Five-year analysis of neoadjuvant dabrafenib and trametinib for stage III melanoma.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant dabrafenib plus trametinib has a high pathological response rate and impressive short-term survival in patients with resectable stage III melanoma. We report 5-year outcomes from the phase II NeoCombi trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: NeoCombi (NCT01972347) was a single-arm, open-label, single-centre, phase II trial. Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with histologically confirmed, resectable, RECIST-measurable, American Joint Committee on Cancer seventh edition clinical stage IIIB-C BRAF V600E/K-mutant melanoma and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤1. Patients received 52 weeks of treatment with dabrafenib 150 mg (orally twice per day) plus trametinib 2 mg (orally once per day), with complete resection of the pre-therapy tumour bed at week 12. RESULTS: Between 20 August 2014 and 19 April 2017, 35 patients were enrolled. At data cut-off (17 August 2021), the median follow-up was 60 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 56-72 months]. Overall, 21 of 35 (60%) patients recurred, including 12 (57%) with first recurrence in locoregional sites (followed by later distant recurrence in 6) and 9 (43%) with first recurrence in distant sites, including 3 in the brain. Most recurrences occurred within 2 years, with no recurrences beyond 3 years. At 5 years, recurrence-free survival (RFS) was 40% (95% CI 27% to 60%), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) was 57% (95% CI 42% to 76%), and overall survival was 80% (95% CI 67% to 94%). Five-year survival outcomes were stratified by pathological response: RFS was 53% with pathological complete response (pCR) versus 28% with non-pCR (P = 0.087), DMFS was 59% versus 55% (P = 0.647), and overall survival was 88% versus 71% (P = 0.205), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant dabrafenib plus trametinib has high pathological response rates in clinical stage III melanoma, but low rates of RFS, similar to those achieved with adjuvant targeted therapy alone. Patients with a pCR to dabrafenib plus trametinib still had a high risk of recurrence, unlike that seen with immunotherapy where recurrences are rare.

Factors related to central nervous system involvement of primary vitreoretinal lymphoma.

PURPOSE: This single center retrospective study aimed to investigate the factors associated with central nervous system (CNS) involvement of primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL). METHODS: Clinical features of patients with PVRL (Group 1), those diagnosed with vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) after primary CNS lymphoma diagnosis (Group 2), and those concurrently diagnosed with CNS lymphoma and VRL (Group 3), were compared. The main outcomes included sex, age, types of treatment, survival, visual acuity, diagnostic methods, VRL recurrence, ocular manifestations, and interleukin levels in the aqueous humor. RESULTS: Groups 1, 2, and 3 included 66 eyes in 38 patients, 29 eyes in 18 patients, and 14 eyes in 8 patients, respectively. Group 3 had shorter overall survival (OS) than Groups 1 and 2 (P = 0.042 and P = 0.009, respectively). The three groups did not differ in progression-free survival (P = 0.060). The 5-year survival rates of Groups 1, 2, and 3 were 56.5%, 44.0%, and 25.0%, respectively (P = 0.001). Patients with CNS involvement in Group 1 exhibited VRL recurrence (P < 0.001), high interleukin-10 (P = 0.024), and sub-retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) infiltration (P = 0.009). Patients experiencing VRL recurrence in Group 1 tended to show CNS involvement (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients concurrently diagnosed with CNS lymphoma and VRL had a shorter OS and a lower 5-year survival rate. In patients with PVRL, the recurrence of VRL, high interleukin-10, and sub-RPE infiltration were associated with CNS involvement.

A Bayesian network predicting survival of cervical cancer patients-Based on surveillance, epidemiology, and end results.

