South Asian Declaration-Consensus Guidelines for COVID-19 Vaccination in Cancer Patients

We provide the South Asian Declaration, containing the consensus guidelines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in cancer patients.

Therapeutic Place of Fulvestrant in the Management of Hormone-receptor Positive Breast Cancer

Fulvestrant is an oestrogen-receptor antagonist that exerts selective oestrogen receptor downregulation, antiproliferative activity and induction of apoptosis. It is indicated for the treatment of postmenopausal women with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer for disease relapse or progression on or after adjuvant anti-oestrogen therapy. Fulvestrant was initially approved at a dose of 250 mg, however, the results of the CONFIRM trial led to approval of 500 mg dose (i.e. 500 mg on days 0, 14 and 28, then 500 mg every 28 days). Fulvestrant has also shown superiority over anastrozole as first-line therapy in the phase II trial. There are contrasting data for its efficacy when used in combination with anastrozole. It is well tolerated, with no significant difference with respect to the toxicity profile of other hormonal therapies. Treatment with fulvestrant is not associated with any clinically significant effects on sex hormone levels, bone-specific turnover markers or endometrial thickening. Fulvestrant has been recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the European School of Oncology guidelines as a treatment option in first- and second-line management of hormone-receptor positive breast cancer.

Application of nanotechnology in cancers prevention, early detection and treatment

Use of nanotechnology in medical science is a rapidly developing area. New opportunities of diagnosis, imaging and therapy have developed due to recent rapid advancement by nanotechnology. The most common areas to be affected are diagnostic, imaging and targeted drug delivery in gastroenterology, oncology, cardiovascular medicine, obstetrics and gynecology. Mass screening with inexpensive imaging might be possible in the near future with the help of nanotechnology. This review paper provides an overview of causes of cancer and the application of nanotechnology in cancer prevention, detection and treatment.

Improving Outcome of Aplastic Anaemia with HLA-Matched Sibling Donor Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: An Experience of Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute (GCRI)

Fifteen patients, with a median age of 19 years having severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) underwent human leucocyte antigen (HLA) identical sibling donor hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using conditioning regimens containing cyclophosphamide with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) or a combination of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide with or without ATG during December 2007 to May 2013. Cyclosporine and mini methotrexate were used as graft versus host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. Graft source included peripheral blood stem cells in 11, bone marrow in 3 and both in 1. One patient had primary graft failure while 14 patients were engrafted with a median neutrophil and platelet engraftment time of 13.5 days. One patient had secondary graft rejection. Acute GVHD occurred in 3 patients and chronic GVHD in 4. One year death rate in engrafted patients was 14.28 %. At a mean follow-up of 21.2 months, 12 (80 %) are alive and well. One of the donors was a patient of haemophilia but the disease did not occur in the recipient. The graft was successful and the recipient is alive till date.

Unrelated Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant for Children with β-Thalassemia Major

Beta thalassemia major, one of the most prevalent hemoglobinopathy throughout the word, can be cured by allogenic stem cell transplantation (SCT) (Bone Marrow Transplant 36:971-975, 2005). Many patients, however, lack a suitably matched related sibling donor. Unrelated umbilical cord blood (UCB) can be used as an alternative stem cell source for these patients. This report describes SCT for nine children with beta-thalassemia major using partially HLA-matched unrelated UCB. Conditioning included oral busulfan 16 mg/kg (day -10 to -7), cyclophosphamide (Cy) 200 mg/kg (day -5 to -2), fludarabine 90 mg/kg (day -13 to -11), and antithymocyte globulin (rabbit) 7.5 mg/kg (day -3 to -1). The infused cell dose was 10.71 × 10(7)/kg total nucleated cells (TNC) (range 6.5-17 × 10(7)/kg TNC). The patients ranged in age from 1.5 to 7 years, in weight from 10.5 to 17 kg. A second transplant with two unrelated cord blood units was attempted in two patients who had primary graft failure. The retransplant recipients were preconditioned with i.v Cy 120 mg/kg (day -3 to -2). Five of the nine patients engrafted promptly with 50-100 % donor chimerism (56 %). They engrafted at a median of 17 days (range 12-19). One patient is transfusion free for 36 months; a second patient is transfusion free for 18 months and a third is transfusion free for 9 months. There was no transplant related mortality. Four of the nine children had autologous recovery without engraftment. Primary graft rejection is the major complication. Post transplant complications were mild hepatic veno-occlusive disease, acute GVHD grade II, and CMV interstitial pneumonia. The chronic GVHD was limited and could be controlled by Methylprednisolone combined with Mycophenolate. The lack of a marrow donor registry in India makes UCBT from related and unrelated donors a good alternative. Transplant should be delayed until the child is at least 18 months of age. The dose of UCB stem cells is the most important factor for engraftment. UCB has the advantages of rapid availability and low risk of severe GVHD despite donor-recipient HLA disparity (Transplant Proc 37:2667-2669, 2005). We demonstrate the feasibility of this procedure in the setting of a developing country.

Neutropenic enterocolitis in a child with acute myeloid leukemia successfully treated with early surgical intervention

Neutropenic entrocolitis (NE) is a life threatening complication of acute leukemia. The case presented here is of a 12 year old boy with acute myeloid leukemia, who developed neutropenic enterocolitis after induction with BFM-93 protocol. Patient underwent exploratory laparotomy during grade 4 neutropenia after failure on conservative line of management of NE. Patient withstood the procedure with supportive care and recovered. This case is reported because NE is a rare but potentially fatal complication and there are no clear guidelines for surgical intervention.

Review of clinical profile and bacterial spectrum and sensitivity patterns of pathogens in febrile neutropenic patients in hematological malignancies: A retrospective analysis from a single center

Background:

The aim of this study was to study clinical profile with bacterial spectrum and susceptibility patterns of pathogens in culture positive febrile neutropenic (FN) patients of hematological malignancies.

Materials and Methods:

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 23 hematological malignancy patients admitted with chemotherapy induced febrile neutropenia with culture positive results, at our institute between June 2011 and December 2011.

Results:

A total of 23 patients were studied 12 males and 11 females, with a median age of 35 years. Most common diagnosis was acute leukemia (78%) with the majority of patients developing febrile neutropenia during the induction phase of treatment. Most common presenting symptoms were fever, cough, dyspnea, and diarrhea. Primary site of infection was not found in 47% of patients while the rest had lung, gastro-intestinal and skin/soft-tissue infection. Overall 23 organisms were isolated during the study period, from blood (56%), sputum (46%), stool (23%), and nasal swab from one patient. Gram negative bacteria accounted for 78% of organisms while gram positive organisms accounted for 22% of the total isolates. The most common organisms were: Escherichia coli (43%), Staphylococcus aureus (22%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.4%) and Klebsiella pneumonia (17.4%). Antibiotic sensitivity patterns of these bacteria were studied. Gram negative bacterial infections were associated with higher mortality (89%).

Conclusions:

Induction phase of treatment in acute leukemia is the major cause of FN in hematological malignancies at our institute and gram negative organisms are the predominant organisms with E. coli as major isolate while S. aureus represents the most common gram positive organism. Amikacin and cefoperazone/sulbactum appears to be initial antibiotic appropriate to cover most gram negative pathogens while vancomycin to be added for suspected gram positive infections. FN represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hematological malignancy patients, high index of suspicion and early empirical antibiotics with supportive care are main interventions to reduce high mortality for these patients. Antibiotics should be modified according to culture sensitive report as soon as possible.