Abstract P3-01-21: Is lymph node ratio (LNR) having additional contribution for predict prognosis on pathologic lymph node staging in node-positive breast cancer patients?

PURPOSE:

The aim of the study was to determine whether LNR have additional contribution on pathologic lymph node staging.

METHODS:

To examine the prognostic value of LNR examined the original histopathological reports of 2049 node-positive breast cancer patients treated in the references centers of the Turkey. The LNR was defined as the number of positive lymph nodes (LNs) over the total number of LNs removed. The LNR cutoffs were defined as low-risk, 0.01-0.20; intermediate-risk, 0.21- 0.65; and high-risk, LNR >0.65.

RESULTS:

The median follow-up was 11.8 years. Median Disease free survival (DFS) was 191.8, 110.6 and 78.2 months in patients with pN1, pN2 and pN3 tumor, respectively (p<0.001). Median DFS was 191.9, 106.4 and 78.1 months in patients with LNR low, intermediate and high risk tumor, respectively (p<0.001). Median DFS was not reached and 200.1 months in patients with pN2 and LNR low risk patients, pN1 and LNR high risk patients, respectively (p=0.254).

CONCLUSIONS:

LNR is an important prognostic parameter for DFS and might provide potentially more information than pN-stage in patients with pN1/LNR high risk and pN2/LNR low risk.

Citation Format: Kaplan MA, Odabasi H, Ozdemir N, Harputluoglu H, Aliustaoglu M, Berk V, Gunaydin Y, Uncu D, Elkiran T, Aydin D, Isikdogan A. Is lymph node ratio (LNR) having additional contribution for predict prognosis on pathologic lymph node staging in node-positive breast cancer patients?. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-01-21.

Prognostic importance of RASSF2 expression in patients with gastric cancer who had undergone radical gastrectomy

BACKGROUND

Although Ras-association domain family of gene 2 (RASSF2) has been shown to undergo promoter methylation at high frequency in some cancer types and in brain metastases, its clinical utility as a useful prognostic molecular marker remains unclear in gastric cancer.

METHODS

Prognostic significance of RASSF2 expression was retrospectively analysed by immunohistochemically in 105 patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative gastrectomy.

RESULTS

Low RASSF2 expression was detected in 58 (55 %) patients, whereas 47 patients (45 %) had high RASSF2 expression. Lymph node involvement, pT stage, TNM stage, vascular invasion, perineural invasion and the presence of recurrence were found to be significantly related to RASSF2 expression levels. Low PRL-3 expression was closely correlated with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.001), advanced pT stage (p = 0.021), advanced TNM stage (p < 0.001), the presence of vascular invasion (p < 0.001), perineural invasion (p = 0.018) and high prevalence of recurrence (p = 0.003) compared with high RASSF2 expression. The median disease-free survival (DFS) time for patients with low RASSF2 expression was significantly worse than that of patients with high RASSF2 expression (10.2 vs. 50.6 months, p < 0.001). In addition, patients with high RASSF2 expression had the higher overall survival (OS) interval compared to patients with low RASSF2 expression (NR vs. 14.9 months, p < 0.001). In the multivariate analysis, the rate of RASSF2 expression levels was an independent prognostic factor, for DFS [p < 0.001, HR 0.12 (0.10-0.88)] and OS [p < 0.001, HR 0.10 (0.04-0.46)], as were pT stage and TNM stage, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

RASSF2 may be an important molecular marker for carcinogenesis, prognosis and progression in gastric cancer, but the potential value of RASSF2 expression as a useful molecular marker in gastric cancer progression should be evaluated, comprehensively. It would be possible to develop treatments targeting RASSF2 and advance new treatment strategies for gastric cancer.

