BACKGROUND

Studies reported survival benefits from early initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy from the time of mastectomy among breast cancer patients.

The researchers aimed to determine if early initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy among early-stage breast cancer patients undergoing modified radical mastectomy at Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center has increased the patient’s survival. We also want to asses if the Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center department of Oncology is rendering adjuvant chemotherapy as compared to the international standards. We also want to know the factors affecting the timing of initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy among the subjects.

A retrospective cohort study involving chart review covering the year May 2015 to January 2020 for stage 1 to 3 breast cancer patients, with a histopathologic confirmation, underwent definitive/curative breast surgery, and had started on adjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy are included in the study.

In this retrospective study, we observed that time to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy among breast cancer patients at Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center does not significantly improve overall survival of patients. The BGHMC Department of Oncology service is trailing the cut off 12 weeks or 84 days of initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy from the date of mastectomy. We also used the factors that affects the timing of initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy and found out that these variables cannot predict whether it will increase the patient’s survival since our sample size is too small.

Humans ; Stomach Neoplasms/pathology* ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Gastrectomy ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Neoplasm Staging

Esophageal cancer is a malignant tumor with a high incidence in China. At pesent, advanced esophageal cancer patients are still frequently encountered. The primary treatment for resectable advanced esophageal cancer is surgery-based multimodality therapy, including preoperative neoadjuvant therapy, such as chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy plus immunotherapy, followed by radical esophagectomy with thoraco-abdominal two-field or cervico-thoraco-abdominal three-field lymphadenectomy via minimally invasive approach or thoracotomy. In addition, adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or chemoradiotherapy, or immunotherapy may also be administered if suggested by postoperative pathological results. Although the treatment outcome of esophageal cancer has improved significantly in China, many clinical issues remain controversial. In this article, we summarize the current hotspots and important issues of esophageal cancer in China, including prevention and early diagnosis, treatment selection for early esophageal cancer, surgical approach selection, lymphadenectomy method, preoperative neoadjuvant therapy, postoperative adjuvant therapy, and nutritional support treatment.
Humans ; Esophageal Neoplasms/surgery* ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Neoadjuvant Therapy/methods* ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Esophagectomy/methods*

We conducted a prospective study to assess the non-inferiority of adjuvant chemotherapy alone versus adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) as an alternative strategy for patients with early-stage (FIGO 2009 stage IB-IIA) cervical cancer having risk factors after surgery. The condition was assessed in terms of prognosis, adverse effects, and quality of life. This randomized trial involved nine centers across China. Eligible patients were randomized to receive adjuvant chemotherapy or CCRT after surgery. The primary end-point was progression-free survival (PFS). From December 2012 to December 2014, 337 patients were subjected to randomization. Final analysis included 329 patients, including 165 in the adjuvant chemotherapy group and 164 in the adjuvant CCRT group. The median follow-up was 72.1 months. The three-year PFS rates were both 91.9%, and the five-year OS was 90.6% versus 90.0% in adjuvant chemotherapy and CCRT groups, respectively. No significant differences were observed in the PFS or OS between groups. The adjusted HR for PFS was 0.854 (95% confidence interval 0.415-1.757; P = 0.667) favoring adjuvant chemotherapy, excluding the predefined non-inferiority boundary of 1.9. The chemotherapy group showed a tendency toward good quality of life. In comparison with post-operative adjuvant CCRT, adjuvant chemotherapy treatment showed non-inferior efficacy in patients with early-stage cervical cancer having pathological risk factors. Adjuvant chemotherapy alone is a favorable alternative post-operative treatment.
Female ; Humans ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/drug therapy* ; Prospective Studies ; Quality of Life ; Neoplasm Staging ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant/adverse effects* ; Adjuvants, Immunologic ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: To investigate the prognosis impact of adjuvant trastuzumab treatment on human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) positive early breast cancer patients. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted, HER-2-positive T1N0M0 stage breast cancer patients who underwent surgery in the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University from January 2010 to December 2019 were divided into treatment group and control group according to whether they were treated with trastuzumab or not. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance the confounding bias caused by differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the risk factors affecting disease-free survival (DFS). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the 3- and 5-year DFS and overall survival (OS) rates of the two groups before and after PSM. Results: There were 291 patients with HER-2 positive T1N0M0 stage breast cancer, including 21 cases in T1a (7.2%), 61 cases in T1b (21.0%), and 209 cases in T1c (71.8%). Before PSM, there were 132 cases in the treatment group and 159 cases in the control group, the 5-year DFS rate was 88.5%, and the 5-year OS rate was 91.5%. After PSM, there were 103 cases in the treatment group and 103 cases in the control group, the 5-year DFS rate was 86.0%, and the 5-year OS rate was 88.5%. Before PSM, there were significant differences in tumor size, histological grade, vascular invasion, Ki-67 index, postoperative chemotherapy or not and radiotherapy between the treatment group and the control group (P<0.05). After PSM, there were no significant difference in clinicopathological features between the treatment group and the control group (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that histological grade (HR=2.927, 95 CI: 1.476, 5.805; P=0.002), vascular invasion (HR=3.410, 95 CI: 1.170, 9.940; P=0.025), menstrual status (HR=3.692, 95 CI: 1.021, 13.344, P=0.046), and chemotherapy (HR=0.238, 95 CI: 0.079, 0.720; P=0.011) were independent factors affecting DFS. After PSM, the 5-year DFS rate of the treatment group was 89.2%, while that of the control group was 83.5%(P=0.237). The 5-year OS rate of the treatment group was 96.1%, while that of the control group was 84.7%(P=0.036). Conclusion: Postoperative targeted therapy with trastuzumab can reduce the risk of recurrence and metastasis in patients with HER-2-positive T1N0M0 stage breast cancer.
Humans ; Female ; Trastuzumab/therapeutic use* ; Breast Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Retrospective Studies ; Neoplasm Staging ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism* ; Prognosis ; Disease-Free Survival