This study aimed to build a comprehensive model for predicting the overall survival (OS) of cervical cancer patients who received standard treatments and to build a series of new stages based on the International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO) stages for better such predictions. We collected the cervical cancer patients diagnosed since the year 2000 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Cervical cancer patients who received radiotherapy or surgery were included. Log-rank tests and Cox regression were used to identify potential factors of OS. Bayesian networks (BNs) were built to predict 3- and 5-year survival. We also grouped the patients into new stages by clustering their 5-year survival probabilities based on FIGO stage, age, and tumor differentiation. Cox regression suggested black ethnicity, adenocarcinoma, and single status as risks for poorer prognosis, in addition to age and stage. A total of 43,749 and 39,333 cases were finally eligible for the 3- and 5-year BNs, respectively, with 11 variables included. Cluster analysis and Kaplan-Meier curves indicated that it was best to divide the patients into nine modified stages. The BNs had excellent performance, with area under the curve and maximum accuracy of 0.855 and 0.804 for 3-year survival, and 0.851 and 0.787 for 5-year survival, respectively. Thus, BNs are excellent candidates for predicting cervical cancer survival. It is necessary to consider age and tumor differentiation when estimating the prognosis of cervical cancer using FIGO stages.

The Clinical Application of Immunohistochemical Expression of Notch4 Protein in Patients with Colon Adenocarcinoma.

The Notch signalling pathway is one of the most conserved and well-characterised pathways involved in cell fate decisions and the development of many diseases, including cancer. Among them, it is worth noting the Notch4 receptor and its clinical application, which may have prognostic value in patients with colon adenocarcinoma. The study was performed on 129 colon adenocarcinomas. Immunohistochemical and fluorescence expression of Notch4 was performed using the Notch4 antibody. The associations between the IHC expression of Notch4 and clinical parameters were analysed using the Chi2 test or Chi2Yatesa test. The Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were used to verify the relationship between the intensity of Notch4 expression and the 5-year survival rate of patients. Intracellular localisation of Notch4 was detected by the use of the immunogold labelling method and TEM. 101 (78.29%) samples had strong Notch4 protein expression, and 28 (21.71%) samples were characterised by low expression. The high expression of Notch4 was clearly correlated with the histological grade of the tumour (p < 0.001), PCNA immunohistochemical expression (p < 0.001), depth of invasion (p < 0.001) and angioinvasion (p < 0.001). We can conclude that high expression of Notch4 is correlated with poor prognosis of colon adenocarcinoma patients (log-rank, p < 0.001).

Immunohistochemical Expression of Glutathione Peroxidase-2 (Gpx-2) and Its Clinical Relevance in Colon Adenocarcinoma Patients.

Glutathione peroxidase 2 (Gpx-2) is a selenoenzyme with antioxidant capabilities that may play a role in cancer development. Hence, we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of Gpx-2 protein in colon adenocarcinoma samples derived from patients with colon adenocarcinoma who did not receive any form of treatment prior to the surgical procedure. The associations between the immunohistochemical expression of Gpx-2 and clinical parameters were analysed using the Chi2 test and Fisher's exact test. A Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were used to verify the relationship between the intensity of Gpx-2 expression and the 5-year survival rate of patients. In total, 101 (80.80%) samples had strong Gpx-2 protein expression and 24 (19.20%) samples were characterized with low expression. The high expression of Gpx-2 was correlated with the histological grade of the tumour (p < 0.001), PCNA immunohistochemical expression (p < 0.001), depth of invasion (p = 0.001) and angioinvasion (p < 0.001). We can conclude that high expression of Gpx-2 is correlated with reduced survival of colon adenocarcinoma patients (log-rank, p < 0.001).

Redefining the role of surgery in early small-cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: Resection is guideline recommended in stage I small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) but not in stage II. In this stage, patients are treated with a non-surgical approach. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the role of surgery in both SCLC stages. Surgically treated patients were compared to non-surgical controls. Five-year survival rates were analysed. METHODS: A systematic literature search was performed on December 01, 2021 in Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library. Studies published since 2004 on the effect of surgery in SCLC were considered and assessed using ROBINS-I. We preformed I2-tests, Q-statistics, DerSimonian-Laird tests and Egger-regression. The meta-analysis was conducted according to PRISMA. RESULTS: Out of 6826 records, we identified seven original studies with a total of 15,170 patients that met our inclusion criteria. We found heterogeneity between these studies and ruled out any publication bias. Patient characteristics did not significantly differ between the two groups (p-value > 0.05). The 5-year survival rates in stage I were 47.4 ± 11.6% for the 'surgery group' and 21.7 ± 11.3% for the 'non-surgery group' (p-value = 0.0006). Our analysis of stage II SCLC revealed a significant survival benefit after surgery (40.2 ± 21.6% versus 21.2 ± 17.3%; p-value = 0.0474). CONCLUSION: Based on our data, the role of surgery in stage I and II SCLC is robust, since it improves the long-term survival in both stages significantly. Hence, feasibility of surgery as a priority treatment should always be evaluated not only in stage I SCLC but also in stage II, for which guideline recommendations might have to be reassessed.

