Primary surgery in patients with de novo stage IV BC; finalizing the protocol MF07-01 randomized clinical trial

Background. The MF07-01 trial is a multicenter randomized study comparing locoregional treatment (LRT) followed by systemic therapy (ST) with ST alone in de novo Stage IV breast cancer (BC) patients. Aim: To evaluate and finalize the survival data of LRT in patients with the diagnosis of de novo Stage IV BC. Methods. At initial diagnosis, patients were randomized 1:1 to either the LRT or ST group. All the patients were given ST either immediately after randomization or after surgical resection of the intact primary tumor. Continuous and categorical variable differences between LRT and ST groups were analyzed using t-test and Chi-square test, respectively. Overall survival (OS) and 5-year survival rates were compared using Kaplan-Meier log-rank tests. Univariate and multivariate Cox models were used to estimate hazard ratios, and logistic regession model used to estimate odds ratio. Results. During more than 10 years follow-up, 23% of patients in LRT group and 8% of patients in ST group were alive. Median survival was 46 months for LRT (n=134) and 35 months for ST (n=131) [HR:0.71, 95%CI;0.59-0.86, p=0.0004]. Solitary bone metastasis patients’ median survival was 14 months longer in LRT group comparing ST group [HR:0.55, 95%CI; 0.35-0.86, p=0.008]; 16% of solitary bone metastasis patients in the LRT group were alive, but all patients died in the ST group. Patients younger than 55 lived longer compared the patients older than 55 [HR:0.67, 95%CI; 0.52-0.87, p=0.002], and 26% of hormone receptor positive patients were still alive in the LRT group comparing 10% in the ST group [HR:0.71, 95%CI; 0.58-0.88, p=0.002]. Regarding the patients who lived at least 5 years since randomization, LRT (p=0.003), hormone receptor positivity (p=0.004), Triple negative status (p=0.02), hormonotherapy (p=0.0001), bisphosphonates usage (p=0.03), and 2 or more organ metastases (p=0.004) were associated with OS in univariant analyses. However, in the multivariate model with significant baseline and clinical characteristics only LRT [OR= 1.58, p=0.03] was found to be significantly related with over 5 years of survival. Conclusion. In the current analysis, patients at the diagnosis of de novo stage IV BC who underwent LRT followed by ST had a 58% higher chance to live at least 5 years compared to the patients who received only ST. Longer follow-up of the study discloses that LRT should be presented to patients when discussing treatment options

Prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities in Turkey

Objective: To evaluate retrospectively the prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities in patient records obtained from healthcare centers in Turkey. Method: Demographic characteristics and data on cervical cytological abnormalities were evaluated from patients who underwent flap tests in healthcare centers in 2007. Results: Data were collected from 33 healthcare centers totaling 140 334 patients. Overall, the prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities was 1.8%; the prevalence of ASCUS, ASC-H, LSIL, HSIL, and AGC was 1.07%, 0.07%, 0.3%, 0.17%, and 0.08%, respectively. The prevalence of preinvasive cervical neoplasia was 1.7% and the prevalence of cytologically diagnosed invasive neoplasia was 0.06%. Conclusion: The abnormal cervical cytological prevalence rate in Turkey is lower than in Europe and North America. This might be due to sociocultural differences, lack of population-based screening programs, or a lower HPV prevalence rate in Turkey. (C) 2009 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved