Is there any role of intravenous iron for the treatment of anemia in cancer?

BACKGROUND: Anemia is a major cause of morbidity in patients with cancer resulting in poor physical performance, prognosis and therapy outcome. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of intravenous (iv) iron administration for the correction of anemia, for the prevention of exacerbation of anemia, for decreasing blood transfusion rates, and for the survival of cancer patients. METHODS: Patients with different solid tumor diagnosis who received iv iron during their cancer treatment were evaluated retrospectively. Sixty-three patients with hemoglobin (Hgb) levels between ≥ 9 g/dL, and ≤ 10 g/dL, and no urgent need for red blood cell transfusion were included in this retrospective analysis. The aim of cancer treatment was palliative for metastatic patients (36 out of 63), or adjuvant or curative for patients with localized disease (27 out of 63). All the patients received 100 mg of iron sucrose which was delivered intravenously in 100 mL of saline solution, infused within 30 min, 5 infusions every other day. Complete blood count, serum iron, and ferritin levels before and at every 1 to 3 months subsequently after iv iron administration were followed regularly. RESULTS: Initial mean serum Hgb, serum ferritin and serum iron levels were 9.33 g/dL, 156 ng/mL, and 35.9 µg/dL respectively. Mean Hgb, ferritin, and iron levels 1 to 3 months, and 6 to 12 months after iv iron administration were 10.4 g/dL, 11.2 g/dL, 298.6 ng/mL, 296.7 ng/mL, and 71.6 µg/dL, 67.7 µg/dL respectively with a statistically significant increase in the levels (p < 0.001). Nineteen patients (30 %) however had further decrease in Hgb levels despite iv iron administration, and blood transfusion was necessary in 18 of these 19 patients (28.5 %). The 1-year overall survival rates differed in metastatic cancer patients depending on their response to iv iron; 61.1 % in responders versus 35.3 % in non-responders, (p = 0.005), furthermore response to iv iron correlated with tumor response to cancer treatment, and this relation was statistically significant, (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Iv iron administration in cancer patients undergoing active oncologic treatment is an effective and safe measure for correction of anemia, and prevention of worsening of anemia. Amelioration of anemia and increase in Hgb levels with iv iron administration in patients with disseminated cancer is associated with increased tumor response to oncologic treatment and overall survival. Response to iv iron may be both a prognostic and a predictive factor for response to cancer treatment and survival.

Male breast cancers behave differently in elderly patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate tumor characteristics, management and survival in elderly male breast cancer patients in comparison with younger men. METHODS: We reviewed medical records of 99 male breast cancer patients between 1972 and 2011. The median age of the patients was 64.5 years. Patient characteristics including clinicopathologic factors, treatment modalities, survival and prognostic factors were evaluated. Patients were subdivided into two groups according to their age (young, <65 years; old, ≥ 65 years) and compared based on these factors. RESULTS: Elderly male breast cancer patients had larger tumors in more advanced stages at the time of diagnosis compared with younger patients. In spite of the larger tumors at presentation, older patients had tumors with more favorable biological characteristics, such as higher ratio of estrogen and progesterone receptor expression. Ten-year cancer-specific survival for older patients was 49.2% compared with 55.8% in younger men (P = 0.8). Prognostic factors influencing overall survival in univariate analysis were: the presence of metastatic axillary lymph nodes (P = 0.0001), T stage (P = 0.001) and age ≥ 65 years. Multivariate analysis indicated T stage (P = 0.008) and N stage (P = 0.038) as the significant negative prognostic factors for overall survival. Although surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy were equally utilized in old and young patients, old patients were less likely to receive adjuvant chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated the differences in the clinical and biological characteristics of male breast cancer according to the age of the patients.