Characteristics, treatment and outcomes of 589 melanoma patients documented by 27 general practitioners on the Skin Cancer Audit Research Database.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: General practitioners manage more melanomas than dermatologists or surgeons in Australia. Previously undescribed, the management and outcomes of melanoma patients treated by multiple Australasian general practitioners are examined. METHODS: The characteristics, management and outcomes of 589 melanoma patients, managed by 27 Australasian general practitioners and documented on the Skin Cancer Audit Research Database (SCARD), were analysed. RESULTS: Most patients (58.9%) were males with mean age at diagnosis of 62.7 years (range 18-96), and most melanomas were in situ or thin-invasive. Patients aged under 40 years had fewer melanomas, but a higher proportion (the majority) were invasive, compared with older patients (P < 0.0001). Most (55.9%) melanomas were diagnosed following elliptical excision biopsy, the rate of unintended involved margins being eightfold higher for shave biopsies. Wide re-excision was performed by the treating general practitioner for most (74.9%) melanomas, with thick melanomas preferentially referred to surgeons. The average Breslow thickness of invasive melanomas re-excised by general practitioners was 0.67 mm compared with 1.99 mm for those referred to other specialists (P < 0.0001). Of 205 patients with invasive melanoma, 14 progressed to metastatic disease, 50% of these being associated with nodular melanoma. Nine patients progressed to melanoma-specific death. The 5-year survival rate for patients with invasive melanoma was 95.2% (95% CI: 91.2-98.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Diagnostic and therapeutic management of a series of melanoma patients by Australasian general practitioners were closely aligned with current guidelines and 5-year survival with respect to invasive melanoma was at least as favourable as national population-based metrics.

The effect of comprehensive multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation on 5-year survival in COPD: does maintaining a home exercise program improve survival?

BACKGROUND: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Therefore, optimizing medical therapy in the comprehensive management of the disease, as well as including pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) in the treatment, is essential. The goal of our study was to determine the impact of PR on the survival of COPD patients. METHODS: Between 2007-2015, 509 COPD patients who completed the PR constituted the PR group, while 167 patients who applied but could not complete it after the initial evaluations formed the control group. In the PR group, dyspnea perception, exercise capacity, muscle strength, body composition, quality of life, psychosocial status, and i-BODE scores were assessed at the beginning and end of the program, whereas in the control group, these assessments could only be conducted at the beginning. Also, after PR, our PR participants have prescribed a home exercise program, and they were recalled to the hospital at the 3rd, 6th, 12th, 18th, and 24th months for follow-up visits. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement was found in almost all the data (except FEV1/FVC, BORG after exercise, and FFMI) after PR. There was a statistically significant difference in 5-year survival in favor of the PR group (p = 0.006), and in PR patients who accompanied the home exercise program vs. those who did not (p = 0.000). Also the gains in MRC (p = 0.003; OR: 2.20; CI: 1.319- 3.682), MEP (p = 0.041; OR: 1.02; CI: 1.001-1.035), and i-BODE (p = 0.006; OR: 0.914; CI: 0.857-0.974) increased the survival. DISCUSSION: Apart from incorporating PR into treatment in the comprehensive management of COPD, we demonstrated that maintaining a home exercise program for at least two years following PR increased 5-year survival significantly.

Predictors of five-year survival among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States: an analysis of SEER-Medicare.

BACKGROUND: Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are ≥ 65 years old at diagnosis and ~ 20% present with disease amenable to curative intent surgical therapy. The aim of this study was to examine whether treatment, the demographic variables, and clinical factors could predict 5-year survival among HCC patients. METHODS: We included patients, 66 years or older, diagnosed with a first primary HCC from 1994 through 2007 in the SEER-Medicare database, and followed up until death or 31 December 2012. Curative intent treatment was defined as liver transplantation, surgery resection, or ablation. We estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations with 5-year survival using logistic regression. RESULTS: We identified 10,826 patients with HCC with mean age 75.3 (standard deviation, 6.4) years. Most were male (62.2%) and non-Hispanic white (59.7%). Overall, only 8.1% of patients were alive 5 years post-HCC diagnosis date. Among all patients that survived ≥ 5 years, 69.8% received potentially curative treatment. Conversely, patients who received potentially curative treatment represented only 15.7% of patients who survived < 5 years. Curative intent treatment was the strongest predictor for surviving ≥ 5 years (vs. none/palliative treatment; adjusted OR 8.12, 95% CI 6.90-9.64). While stage at diagnosis and comorbidities were also independently associated with ≥ 5-year survival in HCC patients, these factors did not improve discrimination between short- and long-term survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Curative intent treatment was the strongest predictor for survival ≥ 5 years among HCC patients. Given the limited availability of liver transplant and limited eligibility for surgical resection, finding curative intent HCC therapies remain critically important.

Cisplatin loaded multiwalled carbon nanotubes reverse drug resistance in NSCLC by inhibiting EMT.

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is one of the important health threats worldwide, of which 5-year survival rate is less than 15%. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for about 80% of all lung cancer with high metastasis and mortality. METHODS: Cisplatin loaded multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Pt-MWNTS) were synthesized and used to evaluate the anticancer effect in our study. The NSCLC cell lines A549 (cisplatin sensitive) and A549/DDP (cisplatin resistant) were used in our in vitro assays. MTT was used to determine Cancer cells viability and invasion were measured by MTT assay and Transwell assay, respectively. Apoptosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition related marker proteins were measured by western blot. The in vivo anti-cancer effect of Pt-MWNTs were performed in male BALB/c nude mice (4-week old). RESULTS: Pt-MWNTS were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman, FT-IR spectroscopy and scan electron microscopy. No significant cytotoxicity of MWNTS was detected in both A549/DDP and A549 cell lines. However, Pt-MWNTS showed a stronger inhibition effect on cell growth than free cisplatin, especially on A549/DDP. We found Pt-MWNTS showed higher intracellular accumulation of cisplatin in A549/DDP cells than free cisplatin and resulted in enhanced the percent of apoptotic cells. Western blot showed that application of Pt-MWNTS can significantly upregulate the expression level of Bax, Bim, Bid, Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 while downregulate the expression level of Bcl-2, compared with free cisplatin. Moreover, the expression level of mesenchymal markers like Vimentin and N-cadherin was more efficiently reduced by Pt-MWNTS treatment in A549/DDP cells than free cisplatin. In vivo study in nude mice proved that Pt-MWNTS more effectively inhibited tumorigenesis compared with cisplatin, although both of them had no significant effect on body weight. CONCLUSION: Pt-MWNT reverses the drug resistance in the A549/DDP cell line, underlying its possibility of treating NSCLC with cisplatin resistance.

Five-year survival in patients with nodular and superficial spreading melanomas in the US population.

BACKGROUND: Although superficial spreading melanomas (SSM) are diagnosed as thinner lesions, nodular melanomas (NM) have a more rapid growth rate and are biologically more aggressive compared with other histologic subtypes. OBJECTIVE: To determine the difference in 5-year relative survival in patients with NM and SSM at the same Breslow depth and TNM stage. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional analysis compared the 5-year relative survival of patients with NM and SSM using data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)∗Stat software (version 8.2.1-8.3.5). Chi-square tests compared the proportions, and Kaplan-Meier method with Z-score compared 5-year relative survival. RESULTS: For patients receiving a diagnosis between 2004 and 2009, 5-year relative survival was lower in NM compared with SSM (53.7% vs 87.3%; Z score, -41.35; P < .001). Similarly, for patients receiving a diagnosis between 2010 and 2015, 5-year relative survival was lower in NM compared with SSM (61.5% vs 89.7%; Z score, -2.7078; P < .01). Subgroup analyses showed inferior survival in NM in T1b, and survival differences remained significant after excluding patients with nodal or distant metastases. CONCLUSIONS: Five-year relative survival is worse in NM compared with SSM especially in T1b, T2a, and T2b melanomas. Melanoma subtype should be taken into consideration when making treatment recommendations.

Hospital volume and 5-year survival in head and neck cancer patients in Osaka, Japan.

BACKGROUND: Few previous studies have examined the relationship between hospital volume and hazard of death for head and neck cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between hospital volume and 5-year survival from diagnosis among head and neck cancer patients. METHODS: Using data from the population-based Osaka Cancer Registry, hospital volume was divided into three volume groups according to the number of head and neck cancer treatments identified between 2009 and 2011. We analysed the association between hospital volume and 5-year survival among 3069 patients aged 0-79 using Cox proportional hazard models, adjusting for characteristics of patients. RESULTS: Compared with head and neck cancer patients in high-hospital volume, patients treated in middle- and low-hospital volume were found to have a higher risk of death (middle-hospital volume: hazard ratio = 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.46, low-hospital volume: hazard ratio = 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.46). CONCLUSIONS: We found a significantly higher risk of hazard of death in middle- and low-hospital volume than in high-hospital volume for head and neck cancer.

Relation between type of hysterectomy and survival rate in patients with ovarian cancer - single-center study.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To evaluate the survival rate of patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma in relation to the type of surgical intervention - total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy and omentectomy as a minimal standard compared to extended hysterectomy with a retroperitoneal approach. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was implemented based on retrospectively obtained data from 104 patients operated on for advanced epithelial ovarian carcinoma (FIGO stages II-IV) in the period from 2004 to 2012. Total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral adnexectomy, and omentectomy were performed on 23 patients. Extended hysterectomy with a retroperitoneal approach and varying degrees of peritonectomy, omentectomy, and appendectomy were performed on 74 patients. Seven patients were treated with adnexectomy or biopsy alone. We divided the patients into two groups according to the mode of surgery. The first one comprised the patients who underwent radical hysterectomy and the second one comprised total abdominal hysterectomy plus bilateral adnexectomy. The two groups were examined for their overall survival rate, relapse-free survival rate, and 5-year survival rate. RESULTS: Mean overall survival rate, relapse-free survival rate, and 5-year survival rate in the group with extended hysterectomy were higher compared to the group with total abdominal hysterectomy. CONCLUSIONS: The extended hysterectomy with a retroperitoneal approach with or without systematic lymph node dissection seems to be more appropriate in the surgical treatment of advanced ovarian carcinoma. The procedure is related to the improvement of survival rate as a result of the inclusion of macroscopically invisible lesions in the surgical removal.

Lack of effective translational regulation of PLD expression and exosome biogenesis in triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer that is difficult to treat since cells lack the three receptors (ES, PR, or HER) that the most effective treatments target. We have used a well-established TNBC cell line (MDA-MB-231) from which we found evidence in support for a phospholipase D (PLD)-mediated tumor growth and metastasis: high levels of expression of PLD, as well as the absence of inhibitory miRs (such as miR-203) and 3'-mRNA PARN deadenylase activity in these cells. Such findings are not present in a luminal B cell line, MCF-7, and we propose a new miR•PARN•PLD node that is not uniform across breast cancer molecular subtypes and as such TNBC could be pharmacologically targeted differentially. We review the participation of PLD and phosphatidic acid (PA), its enzymatic product, as new "players" in breast cancer biology, with the aspects of regulation of the tumor microenvironment, macrophage polarization, regulation of PLD transcripts by specific miRs and deadenylases, and PLD-regulated exosome biogenesis. A new signaling miR•PARN•PLD node could serve as new biomarkers for TNBC abnormal signaling and metastatic disease staging, potentially before metastases are able to be visualized using conventional imaging.

Improvement in outcomes of breast cancer patient treatment in Poland in the 21st century.

Breast cancer accounts for 22%-25% of all female cancers diagnosed worldwide. The aim of study was to compare the 5-year relative survival rates for breast cancer patients treated in the years 2008-2010, 2000-2002, and 2005-2007, and to determine their relationships with the methods and costs of treatment. Data were collected from the National Cancer Registry and the Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia (National Health Fund) data bases. An increase in the 5-year survival rate was observed. The results show the impact of some factors on the survival and treatment costs. It is necessary to create data bases being a platform for further comprehensive analyses.

The Barrier to Informed Choice in Cancer Screening: Statistical Illiteracy in Physicians and Patients.

An efficient health care requires both informed doctors and patients. Our current healthcare system falls short on both counts. Most doctors and patients do not understand the available medical evidence. To illustrate the extent of the problem in the setting of cancer screening: In a representative sample of some 5000 women in nine European countries, 92% overestimated the reduction of breast cancer mortality by mammography by a factor of 10-200, or did not know. For a similar sample of about 5000 men with respect to PSA screening, this number was 89%. Of more than 300 US citizens who regularly attended one or more cancer screening test, more than 90% had never been informed about the biggest harms of screening-overdiagnosis and overtreatment-by their physicians. Among 160 German gynecologists, some 80% did not understand the positive predictive value of a positive mammogram, with estimates varying between 1 and 90%. In a national sample of 412 US primary care physicians, 47% mistakenly believed that if more cancers are detected by a screening test, this proves that the test saves lives, and 76% wrongly thought that if screen-detected cancers have better 5-year survival rates than cancers detected by symptoms, this would prove that the screening test saves lives. And of 20 German gynecologists, not a single one provided a woman with all information on the benefits and harms of cancer screening required in order to make an informed choice. Why is risk literacy so scarce in health care? One frequently discussed explanation assumes that people suffer from cognitive deficits that make them predictably irrational and basically hopeless at dealing with risks, so that they need to be "nudged" into healthy behavior. Yet research has demonstrated that the problem lies less in stable cognitive deficits than in how information is presented to physicians and patients. This includes biased reporting in medical journals, brochures, and the media that uses relative risks and other misleading statistics, motivated by conflicts of interest and defensive medicine that do not promote informed physicians and patients. What can be done? Every medical school should teach its students how to understand evidence in general and health statistics in particular. To cultivate informed patients, elementary and high schools should start teaching the mathematics of uncertainty-statistical thinking. Guidelines about complete and transparent reporting in journals, brochures, and the media need to be better enforced, and laws need to be changed in order to protect patients and doctors alike against the practice of defensive medicine instead of encouraging it. A critical mass of informed citizens will not resolve all healthcare problems, but it can constitute a major triggering factor for better care.

Lung cancer risk perception biases.

This paper provides new evidence on biased perceptions about the risks of smoking. It studies predictors of lung cancer risk perceptions. Lung cancer is one of the deadliest and most aggressive cancer types with 5-year survival rates of only up to 15%. A cross-sectional online survey in Berlin assessed lung cancer risk perceptions among smokers (n = 664), never smokers (n = 703), and former smokers (n = 501) in 2013. In addition to lung cancer risk perceptions, the survey measured many respondent characteristics, such as intention to quit smoking and a self-assessment of the likelihood of success in quitting. The findings show that 80% of all respondents overestimated lung cancer survival rates and suggest significant room for public health campaigns to educate smokers and nonsmokers about the deadliness of lung cancer. Multivariate linear regressions show that smokers who do not plan to quit estimate the 5-Year Lung Cancer Survival Rate to be 11% (p = 0.044) higher than other smokers. A reduction in risk perception biases may induce some smokers to alter their quitting intentions and others to successfully quit.

Narrow Band Imaging-guided resection of oral cavity cancer decreases local recurrence and increases survival.

PURPOSE: Overall local recurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is estimated at 20%. Incomplete primary tumour excision contributes to localised postsurgical recurrence of OSCC. The purpose of this study was to report on patient outcomes following resection of OSCC using Narrow Band Imaging (NBI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with OSCC requiring resection were visualised under conventional white light (WL) then NBI using an Olympus NBI ENF-VQ nasendoscope with CLV-180 light source and processor (Olympus Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan). OSCC tissue was resected to the NBI-defined surgical margins, and patients followed for a minimum of 5 years postsurgery to assess local recurrence rate (LRR) and disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS: Of the 20 patients recruited for this study, one patient (5%) declined follow-up. At the latest follow-up period (up to 7 years postsurgery), 14 of 19 patients (73.68%) were alive with no recurrence. Two patients (10.53%) had died from metastatic disease with no local recurrence, one patient (5.26%) had died from disease with local recurrence, and two patients (10.53%) had died disease-free from other causes. In total, 16 of 19 patients (84.21%) who were followed for a minimum of 5 years were still alive and had not developed local recurrence. Only one patient developed local recurrence. Five-year DFS was 84.21% and LRR was 5.26%. CONCLUSION: Resection to NBI-defined margins improves survival rates and decreases recurrence rates of OSCC compared to traditional methods and should be adopted as the new gold standard for determining mucosal surgical margins for treatment of oral cavity cancer. These promising results have set the scene for a multicentred randomised controlled trial comparing NBI to WL currently underway.

Survival in women diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer in Poland ­ compared to European countries, based on CONCORD - 3 Programme

INTRODUCTION: The 5-year population-based survival rate, next to cancer incidence and mortality, is a key element for the assessment of effective health care quality provided by OECD in order to establish the condition of health care and set up health care policies. They also apply when assessing breast and cervical cancer prevention in Poland. AIM: The aim of the paper was to analyse the breast and cervical cancer survival in women in Poland in 2010-2014 and its changes in 2000-2014 in comparison to other European countries. RESULTS: The analysis of the 5-year survival rate was performed with the CONCORD-3 programme data. In order to guarantee the comparability of results, the uniform standards for data quality control, all calculations and analyses were performed by a world-leading centre for research, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The absolute value of the survival rate was used to assess survival variations in 2000-2004 and 2010-2014. In 2010-2014 the highest 5-year survival rate in women with breast cancer was in Island (89%), Sweden (89%), Finland (89%) and Norway (88%). Despite its systematic improvement, the 5-year survival rate in Poland was lower than in the majority of European countries, and in the final period amounted to 76,6%. In 2010-2014 the highest survival in women with cervical cancer in Europe was in Island (80%), Norway (73%) and Switzerland (71%). The progress of favourable changes in Poland was not sufficient enough to allow the survival rate (55%) to be significantly closer to the European average. CONCLUSIONS: The 5-year survival rate for breast and cervical cancer in Poland in 2010-2014 was significantly different than in other European countries, and placed Poland among the countries with the lowest survival rate. In 2000-2014 in Poland there was an insignificant progress in survival in women with breast and cervical cancer, which did not contribute to fighting the substantial differences when compared to other European countries.

Characteristics and outcomes among patients with need for early dialysis after lung transplantation surgery.

BACKGROUND: With the introduction of lung allocation score (LAS), increasingly sicker patients are undergoing lung transplantation (LT). This study was conducted to determine the time trends in need for dialysis after LT, identify variables independently associated with need for dialysis, and evaluate its association with 1- and 5-year mortality. METHODS: We queried the United Network of Organ Sharing database for adult patients undergoing LT between 1994 and 2014. We excluded patients with simultaneous dual organ transplantation and where data regarding the need for dialysis were not available. RESULTS: Time trends in the yearly incidence of the need for dialysis showed a gradual increase (P = .012). In the post-LAS era, ethnicity, underlying diagnosis, estimated GFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m2 and mean pulmonary pressures>35 mm Hg, ventilator or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support at LT, and >20% increase in serum creatinine between listing and match were independently associated with the need for dialysis. Patients with need for dialysis had significantly increased hazard of 1-year (n = 13 849; adjusted hazard ratio, 95% CI:7.23, 6.2-8.4, P < .001) and 5-year mortality (n = 7287; adjusted hazard ratio, 95% CI:3.96, 3.43-4.56, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: There is a gradual increase in the incidence of the need for early dialysis after LT, and these patients have significantly worse early and late survival. Several pre-transplant recipient characteristics are independently associated with the need for dialysis.