Efficacy of capecitabine and temozolomide regimen in neuroendocrine tumors: Data from the Turkish oncology group

Introduction: This study aims to report the efficacy and safety of capecitabine plus temozolomide (CAPTEM) across different lines of treatment in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs).Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study analyzing the data of 308 patients with metastatic NETs treated with CAPTEM between 2010 and 2022 in 34 different hospitals across various regions of Turkey.Results: The median follow-up time was 41.0 months (range: 1.7-212.1), and the median age was 53 years (range: 22-79). Our results across the entire patient cohort showed a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 10.6 months and a median overall survival (OS) of 60.4 months. First-line CAPTEM treatment appeared more effective, with a median PFS of 16.1 months and a median OS of 105.8 months (median PFS 16.1, 7.9, and 9.6 months in first-, second-and =third-line respectively, P = .01; with median OS values of 105.8, 47.2, and 24.1 months, respectively, P = .003) In terms of ORR, the first-line treatment again performed better, resulting in an ORR of 54.7% compared to 33.3% and 30.0% in the second and third or higher lines, respectively (P < .001). Grade 3-4 side effects occurred only in 22.5% of the patients, leading to a discontinuation rate of 9.5%. Despite the differences in outcomes based on treatment line, we did not observe a significant difference in terms of side effects between the first and subsequent lines of treatment.Conclusions and Relevance: The substantial superior outcomes in patients receiving first-line CAPTEM treatment highlight its potential as an effective treatment strategy for patients with metastatic NET

Impact Of Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy For Rectal Cancer On The Long-Term Quality Of Life And Late Side Effects: A Multicentric Clinical Evaluation By The Turkish Oncology Group

Aim: Although preoperative chemoradiatherapy (CRT) has proven its benefits in terms of decreased toxicity, there is still a considerable amount of cases that do not receive postoperative CRT. Oncologists at different geographic locations still need to know the long-term effects of this treatment in order to manage patients successfully. The current paper reports on long-term quality of life (QOL) and late side effects after adjuvant CRT in rectal cancer patients from 5 centers in Anatolia. Methods: Rectal cancer patients treated with postoperative CRT with minimum 1-year follow-up and were in complete remission, were evaluated according to RTOG and LENT-SOMA scales. They were also asked to complete Turkish version of EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire and the CR-38 module. Each center participated with the required clinical data. Results: Two hundred and thirty patients with median age of 55 years participated and completed the study. Median follow-up time was 5 years. All patients received RT concomitant with chemotherapy. Common parameters that both increased functional health scales and yielded better symptom scores were long term interval after treatment and sphincter-saving surgery. In addition, surgery type and follow-up time were determined to be predictors of QOL scores and late toxicity grade. Conclusion: Postoperative CRT was found to have a great impact on the long term QOL and side effects in rectal cancer survivors. The factors that adversely affect these are abdominoperineal resection and shorter interval. The findings may encourage life-long follow-up and cooperation with patients, which should be mentioned during the initial counseling.WoSScopu

End-of-study results of Turkish gastric cancer patients from the global REGATE study

İstanbul Bilim Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi.Purpose: Registry of Gastric Cancer Treatment Evaluation (REGATE) study was an international, prospective study including over 10000 patients from 22 countries, designed to describe the pattern of care in gastric cancer globally. The aim of this study was to summarize the data of the Turkish arm and compare them with the global results. Methods: Ten centers from Turkey took part in the REGATE registry. Between 2004 and 2008, 395 patients (median age, 60 years; range, 18-91, 67.6% men) with newly diagnosed primary adenocarcinoma of the stomach were followed at initial visit and 8-10 months later, at the time of treatment completion. Data on patient demographics, medical history, histopathology, cancer stage, planned and realized treatments was prospectively collected. Data processing and analysis were conducted centrally. Results: In Turkey, the majority of patients were diagnosed at an advanced stage, while the rate of surgery was lesser compared with the rest of the world. Realized treatment included more palliative-only therapy than initially planned (63.3%), while no therapy was recommended in 21.8%. Surgery involved total gastrectomy (46.3%) or distal subtotal gastrectomy (51.9%), with 87% R0 resection, 51.0% D1 and 44.9% D2 lymph node dissection. Combination chemotherapy was administered in more than half of the patients receiving palliative therapy (57.9%). Chemoradiotherapy was used in 66.7% of the cases receiving adjuvant therapy. Radiotherapy was applied to 32% of the cases receiving palliative therapy. Conclusion: Advanced stage gastric cancer is highly prevalent in Turkey. Increasing public awareness and implementing screening programs in high risk groups may help identify gastric cancer at earlier stages

Efficacy of Sorafenib In Advanced Differentiated and Medullary Thyroid Cancer: Experience In A Turkish Population

