Chicken pox infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy: A retrospective analysis from a tertiary care center in India

SummaryThere is paucity of data on the incidence, severity and management of chicken pox in patients receiving active chemotherapy for cancer.From October 2010 to October 2011, patients were included in this study if they developed a chicken pox infection during their chemotherapy. The details of patients’ cancer diagnosis and treatment along with clinical and epidemiological data of the chicken pox infections were assessed from a prospectively maintained database.Twenty-four patients had a chicken pox infection while receiving chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The median age of the patients was 21 years, and two-thirds of the patients had solid tumor malignancies.Overall, eight (33%) patients had complications, six (25%) patients had febrile neutropenia, four (17%) had diarrhea/mucositis, and four (17%) had pneumonia. The median time for recovery of the infection and complications in the patients was 9.5 days (5–29 days), whereas for neutropenic patients, it was 6.5 days (3–14 days). The median time for recovery from chicken pox infections in neutropenic patients was 10 days (5–21 days), compared with 8.5 days (0–29 days) in non-neutropenic patients (P=0.84). The median time for recovery from infections was 8.5 days in patients with comorbidities (N=4), which was the same for patients with no comorbidities.The clinical presentation and complication rates of chicken pox in cancer patients, who were on active chemotherapy, are similar to the normal population. The recovery from a varicella infection and complications may be delayed in patients with neutropenia. The varicella infection causes a therapy delay in 70% of patients. Aggressive antiviral therapy, supportive care and isolation of the index cases remain the backbone of treatment

Metronomic adjuvant chemotherapy evaluation in locally advanced head and neck cancers post radical chemoradiation – a randomised trial

Background: Locally advanced head and neck cancers treated with radical chemoradiation have unsatisfactory outcomes. Oral metronomic chemotherapy improves outcomes in comparison to maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy in the palliative setting. Limited evidence suggests that it may do so in an adjuvant setting. Hence this randomized study was conducted. Methods: Patients of head and neck (HN) cancer with primary in oropharynx, larynx or hypopharynx, with PS 0–2 post radical chemoradiation with documented complete response were randomized 1:1 to either observation or oral metronomic adjuvant chemotherapy (MAC) for 18 months. MAC consisted of weekly oral methotrexate (15 mg/m2) and celecoxib (200 mg PO BD). The primary endpoint was OS and the overall sample size was 1038. The study had 3 planned interim analyses for efficacy and futility. Trial registration- Clinical Trials Registry- India (CTRI): CTRI/2016/09/007315 [Registered on: 28/09/2016] Trial Registered Prospectively. Findings: 137 patients were recruited and an interim analysis was done. The 3 year PFS was 68.7% (95% CI 55.1–79.0) versus 60.8% (95% CI 47.9–71.4) in the observation and metronomic arm respectively (P value = 0.230). The hazard ratio was 1.42 (95% CI 0.80–2.51; P value = 0.231). The 3 year OS was 79.4% (95% CI 66.3–87.9) versus 62.4% (95% CI 49.5–72.8) in the observation and metronomic arm respectively (P value = 0.047). The hazard ratio was 1.83 (95% CI 1.0–3.36; P value = 0.051). Interpretation: In this phase 3 randomized study, oral metronomic combinations of weekly methotrexate and daily celecoxib failed to improve the PFS or OS. Hence observation post-complete response post radical chemoradiation remains the standard of care. Funding: ICON funded this study.</p

Metronomic adjuvant chemotherapy evaluation in locally advanced head and neck cancers post radical chemoradiation – a randomised trial

Background: Locally advanced head and neck cancers treated with radical chemoradiation have unsatisfactory outcomes. Oral metronomic chemotherapy improves outcomes in comparison to maximum tolerated dose chemotherapy in the palliative setting. Limited evidence suggests that it may do so in an adjuvant setting. Hence this randomized study was conducted. Methods: Patients of head and neck (HN) cancer with primary in oropharynx, larynx or hypopharynx, with PS 0–2 post radical chemoradiation with documented complete response were randomized 1:1 to either observation or oral metronomic adjuvant chemotherapy (MAC) for 18 months. MAC consisted of weekly oral methotrexate (15 mg/m2) and celecoxib (200 mg PO BD). The primary endpoint was OS and the overall sample size was 1038. The study had 3 planned interim analyses for efficacy and futility. Trial registration- Clinical Trials Registry- India (CTRI): CTRI/2016/09/007315 [Registered on: 28/09/2016] Trial Registered Prospectively. Findings: 137 patients were recruited and an interim analysis was done. The 3 year PFS was 68.7% (95% CI 55.1–79.0) versus 60.8% (95% CI 47.9–71.4) in the observation and metronomic arm respectively (P value = 0.230). The hazard ratio was 1.42 (95% CI 0.80–2.51; P value = 0.231). The 3 year OS was 79.4% (95% CI 66.3–87.9) versus 62.4% (95% CI 49.5–72.8) in the observation and metronomic arm respectively (P value = 0.047). The hazard ratio was 1.83 (95% CI 1.0–3.36; P value = 0.051). Interpretation: In this phase 3 randomized study, oral metronomic combinations of weekly methotrexate and daily celecoxib failed to improve the PFS or OS. Hence observation post-complete response post radical chemoradiation remains the standard of care. Funding: ICON funded this study.</p

Integrated proteomics and phosphoproteomics revealed druggable kinases in neoadjuvant chemotherapy resistant tongue cancer

