Letrozole in the management of advanced ovarian cancer: an old drug as a new targeted therapy

Successful delivery after in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer in a woman with metachronous primary cancer of ovary and endometrium: a case report

BACKGROUND

The appearance of malignancies at various times in the same individual, excluding metastases of the initial primary cancer, is termed multiple primary cancers. Double primary gynecological cancers cause inevitable damage to female reproductive function, and the preservation of fertility in such patients remains a challenging issue as relatively few cases have been reported. This case report provides management options for dual primary ovarian and endometrial cancers, including the choice of ovulation induction protocols, considerations during pregnancy and parturition, with the aim of providing assistance to clinicians.

CASE PRESENTATION

We report a case of a 39-year-old woman with primary infertility and a medical history of right-sided ovarian mucinous borderline tumor with intraepithelial carcinoma, left-sided ovarian mucinous cystadenoma and endometrial cancer, who successfully conceived with in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) after three different ovulation induction protocols. During her pregnancy, she was complicated by central placenta praevia with placental implantation and eventually delivered a healthy female infant by caesarean section at 33 gestational weeks.

CONCLUSIONS

For patients with double primary gynecological cancers who have an intense desire for fertility, the most appropriate oncological treatment should be applied according to the patient's individual situation, and fertility preservation should be performed promptly. Ovulation induction protocol should be individualized and deliberate, with the aim of ensuring that the patient's hormone levels do not precipitate a recurrence of the primary disease during induction of ovulation and maximizing fertility outcomes. In addition, the risk of postpartum hemorrhage due to placental factors cannot be neglected in such patients.

Primary peritoneal serous psammocarcinoma, rare variant: A case report

Psammocarcinoma is a rare form of serous carcinoma of the ovary or peritoneum characterized by extensive psammoma body formation seen on histology. A 49-year-old obese woman, gravida 1 para 1 with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, presented with a history of menorrhagia. She was diagnosed with both leiomyomata and simple endometrial hyperplasia without atypia in the office. Consultation with gynecological oncology and primary gynecologist resulted in a planned hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Laparoscopic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were performed by primary gynecologist. Intraoperative survey of pelvis found concerning nodular lesions seen in posterior cul-de-sac. Lesions were excised and sent for frozen section. Pathology showed invasive peritoneal epithelial implant with psammomatous calcifications. Gynecological oncologist stand-by was called in and proceeded with surgical debulking and staging procedure. Post operatively, the patient has been diagnosed with primary peritoneal low grade serous psammomacarcinoma stage III A2. Her case has been presented to tumor board for multidisciplinary management and is now undergoing adjuvant hormonal therapy utilizing letrozole with chest, abdomen, and pelvic CT scans every 6 months. Standardized protocols are hindered by the rarity of this tumor. Benefits for this oncologic diagnosis are not clearly understood due to the rarity of this tumor. The significance of this case presentation is to highlight the multidisciplinary approach to the workup, diagnosis, treatment (both surgical and medical) and follow up of a rare gynecologic oncologic case. While the surgical team was expecting to find at most significant pathology, an endometrial carcinoma, a rarer primary peritoneal carcinoma was found. Due to the pre surgical planning, and intraoperative teamwork of the pathology, gynecology and oncology teams, this patient received the individualized and disease specific needed surgical and medical care warranted by her unique diagnosis.

Exploration of chemotherapy-free regimen after multi-line chemotherapy-induced renal impairment in recurrent ovarian cancer: Case report and literature review

Introduction

Platinum-based combination chemotherapy is recommended first choice for relapsed ovarian cancer. However, many of the chemotherapeutic agents are nephrotoxic and can promote kidney dysfunction, which affect the efficacy of cancer treatment and the survival of the patient. There is a need to explore long-term treatments of chemotherapy-free regimen of chronic kidney disease in recurrent ovarian cancer.

Case presentation

A 41-year-old female patient was presented with stage IIIC well-differentiated ovarian serous papillary adenocarcinoma in 2009. The patient had recurrence of platinum resistance after secondary cytoreductive surgery, and it was difficult to continue chemotherapy after multiple lines of chemotherapy due to myelosuppression, renal impairment and other factors. The patient accepted Niraparib-based treatment regimen after multi-line chemotherapy-induced stage 4 chronic kidney disease. Niraparib combined with anlotinib achieved median PFS of 11 months, disease re-progression, and the patient was switched to niraparib combined with letrozole from October 2021. No evidence of tumor progression was observed till date and the renal toxicity is acceptable.

Conclusions

In patients with relapsed ovarian cancer, treatment becomes increasingly challenging to subsequent therapies because of renal impairment and emerging drug resistance. Niraparib-based treatment regimen may be a good choice for patients with well-differentiated serous adenocarcinoma of the ovary who are intolerant to chemotherapy.

Hormone maintenance therapy for women with low-grade serous ovarian cancer in the front-line setting: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) is a rare form of ovarian cancer that accounts for 5-10% of epithelial ovarian cancers. LGSOCs are difficult to treat as they respond poorly to traditional chemotherapy treatments. This systematic review aims to appraise the literature describing the efficacy of hormone maintenance therapy (HMT) in patients with LGSOC given after cytoreductive surgery.

METHODS

Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from inception to November 2020. No language restrictions were applied. Publications describing HMT in the primary setting following cytoreductive surgery with or without chemotherapy in women with LGSOC were included. Publications describing HMT in recurrence, non-LGSOC carcinomas, and in-vitro or animal studies were excluded along with case reports, case series, and conference proceedings. We summarized oncologic outcomes, HMT used, and hormone receptor status where reported. Studies were assessed for risk of bias and quality of evidence.

RESULTS

The literature search identified 14,799 records. Four cohort studies met eligibility criteria. A total of 558 patients were included, of which 127 were treated with HMT. There was significant heterogeneity between studies demonstrated by differences in HMT regimens used, dosing, and study population, leading to various outcomes following treatment with HMT.

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment of LGSOC remains a challenge. One retrospective study demonstrated improved progression-free survival following HMT for LGSOC, while two others failed to show significant improvements. However, there is limited data available in the literature which restricts the generalizability of these results. Therefore, well-designed, prospective, and randomized trials are needed to confirm the benefit of HMT in patients with this rare subgroup of ovarian cancer.