Feasibility of functional precision medicine for guiding treatment of relapsed or refractory pediatric cancers

Children with rare, relapsed or refractory cancers often face limited treatment options, and few predictive biomarkers are available that can enable personalized treatment recommendations. The implementation of functional precision medicine (FPM), which combines genomic profiling with drug sensitivity testing (DST) of patient-derived tumor cells, has potential to identify treatment options when standard-of-care is exhausted. The goal of this prospective observational study was to generate FPM data for pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory cancer. The primary objective was to determine the feasibility of returning FPM-based treatment recommendations in real time to the FPM tumor board (FPMTB) within a clinically actionable timeframe (<4 weeks). The secondary objective was to assess clinical outcomes from patients enrolled in the study. Twenty-five patients with relapsed or refractory solid and hematological cancers were enrolled; 21 patients underwent DST and 20 also completed genomic profiling. Median turnaround times for DST and genomics were within 10 days and 27 days, respectively. Treatment recommendations were made for 19 patients (76%), of whom 14 received therapeutic interventions. Six patients received subsequent FPM-guided treatments. Among these patients, five (83%) experienced a greater than 1.3-fold improvement in progression-free survival associated with their FPM-guided therapy relative to their previous therapy, and demonstrated a significant increase in progression-free survival and objective response rate compared to those of eight non-guided patients. The findings from our proof-of-principle study illustrate the potential for FPM to positively impact clinical care for pediatric and adolescent patients with relapsed or refractory cancers and warrant further validation in large prospective studies. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT03860376 .

B-Lymphoblastic Lymphoma Isolated to the Testes: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Isolated testicular involvement in pediatric lymphoma is rare and poses diagnostic challenges. In this study, the case of an isolated testicular B-lymphoblastic lymphoma in a 9-year-old boy is discussed with an emphasis on the difficulties in diagnosing and treating such an unusual presentation. This example illustrates the importance of considering lymphoblastic lymphoma in the differential diagnosis of an unidentified source of testicular enlargement. Furthermore, it highlights the possible efficacy of systemic chemotherapy with or without surgical excision. The article advances our knowledge of this unusual clinical situation.

The Feasibility and Safety of vNOTES Hysterectomy and Uterosacral Ligament Suspension: A Case Series

The transvaginal natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (vNOTES) is a recently introduced surgical approach that is even less invasive than conventional laparoscopy or robotic surgery. We conducted this study to report our experience in vNOTES hysterectomy and uterosacral ligament suspension and determine the feasibility and safety of this approach. Surgeries on 23 women were performed by a single surgeon in 1 tertiary medical center. Patient demographics, perioperative data, and follow-up details of 23 women were collected prospectively. Average age was 56.7 ± 8.9 years. Median parity was 3. Nine patients were smokers, and 4 patients had diabetes. Median stage of prolapse was 3. One patient had extensive adhesions, and after vNOTES hysterectomy was completed, decision was made to perform uterosacral suspension by conventional vaginal access. Another patient had intraoperative identification by cystoscopy of unilateral kinking of the ureter that was resolved after the most distal uterosacral stitch was released. Mean uterine weight was 271.9 ± 131.9 g. Average estimated blood loss was 85.22 ± 55.6 mL. Median length of stay in the hospital was 1 day. Only 1 patient had intermittent voiding postoperatively and required an indwelling catheter for 3 days. Hysterectomy and uterosacral ligament suspension when performed via vNOTES is a safe and feasible procedure. Large prospective trials are on the way to continue shedding light on this new surgical modality.

Endobag use in laparoscopic gynecological surgeries: a systematic review

PURPOSE

The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the characteristics of endobags present in the market, the weight of specimen removed, complications of the operations and time required for in-bag morcellation in women undergoing laparoscopic gynecologic surgeries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We performed a systematic review, including prospective and retrospective studies, with or without randomized allocation of the patients, using endobags in laparoscopic gynecologic surgeries. We extracted data about study design, type and price of bag used, type of surgical procedure, specimen weight, mean time for morcellation and for total surgical procedure, complications.

RESULTS

We included 11 studies, including a total of 1160 patients, in which the investigators used MorSafe, Endocatch II autosuture, More-Cell-Safe, Endocatch, EcoSac and LapBag. A wide range of specimens were morcellated with the largest successfully morcellated specimen weighing 2314 gr. Only half of the studies comparing uncontained and contained morcellation found a significant increase of total operative time. Finally, the number of complications was not increased when endobag was used.

CONCLUSION

According to our systematic review, in-bag (contained) morcellation can be considered as a safe and unexpensive option, associated with a very low number of complications, even with large specimens.

Unplanned adnexectomy for ovarian cystadenoma with undiagnosed autoamputation of the contralateral ovary, lessons learned from medical mistakes

Autoamputation of the ovary is a rare occurrence of uncertain aetiology with only a few cases reported in literature. It usually develops following ovarian torsion or torsion of a dermoid cyst with subsequent necrosis of the pedicle and autoamputation. We present the case of a 42 year-old woman was admitted for a laparoscopic removal of a right ovarian cyst. The ultrasound showed a right ovarian cystic mass suggestive of a cystadenoma, and another heterogeneous small echogenic cyst of the left ovary. During laparoscopy, excessive bleeding from the ovarian cortex complicated the cyst stripping and, considering the age of the patient and the emerging technical difficulty of the procedure, a total adnexectomy for the right ovary was performed. While exploring the small cyst on the left ovary, a dermoid cyst was found in the Douglas pouch. This finding could be interpreted as an autoamputation of the adnexa due to an asymptomatic torsion of a previous ovarian cyst arising from the left ovary. Medical errors could occur due to lack of knowledge, expertise, as well as lack of training and surgical skills, but also due to an unfortunate association of very rare confounding factors. Even in the hands of experts, following the basic rules of surgery remains a milestone in teaching and preventing surgical complications.

Cough-induced rib fracture in a smoker: a case report

BACKGROUND

Coughing is considered an important mechanism that helps the body get rid of foreign substances or prevent their entry into the tracheobronchial tree. Infrequently, after the onset of coughing, patients presenting with persistent chest pain are found to have rib fractures. Among the cases reported for cough-induced rib fractures, the maximum number of fractured ribs was found to be four.

CASE PRESENTATION

In this report, we present a case of a healthy 50-year-old Lebanese smoker who developed a total of six fractures in five ribs, asymmetrically, after coughing for 2.5 months.

CONCLUSION

This case report is, to our knowledge, the first to describe six cough-induced rib fractures in a smoker without an underlying predisposition.