Objective: To compare the survival outcomes between surveillance and adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage Ⅰ ovarian immature teratoma (IMT) underwent fertility-sparing surgery. Methods: Clinical and pathological records of patients with stage Ⅰ ovarian IMT between Jan. 2011 to Feb. 2023 were collected from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, except stage Ⅰa grade 1. The consultation of risks and benefits regarding adjuvant chemotherapy was conducted by gynecologic oncologists. A shared decision about surveillance or chemotherapy was made by physician and patients or their guardians. Patients who finally decided to undergo surveillance were included in the surveillance group (n=40), the others were included in the adjuvant chemotherapy group (n=63). Clinical characteristics, treatment and survival outcomes were analyzed and compared between two groups. Results: A total of 103 patients were included. The median age of initial diagnosis was 20 years old (range: 3-39 years old), and the median follow-up time was 31 months (range: 1-254 months). The age, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, pathological grade, surgical method, and preoperative and postoperative alpha-fetoprotein levels in the surveillance group and the adjuvant chemotherapy group were similar (all P>0.05). The surgical approach and maximum tumor diameter between two groups were significantly different (all P<0.05). Forty patients of the surveillance group were identified, only one patient with stage Ⅰa grade 2 IMT who underwent cystectomy had malignant recurrence on the same ovary. Another 63 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery, five patients had malignant recurrence, and two of them died of disease progression after relapsed. There were no significant differences in disease-free survival (DFS;20 vs 36 months) and overall survival (OS; 23 vs 39 months) between the surveillance group and the adjuvant chemotherapy group (follow-up time censored at 72 months; DFS: P=0.325, OS: P=0.278). Conclusions: There are no differences in survival outcomes between patients with stage Ⅰ ovarian IMT underwent adjuvant chemotherapy or not. Active surveillance might be safe and preferable in stage Ⅰ IMT patients underwent complete resection of tumor.
Pregnancy ; Humans ; Female ; Child, Preschool ; Child ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Prognosis ; Watchful Waiting ; Neoplasm Staging ; Ovarian Neoplasms/surgery* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Teratoma/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies

Objective: To provide survival evidence of anthracycline-free neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) positive and hormone receptor (HR) negative breast cancer. Methods: The prospective cohort study was conducted at the Department of Medical Oncology of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Patients with HER-2 positive and HR negative breast cancer in stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ were enrolled to receive neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) of dose-dense paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)) plus carboplatin (AUC=4.0) biweekly for 6 cycles in combination with trastuzumab (PCbH), and matched patients who received standard adjuvant therapy of physicians' choice were recruited for survival and safety comparison. Results: From July 2013 to November 2019, 166 patients were included (neoadjuvant 51, adjuvant 115). Compared with those who received adjuvant therapy, patients receiving NAT were younger (<35 years: 19.6% vs 5.2%, P=0.014), had larger tumors (T3: 62.7% vs 7.8%, P<0.001) and more advanced diseases (stage ⅡA: 2.0% vs 41.7%, P<0.001). Patients in the neoadjuvant group all received surgery, and 96 (83.5%) in the adjuvant group received anthracycline-and-taxane-containing regimens. A total of 98 patients (49 pairs) were matched, and the covariates between the two groups were acceptably balanced. Within a median follow-up of 46.5 (range, 14-87) months, the 4-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate among patients who received NAT was 73.3% (95% CI: 59.0%-87.6%), versus 80.6% (95% CI: 67.9%-93.3%) among those in the adjuvant group without statistical difference (P=0.418). A similar result was observed for the 4-year overall survival (OS) [neoadjuvant versus adjuvant: 91.5% (95% CI: 81.7%-100.0%) vs 97.8% (95% CI: 93.5%-100.0%), P=0.314]. Compared with standard adjuvant therapy, PCbH was related to less neutropenia and better cardiac safety. Conclusions: These results support the consideration of anthracycline-free neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with anti-HER-2 therapy for patients with stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ HER-2-positive and HR-negative breast cancer. Optimized regimens with both efficacy and safety are needed and to be further investigated.
Female ; Humans ; Anthracyclines/therapeutic use* ; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic/therapeutic use* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Carboplatin/therapeutic use* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Hormones/therapeutic use* ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Paclitaxel/therapeutic use* ; Prospective Studies ; Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism* ; Trastuzumab/therapeutic use* ; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy*

