Cardiac mortality in limited-stage small cell lung cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Life expectancy of patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) continues to rise; thus, characterization of long-term toxicities is essential. Although there are emerging data linking cardiac irradiation doses with survival for non-small cell lung cancer, there are currently minimal data on cardiac-specific mortality (CSM) in LS-SCLC. The goal of this investigation was to evaluate CSM between left- and right-sided cases. METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database was queried for stage I-III primary SCLC patients receiving radiotherapy; CSM was compared between left- and right-sided diseases. Accounting for mortality from other causes, Gray's test compared cumulative incidences of CSM between both groups. Multiple multivariate models examined the independent effect of laterality on CSM, including the Fine and Gray competing risk model and the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Of 19,692 patients, 7991 (41%) were left-sided and 11,701 (59%) were right-sided. Left-sided patients experienced significantly higher CSM overall (3.3% vs. 2.6%, p = 0.004). Laterality was an independent predictor of CSM in the overall population in the Fine and Gray competing risk model (p = 0.006) as well as the Cox proportional hazards model (p = 0.007). The overall hazard ratio for CSM by disease laterality was 1.27 (95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.50). Laterality had no statistical association with non-cardiac mortality in the Fine and Gray competing risk model (p = 0.130). CONCLUSIONS: Although causation between radiotherapy and CSM in LS-SCLC cannot be stated based on these data, we encourage clinical attentiveness to cardiac-sparing radiotherapy for LS-SCLC, along with further investigation evaluating dosimetric correlates for cardiotoxicity.

Prognostic Factors, Treatment, and Outcomes in Early Stage, Invasive Papillary Breast Cancer: A SEER Investigation of Less Aggressive Treatment in a Favorable Histology.

OBJECTIVES: Invasive papillary breast cancer (IPBCA) represents 0.5% of invasive BCA, and is thought to carry a favorable prognosis. This population-based study reports on prognostic factors, treatment, and outcomes of early-stage IPBCA to explore whether there is any evidence to support less aggressive treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IPBCA cases from 1990 to 2009 of the recent Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results were analyzed. Inclusion criteria included patients with stage T1-2, N0 IPBCA. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the variables of treatment, stage, race, hormone receptor status, grade (G1-3), and age. Treatment modalities included lumpectomy alone (LA), lumpectomy with radiation treatment (LRT), and mastectomy alone (MA). RESULTS: Among 10,485 patients, median follow-up was 56 months. Five and 10-year overall survival (OS) were 93.1% and 76.8%, respectively. Patients treated with LRT had superior mean OS 16.8 versus 14.9 years for MA (P=0.0004) and 14.2 years for LA (P=0.0003). Improved OS also correlated with lower histologic grade (P<0.0001), lower T-stage (P<0.0001), and younger age (P<0.0001). Black patients had the worst OS (12.7 y, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: LRT is associated with superior OS for early-stage invasive papillary BCA patients, when compared with LA or MA in this population-based study. The findings support the standard of care breast conservation approach for patients with invasive papillary BCA. Other prognostic factors associated with worse OS include increased age, higher T-stage, higher histologic grade, and black race.

Treatment, prognostic factors, and outcomes in spinal cord astrocytomas.

BACKGROUND: Spinal astrocytomas are rare intramedullary CNS tumors for which there is limited consensus on treatment; the importance of the extent of resection (EOR), postoperative radiotherapy, and chemotherapy remains poorly understood. We report on outcomes associated with surgery, postoperative radiotherapy, and chemotherapy in a series of patients treated at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) with the aim of elucidating the role of these treatments in spinal astrocytomas. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed charts from a series of 83 patients with histologically confirmed spinal astrocytoma treated at MDACC during 1990-2011. Data collected included patient demographic characteristics, prognostic indicators, and treatment modality at diagnosis. We analyzed overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for pilocytic (World Health Organization [WHO] grade I) and infiltrative (WHO grades II, III, and IV) astrocytomas, separately. Multivariate analysis was performed for the infiltrative patients but not the pilocytic patients because of a limited number of cases. RESULTS: Higher WHO grade among all patients was associated with worse OS (P < .0001) and PFS (P = .0003). Among patients with infiltrative tumors, neither EOR nor radiotherapy was associated with a difference in outcomes in multivariate analysis; however, among patients with infiltrative astrocytomas, chemotherapy was significantly associated with improved PFS (hazard ratio = .22, P = .0075) but not OS (hazard ratio = .89, P = .83) in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: WHO grade was the strongest prognostic indicator in patients with spinal cord astrocytomas. Our results also show that chemotherapy improved PFS in infiltrative astrocytomas in multivariate analysis, but neither EOR nor radiation therapy influenced outcomes in this group.