Survival and prognostic association in stage IV colorectal cancer patients treated with chemotherapy in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: Prognostic factors in colorectal cancer have lesser been evaluated in developing countries. This study aims to determine overall survival and prognostic factors for metastatic colorectal cancer patients who were non-operable and received chemotherapy. METHODS: The study retrospectively investigated 67 inoperable metastatic colorectal cancer patients at Square Hospital, Bangladesh. The primary endpoint was overall survival, and the secondary endpoints were prognostic association with factors. Survival probabilities were calculated by non-parametric Kaplan-Meier method and compared by log-rank test. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were implemented to assess the prognostic association. RESULTS: Median survival of the entire cohort was 14 months (95% confidence interval: 11-25). In multivariable analysis, two prognostic factors were independently associated with survival: Karnofsky performance status and carcinoembryonic antigen. Patients with Karnofsky performance status <70 had significant higher risk of death than those with Karnofsky performance status ≥70 (adjusted hazard ratio 4.25, 95% confidence interval: 2.15-8.39). Higher risk of death was found to be associated with higher carcinoembryonic antigen: adjusted hazard ratio was 1.72 (95% confidence interval: 0.81-3.68) and 2.96 (95% confidence interval: 1.25-7.01) for patients with carcinoembryonic antigen 10-100 and >100 ng/ml, respectively, while comparing with carcinoembryonic antigen <10 ng/ml. The presence of peritoneal metastasis and grade-III tumour significantly worsened the survival in univariate analysis (hazard ratio 2.46, 95% confidence interval: 1.32-4.57 and hazard ratio 1.74, 95% confidence interval: 1.01-3.03, respectively) but not in multivariable analysis (adjusted hazard ratio 1.92, 95% confidence interval: 0.88-4.18 and adjusted hazard ratio 1.25, 95% confidence interval: 0.66-2.36, respectively). CONCLUSION: The study reported survival of stage IV colorectal cancer patients undergo chemotherapy and identified that Karnofsky performance status and carcinoembryonic antigen are the poor prognostic factors to this cohort adjusting for other factors.

Long-term survival in recurrent adrenocortical cancer.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) comprises approximately 0.02% of all malignant tumours, which are a very small fraction of a group of cancers that affect in 0.7 to 2 in 1 000 000 people per year. Recurrence is very common even after complete resection and prognosis is poor. We report a case of a sporadic form of ACC found in a 41-year-old Asian Bangladeshi man. His tumour was surgically excised completely with negative margins and he did not receive any adjuvant therapy. Four years later, adrenal adenoma was developed at his opposite side which was also excised. Then after a total duration of 7 years, he developed recurrence in both adrenal glands and extensive metastases to bilateral lungs, liver and abdominal wall. As per FIRM-ACT study, we started treatment with etoposide, doxorubicin, cisplatin plus mitotane (EDP-M), and the patient responded dramatically. He became symptom free and achieved radiological partial response just on completion of three cycles. To our knowledge, this is the first case of ACC in Bangladesh published in the literature. Managing rare cancers is always challenging due to the fact that clinicians lack practical experience in it. We believe that patient with a rare cancer with poor prognosis like ACC may also survive long, and extensive metastases can also be controlled.

Prolonged survival with maintenance pemetrexed for a multiple primary malignancy.

Despite the fact that multiple primary malignancies (MPMs) are not new and have been diagnosed for about a hundred-year time, literatures on lung and colon primaries are scarce. We report a case of a 62-year-old Asian Bangladeshi man with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma who developed a metachronous stage II colon adenocarcinoma approximately 3 years later. A chemotherapy protocol of six cycles of pemetrexed/cisplatin followed by maintenance pemetrexed was used, and surgery was done for the colon primary. With more than 5 years of periodic follow-up, his disease remains stable without any local or metastatic recurrence. Definitive therapeutic protocols are unavailable, but information taken with caution from case reports may be of importance for treatment decisions of MPMs. We believe that management with careful judgement by a multidisciplinary team may result in a good outcome with longer survival.

Unusual primary breast cancer - malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Sarcomas are a rare type of breast malignancies and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of the breast are even rarer. There are no specific clinical and radiological features for the diagnosis of this tumor and histological features are also reported to be nonspecific. Therefore, immunohistochemistry is required for its diagnosis. A definitive treatment protocol is unavailable because of its rarity. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a sporadic form of breast malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor found in a 16-year-old Asian Bangladeshi girl. She experienced local recurrence and she had multiple left breast lumps four times in a very short period after repeated surgeries. However, she was later managed successfully with chemotherapy and locoregional radiotherapy. A chemotherapy protocol with ifosfamide, vincristine, and actinomycin was used and radiotherapy was given with a total dose of 50 Gy given in 25 fractions of 2 Gy by a 6 MV photon linear accelerator followed by 10 Gy boost given in 5 fractions of 2 Gy by 9 MeV electron energy. With more than 3 years of periodic follow-up, she is still well without any locoregional and metastatic recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: This report suggests proper immunohistochemical analysis whenever a breast sarcoma is found in order to find a rare histological variety. We believe that malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the breast can be managed by total mastectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Long-term meticulous follow-up is required to develop an optimum therapeutic strategy.