7 research outputs found

    Establishment of a virtual transborder tumor board for cancer patients in Central and Southeastern Europe : an initiative of the Central European Cooperative Oncology Group (CECOG)

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    o establish a transborder virtual tumor board (VTB) fostering state-of-the-art management of cancer patients by exchanging knowledge and expertise among oncologists in Central and Southeastern Europe (CEE). Methods: We established and implemented a VTB based on the WebEx platform. This allowed for password-protected and secure upload of patient cases to be presented and discussed among colleagues from various oncology centers scattered throughout CEE in order to arrive at a recommendation for further diagnoses and/or treatment. Results: A total of 73 cases from 16 oncology centers located in 11 CEE countries were uploaded by 22 physicians71 were discussed over the course of 17 virtual meetings between June 2018 and May 2019 and 12 different kinds of malignant diseases were discussed with lung cancer (46.6%), melanoma (19.2%) and bladder cancer (13.6%) being the most commonly presented tumor entities. Of the discussed patients, 93.3% had stage IV disease at the time of presentation, 62.6% received chemotherapy or targeted treatment and 67.1% were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs). The most common causes for presentation and discussion of patient cases were related to the use of ICPIs (80%). Conclusion: When the need for expertise exceeds locally available resources, web-based VTBs provide a feasible way to discuss patient cases and arrive at conclusions regarding diagnoses and/or treatment across large geographic distances. Moreover, VTBs provide an innovative way for proper, state-of-the-art management of patients with malignant diseases in times of social distancing and the resulting need for restricted interaction during the current SARS-CoV‑2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2) pandemic

    Solid cancer patients achieve adequate immunogenicity and low rate of severe adverse events after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination

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    Background: SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in cancer patients is crucial to prevent severe COVID-19 disease course. Methods: This study assessed immunogenicity of cancer patients on active treatment receiving mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine by detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 IgG antibodies in serum, before, after the first and second doses and 3 months after a complete primary course of vaccination. Results were compared with healthy controls. Results: Of 112 patients, the seroconversion rate was 96%. A significant reduction in antibody levels was observed 3 months after vaccination in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors versus control participants (p < 0.001). Adverse events were mostly mild. Conclusion: Immunogenicity after mRNA-based vaccine in cancer patients is adequate but influenced by the type of anticancer therapy. Antibody levels decline after 3 months, and thus a third vaccination is warranted

    Results of screening in early and advanced thoracic malignancies in the EORTC pan-European SPECTAlung platform

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    Access to a comprehensive molecular alteration screening is patchy in Europe and quality of the molecular analysis varies. SPECTAlung was created in 2015 as a pan-European screening platform for patients with thoracic malignancies. Here we report the results of almost 4 years of prospective molecular screening of patients with thoracic malignancies, in terms of quality of the program and molecular alterations identified. Patients with thoracic malignancies at any stage of disease were recruited in SPECTAlung, from June 2015 to May 2019, in 7 different countries. Molecular tumour boards were organised monthly to discuss patients\u27 molecular and clinical profile and possible biomarker-driven treatments, including clinical trial options. FFPE material was collected and analysed for 576 patients with diagnosis of pleural, lung, or thymic malignancies. Ultimately, 539 patients were eligible (93.6%) and 528 patients were assessable (91.7%). The turn-around time for report generation and molecular tumour board was 214 days (median). Targetable molecular alterations were observed in almost 20% of cases, but treatment adaptation was low (3% of patients). SPECTAlung showed the feasibility of a pan-European screening platform. One fifth of the patients had a targetable molecular alteration. Some operational issues were discovered and adapted to improve efficiency

    Real-world testing practices, treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients from Central Eastern Europe with EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective chart review study (REFLECT)

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    The targeted therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) against the epidermal growth factor receptor mutation (EGFRm) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) changed the treatment paradigm. REFLECT study (NCT04031898) explored EGFR/T790M testing and treatment patterns in EGFRm NSCLC patients receiving first- or second-generation (1G/2G) EGFR TKIs as front-line (1L) in eight countries. Pooled data from Central Eastern Europe (CEE) countries from this study (Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovenia) are presented here. This physician-led chart review study was conducted in patients with confirmed-EGFRm NSCLC initiating 1L 1G/2G EGFR TKIs between 2015–2018. The CEE cohort included 389 patients receiving 1L erlotinib (37%), afatinib (34%), and gefitinib (29%). Overall, 320 (82%) patients discontinued 1L, and 298 (77%) progression events were registered. Median progression free survival on 1L TKIs was 14.0 (95% CI: 12.6–15.6) months. Median overall survival from 1L start was 26.6 (95% CI: 24.1–29.0) months. Attrition rate between 1L and next line was 30%. Among patients with 1L progression, 200 (67%) were tested for T790M and 58% were positive. This first CEE analysis of treatments and outcomes in EGFRm NSCLC patients highlights the importance of using the most efficacious therapies currently available in 1L to reduce attrition and improve patient outcomes

    Treatment patterns, testing practices, and outcomes in the pre-FLAURA era for patients with EGFR mutation-positive advanced NSCLC : a retrospective chart review (REFLECT)

