Reorganisation of medical oncology departments during the novel coronavirus disease-19 pandemic: a nationwide Italian survey.

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 pandemic is a global health problem, which started to affect China by the end of 2019. In Europe, Italy has faced this novel disease entity (named novel coronavirus disease [COVID-19]) first and severely. COVID-19 represents a significant hurdle for public health services and a potential harm for patients with cancer. The Collegio Italiano dei Primari Oncologi Medici (CIPOMO) is an Italian association of head physicians in oncology departments, which promotes working and research activities in oncology on a national basis. In the midst of the epidemic in Italy, the CIPOMO promoted a national survey aiming to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on clinical activity of oncologists and the implementation of containment measures of COVID-19 diffusion. Overall, 122 head physicians participated in this survey, with a homogeneous distribution on the national territory. Results show that the following measures for oncologic patients have been promptly implemented through the whole country: use of protective devices, triage of patients accessing the hospital, delay of non-urgent visits and use of telemedicine. Results of this survey suggest that Italian oncology departments have promptly set a proactive approach to the actual emergency. Oncologists need to preserve the continuum of care of patients, as the benefit of ensuring a well-delivered anti-cancer treatment plan outweighs the risk of COVID-19 infection. International cooperation is an important starting point, as heavily affected nations can serve as an example to find out ways to safely preserve health activity during the pandemic.

Update of the Phase III trial 'GRETA' of surgery and tamoxifen versus tamoxifen alone for early breast cancer in elderly women.

BACKGROUND: In the Phase III 'GRETA' trial 474 women aged ≥70 years with early breast cancer were randomly assigned to surgery plus tamoxifen for 5 years or tamoxifen alone for 5 years. This is a long-term update. PATIENTS & METHODS: Focusing on patients still alive in 2003, outcome end points has been recalculated. RESULTS: Median distant metastases disease-free survival is longer with tamoxifen alone for 5 years; (48.8 vs 37.9 months; p = 0.009). No difference was found in distant metastases rate, disease-free survival, breast cancer and overall survival. CONCLUSION: Primary endocrine treatment until the the best response, followed by minimal surgery and prosecution endocrine treatment for 5-10 years is a suitable option for elderly breast cancer patients. Delayed surgery does not prejudice overall survival.

Erlotinib versus docetaxel as second-line treatment of patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and wild-type EGFR tumours (TAILOR): a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Erlotinib is registered for treatment of all patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, its efficacy for treatment of patients whose tumours are EGFR wild-type-which includes most patients-is still contentious. We assessed the efficacy of erlotinib compared with a standard second-line chemotherapy in such patients. METHODS: We did this randomised controlled trial in 52 Italian hospitals. We enrolled patients who had metastatic NSCLC, had had platinum-based chemotherapy, and had wild-type EGFR as assessed by direct sequencing. Patients were randomly assigned centrally (1:1) to receive either erlotinib orally 150 mg/day or docetaxel intravenously 75 mg/m(2) every 21 days or 35 mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, and 15, every 28 days. Randomisation was stratified by centre, stage, type of first-line chemotherapy, and performance status. Patients and investigators who gave treatments or assessed outcomes were not masked to treatment allocation, investigators who analysed results were. The primary endpoint was overall survival in the intention-to-treat population. The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00637910. FINDINGS: We screened 702 patients, of whom we genotyped 540. 222 patients were enrolled (110 assigned to docetaxel vs 112 assigned to erlotinib). Median overall survival was 8·2 months (95% CI 5·8-10·9) with docetaxel versus 5·4 months (4·5-6·8) with erlotinib (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·73, 95% CI 0·53-1·00; p=0·05). Progression-free survival was significantly better with docetaxel than with erlotinib: median progression-free survival was 2·9 months (95% CI 2·4-3·8) with docetaxel versus 2·4 months (2·1-2·6) with erlotinib (adjusted HR 0·71, 95% CI 0·53-0·95; p=0·02). The most common grade 3-4 toxic effects were: low absolute neutrophil count (21 [20%] of 104 in the docetaxel group vs none of 107 in the erlotinib group), skin toxic effects (none vs 15 [14%]), and asthenia (ten [10%] vs six [6%]). INTERPRETATION: Our results show that chemotherapy is more effective than erlotinib for second-line treatment for previously treated patients with NSCLC who have wild-type EGFR tumours.

Rationale for treatment and study design of tailor: a randomized phase III trial of second-line erlotinib versus docetaxel in the treatment of patients affected by advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with the absence of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations.

We present the rationale and study design of the Tarceva Italian Lung Optimization trial phase III, multicenter, open-label, randomized trial on efficacy of second-line therapies in different subgroups of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients identified using molecular and clinical evaluations. To date, we can assume that advanced NSCLC epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated patients benefit from EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as gefitinib and erlotinib, whereas their role in the treatment of patients who do not have EGFR mutations is controversial. The aim of this study is to assess whether it is possible to optimize second-line treatment in NSCLC patients with absence of EGFR mutations. Moreover, the predictive value of the K-ras mutation, EGFR protein expression, and EGFR gene copy number, as well as a smoking habit and histotype for determining a different effect of erlotinib compared with chemotherapy will be assessed in patients who do not have EGFR mutations. The primary endpoint is overall survival; the secondary endpoints are progression-free survival, response rate, quality of life, and toxicity. We have planned to collect blood samples to identify different prognosis-related polymorphisms and to assess their sensitivity and specificity in the detection of EGFR and K-ras mutations with respect to histologic samples.

Epirubicin-vinorelbine intravenous combination followed by oral vinorelbine as first-line treatment in metastatic breast cancer.

