Clinical practice consensus for the diagnosis and management of melanoma in Taiwan.

Melanoma is rare in Taiwan. Asian melanoma is distinct from Western melanoma because acral and mucosal melanoma accounts for the majority of melanoma cases, leading to distinct tumor behaviors and genetic profiling. With consideration of the clinical guidelines in Western countries, Taiwanese experts developed a local clinical practice consensus guideline. This consensus includes diagnosis, staging, and surgical and systemic treatment, based only on clinical evidence, local epidemiology, and available resources evaluated by experts in Taiwan. This consensus emphasizes the importance of surgical management, particularly for sentinel lymph node biopsies. In addition, molecular testing for BRAF is mandatory for patients before systemic treatment. Furthermore, immunotherapy and targeted therapy are prioritized for systemic treatment. This consensus aimed to assist clinicians in Taiwan in diagnosing and treating patients according to available evidence.

Taiwanese Dermatological Association consensus for the prevention and management of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor-related skin toxicities.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: This report describes the 2016 consensus of the Taiwanese Dermatological Association (TDA) regarding the definition, classification, diagnosis, prevention, and management of skin toxicities resulting from treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). This consensus is distributed to practices throughout Taiwan to provide recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of such skin toxicities in order to improve the quality of life of patients undergoing EGFR-TKI treatment. The consensus thus serves as an important reference for dermatologists and other interested clinicians, such as oncologists, throughout Taiwan. METHODS: All the consensus contents were voted on by the participating experts, with approval by no less than 75% required for inclusion. RESULTS: The consensus provides a comprehensive overview of EGFR-TKI skin toxicities, including recent advances in identifying their causes and the processes by which they develop. CONCLUSION: All the consensus meeting attendees agreed that there are several major EGFR-TKI-related skin toxicities, including acneiform rash (i.e., papulopustular rash), xeroderma, pruritus, paronychia, stomatitis, mucositis, and hair changes (such as hair loss, slowed hair growth, and trichomegaly). The experts were also generally unanimous in their voting on the specific definitions, onset times, and care suggestions for each of those skin toxicities. Furthermore, the recommended treatment algorithms for the various skin toxicities were ultimately approved by 100% (15/15) of the consensus attendees.

Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated With Targeted Therapies.

Background: The risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) with targeted therapies for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in real-world practice remains unclear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the risk for MACE associated with targeted cancer therapies with that associated with cytokine treatment in patients with advanced RCC. Methods: Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, a retrospective nationwide cohort study was conducted involving patients with advanced RCC who had received targeted therapy (sunitinib, sorafenib, pazopanib, everolimus, or temsirolimus) or cytokine therapy (interleukin-2 or interferon gamma) from 2007 to 2018. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the risk for MACE (a composite of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, heart failure, and cardiovascular death) in the cohort using the propensity score method of stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting. Results: In this cohort of 2,785 patients with advanced RCC, 2,257 (81%) and 528 (19%) had received targeted and cytokine therapy, respectively. After stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting, the incidence rates of MACE were 6.65 and 3.36 per 100 person-years in the targeted and cytokine therapy groups, respectively (HR: 1.80; 95% CI: 1.19-2.74). Baseline history of heart failure (HR: 3.88; 95% CI: 2.25-6.71), atrial fibrillation (HR: 3.60; 95% CI: 2.16-5.99), venous thromboembolism (HR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.27-4.92), ischemic stroke (HR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.14-3.11), and age ≥ 65 years (HR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.27-2.58) were independent risk factors for targeted therapy-associated MACE. Conclusions: Among patients with advanced RCC, the risk for MACE associated with targeted cancer therapy is higher than that associated with cytokine therapy.