The impact of decision tools during oncological consultation with lung cancer patients: A systematic review within the I3LUNG project.

INTRODUCTION: To date, lung cancer is one of the most lethal diagnoses worldwide. A variety of lung cancer treatments and modalities are available, which are generally presented during the patient and doctor consultation. The implementation of decision tools to facilitate patient's decision-making and the management of their healthcare process during medical consultation is fundamental. Studies have demonstrated that decision tools are helpful to promote health management and decision-making of lung cancer patients during consultations. The main aim of the present work within the I3LUNG project is to systematically review the implementation of decision tools to facilitate medical consultation about oncological treatments for lung cancer patients. METHODS: In the present study, we conducted a systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines. We used an electronic computer-based search involving three databases, as follows: Embase, PubMed, and Scopus. 10 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included. They explicitly refer to decision tools in the oncological context, with lung cancer patients. RESULTS: The discussion highlights the most encouraging results about the positive role of decision aids during medical consultations about oncological treatments, especially regarding anxiety, decision-making, and patient knowledge. However, no one main decision aid tool emerged as essential. Opting for a more recent timeframe to select eligible articles might shed light on the current array of decision aid tools available. CONCLUSION: Future review efforts could utilize alternative search strategies to explore other lung cancer-specific outcomes during medical consultations for treatment decisions and the implementation of decision aid tools. Engaging with experts in the fields of oncology, patient decision-making, or health communication could provide valuable insights and recommendations for relevant literature or research directions that may not be readily accessible through traditional search methods. The development of guidelines for future research were provided with the aim to promote decision aids focused on patients' needs.

Pancreatic cancer: updates on translational research and future applications.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies with a mortality rate almost equal to its incidence. It is ranked as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and despite intensive basic and clinical research over the last few years, the survival benefit for the majority of patients with pancreatic cancer is still disappointing. Due to the absence of specific symptoms and the lack of early detection tests, pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced inoperrable stage and palliative chemotherapy with the purine analogue gemcitabine in combination with the targeted agent erlotinib, remains the mainstay method in the management of these patients. Therefore, there is an imperative need for new findings in the translational research field with prognostic, predictive and therapeutic value. In this paper we summarize five most interesting research abstracts as presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. In particular, we focus on Abstract #141 which investigates the interaction between liver and pancreatic organ damage in patients with pancreatic cancer and the potential contribution of the patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 (PNPLA3) gene variation in pancreatic cancer development and on Abstract #149, in which, the prognostic and predictive role of SWI/SNF complex, a chromatin-remodeling complex, is examined. The key role of pharmacogenomics, in terms of predicting response and resistance to chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer patients, is analyzed in Abstract #142 and the contribution of circulating tumor cell detection in the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, allowing the avoidance of more invasive procedures like EUS-FNA, is discussed in Abstract #157. Lastly, in Abstract #164, the diagnostic utility of YKL-40 and IL-6 in pancreatic cancer patients is investigated.

Novel agents and future prospects in the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the most aggressive malignancies and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States. The majority of patients are diagnosed at advanced stage with inoperable locally advanced tumors or metastatic disease, and palliative chemotherapy remains the best therapeutic option for these patients. Despite intensive clinical and pre-clinical research over the last few years, the combination of the anti-metabolite drug gemcitabine with the targeted agent erlotinib, is considered standard of care in the treatment of these patients, with only minimal or modest efficacy. Therefore, novel therapeutic approaches are currently under clinical investigation in an attempt to produce more definite results for this fatal disease. In this paper we summarize five most interesting research abstracts as presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. In two studies, nimotuzumab, a monoclonal antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) (Abstract #4009) and bavituximab, a monoclonal antibody against phosphatidylserine (Abstract #4054) are tested in combination with gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Abstract #4012 is a study of gemcitabine with vismodegib, a novel hedgehog pathway inhibitor, whereas in Abstract #4035, toxicity and efficacy results of sunitinib in combination with gemcitabine in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma are presented. Lastly, safety results of pimasertib, a novel mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor, combined with the standard gemcitabine are presented in Abstract #4041.

Melanoma and Sarcoidosis in Patients Receiving or Not Antineoplastic Therapy.

