with PACC underwent radical surgery and received adjuvant radiation. The 1- and 5-year cause-specific survival was 76.6 and 62.8%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, the survival was affected by age at diagnosis, tumor stage, histological grade, period of diagnosis, and surgical resection. The histology showed strong interaction with time and hazard ratio of patients with PACC was significantly worse than patients with PMEC only after 5 years. CONCLUSION: The incidence of pulmonary PSGT cancer is 7 cases per 10 million population in the United States and is decreasing. There was no difference between demographic profile of patients with PMEC and PACC but pathological features were diverse. The difference in the survival of patients with the two histological types surfaced only after 5 years when survival of patients with PMEC was better than PACC.

An observational study on risk of secondary cancers in chronic myeloid leukemia patients in the TKI era in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: The treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has drastically improved the outcome of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. This study was conducted to examine the risk of secondary cancers (SCs) in the CML patients who were diagnosed and treated in the TKI era in the United States. METHODS: The surveillance epidemiology and end results (SEER) database was used to identify CML patients who were diagnosed and received treatment during January 2002-December 2014. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and absolute excess risks (AER) were calculated. RESULTS: Overall, 511 SCs (excluding acute leukemia) developed in 9,200 CML patients followed for 38,433 person-years. The risk of developing SCs in the CML patients was 30% higher than the age, sex and race matched standard population (SIR 1.30, 95% CI: 1.2-1.40; p < 0.001). The SIRs for CLL (SIR 3.4, 95% CI: 2-5.5; p < 0.001), thyroid (SIR 2.2, 95% CI: 1.2-3.5; p < 0.001), small intestine (SIR 3.1, 95% CI: 1.1-7; p = 0.004), gingiva (SIR 3.7, 95% CI: 1.2-8.7; p = 0.002), stomach (SIR 2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-3.5; p = 0.005), lung (SIR 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.7; p = 0.006) and prostate (SIR 1.3, 95% CI: 1.02-1.6; p = 0.026) cancer among CML patients were significantly higher than the general population. The risk of SCs was higher irrespective of age and it was highest in the period 2-12 months after the diagnosis of CML. The risk of SCs in women was similar to that of the general population. CONCLUSION: CML patients diagnosed and treated in the TKI era in the United States are at an increased risk of developing a second malignancy. The increased risk of SCs in the early period after CML diagnosis suggests that the risk of SCs may be increased due to the factors other than TKIs treatment.

Rare Case of Spinal Cord Compression as Initial Presentation of Thymic Carcinoma.

Thymic carcinomas are rare aggressive cancers with limited clinical trial data. Its usual treatment is surgical resection with variable response to chemotherapy and radiation. It usually presents as anterior mediastinal mass with late sequela of metastases to the lymph nodes, pleura and bones. We present of thymic carcinoma with a rare initial presentation of vertebral metastases causing spinal cord compression.

Prostatic Lymphoma Masquerading as Urinary Retention and Hematuria With Review of Literature.

Lymphomas of prostate are very rare tumors. They are not commonly considered in the clinical and histological differential diagnosis of prostatic enlargement. We report a case of a 49-year-old man who presented to emergency department with several weeks of difficulty in urination, for which he was being treated for benign prostate hyperplasia with no improvement. Computerized tomography scan showed lobulated mass originating from the superior aspect of the prostate with right inguinal lymph node involvement and no distant organ metastatic disease. Prostatic biopsy revealed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The patient achieved complete remission after six cycles of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone chemotherapy regimen. Lymphomas of the prostate should be considered in differential diagnosis of the patient presenting with obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms especially in patients with normal prostatic-specific antigen level and previous history of lymphoma in other sites.