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women, of which the majority is early breast cancer (EBC). The strategy of postoperative adjuvant treatment relies mainly on the clinicopathologic characteristics of patients, but there are certain deficiencies if only depending on it to assess treatment benefits and disease prognosis. Multigene testing tools can evaluate the prognosis and predict therapeutic effects of breast cancer patients to guide the clinical decision-making on whether to use adjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and endocrine therapy by detecting the expression levels of specific genes. The consensus-writing expert group, based on the characteristics, validation results, and accessibility of the multigene testing tools and combined with clinical practice, described the result interpretation and clinical application of OncotypeDx(®) (21-gene), Mammaprint(®) (70-gene), RecurIndex(®) (28-gene), EndoPredict(®)(12-gene), and BreastCancerIndex(®) (BCI, 7-gene) for hormone receptor-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative EBC. The development and validation process of each tool was also briefly introduced. It is expected that the consensus will help guide and standardize the clinical use of multigene testing tools and further improve the level of precise treatment for EBC.
Humans ; Female ; Breast Neoplasms/genetics* ; Consensus ; East Asian People ; Prognosis ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics*

Stage Ⅱ (T3-4N0M0) accounts for 25% of colorectal cancer and five-year survival is between 70% and 80%. However, 25% of patients develop distant metastases and have a survival rate similar to that of stage Ⅲ disease. However, whether or not to give adjuvant chemotherapy is still a controversial issue. As a result, there has been a lot of interest in the identification of the pathological factors underlying the poor prognosis associated with this stage, in order to establish a firmer basis for the administration of adjuvant chemotherapy. But not all high-risk factors are equal for stage Ⅱ colorectal cancer, variability still exists in the management and outcomes of high-risk patients. Here be introduced and commented on thinking and understanding about its controversy and evolution for the attention of the working pathologist and gastroenterologist doctors.
Humans ; Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Risk Factors ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis

Objective: To provide survival evidence of anthracycline-free neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) positive and hormone receptor (HR) negative breast cancer. Methods: The prospective cohort study was conducted at the Department of Medical Oncology of Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Patients with HER-2 positive and HR negative breast cancer in stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ were enrolled to receive neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) of dose-dense paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)) plus carboplatin (AUC=4.0) biweekly for 6 cycles in combination with trastuzumab (PCbH), and matched patients who received standard adjuvant therapy of physicians' choice were recruited for survival and safety comparison. Results: From July 2013 to November 2019, 166 patients were included (neoadjuvant 51, adjuvant 115). Compared with those who received adjuvant therapy, patients receiving NAT were younger (<35 years: 19.6% vs 5.2%, P=0.014), had larger tumors (T3: 62.7% vs 7.8%, P<0.001) and more advanced diseases (stage ⅡA: 2.0% vs 41.7%, P<0.001). Patients in the neoadjuvant group all received surgery, and 96 (83.5%) in the adjuvant group received anthracycline-and-taxane-containing regimens. A total of 98 patients (49 pairs) were matched, and the covariates between the two groups were acceptably balanced. Within a median follow-up of 46.5 (range, 14-87) months, the 4-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate among patients who received NAT was 73.3% (95% CI: 59.0%-87.6%), versus 80.6% (95% CI: 67.9%-93.3%) among those in the adjuvant group without statistical difference (P=0.418). A similar result was observed for the 4-year overall survival (OS) [neoadjuvant versus adjuvant: 91.5% (95% CI: 81.7%-100.0%) vs 97.8% (95% CI: 93.5%-100.0%), P=0.314]. Compared with standard adjuvant therapy, PCbH was related to less neutropenia and better cardiac safety. Conclusions: These results support the consideration of anthracycline-free neoadjuvant chemotherapy combined with anti-HER-2 therapy for patients with stages Ⅱ-Ⅲ HER-2-positive and HR-negative breast cancer. Optimized regimens with both efficacy and safety are needed and to be further investigated.
Female ; Humans ; Anthracyclines/therapeutic use* ; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic/therapeutic use* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Carboplatin/therapeutic use* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Hormones/therapeutic use* ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Paclitaxel/therapeutic use* ; Prospective Studies ; Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism* ; Trastuzumab/therapeutic use* ; Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy*