Current Cancer Reports

Tumor microenvironment

Ping Wang — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 18:23:56 +0800

Retrospection and prospect of Current Cancer Reports (CCR)

Ying-Yu Cui — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 09:29:36 +0800

Black-White disparities in fatigue and comorbidity among breast cancer survivors

Steven S. Coughlin, Pratima Bajaj, Avirup Guha — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0800

Epidemiological and histopathological features of ocular tumors in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 16:23:16 +0800

Purpose: To describe epidemiological and histopathological features of ocular tumors observed in two ophthalmology departments in Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study and a simple proportion analysis were performed to describe the epidemiological and histopathological characteristics of 103 consecutive anatomical pieces taken after tumor removal from two ophthalmology services in Bukavu city from January 2018 to December 2020.
Results: Children accounted for 40% of patients and ocular tumors were unilateral in 84.5% of cases. The most common locations were the retina (34.8%), conjunctiva (33.7%) and eyelids (22.8%). Benign tumors predominated (51.4%), followed by malignant tumors (37.9%), and undetermined tumors (15.5%). The main histological forms found were retinoblastoma (34.8%), conjunctival nevus (20.6%), and palpebral granuloma (16.3%).
Conclusion: Ocular tumors are common in Bukavu. Histopathological examination remains essential to guide management to reduce the risk of recurrence and related complications.

Women’s breast cancer risk factors in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Wed, 15 Jun 2022 09:53:19 +0800

Purpose: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Risk factors for this disease are numerous and their prevalence varies according to racial and ethnic groups and geographical regions. Therefore, we sought to identify BC risk factors in the Congolese population.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted at the Nganda Hospital Center in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. One hundred and sixty patients with breast cancer (cases) were compared to 320 women who did not have BC (controls). STATA version 16 was used to analyze data with statistical significance considered at p < 0.05.
Results: There is a strong association between BC in Congolese women and early menarche age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2-4.3), family history of BC (aOR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.2-5.5), overweight (aOR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.1-2.7), and obesity (aOR = 7.3; 95% CI: 4.0-13.4).
Conclusion: Our results indicate the presence of certain conventional risk factors. Thus, these results will be of great value in establishing adequate evidence-based awareness and preventive measures among the Congolese population.

A case of life threatening acute Nivolumab induced autoimmune haemolytic anaemia

Tue, 10 May 2022 16:41:15 +0800

Autoimmune haemolytic anemia is a rare but potentially catastrophic adverse event of im-mune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. We present the case of a gentleman who presented with non-specific symptoms while undergoing adjuvant Nivolumab therapy after potential-ly curative surgery for gastroesophageal cancer. The patient’s haemoglobin deteriorated to 4.7 g/dl with no evidence of bleeding and serologic tests indicative of hemolysis. He re-ceived emergent massive RCC transfusion receiving 9 units of bloods in 1 night, and was commenced on high dose methylprednisolone. During subsequent weeks of inpatient care, the patient continued to received multiple daily red cell transfusions and had a total of 53 RCC transfusions during admission, along with high doses of steroids,4 doses of weekly Rituximab as well as 2 doses of IVIG.While he was discharged on day 38 of admission, he required a slow taper of steroids over 6 months. Immune related hemolytic anemias are a rare corollary of immune check point inhibitors. The cases of immune related AIHA docu-mented in the literature were treated with steroids, Rituximab and IVIG, which are also rec-ommended by guidelines for the treatment of immune related haemolytic anemias.

Breast cancer in women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Current state of knowledge

Stanislas Maseb-A-Mwang Sulu, Olivier Mukuku, Stanislas Okitotsho Wembonyama — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 14:58:34 +0800

Breast cancer (BC) is a major health problem with an increasing trend in prevalence and mortality worldwide. It is the most common of female cancers in the world, and thus ranks first in both developed and developing countries. Current knowledge on the epidemiology and biological aspects of breast cancer in women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains insufficient and poorly documented. Given the trend towards urbanization of the Congolese population, it is likely that current data will change in the coming decades, due to a foreseeable change in risk factors for the disease. Therefore, the establishment of a cancer registry is necessary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) health system for better epidemiological monitoring of cancer and surveillance data necessary for the development of cancer control policies and their integration into primary health care. Strategies that include building local capacity in terms of human resources, equipment and technology transfer could lead to new concepts and therapies adapted to the Congolese geographical context.

Cigarette smoking after surviving breast cancer: A pilot study

Ban A. Majeed, Deepak Nag Ayyala, Steven S. Coughlin — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 14:54:52 +0800

Background: Quitting smoking improves cancer survival and improves symptoms of cancer and its treatment. Cancer diagnosis presents a powerful motivation for leading a healthier lifestyle and embracing behavioral changes, such as quitting smoking. Many smokers quit after a cancer diagnosis, but some survivors continue to smoke. This study examined the characteristics associated with being a former rather than a current smoker among women treated for breast cancer.
Methods: In this pilot, cross-sectional study, data were collected via postal surveys in women who had a history of smoking and breast cancer (N = 69). Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with smoking status.
Results: Of this sample, 13 were current smokers and 56 were former smokers. Age, race, education, and employment status were not associated with smoking status. Women with a higher income were significantly more likely to have successfully quit smoking (former smoking OR = 5.94, p < 0.05). Most women were light smokers and reported intentions to quit.
Conclusion: The study attests to the addictive nature of smoking and the difficulty in achieving successful quitting even after breast cancer diagnosis. Results highlighted the role of low income as a barrier in smoking cessation. A follow up study is warranted to uncover potential barriers to smoking cessation in order to individualize tobacco treatment to meet the needs of motivated light smoking cancer patients. Intensive innovative tobacco treatment approaches are warranted, to reach successful cessation particularly among cancer patients with lower income.

Financial assistance programs for cancer patients

Steven S. Coughlin, Lorraine T. Dean, Jorge E. Cortes — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 14:30:35 +0800

Background: The high costs of oncology care can lead to financial stress and have deleterious effects on the well-being of patients and their families. However, only a handful of financial assistance programs for cancer patients have been implemented and evaluated to date.
Recent findings: Key features of reported programs include instrumental support through financial navigation or education for patients, and financial or charitable support for healthcare costs. Only one of the programs successfully reduced actual out-of-pocket costs for patients, though others were associated with psychosocial benefits or increased knowledge of financial resources. Four of the 5 programs evaluated to date were pilot studies with small sample sizes, and most lack control groups for comparison.
Conclusions: Additional studies are needed that include larger sample sizes and with comparison groups of cancer patients in order to determine whether the counseling and navigator programs are effective in addressing financial distress in this patient population. Of particular interest are programs designed for low-income patients and those who lack health care insurance. Financial assistance programs that implement solutions at different levels of the healthcare system (individual patients, providers, healthcare institutions) are more likely to be effective. Multi-level interventions are needed that address the systems in which patients access care, the actual costs of services and drugs, and the individual needs of patients in order to reduce financial hardship for cancer patients.

Day 21 serum Free Light Chain (FLC) levels as a predictor of response to therapy in symptomatic multiple myeloma

Sabina Langer, Lakshmi Mythilli Mulam, Nitin Gupta, Jyoti Kotwal — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 14:43:30 +0800

Objective: To study the predictive value of reduction of involved free light chain level on Day 21 of chemotherapy for achievement of VGPR after 4 cycles of induction chemotherapy.
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study in twenty eight patients of newly diagnosed Multiple Myeloma with iFLC ≥ 100mg/L. Serum FLC assay was done at baseline and on day 21 of therapy. All patients were followed up till the end of induction therapy for response assessment based on the IMWG criteria. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was done to determine the cut off value of percent reduction in day 21 iFLC for achievement of VGPR or better.
Results: After the induction chemotherapy, out of 28 patients, 13 patients achieved CR, 8 patients achieved VGPR, 4 patients achieved PR and 2 patients had stable disease (≥ VGPR = 21 patients, < VGPR = 6 patients). One patient expired after 2^nd cycle of chemotherapy. The mean per cent reduction in day 21 iFLC level as compared to baseline was 91.5% and 57.1% in patients achieving ≥ VGPR and < VGPR (P < 0.0001), respectively. No other baseline parameter was found to be significantly different between the 2 groups. ROC curve analysis demonstrated a cut off of 84% reduction in iFLC value on day 21 (AUC of 0.937) had a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 100% in predicting the achievement of VGPR after four cycles of induction chemotherapy.
Conclusion: Monitoring iFLC levels on Day 21 can be used as an important tool for early identification of responders/non responders to myeloma therapy. We recommend serum FLC assay to be done on day 21 as a real time assessment of treatment response in newly diagnosed myeloma patients. Key words- Multiple Myeloma, involved Free Light Chain (iFLC), Very Good Partial Response (VGPR)