Neoadjuvant treatment with preoperative radiotherapy for extremity soft tissue sarcomas: long-term results from a single institution in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: To assess the long term clinical outcome of preoperative radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy followed by limb sparing surgery in patients with non-metastatic soft tissue sarcomas (STS) of the extremities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with locally advanced STS were retrospectively analyzed. The median tumor diameter was 12 cm. All patients were treated with preoperative radiotherapy delivered with two different fractionation schedules (35Gy/10fr or 46-50Gy/23-25fr). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was added to 44 patients with large and/or high grade tumors. Surgery was performed 2-6 weeks after radiotherapy. Chemotherapy was completed up to 6 courses after surgery in patients who had good responses. RESULTS: Median follow-up time was 67 months (8-268 months). All of the patients had limb sparing surgery. The 5-year local control (LC), disease free (DFS) and overall survival (OSS) rates for all of the patients were 81%, 48.1% and 68.3% respectively. 5-year LC, DFS and cause specific survival (CSS) were 81.7%, 47%, 69.8%, and 80%, 60%, 60% in the chemoradiotherapy and radiotherapy groups, respectively. On univariate analysis, patients who were treated with hypofractionation experienced significantly superior LC, DFS and CSS rates with similar rates of late toxicity when compared with patients who were treated with conventional fractionation and statistical significance was retained on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment results are consistent with the literature. As neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy provides effective LC and CSS with acceptable morbidity, it should be preferred for patients with large and borderline resectable STS.

Outcomes following chemoradiotherapy for N3 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma without a planned neck dissection.

OBJECTIVES: The optimal management of the N3 neck in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains controversial. We report the outcomes of patients with N3 disease treated with a strategy of concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CRT)±induction chemotherapy (ICT) without a planned neck dissection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty patients with HNSCC N3 disease treated between January 2004 and December 2010 were retrospectively identified. Inclusion criteria for the study were: non-nasopharyngeal HNSCC, N3 nodal disease, intention to treat with CRT±ICT. RESULTS: Median age was 60 (range 39-74). Median follow up was 32 months (range 8-88). 34 (85%) of patients received ICT. 35 patients received cisplatin-CRT, 4 carboplatin-CRT and 1 patient was treated with radiotherapy alone due to ICT toxicity. 27 (67.5%) patients had a complete response (CR) to CRT. 5 (12.5%) patients had an incomplete response in both the primary and nodal sites. 8 (20%) patients had a CR in the primary site but incomplete in the nodal regions. The crude rate of regional failure following a CR was 3/27 (11.2%). Isolated regional failure occurred in 1/27 (3.7%) patients who had achieved a CR post-CRT. 3 year overall survival, disease free survival, locoregional control, local control and regional control in the whole cohort were 51.4%, 49.6%, 65.7%, 77.3%, 69.3%, and in patients with a CR were 73.3%, 70.0%, 86.6%, 90.5% and 91.7% respectively. CONCLUSION: Isolated regional nodal failure is rare following a complete response to CRT for N3 HNSCC managed without a planned neck dissection.

Significance of laryngeal edema after partial laryngectomy and radiotherapy in supraglottic cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the presence of laryngeal edema on outcome and the other potential prognostic factors in patients with supraglottic larynx carcinoma treated with radiotherapy after partial laryngectomy. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis. SETTING: Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University. METHODS: Seventy-nine patients with supraglottic carcinoma of the larynx were treated with radiotherapy after partial laryngectomy between January 1980 and July 2003. Neck dissection was not performed in 46 patients. The median follow-up time was 64 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The effect of laryngeal edema grade on local control, disease-free, and actuarial survival rates. RESULTS: The 5-year locoregional progression-free and overall survival rates were 86% and 75%, respectively. In univariate analysis, histologically positive neck disease reduced regional (p = .0045) and disease-free survival (p = .01). Patients with edema grade III-IV had lower local control (p = .0004), disease-free (p = .0034), and actuarial survival (p = .0041) rates. In the multivariate analysis, a significant negative association of laryngeal edema with local control (p = .012), disease-free survival (p = .002), and actuarial survival (p = .003) was found. Nodal status was a significant prognostic factor for disease-free survival (p = .027). Grade III-IV laryngeal edema was observed in 17 patients. Owing to laryngeal edema, tracheostomy dependence and total laryngectomy were required in three patients and one patient, respectively. CONCLUSION: Radiotherapy after partial laryngectomy can be performed in patients with poor prognostic factors with reasonable complication rates. However, in the presence of grade III-IV laryngeal edema, tumour recurrence should be suspected, and these patients have to be managed with close follow-up and further evaluation to improve outcome.