Development of a well-defined tool to predict the overall survival in lung cancer patients: an African based cohort.

BACKGROUND: Nomogram is a graphic representation containing the expressed factor of the mathematical formula used to define a particular phenomenon. We aim to build and internally validate a nomogram to predict overall survival (OS) in patients diagnosed with lung cancer (LC). METHODS: We included 1200 LC patients from a single institution registry diagnosed from 2013 to 2021. The independent prognostic factors of LC patients were identified via cox proportional hazard regression analysis. Based on the results of multivariate cox analysis, we constructed the nomogram to predict the OS of LC patients. RESULTS: We finally included a total of 1104 LC patients. Age, medical urgency at diagnosis, performance status, radiotherapy, and surgery were identified as prognostic factors, and integrated to build the nomogram. The model performance in predicting prognosis was measured by receiver operating characteristic curve. Calibration plots of 6-, 12-, and 24- months OS showed optimal agreement between observations and model predictions. CONCLUSION: We have developed and validated a unique predictive tool that can offer patients with LC an individual OS prognosis. This useful prognostic model could aid doctors in making decisions and planning therapeutic trials.

[Tolerablity of everolimus in clinical practice: a retrospective study]. / Tolérance de l'évérolimus en pratique clinique: étude retrospective.

Everolimus is a mTOR inhibitor which demonstrates clinical activity in several solid tumors, especially in kidney cancer after first line TKI anti VEGF treatment and in breast cancer in association with exemesthane after failure of aroamatase inhibitors. The purpose of this study was to analyze in clinical practice the tolerance of everolimus in patients with breast cancer and kidney cancer. We conducted a retrospective study on patients followed up for breast cancer and kidney cancer over the period January 2008 - January 2015. All patients received everolimus at a dosage of 10 mg/day alone or in association with exemesthane for breast cancer. Adverse reactions were classified according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverses version 4.0 (NCI-CTCAE). A total of 100 patients were enrolled in the study: 76 patients with breast cancer and 24 patients with kidney cancer. The median follow-up period was 5.7 months. Treatment was stopped in more than 70% of the cases because of intolerance. The main adverse events, with a prevalence of more than 30% for all grades were mucositis, rash, fatigue, anemia, lymphopenia, hyperglycaemia, hyperlipidemia and infections. Mucositis, noninfectious pneumopathies and infections had high incidence of toxicity grade 3-4. Treatment discontinuation rate due to intolerance is high compared to literature data. At the beginning of treatment, particular attention should be given to mucositis, the immunosuppressive effect of treatment and non-infectious pneumopathies.

[Therapeutic management of malignant paragangliomas: an illustrative case and literature review]. / Prise en charge thérapeutique des paragangliomes malins: revue de littérature à travers un cas illustratif.

Malignant paragangliomas pose a real challenge for the practitioners. They are rare complex tumors, very heterogeneous in their evolution and prognosis. Given the rarity of this tumor group, there is no consensus on therapeutic management. Through this illustrative case study, we report the case of a 29 year old female patient followed for malignant paraganglioma due to which she initially had surgery. After a six month interval, multifocal recurrence was detected on Octreoscan PET-CT (Positron Emission Tomography- Computer Tomography). The patient underwent monthly injection of Somatuline for one year and then discontinued therapy due to disease progression. Cytoreduction was then performed followed by radiotherapy. After a year, the patient had massive disease progression. Dacarbazine-based chemotherapy was initiated. The patient had an almost complete metabolic response after eight cycles. This study aims to highlight the different therapeutic options in the management of malignant paragangliomas.

[Giant parathyroid carcinoma: diagnostic difficulties and therapeutic strategies]. / Carcinome parathyroïdien géant: difficultés diagnostiques et stratégies thérapeutiques.

Parathyroid carcinoma is a very rare malignancy responsible for 0.4 to 5.2% of hyperparathyroidism. Clinical diagnosis is difficult and treatment should be codified. Surgery is the only curative treatment. We report the case of a female patient treated for malignancy-associated hypercalcemia revealing parathyroid carcinoma. The patient underwent surgery; after three months she developed lymphatic recurrence. Given the absence of other secondary involvement, bilateral lymph node dissection followed by chemotherapy was performed. Parathyroid carcinoma is often suspected on the basis of biological, radiological and especially intraoperative macroscopic criteria, but definitive diagnosis is made histopathologically. Surgery is currently the only curative treatment and the role of adjuvant therapy is to establish.