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    Background. Immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) recently became the standard treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we present the first results of a real-world observational study on the effectiveness of ICI monotherapy in patients with advanced NSCLC treated at a single academic center in a Central and Eastern European (CEE) country. Materials and methods. Overall, 66 consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC treated with ICIs in everyday clinical practice, either with first-line pembrolizumab (26 patients) or second-line atezolizumab, nivolumab, or pembrolizumab (40 patients), from August 2015 to November 2018, were included. All data were retrieved from a hospital lung cancer registry, in which the data is collected prospectively. Results. Included patients had a median age of 64 years, most were male (55%), 6% were in performance status >/=2, and 18% had controlled central nervous system metastases at baseline. In first-line, the median progression-free survival (mPFS) was 9.3 months, while the median overall survival (mOS) was not reached. The 1-year overall survival (OS) was 62%. In second-line, the mPFS and mOS were 3.5 months and 9.9 months, respectively, with a 1-year OS of 35%. In the overall population, adverse events of any grade were recorded in 79% of patients and of severe grade (3-4) in 12% of patients. Conclusion. The first real-world outcomes of NSCLC immunotherapy from a CEE country suggest comparable effectiveness to those observed in clinical trials and other real-world series, mainly coming from North America and Western European countries. Further data to inform on the real-world effectiveness of immunotherapy worldwide are needed

    Recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of patients with lung cancer

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    In 2019, the Recommendations for the management of patients with lung cancer were published bringing much-needed standardisation of diagnosis and treatment to improve survival of patients with lung cancer. Three years after the original Recommendations were published, the update of the Recommendations brings the most innovations in the chapter on systemic treatment of patients with lung cancer. This reflects the remarkable progress made in the field of understanding the oncogenesis and biology of lung cancer and thus the development of new drugs. The burden of lung cancer remains high, as lung cancer is still the most common cause of cancer related death in our country and worldwide. Lung cancer is responsible for one of five cancer-related deaths. Almost one third of patients with lung cancer do not receive any oncological treatment, either because of poor performance status, comorbidities or the extent of the disease. Half of the patients have metastatic disease at diagnosis, resulting in only small improvements in survival despite advances in the treatment of lung cancer patients. These data remind us that if we are to make major shifts in the management of lung cancer patients, we will need to take different approaches. The most promising seems to be the detection of early stages of lung cancer which offers the best treatment results. The Recommendations written here are guidelines for the management of patients with lung cancer. Only with comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment approach, the best outcome from the prognostically unfavourable disease can be offered

    Priporočila za obravnavo bolnikov s pljučnim rakom

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    In 2019, the Recommendations for the management of patients with lung cancer were published bringing much-needed standardisation of diagnosis and treatment to improve survival of patients with lung cancer. Three years after the original Recommendations were published, the update of the Recommendations brings the most innovations in the chapter on systemic treatment of patients with lung cancer. This reflects the remarkable progress made in the field of understanding the oncogenesis and biology of lung cancer and thus the development of new drugs. The burden of lung cancer remains high, as lung cancer is still the most common cause of cancer related death in our country and worldwide. Lung cancer is responsible for one of five cancer-related deaths. Almost one third of patients with lung cancer do not receive any oncological treatment, either because of poor performance status, comorbidities or the extent of the disease. Half of the patients have metastatic disease at diagnosis, resulting in only small improvements in survival despite advances in the treatment of lung cancer patients. These data remind us that if we are to make major shifts in the management of lung cancer patients, we will need to take different approaches. The most promising seems to be the detection of early stages of lung cancer which offers the best treatment results. The Recommendations written here are guidelines for the management of patients with lung cancer. Only with comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment approach, the best outcome from the prognostically unfavourable disease can be offered.Leta 2019 so bila objavljena Priporočila za obravnavo bolnikov s pljučnim rakom, ki so v slovenski prostor vnesla prepotrebno poenotenje diagnostike in zdravljenja z namenom izboljšanja preživetja bolnikov s pljučnim rakom. Posodobitev Priporočil tri leta po izidu izvirnika prinaša največ novosti v poglavju o sistemskem zdravljenju bolnikov s pljučnim rakom. To kaže na izjemen napredek na področju razumevanja onkogeneze in biologije pljučnega raka ter s tem razvoja novih zdravil. Breme pljučnega raka ostaja veliko, saj je pljučni rak pri nas in v svetu še vedno najpogostejši vzrok smrti zaradi raka. Za vsako peto smrt zaradi raka je odgovoren pljučni rak. Skoraj tretjina bolnikov s pljučnim rakom ne prejme specifičnega onkološkega zdravljenja, bodisi zaradi slabega stanja zmogljivosti, spremljajočih bolezni ali obsega bolezni. Polovica bolnikov ima ob diagnozi razsejano bolezen, zaradi česar izboljšanje preživetja z malimi koraki sledi napredku v zdravljenju bolnikov s pljučnim rakom. Ti podatki nas opominjajo, da se bomo morali za velike premike v obravnavi bolnikov s pljučnim rakom lotiti drugačnih pristopov. Kot najbolj obetavno se ponuja zgodnje odkrivanje bolezni, ko so možnosti ozdravitve pljučnega raka najboljše. Zapisana Priporočila so usmeritev za obravnavo bolnikov s pljučnim rakom. Le s sodobnim multidisciplinarnim pristopom obravnave lahko bolniku ponudimo zdravljenje, ki mu omogoča najboljši izhod prognostično neugodne bolezni
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