The efficacy and safety of capecitabine plus bevacizumab combination as first-line treatment in elderly metastatic colorectal cancer patients

AIM

The optimal treatment in older persons with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is complicated by a lack of general agreement. The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity of bevacizumab plus capecitabine combination in elderly mCRC patients who were not suitable for chemotherapy with irinotecan and oxaliplatin-containing regimens.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seventy years and older patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma were included in this retrospective study. Bevacizumab was administered at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg on day 1 as an intravenous (IV) infusion over 30-90 min every 21 days, and capecitabine was prescribed at 1000 mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1-14 of the same 21-day schedule.

RESULTS

Eighty-two consecutive patients (47 men, 35 women) were included in the study. The mean age was 75.5 (SD 3.9, range 70-87). Half of the patients were older than 75 years. There were 55 patients (67.1 %) with a good Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS: 0-1) and the remaining 27 patients (32.9 %) had a poor ECOG performance status (PS: 2). With a median follow-up period of 18.5 months, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 10 months (95 % CI, 7.8-12.1) and the median OS was 25 months (95 % CI, 18.6-31.3). The main toxicities recorded were non-hematological. Thirty-one patients (37 %) experienced grade 3/4 adverse events, the most common being hand-foot syndrome (9.8 %). No fatal toxicity resulting from this regimen was recorded.

CONCLUSIONS

Considering the toxicity profile and survival outcomes, the combination regimen of capecitabine and bevacizumab is a potentially feasible treatment option in elderly mCRC patients.

Efficacy, safety and prognostic features of resected colon carcinoma treated in "real world" practice: a retrospective cohort-study

PURPOSE

Treatment outcomes and prognostic features of a specific cancer generally come from prospective randomized studies. It seems reasonable to ask the question whether the results of prospective randomized studies entirely reflect the results of the population treated in "real world" practice. Therefore we performed a retrospective cohort analysis in order to find out the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy as well as the prognostic factors of our patient population treated in daily practice, and compared these findings with those defined in the prospective studies.

METHODS

Data of patients with high risk stage II and all stage III colon cancers treated with adjuvant chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 190 patients were retrospectively analyzed. The rates of T2, T3, and T4 tumors were 4.2, 77.9, and 17.9%, respectively. Over 35% of the patients had stage II disease. Of the 5- fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy group (n=141), 15% had a dose reduction because of toxicity and 73% were given the total planned dose and cycles, whereas these rates were 18.5 and 66% for oxaliplatin+5-FU treated group, respectively (p=0.66 and 0.44, respectively). The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) and 5-year cancer-specific overall survival (OS) for all patients were 69.4 and 73%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, cancer-specific OS showed significant correlation with T stage (p=0.015) and with perineural invasion (p=0.024). Also patients ≥ 65 years old had significantly lower OS (p= 0.003)

CONCLUSION

This study is the fi rst to report the efficacy of adjuvant treatment in a curatively resected Turkish colon carcinoma population treated in "real world" practice. Our study showed that the treatment results and the prognostic parameters of Turkish colon carcinoma patients treated in "real world" practice are not different from those of selected patients treated in randomized prospective studies.

ERCC1 is not expressed in hepatocellular cancer: A turkish oncology group, gastrointestinal oncology subgroup study

PURPOSE

hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is a common malignancy with a high mortality rate. Existence of excisional repair cross complementation1 (ERCC1) is implicated in resistance to cisplatin treatment. Expression of ERCC1 in HCC is not known. In this study we aimed to find out whether a subset of HCC patients can be identified to benefit from cisplatin.

METHODS

sixty-one patients with HCC who had enough tissue to do immunohistochemistry were identified in 3 institutions. Immunohistochemical staining was performed manually using the standard streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase method. Monoclonal anti-ERCC 1 (D-10) antibody from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA) was used.

RESULTS

only one out of 61 patients (1.6%) had ERCC1 expression.

CONCLUSION

although around 10% of HCC patients respond to cisplatin, this is unlikely to be due to ERCC1 negativity. Pathways other than ERCC1 should be searched to find ways to help these patients' treatment strategies.

