Changes in the therapeutic landscape of oesophago-gastric cancers.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article reviews recent randomised clinical trials on systemic treatment of oesophago-gastric cancers in the perioperative and metastatic setting. RECENT FINDINGS: Adding nivolumab to first-line chemotherapy improved survival in patients with metastatic gastric/gastro-oesophageal junction/oesophageal adenocarcinoma with PD-L1 combined positive score (CPS) ≥ five in a global trial and progression-free survival in metastatic gastric/gastro-oesophageal junction cancers in an Asian trial. The addition of pembrolizumab to first-line chemotherapy improved survival in metastatic oesophageal cancer patients, with the most benefit in oesophageal squamous cancer and tumours with high PD-L1 expression (CPS ≥ 10). Adjuvant nivolumab improved disease-free survival (DFS) in resectable oesophageal cancer patients with residual pathologic disease after neoadjuvant chemoradiation. In human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive oesophago-gastric adenocarcinoma, a phase II trial showed improved DFS when pertuzumab and trastuzumab were added to perioperative FLOT (5-fluorouracil/leucovorin, oxaliplatin, docetaxel). Another phase II trial showed improved response rates and survival in pretreated metastatic HER2-positive gastric and gastrooesophageal junction cancer patients who received the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan compared to physician's choice of chemotherapy. SUMMARY: Chemo-immunotherapy combinations will become the new standard of care for some patients with metastatic oesophago-gastric cancers. Adjuvant nivolumab is a new option for oesophageal cancer patients with poor response after neoadjuvant chemoradiation.

Survival of Node-negative Breast Cancer Patients Treated at the University Medical Centre Maribor in the Period 2000-2009.

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer is increasingly diagnosed in the early stages without regional nodal involvement. The aim of the present study was to determine the 5-year overall (OS) and breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) for patients with node-negative breast cancer treated at the University Medical Centre Maribor, and compare it with survival at the national level. METHODS: Medical records were searched for information on patients with lymph node-negative invasive breast cancer who received primary treatment at the University Medical Centre Maribor in the period 2000-2009. Information on all Slovenian node-negative breast cancer patients diagnosed in the same period was obtained from the Cancer Registry of Republic of Slovenia. Time trends in survival were assessed by comparing the periods 2000-2004 and 2005-2009. RESULTS: The 5-year OS and BCSS of patients treated in Maribor in the period 2000-2009 were 92.3% (95% CI, 90.5%- 94.1%) and 96.4% (95% CI, 95.2%-97.6%), respectively, and did not differ from the corresponding OS and BCSS for Slovenian patients. Although the improvement in OS for patients from Maribor diagnosed in the period 2005-2009 compared to 2000-2004 did not reach statistical significance (HR 0.73; 95% CI, 0.51-1.05; p=0.086), BCSS significantly improved over the same time periods (HR 0.53; 95% CI, 0.30-0.94; p=0.028). CONCLUSIONS: Survival of node-negative breast cancer patients treated at the University Medical Centre Maribor is comparable to survival of corresponding patients at the national level. The rising number of long-term breast cancer survivors places additional importance on survivorship care.

Prognostic Role of HER2 Status and Adjuvant Trastuzumab Treatment in Lymph Node-Negative Breast Cancer Patients - a Retrospective Single Center Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The natural course of traditionally prognostically unfavorable human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer has been changed by anti-HER2 therapy. It is not clear whether the prognosis for HER2-positive patients treated with adjuvant trastuzumab differs from that of HER2-negative patients. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study including patients with lymph node-negative invasive breast cancer treated at our institution in the period 2000-2009. Disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox proportional hazards model was applied to control for other clinically important variables. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 90-109 months. The 5-year DFS rates for HER2-negative patients, HER2-positive patients without adjuvant trastuzumab and trastuzumab-treated HER2-positive patients were 88.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 85.6-90.6%), 73.1% (95% CI 64.3-81.9%) and 90.7% (95% CI 83.1-98.3%), respectively. No significant difference in DFS was observed between trastuzumab-treated HER2-positive patients and HER2-negative patients in multivariate analysis (hazard ratio 1.15; 95% CI 0.53-2.46; p = 0.728). There were no differences in OS among the 3 groups. CONCLUSION: Based on our results, the negative prognostic effect of HER2 positivity seen before targeted anti-HER2 treatment has completely disappeared in the era of routine trastuzumab administration in the adjuvant setting.

Preoperative diagnosis of fallopian tube malignancy with transvaginal color doppler ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging after negative hysteroscopy for postmenopausal bleeding.

Primary fallopian tube carcinoma is a rare malignancy and is not often diagnosed preoperatively. We present a case of a 67-year-old woman who complained of postmenopausal vaginal bleeding. After a negative hysteroscopy, transvaginal ultrasound showed a well vascularized solid-cystic tumor in the adnexal region separate from the ovary. The presence of an adnexal mass was confirmed by MR imaging. Total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingoophorectomy, omentectomy and appendectomy, as well as pelvic and paraaortic lymphadenectomy was performed. The pathohistological diagnosis was poorly differentiated serous adenocarcinoma of the fallopian tube, FIGO stage IA. The patient was subsequently treated with platinum based adjuvant chemotherapy.

Subinvolution of placental bed vessels: case report and review of the literature.

Subinvolution of placental bed vessels, a well-recognized cause of postpartum and postabortal hemorrhage, is defined with prolonged or excessive uterine hemorrhage beginning after the delivery or abortion. Although physiological changes in uteroplacental parts of spiral arteries are well known, the sequence of events in involution of these vessels is not yet clearly understood. In this article we present two cases of subinvolution of placental bed vessels in which we were able to demonstrate the presence of extravillous trophoblast in and around the placental bed vessels. The disease is supposed to be the result of abnormal interaction between maternal uterine cells and fetal trophoblast.