Sarcoidosis and sarcoid-like reactions have been associated with many solid tumors including malignant melanoma. There are reports of melanoma patients who develop sarcoidosis without having received any antineoplastic treatment, but there are also melanoma patients who have received immunotherapy or targeted therapy and, therefore, develop drug-associated sarcoidosis. Herein, we describe 2 cases of thoracic sarcoidosis which occurred in asymptomatic patients with known malignant melanoma. The first patient had metastatic disease, and she was under melanoma treatment with BRAF/MEK inhibitors at the time of sarcoidosis diagnosis. The second case involves a patient with early stage melanoma who had received no antineoplastic treatment. In both cases, the thoracic lesions were suspicious for metastatic involvement, and it was the biopsy which gave the diagnosis of granulomatous disease. Sarcoidosis induced by immune checkpoint or BRAF/MEK inhibitors seems to be more frequent in real-world studies than in large phase 3 melanoma trials. Sarcoidosis can mimic metastasis, predominately in mediastinum, representing a diagnostic pitfall. Therefore, biopsies must always be performed to exclude the metastatic spread before initiation of any antineoplastic treatment.

Diffuse alopecia in a hemodialysis patient caused by a low-molecular-weight heparin, tinzaparin.

The authors report on a 66-year-old hemodialysis patient who had diffuse alopecia while on anticoagulation treatment to prevent extracorporeal blood clotting with a low- molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), tinzaparin. The alopecia reversed completely when tinzaparin was substituted by another LMWH, enoxaparin. The biopsy findings, the possible mechanisms of heparin's action in the hair roots, and the restoration of the patient's hairs after the discontinuation of tinzaparin are discussed.

Epidemiology of active tuberculosis in lung cancer patients: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this review article is to evaluate the available literature concerning the prevalence of active tuberculosis in lung cancer patients. DATA SOURCE: MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE and Medscape databases were searched for studies with quantitative data on the interaction between tuberculosis (TB) and lung cancer, published since 1952. We used the Medical Subject Headings' term 'tuberculosis' and the text-word terms 'TB' and 'Mycobacterium infection', and also, the Medical Subject Headings' terms 'neoplasm' and 'lung neoplasm', or the text-word term 'lung cancer'. DATA SELECTION: We selected studies with cases verified by bacteriological examinations and biopsies that contained enough data to estimate tuberculosis prevalence. We did not exclude any study on the basis of language. RESULTS: The prevalence of active tuberculosis among lung cancer patients varies depending on spatial and regional factors. Lung cancer patients who are more prone to developing tuberculosis are Asian and Caucasian males, with an average age of 60 years old. The prevalence of tuberculosis is higher in patients with chest X-ray evidence of old tuberculosis and/or history of tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heavy cigarette smoking, increased alcohol consumption, and/or diabetes mellitus. A high mortality rate because of tuberculosis in lung cancer patients was also estimated. CONCLUSION: Active tuberculosis complicating lung cancer is a significant clinical issue in countries with high prevalence of tuberculosis. However, as the there is a lack of reports from developed countries over the last 20 years, the significance of this interaction in countries with low tuberculosis burden remains controversial.

Multimodal treatment strategies for elderly patients with head and neck cancer.

The population in developed countries is growing older and the number of elderly people annually diagnosed with head and neck cancers is expected to rapidly increase within the following decades, since these types of tumors are age-dependent. The vast majority of older head and neck cancer patients present with locally advanced disease and multimodality treatment, including surgery, radiation and/or chemotherapy, is considered the best therapeutic option for these patients. However, several factors, including comorbidities, disabilities, frailty, and impaired functional status are considered to be more relevant criteria than chronological age per se for treatment planning. Therapeutic decisions are often complicated and demand the participation of many specialists. Advances in surgical and radiation techniques, along with the use of conventional chemotherapy and molecularly targeted agents, have improved treatment outcomes. The best-tailored individualized therapeutic option should be selected for these patients in order to avoid high toxicity and major functional deterioration. Still, more older-specific studies are needed in order to produce more definitive and applicable results. The aim of this review article is to investigate the multimodal treatment approaches for elderly patients with head and neck cancer.

The Biological Role of PI3K Pathway in Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is the primary cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide and although improvements in treatment have been achieved over the last few years, long-term survival rates for lung cancer patients remain poor. Therefore, there is an imperative need for molecularly targeted agents that will achieve long-term disease control. Numerous downstream molecular pathways, such as EGF/RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR are identified as having a key role in the pathogenesis of various forms of human cancer, including lung cancer. PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal pathway is an important intracellular signal transduction pathway with a significant role in cell proliferation, growth, survival, vesicle trafficking, glucose transport, and cytoskeletal organization. Aberrations in many primary and secondary messenger molecules of this pathway, including mutations and amplifications, are accounted for tumor cell proliferation, inhibition of apoptosis, angiogenesis, metastasis and resistance to chemotherapy-radiotherapy. In this review article, we investigate thoroughly the biological role of PI3K pathway in lung cancer and its contribution in the development of future therapeutic strategies.