Epirubicin and vinorelbine are considered active drugs in metastatic breast cancer. The optimal duration of a chemotherapy regimen for metastatic breast cancer patients is still unknown. Nevertheless, epirubicin has a dose-limiting cardiotoxicity. Vinorelbine is also available as oral formulation. In a multicenter phase II study, we analyzed the feasibility and the efficacy of a maximum of six cycles of i.v. epirubicin plus vinorelbine, followed by oral vinorelbine. We enrolled 30 patients with metastatic breast cancer. Each patient received epirubicin (75 mg/m2 on day 1) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m2 on days 1-8), every 3 weeks, for three cycles or six cycles in case of objective response or stable disease. When a clinical benefit was obtained, patients received oral vinorelbine (60 mg/m2 on days 1-8 every 3 weeks for three cycles). The regimen demonstrated to be active and well tolerated in metastatic breast cancer, and 6-8 months represented the optimal treatment duration. Maintenance therapy with oral vinorelbine was feasible, effective, safe and well accepted by the patients.

Paclitaxel and epirubicin followed by cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil for patients with stage IIIC breast cancer with ten or more involved axillary lymph nodes.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a combination of epirubicin and paclitaxel followed by intravenous (iv) cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracile (CMF) as adjuvant treatment of breast cancer patients with 10 or more metastatic axillary lymph nodes. METHODS: Forty-four patients entered this multicenter study and received 4 cycles of epirubicin (E 120 mg/m2 day 1, q3 weeks) and paclitaxel (T 135 mg/m2 day 1, q3 weeks), followed by 4 cycles of iv CMF (days 1 and 8, q4 weeks). Patients with positive hormonal receptors received sequentially tamoxifen associated with LH-RH analogue if premenopausal. The endpoints were the evaluation of the feasibility of this schedule and disease free survival (DFS). RESULTS: Median age of patients was 55; median number of positive axillary nodes was 14 (range, 10-47). Hormonal receptor status was positive in 57% of patients. The combination of epirubicin and paclitaxel was well tolerated; NCI grade 3/4 events were: leucopenia in 27% of patients, neutropenic fever in 5 patients, anemia in 7%, thrombocytopenia in 7%, nausea in 18%, vomiting in 14%, and neurotoxicity in 4%. CMF regimen caused a few cases of grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity. No cardiac toxicity was recorded. With a median follow-up of 59 months, 18 (41%) patients relapsed. Sites of relapse were mainly bone, skin/soft tissues, liver, and lung. Median DFS was 78 months, with a 5-year rate of 60%. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of paclitaxel at low dose and epirubicin followed by CMF is a feasible regimen, which seems to be effective in high-risk node positive breast cancer patients and requires further investigations.

Angiosarcoma after breast-conserving therapy: fine-needle aspiration biopsy, immunocytochemistry, and clinicopathologic correlates.

BACKGROUND: Angiosarcoma that arises after breast-conserving therapy can present clinically as a cutaneous and/or subcutaneous breast lump, which is misinterpreted easily as a recurrence of carcinoma. To the authors' knowledge, the role of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology in the early diagnosis of this life-threatening complication of breast carcinoma therapy has not been established fully. METHODS: The authors studied three new patients with this type of secondary angiosarcoma diagnosed by FNA biopsy and immunocytochemistry, reviewed the literature on the topic, and examined relevant differential diagnostic issues. RESULTS: Patients presented with a discrete skin lump that had arisen several years after breast-conservative therapy for early-stage breast carcinoma near the scar from the previous surgery. The lesions were interpreted clinically as recurrent carcinoma. FNA yielded moderately cellular to highly cellular samples with variable patterns of cellular aggregation. Cells were epithelioid and spindle-shaped. Angioformative changes were subtle, and the overall picture suggested an epithelial malignancy, possibly a metaplastic carcinoma. Immunostaining of smears, however, provided conclusive evidence of the endothelial differentiation of tumor cells, and an FNA diagnosis of angiosarcoma was rendered in all patients. The histopathology of all surgically excised tumors confirmed the diagnosis of high-grade angiosarcoma. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the authors' experience, the FNA cytologic appearance of angiosarcoma that presented as a breast skin nodule in a breast carcinoma survivor easily could have been misinterpreted as carcinoma. A correct diagnosis of this tumor relies on the proper evaluation of clinical findings and, as also shown by a review of the literature, requires immunocytochemical evidence of endothelial differentiation.

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the orbit in a liver transplant recipient.

Although an increased incidence of de novo malignancies is reported in transplant recipients, rhabdomyosarcoma, an aggressive mesenchymal tumor typical of childhood, is not considered a neoplasm commonly related to immunosuppression. A 21-year-old woman presented with unilateral diplopia and proptosis 16 months after liver transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure. A tumoral mass originating from the medial rectus muscle was partially removed and diagnosed as being an embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Since the patient refused complete orbital excision, one course of radiotherapy and six courses of chemotherapy were administered, while immunosuppression was re-modulated, without interruption of the administration of cyclosporine. Complete control of tumor growth was achieved, while no alterations of graft function were observed throughout the treatment period.

Detection of micrometastatic cells in breast cancer by RT-pCR for the mammaglobin gene.

The detection of circulating cancer cells in the bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) of patients with solid tumors may be useful for disease staging. To this aim, we evaluated the expression of the mammaglobin gene by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 60 patients with breast cancer. Moreover, several controls were examined to test the specificity of this marker. The positive cases included 23.6% of the patients with and 9% of those without metastasis. Only 4/60 negative controls analyzed were positive by PCR. Our results show high specificity and a good correlation with disease status.