Tongue squamous cell carcinoma is an aggressive oral cancer with a high incidence of metastasis and poor prognosis. Most of the oral cavity cancer patients present in clinics with locally advanced unresectable tumors. Neoadjuvant treatment is beneficial for these individuals as it reduces the tumor size aiding complete resection. However, patients develop therapy resistance to the drug regimen. In this study, we explored the differential expression of proteins and altered phosphorylation in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy resistant tongue cancer patients. We integrated the proteomic and phosphoproteomic profiles of resistant (n = 4) and sensitive cohorts (n = 4) and demonstrated the differential expression and phosphorylation of proteins in the primary tissue of the respective subject groups. We observed differential and extensive phosphorylation of keratins such as KRT10 and KRT1 between the two cohorts. Furthermore, our study revealed a kinase signature associated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy resistance. Kinases such as MAPK1, AKT1, and MAPK3 are predicted to regulate the resistance in non-responders. Pathway analysis showed enrichment of Rho GTPase signaling and hyperphosphosphorylation of proteins involved in cell motility, invasion, and drug resistance. Targeting the kinases could help with the clinical management of neoadjuvant chemotherapy-resistant tongue cancer

Exploring the implications of modified advanced lung cancer inflammation index on outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Aim: Sarcopenia and skeletal muscle density (SMD) have been shown to be both predictive and prognostic marker in oncology. Advanced lung cancer inflammation index (ALI) has been shown to predict overall survival (OS) in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Computed tomography (CT) enables skeletal muscle to be quantified, whereas body mass index (BMI) cannot accurately reflect body composition. The purpose was to evaluate the prognostic value of modified ALI (mALI) using CT-determined third lumbar vertebra (L3) muscle index beyond original ALI and see the interaction between sarcopenia, SMD, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), ALI and mALI at baseline and post 4 cycles of chemotherapy and their effects on OS and progress free survival (PFS) in patients with advanced non-SCLC (NSCLC). Methods: This retrospective study consisted of a total of 285 advanced NSCLC patients. The morphometric parameters such as SMD, skeletal muscle index (SMI) and fat-free mass (FFM) were measured by CT at the L3 vertebra. ALI was defined as BMI × serum albumin/NLR and mALI was defined as SMI × serum albumin/NLR. Results: Sarcopenia was observed in over 70% of patients across all BMI categories. Patients having sarcopenia suffered from a higher incidence of chemotherapeutic drug toxicities but this was not found to be statistically significant. Concordance was seen between ALI and mALI in the pre-treatment setting and this was statistically significant. A significant proportion of patients with poor ALI (90.9%), poor pre-chemotherapy mALI (91.3%) and poor post-chemotherapy mALI (89%) had poor NLR and each of them was statistically significant. Conclusions: In both univariate and multivariate analyses, this study demonstrated the statistical significance of sarcopenia, SMD, and mALI as predictive factors for OS. Additionally, sarcopenia and SMD were also found to be statistically significant factors in predicting PFS. These biomarkers could potentially help triage patients for active nutritional intervention for better outcomes

EGFR Mutations in Indian Lung Cancer Patients: Clinical Correlation and Outcome to EGFR Targeted Therapy

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Low-Dose vs. High-Dose Cisplatin: Lessons Learned From 59 Chemoradiotherapy Trials in Head and Neck Cancer.

In locally advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (LA-SCCHN), concurrent chemoradiotherapy is an integral part of multimodality management both in the adjuvant and in the definitive settings. Although de-intensification strategies have been propelled to the forefront of clinical research in human papillomavirus (HPV) positive oropharyngeal cancer, three cycles of 100 mg/m &lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; cisplatin given every 3 weeks concurrently with conventionally fractionated external beam radiotherapy represent a cost-effective and globally accessible treatment option for the majority of LA-SCCHN cases. Based on four large randomized trials, this regimen has become the non-surgical standard of care for cisplatin-eligible patients. Nevertheless, the outcomes in terms of efficacy, toxicity, and compliance have been rather disappointing. Therefore, there is an unmet need to find a better alternative. With limited support from randomized trials, weekly low-dose cisplatin regimens have replaced the standard high-dose schedule at some institutions. Four prospective trials exploring radiotherapy with and without weekly low-dose cisplatin have been published. Two of them were conducted in the 1980s, one of which had a negative outcome, the third study provided insufficient information on toxicity, and the fourth trial had to be prematurely terminated due to poor accrual. Moreover, the findings of two phase III trials comparing the two concurrent cisplatin regimens favored the high-dose protocol. We performed a composite meta-analysis of 59 prospective trials enrolling a total of 5,582 patients. The primary endpoint was overall survival. Reflecting different radiotherapy fractionation schemes and treatment intents, three meta-analyses were carried out, one for postoperative conventional chemoradiotherapy, one for definitive conventional chemoradiotherapy, and one for definitive altered fractionation chemoradiotherapy. In the former two settings, both high- and low-dose regimens yielded similar survival outcomes, thus, the primary objective was not met. When given concurrently with altered fractionation radiotherapy, patients treated with high-dose cisplatin had significantly longer overall survival than those who received low-dose cisplatin. In this article we provide a synthetic view of the results, discuss the issue of cumulative dose, compare two vs. three cycles of high-dose cisplatin, and present our three-step recommendations for use of the current standard of care, high-dose cisplatin, in clinical practice