High grade gliomas in young children: The South Thames Neuro-Oncology unit experience and recent advances in molecular biology and targeted therapies.

High grade gliomas (HGG) have a dismal prognosis with survival rates of 15-35%. Approximately 10-12% of pediatric HGG occur in young children and their molecular biology and clinical outcomes differ from those arising at older ages. We report on four children aged <5 years newly diagnosed with non-brainstem HGG between 2011 and 2018 who were treated with surgery and BBSFOP chemotherapy. Two died of tumor progression. The other two are still alive without radiotherapy at 3.8 and 3.9 years from diagnosis: one of whom remains disease-free off treatment; and the other one, whose tumor harbored a KCTD16:NTRK2 fusion, went on to receive larotrectinib. Additionally we review the general management, outcomes and latest updates in molecular biology and targeted therapies for young children with HGG. Infant gliomas can be stratified in molecular subgroups with clinically actionable oncogenic drivers. Chemotherapy-based strategies can avoid or delay the need for radiotherapy in young children with HGG. Harnessing the potential of NTRK, ALK, ROS1 and MET inhibitors offers the opportunity to optimize the therapeutic armamentarium to improve current outcomes for these children.

Influence of sex on chemotherapy efficacy and toxicity in oesophagogastric cancer: A pooled analysis of four randomised trials.

BACKGROUND: Sex contributes to interpatient variability of chemotherapy metabolism and dose response, potentially influencing both efficacy and toxicity; however, comparative data on its effect on oesophagogastric cancer are lacking. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data for patients with advanced oesophagogastric cancer randomised to comparable first-line chemotherapy regimens within four United Kingdom prospective trials were pooled, and key demographic and outcome measures were compared between males and females. RESULTS: A total of 1654 patients were included: 1328 (80.3%) males and 326 (19.7%) females. Female patients were younger, had a significantly higher proportion of gastric tumours as opposed to junctional or oesophageal tumours and experienced significantly higher rates of a number of toxicities including nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, stomatitis and alopecia. When adjusting for potential confounding factors, the risk of female patients experiencing grade ≥III gastrointestinal toxicity was greater (adjusted odds ratio = 1.50; 95% confidence interval = 1.07-2.12). Females also had a significantly higher incidence of serious adverse events on treatment and received comparatively less cycles of chemotherapy overall than males. CONCLUSIONS: This represents the largest pooled analysis of the effect of sex on chemotherapy outcome and toxicity in advanced oesophagogastric cancer. The differential toxicity and adverse event rates observed suggest that sex may be an important modulator of treatment tolerability and safety in this tumour type.