Retrospective Analysis of Treatment Pathways in Patients With BRAFV600E-mutant Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma - MORSECRC.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a heterogeneous disease with distinct molecular subtypes. The BRAFV600E-mutation found in approximately 8-12% of mCRC patients is associated with poor prognosis. Guideline recommendations for this population are mostly based on small cohorts due to lack of clinical data. This retrospective analysis was designed to evaluate (approved) therapeutic approaches and algorithms in BRAFV600E-mutant mCRC prior to approval of the targeted combination encorafenib plus cetuximab in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Anonymized data from BRAFV600E-mutant mCRC patients were analyzed retrospectively regarding 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-line treatment using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Forty-two patients were eligible for analysis (mean age 62.1 years, 47.6% female). At initial diagnosis, 20 patients (47.6%) were documented with right-sided tumors. Most patients (81.0%) were tested for BRAF before 1st-line. Four patients (9.5%) showed high microsatellite instability (MSI-H). Based on 94 treatment lines, chemotherapy combined with targeted therapy (TT) was used mostly (61.7%), followed by chemotherapy alone (19.1%). Backbone therapies were most frequently FOLFOXIRI (27.7%), FOLFOX/CAPOX (22.3%), or FOLFIRI (20.2%). Anti-VEGF/VEGFR and anti-EGFR-treatments were used in 45.7% and 23.4% of patients, respectively. Across all treatment lines and types, the predominantly documented reason for discontinuation was lack of efficacy. CONCLUSION: Combined chemotherapy+TT (anti-VEGF/VEGFR and anti-EGFR) played a predominant role in BRAFV600E-mutated mCRC treatment prior to approval of the targeted combination encorafenib plus cetuximab. Since lack of efficacy was the major reason for treatment discontinuation, newly approved therapies including encorafenib plus cetuximab and - for MSI-H tumors - pembrolizumab represent urgently needed options for future mCRC patients.

Thromboembolic complications after splenectomy for hematologic diseases.

Thromboembolic complications following splenectomy for hematologic diseases occur in up to 10% of patients and may range from portal vein thrombosis (PVT) to pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Up to now there exist no recommendations for the duration and intensity of prophylactic anticoagulation, which usually follows local institutional protocols. We report on three consecutive patients with severe portal vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism--one with fatal outcome--7 to 35 days after splenectomy for autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immunothrombocytopenia, and indolent lymphoma, respectively. Incidence and pathophysiology of thromboembolic events (TE) in this patient group as well as prophylactic anticoagulation will be discussed, including a review of the current literature on this topic.

Acute myelofibrosis in a patient with diffuse large cell non Hodgkin's lymphoma and renal cancer.

Relapse after anthracycline based combination chemotherapy is frequently seen in patients with aggressive non Hodgkin's Lymphomas (NHL), whereas complications such as secondary leukemia or solid tumor rarely occur. We report a patient with diffuse large cell (DLC) NHL and concurrent renal cancer, who developed acute myelofibrosis (AMF) later in the course of her disease. This 60-year-old female patient presented with pancytopenia and a right sided renal mass. Diagnostic work up revealed severe bone marrow infiltration by DLC NHL and renal cancer T1N0M0G2. Cytogenetic and molecular evaluation of bone marow cells showed three distinct clones, (a normal 46XX karyotype, a ringed chromosome 7 and a third clone with an enlarged chromosome 2 as well as several fragments). The patient underwent nephrectomy and eventually received 6 cycles of CHOP 14 chemotherapy. Anemia persisted followed by severe granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia 6 weeks later. Repeated bone marrow biopsy showed absence of lymphoma and/or cancer metastasis, but massive myelofibrosis with an increased number of atypical megakaryocytes. Considering the short clinical course and the absence of hepatosplenomegaly AMF was diagnosed. The concurrence of three distinctneoplasms within a short period of time as well as the complex cytogenetic aberrations found in her bone marrow cells reflect a strong individual susceptibility to malignant disease in this patient.