Influencing Factors on Radiotherapy Outcome in Stage I-II Glottic Larynx Cancer—A Multicenter Study

Background and Purpose: Larynx cancer represents one of the most frequently diagnosed head and neck malignancies, which is most often confined to the glottic area. The aim of this study was to report the oncological outcome and identify prognostic factors in early-stage glottic squamous cell carcinoma treated with radiotherapy. Material and Methods: Patients (n = 761) diagnosed and treated in 10 centers between 1990 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Probabilities of loco-regional control (LRC) and overall survival (OS) were calculated and possible prognostic factors were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The median follow-up was 63 months (range: 2-243). Three hundred and sixty-four, 148 and 249 patients had cT1a, cT1b, and cT2 stage I-II disease, respectively. Five and 10-years LRC/OS rates in the whole cohort were 83/82% and 80/68%, respectively. Three patients developed distant recurrences. In univariate analysis, male sex (HR: 3.49; 95% CI: 1.47-11.37; p < 0.01), T2 vs. T1a (HR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.08-2.43; p = 0.02) and anterior commissure involvement (ACI) (HR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.38-2.45; p < 0.01) were associated with impaired LRC. In multivariate analysis, male sex (HR: 3.42; 95% CI: 1.44-11.17; p < 0.01) and ACI (HR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.01-2.28; p = 0.047) remained poor prognostic factors. No relation of treatment technique and biologically equivalent dose (BED) to oncological outcome was identified except for higher BED10(L = 25; T = 1) yielding better LRC in T1a tumors (p = 0.04) in univariate analyses. Conclusion: Our results highlight the negative impact of ACI on tumor control. A less-expected finding was the impact of sex on tumor control. Further research is needed to validate its prognostic value and investigate any related biologic or behavioral factors, which may be modified to improve oncologic outcome

The role of [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in wild-type KIT/PDGFRA gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST).

BACKGROUND: [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT is now recognised as the most sensitive functional imaging modality for the diagnosis of well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (NET) and can inform treatment with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with [177Lu]Lu-DOTATATE. However, somatostatin receptor (SSTR) expression is not unique to NET, and therefore, [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT may have oncological application in other tumours. Molecular profiling of gastrointestinal stromal tumours that lack activating somatic mutations in KIT or PDGFRA or so-called 'wild-type' GIST (wtGIST) has demonstrated that wtGIST and NET have overlapping molecular features and has encouraged exploration of shared therapeutic targets, due to a lack of effective therapies currently available for metastatic wtGIST. AIMS: To investigate (i) the diagnostic role of [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT; and, (ii) to investigate the potential of this imaging modality to guide treatment with [177Lu]Lu-DOTATATE in patients with wtGIST. METHODS: [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT was performed on 11 patients with confirmed or metastatic wtGIST and one patient with a history of wtGIST and a mediastinal mass suspicious for metastatic wtGIST, who was subsequently diagnosed with a metachronous mediastinal paraganglioma. Tumour expression of somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (SSTR2) using immunohistochemistry was performed on 54 tumour samples including samples from 8/12 (66.6%) patients who took part in the imaging study and 46 tumour samples from individuals not included in the imaging study. RESULTS: [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT imaging was negative, demonstrating that liver metastases had lower uptake than background liver for nine cases (9/12 cases, 75%) and heterogeneous uptake of somatostatin tracer was noted for two cases (16.6%) of wtGIST. However, [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT demonstrated intense tracer uptake in a synchronous paraganglioma in one case and a metachronous paraganglioma in another case with wtGIST. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that SSTR2 is not a diagnostic or therapeutic target in wtGIST. [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT may have specific diagnostic utility in differentiating wtGIST from other primary tumours such as paraganglioma in patients with sporadic and hereditary forms of wtGIST

The role of [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT in wild-type KIT/PDGFRA gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST).

BACKGROUND: [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT is now recognised as the most sensitive functional imaging modality for the diagnosis of well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (NET) and can inform treatment with peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with [177Lu]Lu-DOTATATE. However, somatostatin receptor (SSTR) expression is not unique to NET, and therefore, [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT may have oncological application in other tumours. Molecular profiling of gastrointestinal stromal tumours that lack activating somatic mutations in KIT or PDGFRA or so-called 'wild-type' GIST (wtGIST) has demonstrated that wtGIST and NET have overlapping molecular features and has encouraged exploration of shared therapeutic targets, due to a lack of effective therapies currently available for metastatic wtGIST. AIMS: To investigate (i) the diagnostic role of [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT; and, (ii) to investigate the potential of this imaging modality to guide treatment with [177Lu]Lu-DOTATATE in patients with wtGIST. METHODS: [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT was performed on 11 patients with confirmed or metastatic wtGIST and one patient with a history of wtGIST and a mediastinal mass suspicious for metastatic wtGIST, who was subsequently diagnosed with a metachronous mediastinal paraganglioma. Tumour expression of somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (SSTR2) using immunohistochemistry was performed on 54 tumour samples including samples from 8/12 (66.6%) patients who took part in the imaging study and 46 tumour samples from individuals not included in the imaging study. RESULTS: [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT imaging was negative, demonstrating that liver metastases had lower uptake than background liver for nine cases (9/12 cases, 75%) and heterogeneous uptake of somatostatin tracer was noted for two cases (16.6%) of wtGIST. However, [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT demonstrated intense tracer uptake in a synchronous paraganglioma in one case and a metachronous paraganglioma in another case with wtGIST. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that SSTR2 is not a diagnostic or therapeutic target in wtGIST. [68 Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT may have specific diagnostic utility in differentiating wtGIST from other primary tumours such as paraganglioma in patients with sporadic and hereditary forms of wtGIST

Influencing Factors on Radiotherapy Outcome in Stage I-II Glottic Larynx Cancer-A Multicenter Study

Background and Purpose: Larynx cancer represents one of the most frequently diagnosed head and neck malignancies, which is most often confined to the glottic area. The aim of this study was to report the oncological outcome and identify prognostic factors in early-stage glottic squamous cell carcinoma treated with radiotherapy

Evaluation of a diagnostic flow chart for detection and confirmation of extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) in Enterobacteriaceae

Clin Microbiol Infect ABSTRACT: This study aimed to develop a modular, diagnostic algorithm for extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) detection in Enterobacteriaceae. Clinical Enterobacteriaceae strains (n = 2518) were screened for ESBL production using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints for third-generation cephalosporins and by synergy image detection (clavulanic acid/extended-spectrum cephalosporins). Isolates screening positive for ESBL (n = 242, 108 by critical CLSI diameters alone, five by double disk synergy test (DDST) alone, and 129 by both critical diameters and DDST) and 138 ESBL screening negative isolates (control group) were investigated by molecular methods considered to be the reference standard (multiplex CTX-M type PCR, TEM and SHV type sequence characterization). One hundred and twenty-four out of 242 Enterobacteriaceae isolates screening positive for ESBL were confirmed to be ESBL positive by the reference standard, the majority of them in E. coli, K. pneumoniae and E. cloacae (94, 17 and nine isolates, respectively). Prevalence of ESBL production ranged from <1% for P. mirabilis to 4.7%, 5.1% and 6.6%, for K. pneumoniae, E. cloacae and E. coli, respectively. Combining CLSI ceftriaxone and cefpodoxime critical ESBL diameters was found to be the most sensitive phenotypic screening method (sensitivity 99.2%). Combining critical diameters of cefpodoxime and ceftriaxone with DDST for cefpodoxime resulted in a sensitivity of 100%. For phenotypic confirmation, combining the CLSI recommended combined disk test (CDT) for ceftazidime and cefotaxime amended with a cefepime CDT was highly sensitive (100%) and specific (97.5%). With respect to the studied population, the diagnostic ESBL algorithm developed would have resulted in sensitivity and specificity of 100%. The corresponding flow chart is simple, easy to use, inexpensive and applicable in the routine diagnostic laboratory