Clinical application of apatinib in the treatment of advanced bone and soft tissue sar-coma / 中国肿瘤临床

To observe the efficacy and safety of apatinib in the treatment of advanced bone and soft tissue sarcoma, and to analyze the possible related factors affecting the progression-free survival (PFS) of patients. Methods: Twenty-one patients with ad-vanced bone and soft tissue sarcoma admitted to the Department of Orthopaedics, Yunnan Cancer Hospital from June 2017 to Sep-tember 2018, were treated with apatinib tablets. The main efficacy index was progression free survival (PFS), and the secondary effica-cy index was overall survival (OS). Clinical efficacy was evaluated according to response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) 1.1, and overall response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety were olserved according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) 4.0 standard. Results: All of the 21 patients were followed up. At the last follow-up time point, March 31st, 2019, there were no CR, 2 patients (9.5%) with PR, 7 patients with SD (33.3%), and 12 patients with PD (57.1%). The ORR was 9.5%, the DCR was 42.8%, the medi-an PFS was 8 months, and the median OS was 14 months. The patient's gender, age, ECOG score, tissue source, surgery, or chemother-apy had no statistically significant effect on PFS (P>0.05). Only the history of radiotherapy before taking apatinib was a factor for pa-tients with PFS. The effect was statistically significant (P<0.05), and patients with a history of radiotherapy had a lower PFS than pa-tients without a history of radiotherapy. The adverse reactions of gradeⅢand above had hand-foot syndrome (14.3%), pneumotho-rax (14.3%) and anemia (4.8%). Conclusions: Apatinib has a certain effect for advanced bone and soft tissue sarcoma. The adverse re-actions are generally predictable, controllable and reversible. Apatinib can be a choice for patients with advanced bone and soft tissue sarcoma with good treatment adherence and no other treatment options.

High-Dose Chemotherapy and Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in Children with High-Risk or Recurrent Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Despite increasing evidence that high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDCT/auto-SCT) might improve the survival of patients with high-risk or recurrent solid tumors, therapy effectiveness for bone and soft tissue sarcoma treatment remains unclear. This study retrospectively investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of HDCT/auto-SCT for high-risk or recurrent bone and soft tissue sarcoma. A total of 28 patients (18 high-risk and 10 recurrent) underwent single or tandem HDCT/auto-SCT between October 2004 and September 2014. During follow-up of a median 15.3 months, 18 patients exhibited disease progression and 2 died of treatment-related toxicities (1 veno-occlusive disease and 1 sepsis). Overall, 8 patients remained alive and progression-free. The 3-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates for all 28 patients were 28.7% and 26.3%, respectively. In the subgroup analysis, OS and EFS rates were higher in patients with complete or partial remission prior to HDCT/auto-SCT than in those with worse responses (OS, 39.1% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.002; EFS, 36.8% vs. 0.0%, P < 0.001). Therefore, careful selection of patients who can benefit from HDCT/auto-SCT and maximal effort to reduce tumor burden prior to treatment will be important to achieve favorable outcomes in patients with high-risk or recurrent bone and soft tissue sarcomas.

Pulmonary tuberculosis misdiagnosed as lung Metastasis in childhood cancer patients / 소아과

PURPOSE: The differential diagnosis for a pulmonary nodule is intriguing in cancer patients. Metastasis might be a preferential diagnosis, and yet possibilities of other medical conditions still exist. Pulmonary tuberculosis should be enlisted in the differential diagnosis for a pulmonary nodule in cancer patients in Korea. This study was aimed at analyzing the incidence and clinical features of pulmonary tuberculosis that were misdiagnosed as pulmonary metastasis during radiologic follow-up in pediatric cancer patients. METHODS: We retrospectively studied 422 cancer patients less than 18 years old in the Korea Cancer Center Hospital from January 2001 to June 2007. We collected episodes of lung metastasis of primary tumor and tuberculosis during treatment or follow-up, and analyzed medical records. RESULTS: There were 5 cases of tuberculosis confirmed after surgery which were initially regarded as cancer. Two patients had respiratory symptoms such as cough and sputum but the other 3 patients did not. One patient had a family history of tuberculosis. Acid-fast M. tuberculosis was found in one case upon tissue specimen analysis. Two cases were Mantoux positive and the sputum examination was negative in all cases. The polymerase chain reaction for tuberculosis on a pathologic specimen was used to differentiate M. tuberculosis from non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM). It was positive in one case. Lung lesions in one case showed a concurrence of tuberculosis along with lung metastasis. One of these patients died after cancer recurrence. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to consider the possibility of tuberculosis when a lung mass is newly detected during treatment or follow-up in patients with childhood cancer.

Survival Rate after Pulmonary Metastasectomy in Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma / 대한정형외과학회잡지

We investigated the overall survival rate after pulmonary metastasectomy in the bone and soft tissue sarcoma and the available prognostic factors related with the survival rate after pulmonary metastasectomy. Between 1986 and 1995, 9 patients (median age 32) with bone and soft tissue sarcoma with pulmonary metastasis were managed in the Catholic University of Korea. Until the final follow-up in May 1996, 6 patients have died of disease and their mean survival period was 28 months (9- 58months). The actual 5-year survival rate by Kaplan-Meier method was 33%. Prognostic factors such as tumor free interval, number of metastatic lesion, postoperative chemotherapy and histologic grade were analyzed. Three patients who had the tumor free interval over 3 years were alive (mean survival period: 52.6 months), whereas six patients who had the tumor free interval less than 3 years were dead (mean survival period: 19 months). Out of four patients with low grade tumor, three patients were alive with average 39.2 months survival period, whereas five patients with high grade tumor were all dead with average 19.2 months survival period. These results suggested that pulmonary metastasectomy in bone and soft tissue sarcoma may prolong the survival rate. The long tumor free interval, histological low grade and soft tissue sarcoma may influenced on prolonged survival rate. However, number of metastatic lesion or postoperative chemotherapy has not influenced on the survival rate.