The effectiveness of nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine and gemcitabine monotherapy in first-line metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment: A real-world evidence

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies with a rise in mortality rates. FOLFIRINOX and nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine demonstrated a survival benefit compared to gemcitabine alone. Both protocols are now considered the standard of first-line treatment with no significant difference between them, primarily based on observational studies. Although new therapeutic options have emerged recently, the prognosis remains poor. We conducted a retrospective single-center study on 139 patients treated for metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (mPDAC) with gemcitabine monotherapy (Gem) or nab-paclitaxel + gemcitabine (Nab-P/Gem) in the first line. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness in terms of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) as well as the influence of patient and disease characteristics on outcomes. Nab-P/Gem resulted in OS of 13.87 months compared to 8.5 months in patients receiving Gem. The same trend was achieved in PFS, 5.37 versus 2.80 months, respectively, but without reaching statistical significance. Furthermore, the 6-month survival in the Nab-P/Gem group was also higher, 78.1% versus 47.8%. In terms of survival, the group of elderly patients, patients of poorer performance, with higher metastatic burden and liver involvement, benefited the most from combination therapy. In our analysis ECOG performance status (p.s.), previous primary tumor surgery, and liver involvement were found to be independent prognostic factors. The addition of nab-paclitaxel to gemcitabine resulted in a significant improvement in the OS of patients with mPDAC. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that patients with some unfavorable prognostic factors benefited the most

An extremely rare primary sarcoma of the lung with peritoneal and small bowel metastases: a case report

Background: Primary sarcoma of the lung is a very rare malignant tumor accounting for less than 0.5% of all lung tumors and presenting diagnostic and treatment challenge. We describe a case of a patient diagnosed with primary lung undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma developing subsequent peritoneal and small bowel metastases, which stand for highly unusual disease presentation. Case presentation: A 57-year-old male presented with extensive partially necrotic tumor in the left upper lobe (LUL) of the lung that involved LUL bronchus and extended to the visceral pleura. There was no evidence of nodal or visceral dissemination. After initial presentation, the patient was admitted to the hospital’s pulmonology department for further workup. The most likely diagnosis based on biopsy specimen was poorly differentiated sarcoma. Left pneumonectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection was performed. The final pathohistological diagnosis (PHD) was undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS). Three months after lung surgery, a follow-up CT scan was done which showed a 60-mm obstructive metastatic intraabdominal lesion with small bowel infiltration and further separate peritoneal deposits. Unfortunately, an urgent surgery had to be performed as the patient developed signs of acute abdomen due to bowel perforation. Only 2 months later, the patient passed away at home. Conclusions: Treatment options of UPS are based on algorithms used in treatment of extremity lesions with wellestablished role of surgery. However, the role of perioperative chemotherapy remains equivocal with no strong evidence-based data due to the rarity of the disease. Small bowel is an unexpected metastatic site, but of significant clinical relevanc