Single-center experiences of neoadjuvant systemic therapy in breast cancer: Individualization of the treatment

e11628

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is one of the standard treatment options for patients with locally advanced breast cancer for twenty five years. In this study, we evaluate results of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 68 patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy regimens were prescribed mostly for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Before chemotherapy was given, patients were examined for distant metastasis by radiologic methods thereafter if patient had distant metastasis, they were excluded. Patients with breast cancer received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were analyzed according to age, menopausal status, type of surgery, response to the treatment, histopathological properties and survival. After 3 to 6 cycle of chemotherapy patients were reevaluated by clinically and radiologically for response. Surgery was performed for appropriate patient thereafter adjuvant locoregional and systemic chemotherapy were continued. Results: Median age was 47 (29–43) years. 17,6 % of them were younger than 35 years and 42,6 % were premenopausal. Median follow-up time was 19 month. After 3 to 6 cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy 64 of patients responded to therapy (94,1 %). Breast conserving surgery was performed for 15,6 % patients. In histopathologic analysis most of patients were invasive ductal carcinoma and there was lymph node invasion for 84,9 %. Estrogen and progesterone receptor status were negative for 18,6 % of patients and cerbB2 was positive for 14,8 % of patients. Median disease free survival time was 44 month (SE: 9; 95% CI: 25–62) but median overall survival time could not be reached. Three years disease free survival rate and overall survival rate were 55,3% and 90,1% respectively. According to Cox regression analyses; we did not find any demographic and pathologic characteristic of breast cancer that is related to prognosis. Conclusions: In recent years neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer is increasingly being used for early stage disease. Further study will be facilitated establishment of guidelines for preselecting patients for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and will provide beneficial effect on treatment option and survival.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Epirubicin, cisplatin, oral UFT (ECU) combination chemotherapy in metastatic gastric carcinoma

15126

Background: Chemotherapy significantly improves survival in comparison to best supportive care in patients with metastatic gastric cancer. In patients for whom a three-drug-combination is considered as the treatment of choice, ECF (epirubicin, cisplatin and 5-FU as a continuous infusion) should be regarded as standard of care. Continuous 5-FU infusion may be replaced by oral fluoropyrimidines. Here, we aimed to evaluate treatment with epirubicin and cisplatin combined with oral UFT with leucovorin (ECU), replacing intravenous 5-FU infusion Methods: Fifty-three patients (17 female, 36 male) with metastatic gastric carcinoma received epirubicin, cisplatin, and oral UFT plus leucovorin in two outpatient chemotherapy clinics, in Istanbul. Epirubicin 50 mg/m2 and cisplatin 60 mg/m2 were administered on day 1; and UFT 300 mg/m2/day was administered in conjunction with oral calcium folinate at a fixed dose of either 45 or 90 mg/day in divided daily doses for 21 days continuously. The treatment was repeated every 3 weeks. The patients were evaluated radiologically for response after each three-cycle period. Age, gender, ECOG performance score (PS), primary cancer localization, and presence of primary curative surgery were analyzed for prognostic factors. Results: Median follow-up was 6 (range 1–12) months. Median age was 57 years (range 27–76). Patients received a median of three courses of treatment (range: 1–6). Over 86% of the patients had PS =1, whereas remaining 13% had PS 2. Forty-three percent of the patients were undergone curative surgery at the time of cancer diagnosis, while 57% presented as metastatic disease. The most frequent site of metastases was liver (42%). Twenty-five percent of the patients showed partial responses, while none showed a complete response. Over 28% of the patients had stable disease resulting in a tumor control rate of 53%, and 47% had progressive disease. Median TTP and OS were 6 and 8.6 months, respectively. In univariate analysis; having PS =1, and presence of primary curative surgery were independent prognostic factors (p:0.042, and p:0.019, respectively) Conclusion: ECU regimen has a significant activity in metastatic gastric cancer. It does not require an infusion pump and intravenous catheter.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

HPV DNA frequency and subset analysis in human breast cancer patients' normal and tumoral tissue samples