Purpose: Chronic otitis media with effusion (OME) is the leading cause of hearing loss during childhood. In bacterial etiology of OME, the most frequent pathogens responsible are Haemophilus influenzae followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Moraxella catarrhalis . This study aimed at evaluating the accuracy of nasopharyngeal (NP) specimens in the identification of pathogens in the middle ear fluid (MEF) in patients with OME. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional, case-control study, 95 MEFs and 53 NP secretion specimens were obtained from 53 children. As a control group, 102 NP specimens were taken from children having an operation other than an otological disease. Conventional culture methods and multiplex-PCR method have been used to determine the etiology of OME; NP carriage between cases and control groups were compared using conventional culture methods. Pearson Chi-Square and Fisher's Exact tests were used in statistical analysis. Results : Bacteria were isolated by culture in 37.9% of MEF specimens, 14.7% of which belonged to the group H. influenzae , S. pneumoniae and M. catarrhalis. PCR was positive in 30.5% specimens targeting the same pathogens. There was a two-fold increase in carriage rate of S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae in patients than controls for each pathogen. Conclusion: PCR is a more reliable method to detect middle ear pathogens in MEF in comparison with the conventional culture methods. The NP colonization wasn't found to be an indicator of the pathogen in MEF although middle ear pathogens colonize more in nasopharynx of diseased children.WoSPubMe

Seven-Year Single-Center Experience of the Efficacy and Safety of Ferric Carboxymaltose in Cancer Patients with Iron-Deficiency Anemia

Anemia remains an essential concern affecting the quality of life and the survival of cancer patients. Although there are different approaches to treating anemia in cancer patients, the number of studies reporting the efficacy of iron replacement in cancer patients is limited. In this study, the efficacy and safety of iron carboxymaltose, a parenteral iron treatment option, in the treatment of anemia, were examined retrospectively. A total of 1102 adult patients who received IV ferric carboxymaltose treatment at Hacettepe Oncology Hospital between 2014 and 2020 were included. The mean hemoglobin change observed at the end of the 12th week was 1.8 g/dL, and the rate of patients with an increase in hemoglobin of 1 g/dL or more was 72.1%. It was observed that the treatment demonstrated effectiveness in patients receiving active cancer treatment in all tumor types. The treatment was generally safe, and no grade 3–5 side effects were observed in the patients included in the study. According to one of the most extensive series published in the literature, iron carboxymaltose is an efficient and safe alternative for cancer patients with iron-deficiency anemia

Real-world treatment outcomes from nationwide ONCO-colon Turkey registry in RAS wild-type patients treated with biologics first-line metastatic colorectal cancer

Background: Efficacy of anti-angiogenic and anti-EGFR agents has been demonstrated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Real-world evidence is especially important to detect the findings of patients outside of clinical trials. It complements together with clinical trials. However, there are a few studies that evaluated these treatments with biologics in the real-world setting. Recognizing the change that has occurred over the years will also shed light on future approaches. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the real-world data of patients with RAS-wild type mCRC. Methods: Medical records from 28 centers were collected for patients diagnosed with RAS wild-type mCRC between January 2016 and April 2019 and were included into the study. Histopathological, molecular and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded. The treatment duration, response rate, progression-free survival and safety results were determined. Also, changes over the years were compared. Patients were compared according to the first-line biological treatments as anti-EGFR group (Group A and B) (panitumumab and cetuximab) and anti-VEGF group (group C).Amgen Ilac Tic Ltd Sti, Turke

Surgical, pathological and clinical features of advanced collorectal cancers with metastasectomy. "Onco-Colon Turkey Registry" real-life data

Background: The contribution of metastasectomy to progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients (pts) with advanced stage colorectal cancer has been demonstrated in clinical trials. However, clinical trials may not represent the efficacy of treatment given to the whole population in daily practice, therefore evaluation of real-life data is needed. Methods: The demographic, pathological and clinical characteristics of 1064 RAS wild type pts were recorded in 28 centers in Turkey between January 2016 and March 2019 as part of the Onco-Colon Registry Program (NCT04757311). Metastasectomy was performed in 169 patients (15.9%). In this study, pts with and without metastasectomy were compared in terms of demographic, histopathological and clinical features and treatment results. Results: Median follow-up time was 24 months(mos) (1-74), median age was 59 years (30-81). 32.5% of the pts were women. The proportion of pts with primary right colon was determined to be 16.8%. Synchronous metastasis was detected in 76.3% of those who underwent metastasectomy. Isolated liver metastasectomy was performed in 85.8% of the pts. It has been shown that 21.1% of the pts have MSI-H and 23.3% have a mucinous component. Metastasectomy was performed after conversion therapy in 54.8% of pts. In the patient group who underwent metastasectomy after medical treatment, the median time between the beginning of treatment and metastasectomy was found to be 7 mos (2-34). When the patient characteristics were compared, no significant difference was found between the groups with and without metastasectomy (p > 0.05). The median PFS (mPFS) was 13.5 mos in the group that underwent metastasectomy and 9.9 mos in the group that was not performed (p < 0.0001; HR: 0.63 (95% CI: 0.51-0.77). The median OS (mOS) was 47.3 mos in the group that underwent metastasectomy and 24.3 mos in the group without metastasectomy (p < 0.0001; HR: 0.36 (95% CI: 0.27-0.48). Conclusions: The significant contribution of metastasectomy on mPFS and mOS was shown in this reallife data based trial, where no difference was found in terms of general participation characteristics. In daily practice, prolonged mPFS and mOS emerges as pts who are followed-up radiologically at regular intervals from the beginning and who are appropriate for surgery have the chance of metastasectomy