Postmenopausal Breast Cancer in Women, Clinical and Epidemiological Factors Related to the Molecular Subtype: A Retrospective Cohort Study in a Single Institution for 13 Years. Follow-Up Data.

This study focused on the characteristics of postmenopausal breast cancer in the population of southeastern Europe. This retrospective study explored the clinical, epidemiological, and molecular characteristics of women with postmenopausal breast cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed on 721 postmenopausal breast cancer patients selected from the database of our institution. The data collected consisted of age, living environment, location of the breast tumor, stage of the disease, and molecular sub-type. Patient characteristics were collected based on a systematic chart audit from medical records. The data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and Pearson analysis. RESULTS: The most frequent age range for breast cancer diagnosis was 51 to 70 years old. Most of the patients (80.7%) came from an urban environment. The vast majority of patients were initially diagnosed in stage II (40.3%) and III (30.3%). The most frequent molecular sub-types were luminal B (39%) and luminal A (35.4%). Almost half of the breast tumors were located in the upper outer quadrant (48.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study describe the profile of patients in southeastern Europe within our institution diagnosed with postmenopausal breast cancer. In our study, patients were first diagnosed with more advanced stages of breast cancer compared with other European countries.

APPLY: A prospective observational study of clinical practice patterns of darbepoetin alfa use in patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia in Romania.

PURPOSE: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the compliance of Romanian physicians with the national therapeutic protocol and international guidelines on treatment with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in anemic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The secondary objective was to assess the hemoglobin (Hb) level change due to anemia treatment and safety of darbepoetin alfa. METHODS: This was a single-arm, prospective, longitudinal, multicenter, observational study in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies and symptomatic chemotherapy-induced anemia treated concomitantly with darbepoetin alfa. Patients were followed for the duration of chemotherapy, but no shorter than three and no longer than eight cycles, irrespective of their exposure to darbepoetin alfa. RESULTS: In this study, 497 patients with a mean age of 60.6 years were analyzed. Most patients (80.7%) were initiated on darbepoetin alfa at a Hb of 9-11 g/dL, congruent with recommendations. The median Hb increased by 0.9 g/dL between baseline and week 12. Hb target achievement was higher among patients treated according to guidelines than those initiated at Hb < 9 g/dL. A similar trend was observed for red blood cell transfusion requirements. No new safety signals were reported for darbepoetin alfa. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of patients were treated according to national and international recommendations. Guideline adherence was associated with more frequent achievement of Hb targets and lower red blood cell transfusion requirements compared with patients starting anemia treatment with darbepoetin alfa at lower-than-recommended Hb levels.