Viruses are known to be associated with human malignancies, e.g., Epstein-Barr virus, human papillomavirus (HPV) and human T-cell leukemia virus type I. We conducted a prospective study to define the role of HPV in breast cancer. The malignant and normal breast tissue samples of 50 consecutive breast cancer patients were obtained postoperatively. DNA extracted from all tissues was amplified with the polymerase chain reaction using HPV primers. HPV 11, 16, 18, 33 subtypes were searched in HPV-DNA positive samples. Thirty-seven samples (74%) of tumoral breast tissue expressed HPV-DNA, 16 normal breast tissue samples (32%) were positive as well. There was a significant difference in HPV-DNA positivity between normal and tumoral breast tissue samples. HPV 18 was detected in 20 of the HPV-DNA positive tumoral tissue (54.4%) and in 9 of the HPV-DNA positive normal tissue (56.3%). HPV-33 also was detected in 35 (94.6 %) of the HPV-DNA positive tumoral tissue and in 14 (87.5 %) of the HPV-DNA positive normal tissue samples. HPV DNA was significantly associated with breast tumor tissue compared to normal breast tissue. Additional studies looking at HPV and HPV subtypes are needed to clarify the etiological role of the HPV in breast cancer.

Outcome of non small cell lung carcinoma patients receiving chemotherapy in Kartal State Hospital, Turkey

17142

Background: Lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer deaths in men worldwide, and is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in women. Non-small cell histology comprises about 70–80% of every diagnosis of lung cancer. Despite advances in the detection and treatment, the long-term survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poor, with a 5-year survival of less than 5%. We conducted this trial to determine the influence of treatment with docetaxel given in combination with cisplatin on survival and time to progression, and to evaluate its tolerability in chemotherapy naive patients with metastatic NSCLC. Methods: Patients with histological or cytological confirmed stage IV NSCLC who met the following criteria were eligible for the study: suitable for first-line chemotherapy with no previous chemotherapy, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) of 0–2, an objective measurable disease, an adequate bone marrow reserve, a normal hepatic and renal function. Cisplatin and docetaxel were delivered to the patients at one dose level through the courses repeated every 3 weeks for 4–6 cycles. Each patient received docetaxel at the doses of 75 mg/m2/day and cisplatin at the doses of 75 mg/m2/day both on day 1. Results: Fifty eligible patients with stage 4 NSCLC were enrolled into the study from June 2003 to September 2005. Median follow-up time was 6 months (1–21). Median age was 61.5 (39–75). Forty eight patients (96%) were male, and 2 patients (8%) were female. Histological type was squamous cell carcinoma in 21 patients (42%), adenocarcinoma in 11 patients (22%) and undifferentiated histologies in 18 patients (36%). The median overall survival time was 16 months (95%CI: 8–24). One-year survival rate was 56.3%. Overall response rate was 44% with 40% partial (PR), 4% complete response (CR). Twenty eight percent of patients had stable disease, and 28% of patients showed disease progression. The median time to progression was 4 months (95%CI: 2.4–5.5). Conclusion: Docetaxel/cisplatin demonstrated efficacy comparable to other platinum agent doublets.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Neoplastic diseases prevalence in a turkish university hospital

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to register the different cancer cases diagnosed in our hospital with an aim to define the most common and treatable cancer types and help define accurate targets for the allocation of the already limited resources of the Ministry of Health.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We surveyed 12 months of the hospital's pathology records to determine the prevalence of various cancer types.

RESULTS

Out of 9720 biopsy and cytology samples, 662 were cancer cases. Breast and gastric cancers were higher and colorectal cancers were lower than the series reported from the United States. Of the pulmonary malignancies, lung cancer in general was not particularly higher in proportion to other cases, something interesting for a country with smoking rates exceeding 60% of the adult population. Squamous cell lung cancer was more common compared to the rates reported in the western world statistics.

CONCLUSION

Although biases may exist, as certain cancers are more amenable to surgical intervention and physician groups may have special interest toward a particular cancer, distribution of cancer cases in Turkey is probably similar to the western world.