Occurrence of Fatal Tubulopathy in an Old, Fit Patient Receiving Nivolumab and Ipilimumab for Metastatic Melanoma: A Case Report

Introduction: The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized cancer treatment, and their application to older people is considered safe by the scientific community. However, immune-related adverse events (irAEs) remain common, and their management poses significant challenges, especially in this population. Case Presentation: We report the case of a fit 82-year-old woman who developed immune-mediated colitis and Fanconi syndrome during treatment with ipilimumab and nivolumab for metastatic melanoma. Treatment consisted of discontinuation of immunotherapy, use of systemic corticosteroids, and second-line immunosuppressants. Despite well-managed treatment, the patient did not recover and died from a gastrointestinal infection. Conclusion: Although studies have shown identical efficacy and safety in younger patients compared to older patients, the consequences of irAEs can potentially be more serious in the older population. The fatal outcome despite well-managed treatment highlights the need to identify predictive factors of immunotherapy-related adverse events in the older population

Information perception, wishes, and satisfaction in ambulatory cancer patients under active treatment: Patient-reported outcomes with QLQ-INFO25

Background: Information is vital to cancer patients. Physician-patient communication in oncology presents specific challenges. The aim of this study was to evaluate self-reported information of cancer patients in ambulatory care at a comprehensive cancer centre and examine its possible association with patients' demographic and clinical characteristics. Patients and methods: This study included adult patients with solid tumours undergoing chemotherapy at the Institute Jules Bordet's Day Hospital over a ten-day period. EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-INFO25 questionnaires were administered. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Results: 101 (99%) fully completed the questionnaires. They were mostly Belgian (74.3%), female (78.2%), with a mean age of 56.9 ± 12.8 years. The most frequent tumour was breast cancer (58.4%). Patients were well-informed about the disease and treatments, but presented unmet information domains. The Jules Bordet patients desired more information on treatment side effects, long-term outcome, nutrition, and recurrence symptoms. Patients on clinical trials reported having received less information about their disease and less written information than patients outside clinical trials. Higher information levels were associated with higher quality of life (QoL) scores and higher patient satisfaction. Conclusion: Patients were satisfied with the information they received and this correlated with higher QoL, but they still expressed unmet information wishes. Additional studies are required to investigate the quality of the information received by patients enrolled in clinical trials. © the authors; licensee ecancermedicalscience

Use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in cancer multidisciplinary team meetings: an explorative study based on EU healthcare professionals

Objectives: Multidisciplinary teams in cancer care are increasingly using information and communication technology (ICT), hospital health information system (HIS) functionalities and ICT-driven care components. We aimed to explore the use of these tools in multidisciplinary team meetings (MTMs) and to identify the critical challenges posed by their adoption based on the perspective of professionals representatives from European scientific societies. Design: This qualitative study used discussion of cases and focus group technique to generate data. Thematic analysis was applied. Setting: Healthcare professionals working in a multidisciplinary cancer care environment. Participants: Selection of informants was carried out by European scientific societies in accordance with professionals' degree of experience in adopting the implementation of ICT and from different health systems. Results: Professionals representatives of 9 European scientific societies were involved. Up to 10 ICTs, HIS functionalities and care components are embedded in the informational and decision-making processes along three stages of MTMs. ICTs play a key role in opening MTMs to other institutions (eg, by means of molecular tumour boards) and information types (eg, patient-reported outcome measures), and in contributing to the internal efficiency of teams. While ICTs and care components have their own challenges, the information technology context is characterised by the massive generation of unstructured data, the lack of interoperability between systems from different hospitals and HIS that are conceived to store and classify information rather than to work with it. Conclusions: The emergence of an MTM model that is better integrated in the wider health system context and incorporates inputs from patients and support systems make traditional meetings more dynamic and interconnected. Although these changes signal a second transition in the development process of multidisciplinary teams, they occur in a context marked by clear gaps between the information and management needs of MTMs and the adequacy of current HIS

O comitê de ética em pesquisa na Universidade Federal de Santa Maria: um breve histórico

ResumoIntrodução: a análise da validade ética das pesquisas se concretiza nos Comitês de Ética em Pesquisa (CEP) das instituições. Este trabalho pretende apresentar o histórico de organização e funcionamento do CEP na Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, a demanda de análise de projetos, além de divulgar sua importância na nossa universidade. Métodos: foi realizado um levantamento histórico pela análise de arquivos internos e consulta oral a ex-componentes do CEP. Também foi pesquisado o número de projetos submetidos à avaliação pelo CEP desde sua fundação até dezembro de 2009. Resultados: foi possível resgatar e registrar o histórico do CEP e observou-se aumento substancial da demanda de avaliação de projetos. Conclusão: o CEP atualmente pode ser considerado atuante na UFSM e região, orientando e incentivando a prática da ética em pesquisa com seres humanos de forma independente.Palavras-chave: Comitê; ética; pesquisa; histórico; demanda Abstract Introduction: the analysis of the ethical validity of research is materialized in the Ethics Committee (EC) of the institutions. This article aims to briefly present the history of organization and operation of the EC activities in Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), to examine trends in demand for project analysis, in addition to disclosing its importance to the institution. Methods: a survey was done by the historical analysis of internal files, in addition to oral consultation to former components of the CEP. We raised the number of projects submitted for review by the CEP since its founding until December 2009.Results: it was possible to raise and register the history of the EC and it was observed a substantial increase in demand for project evaluation. Conclusion: currently the EC can be considered active in UFSM and region, guiding and encouraging the practice of ethics in human research independently.Keywords:  Ethics committee; research; history; deman

The EORTC Breast Cancer Group: major achievements of 50 years of research and future directions

AbstractThe EORTC Breast Cancer Group (BCG), created in 1962, is a multidisciplinary group involving surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, pathologists, basic scientists, and clinical research fellows. Currently, more than 80 member's institutions across Europe are participating in the group studies. The main goal of the BCG is to conduct high-quality international clinical trials covering all areas of breast cancer care: from loco-regional to systemic disease control, and from in situ carcinoma to metastatic disease. Over 50 years, the BCG has performed dozens of clinical studies including several thousands of patients. Many practice-changing trials and major achievements were conducted optimizing local control, improving systemic therapy in early and metastatic breast cancer, pioneering work in clinical-translational trials and collaboration within intergroup trials. The strategic plan of the BCG for future research includes three distinct albeit overlapping areas: loco-regional therapy, (neo-)adjuvant systemic therapy, trials in the metastatic setting, and niche population studies. For each of these areas the group has considered the prevailing EORTC strategy of focusing on practice-changing studies and translational research, with an emphasis on niche trials. During five decades, the BCG has successfully performed a series of practice-changing trials enrolling several thousands of patients. These studies have contributed to the clinical knowledge on the treatment of breast cancer and have influenced clinical practice and breast cancer patients' outcome worldwide

Estudo clínico de fase II e farmacocinético para o uso de Talidomida em pacientes com câncer colorretal metastático

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a eficácia, a segurança e a farmacocinética da talidomida nos pacientes com câncer colorretal metastático. Dezessete pacientes com adenocarcinoma colorretal metastático, previamente tratados com pelo menos um regime de quimioterapia, foram incluídos no estudo. Os pacientes eram inicialmente tratados com talidomida 200 mg/dia, com um aumento de dose de 200mg a cada duas semanas, até atingir a dose máxima de 800 mg/dia. Os pacientes eram reavaliados a cada duas semanas para toxicidade e a cada 8 semanas para taxa de resposta através de exames de imagem. A farmacocinética foi caracterizada em quatro pacientes no nível de dose de 200 mg/dia.Todos os dezessete pacientes incluídos foram avaliados no perfil de toxicidade e quatorze pacientes nos critérios de taxa de resposta. A talidomida foi bem tolerada, sendo os principais efeitos colaterais a sonolência, a tontura, a xerostomia e a constipação. Não houve nenhuma resposta objetiva ou doença estável após oito semanas de tratamento. A sobrevida global mediana foi de 3,6 meses. A talidomida é bem tolerada como agente único de tratamento, mas não demonstrou nenhuma atividade antitumoral em pacientes com câncer colorretal metastático, já tratados previamente com outro regime de quimioterapia. Apesar disto, futuros estudos com este agente em estágios iniciais desta neoplasia devem ser considerados, quando as propriedades antiangiogênicas desta droga poderão ser mais relevantes para a progressão da doença.Introduction: This study was designed to estimate the percentage of objective tumor responses, toxicity profile and obtain additional information about the plasma pharmacokinetics of thalidomide in patients with refractory and progressing metastatic colorectal cancer. Study design: This phase II clinical trial was conducted according to the two-stage Simon method with the inclusion of consecutive patients. The study protocol was approved by the institutional review board (IRB) of the Academic Hospital (HCPA) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. Patients and Methods: Seventeen patients with previously treated, refractory progressive metastatic colorectal cancer were eligible. Six patients had prior radiotherapy. The patients had a median of one previous chemotherapy regimen. Patients were initially treated with 200 mg/day of thalidomide with an increase in dose by 200 mg/day every 2 weeks until a final daily dose of 800 mg/day was achieved. Patients were evaluated every 8 weeks for response by radiographic criteria. Plasma pharmacokinetics studies were performed in four patients at 200mg level during the first 24 hours. Main outcome measures and Results: A total of 17 patients were accrued, all of them being evaluable for toxicity and 14 for response. Thalidomide was well tolerated, with constipation, somnolence, dizziness and dry mouth being the major toxicities. There were no objective response or stable disease. The median survival was 3.6 months. Single-agent thalidomide is a generally well-tolerated drug that showed no antitumor activity in patients with advanced pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer. Although thalidomide did not show antitumor activity in this patient sample, future studies of this agent in patients at initial stages of the disease (when its antiangiogenic properties may be more relevant to disease progression) could be considered

Trastuzumab em pacientes com câncer de mama her-2 positivo : um estudo sobre os diferentes escores de avaliação laboratorial do gene her-2/neu

Resumo não disponíve

Trastuzumab em pacientes com câncer de mama her-2 positivo : um estudo sobre os diferentes escores de avaliação laboratorial do gene her-2/neu

Resumo não disponíve

Envelhecimento e doença crônica: editorial

Porto Alegre jan.-mar. 2011info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Old age: An extra risk for febrile neutropenia?

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe