Patient-reported treatment response in chronic graft-<i>versus</i>-host disease

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) treatment response is assessed using National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Criteria in clinical trials, and by clinician assessment in routine practice. Patient-reported treatment response is central to the experience of chronic GvHD manifestations as well as treatment benefit and toxicity, but how they correlate with clinician- or NIH-responses has not been well-studied. We aimed to characterize 6-month patientreported response, determine associated chronic GvHD baseline organ features and changes, and evaluate which patientreported quality of life and chronic GvHD symptom burden measures correlated with patient-reported response. From two nationally representative Chronic GVHD Consortium prospective observational studies, 382 subjects were included in this analysis. Patient and clinician responses were categorized as improved (completely gone, very much better, moderately better, a little better) versus not improved (about the same, a little worse, moderately worse, very much worse). At six months, 270 (71%) patients perceived chronic GvHD improvement, while 112 (29%) perceived no improvement. Patient-reported response had limited correlation with either clinician-reported (kappa 0.37) or NIH chronic GvHD response criteria (kappa 0.18). Notably, patient-reported response at six months was significantly associated with subsequent failure-free survival. In multivariate analysis, NIH responses in eye, mouth, and lung had significant association with 6-month patient-reported response, as well as a change in Short Form 36 general health and role physical domains and Lee Symptom Score skin and eye changes. Based on these findings, patient-reported responses should be considered as an important complementary endpoint in chronic GvHD clinical trials and drug development

Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer

There is great emphasis on early identification of high risk patients for developing pancreatic cancer in an attempt to reduce the burden of the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Abstracts presented at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting highlighted and supported the relationship between pancreatic cancer and diabetes mellitus and Abstract #4039 showed that hemoglobin-A1c at the time of diagnosis correlates with disease stage and predicts survival among all stages of pancreatic cancer patients. Abstracts #4044 and #e15110 also presented in 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that metformin treatment serves as a positive prognosticator, especially in patients with diabetes mellitus diagnosed within 2 years of pancreatic cancer and in stage 3 pancreatic cancer patients with diabetes mellitus.Image: Metformin activates AMPKThr172 through the LKB1 signalling pathway

Pancreatic Cancer: New Hopes for Early Detection and a Future Screening Tool?

Given the overall poor prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer, there has always been an interest in early screening and primary prevention. An abstract presented in ASCO 2014 by Orlowski et al. introduced the potential use of an elevated serum procarboxypeptidase A (PCPA) and high ratios of PCPA to free carboxypeptidase A (FCPA) in enhancing the diagnostic efficacy of pancreatic cancer either alone or with CA19-9 (Abstract #4118).Image: Screening

Should Ageism Be a Stratification Factor in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer?

With ageism being a trend worldwide, and age being a known risk factor for pancreatic cancer, the optimal management of pancreatic cancer patients with advance age is becoming more and more of a pertinent discussion amongst GI oncologists, surgical oncologists and radiation oncologists that is being increasingly addressed in studies nowadays. In an attempt to answer the question of whether age should be a cultural bias in decision making in pancreatic cancer patients, we will review Abstracts #287, #310 and #332 that were presented in the 2014 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. These abstracts explore whether neoadjuvant therapy should be offered to patients older than 75 years to increase the chances of bridging to surgical resectability (Abstract #287), if patients older than age 70 years would benefit from chemotherapy similar to younger patients (Abstract #310), also whether adjuvant radiation therapy and number of lymph nodes resected in patients older than 70 years correlates with overall survival (Abstract #332).Image: Tufts University. Boston, MA, US

Allograft for Myeloma: Examining Pieces of the Jigsaw Puzzle

Multiple myeloma (MM) cure remains elusive despite the availability of newer anti-myeloma agents. Patients with high-risk disease often suffer from early relapse and short survival. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is an “immune-based” therapy that has the potential to offer long-term remission in a subgroup of patients, at the expense of high rates of transplant-related morbidity and mortality. Donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) upon disease relapse after allo-HCT is able to generate an anti-myeloma response suggestive of a graft-versus-myeloma effect. Allo-HCT provides a robust platform for additional immune-based therapy upon relapse including DLI and, maintenance with immunomodulatory drugs and immunosuppressive therapy. There have been conflicting findings from randomized prospective trials questioning the role of allo-HCT. However, to this date, allo-HCT remains the only potential curable treatment for MM and its therapeutic role needs to be better defined especially for patients with high-risk disease. This review examines different aspects of this treatment and summarizes ongoing attempts at improving its therapeutic index

Delayed-onset cutaneous eruption associated with lenalidomide in setting of multiple myeloma

Lenalidomide (LEN) is increasingly being used for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). Adverse cutaneous reactions to LEN are common and present almost exclusively within one month of initiating therapy. We report a case of delayed-onset LEN-associated eruption presenting over three years after starting treatment. Histopathologic findings are also described, which are infrequently reported for LEN-associated eruptions. Our case serves as a reminder that proper recognition and management of LEN-associated eruption is important in the treatment of MM. Dermatologists should be aware of the potential for delayed presentations of adverse cutaneous reactions to LEN, even years after initiation

Accelerated Aging in Cancer Survivors: Cellular Senescence, Frailty, and Possible Opportunities for Interventions

The population of cancer survivors has markedly increased due to the rapid improvements in cancer treatment. However, cancer survivors experience accelerated aging, which leads to chronic diseases and other age-related conditions, such as frailty. Those conditions may persist years after cancer diagnosis and treatment. Cellular senescence, a hallmark of aging, is one of the mechanisms that contribute to accelerated aging in cancer survivors. Several aging measures, including measures based on clinical markers and biomarkers, have been proposed to estimate the aging process, and some of them have shown associations with mortality and frailty in cancer survivors. Several anti-aging interventions, including lifestyle changes and anti-aging drugs, have been proposed. Future research, particularly in large-scale studies, is needed to determine the efficiency of these aging measures and anti-aging interventions before considering their application in clinics. This review focuses on the mechanisms of cellular senescence and accelerated aging in cancer survivors, assessment of the aging process using clinical markers and biomarkers, and the high prevalence of frailty in that population, as well as possible opportunities for anti-aging interventions. A deeper understanding of aging measures and anti-aging interventions in cancer survivors will contribute to the development of effective strategies to mitigate accelerated aging in cancer survivors and improve their quality of life

Temporal variation in oral microbiome composition of patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation with keratinocyte growth factor

Abstract Introduction Autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) is a well-established treatment for lymphoma. Unintended effects of this therapy include oral mucositis (OM) and gastrointestinal toxicities, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. The gut microbiome has been previously linked to transplant toxicities among allogeneic recipients, but little is known about the effects of AHCT on the oral microbiome. Methods Seven patients with non-Hodgkin or Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing AHCT with palifermin (keratinocyte growth factor) were included. Buccal swab samples were collected at baseline and 14- and 28-days post-treatment. Oral microbial communities were characterized with 16 S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Temporal trends in community composition, alpha diversity, and beta diversity were investigated. Results A significant reduction in the relative abundance of the genera Gemella and Actinomyces were observed from baseline. No significant temporal differences in alpha diversity were observed. Significant changes in beta diversity were recorded. Conclusion Results of this pilot study suggest treatment with AHCT and palifermin affects the oral microbiome, resulting in temporal shifts in oral microbial community composition. Future studies are warranted to confirm these trends and further investigate the effects of AHCT on the oral microbiome and how these shifts may affect health outcomes