Oncological patients' reactions to COVID-19 pandemic: A single institution prospective study

Background

The spread of the COVID‐19 pandemic has led to a rapid reorganization in all human and hospital activities, with impact on cancer patients.

Aim

An analysis of cancer patients fears, and awareness of COVID‐19 has been done in this study.

Methods and results

We analyzed cancer patients' reactions to the pandemic and their perception of oncological care reorganization, through a 12‐item survey, proposed at the peak of pandemic and 3 months later. Overall, 237 patients were included in the study. During the peak of pandemic 34.6% of patients were more worried about COVID‐19 than cancer versus 26.4% in the post‐acute phase (p = .013). Although 49.8% of patients in the acute phase and 42.3% in the post‐acute phase considered their risk of death if infected ≥50%, and more than 70% of patients thought to be at higher risk of complications, the majority of them did not consider the possibility to stop or delay their treatment. Patients were more interested in following news about COVID‐19 than cancer and they complied with all preventive measures in more than 90% of the cases.

Conclusions

Although cancer patients worried about COVID‐19 and evaluated the risk of complication or death due to COVID‐19 as extremely high, they were still asking for the best oncological treatment.

[Locally-advanced cervix cancer : multidisciplinary management]

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women and is linked in over 95 % of cases to papillomavirus infection, the incidence of which has fallen in recent years due to screening and vaccination. Almost half of these cancers are diagnosed at a locally advanced stage with an overall 5-year survival of around 65 %. In recent decades, the management strategy of these locally advanced cancers has changed considerably and has allowed the improvement of survival but above all of local control as well as the reduction of toxicity, due to the implementation of imaging. Standard treatment consists of external beam radiation therapy combined with concomitant chemotherapy followed by intrauterine brachytherapy. The role of neo-adjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy is still being evaluated. New therapeutic approaches (particularly immunotherapy) in addition to standard treatment are also being studied.

Impact of leucocyte modifications in patients with locally advanced cervical treated by chemoradiotherapy

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Background: Concomitant cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), followed by image guided-adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) is the recommended treatment for patients suffering from locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Methods: Between January 2010 and May 2017, 103 patients with LACC (FIGO 2009-stages IB2-IVA) received CCRT followed by IGABT. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the impact of white blood cells (WBC) and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) counts variations on outcomes. This variable was calculated by substraction between WBC or PMN levels at the first cycle (CB) and the last cycle (CL) of chemotherapy (CT)(DCB-CL). The data were reviewed retrospectively, with Cox regression for univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 50 years. The median tumor size at diagnosis was 47mm. The majority of the patients had FIGO stage II (60.2%) or stage I (21.4%) disease with squamous histology (88.3%). Patients received a median dose of external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) of 45 Gy (range 40-50.4 Gy) by 1.8-2 Gy fractions, with a median cumulative dose of all the radiotherapy of 85 Gy. The median duration of EBRT+IGABT was 51 days (range 31-94). All patients received at least one cycle of cisplatin, but the majority received 5 (40.4%) or 6 (39.4%) cycles. The median follow-up time for all patients was 30.1 months. The overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) at 3 years was 81,4% and 76,8% respectively. Univariate analysis associated higher DCB-CL WBC and DCB-CL PMN with better OS and RFS. Multivariate analysis confirmed that DCB-CL WBC (HR, 0.856; 95% CI, 0.737-0.986; p = 0.018) and DCB-CL PMN (HR, 0.863; 95% CI, 0.750-0.994; p = 0.041) were associated with better OS and RFS respectively. A linear regression analysis was performed to cross the DCB-CL WBC/PMN and the number of CT cycles. This analysis reveals that an increasing number of CT cycles is linked to an increased DCB-CL WBC/PMN. Conclusions: Our study reveals the impact of DCB-CL WBC and PMN on outcomes. These two tests could become biomarkers during CCRT to discuss adjuvant treatments, but also to adapt our follow-up.

Cutaneous Breast Cancer Metastases Successfully Treated Using an Oxygen Flow Assisted Topical Administration of Methotrexate (OFAMTX)

Introduction

Cutaneous metastases of breast cancer remain a therapeutic challenge. Oxygen flow-assisted topical administration of methotrexate 5% (OFAMTX, 5% methotrexate in a carrier solution) has recently been proven to be an efficacious alternative treatment for extramammary Paget’s disease, which is considered to be an in situ mammary adenocarcinoma of the epidermis.

Case Report

A 51-year-old patient with triple negative breast cancer presenting with biopsy-proven skin metastases on the chest agreed to a treatment with OFAMTX5%. The treatment duration was 2 weeks and consisted of twice-weekly sessions with OFAMTX5% applied to an area of skin of approximately 40 cm². Skin biopsies were performed before and 2 months after procedure. The tolerance to the treatment was excellent, and no pain sensations were experienced. Two months post-procedure the treated area presented a post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. No residual metastatic lesions were detectable on the control skin biopsy. Six months post-procedure the patient is still in clinical remission.

Discussion

OFAMTX5% represents an alternative skin-directed, painless, patient-friendly and efficacious adjuvant treatment for superficial metastatic lesions of breast cancer. Larger series are required to evaluate the potential of OFAMTX5% for the treatment of superficial metastatic lesions of breast cancer.

[Pseudotumoral pelvic actinomycosis : one should think of it]

Actinomycosis is a rare chronic disease caused by a group of anaerobic Gram positive bacteria. It may mimic a neoplasia at various anatomical levels. A pelvic localization is exceptional but has an increasing incidence since the use of intrauterine devices. In such cases, pelvic actinomycosis may present as a gynecological or a lower colonic malignancy. For all atypical clinical, with a prominent infectious or inflammatory context, the diagnosis of actinomycosis must be suggested and discussed with the pathologist to whom the biopsy will be submitted. In the absence of a preoperative diagnosis, an inadequately aggressive pelvic surgery might be performed and rendered particularly complex due to the adherent and diffusely inflammatory pattern of the disease. The treatment of choice remains a long-term therapy with antibiotics that leads to a complete clinical and radiological response in the majority of cases. We report the case of a 27-year-old woman with a clinical and radiological diagnosis of rectal carcinoma but with limited preoperative biopsy that revealed a pelvic actinomycosis and allowed a conservative and successful antibacterial treatment.

[Carcinoma of unknown primary : a not so rare entity]

Carcinomas of unknown primary (CUP) form a whole group of heterogeneous neoplasias. CUP are defined as metastatic epithelial tumors in which the initial work up has failed to detect the primary site. Their frequency is 3-5 % of the adult solid neoplasias. The prognosis is poor with a life expectancy of a few months (inferior to 1 year). The treatment depends on the histology and, particularly, on the metastatic localiza¬tion. Surgery with or without radiotherapy is the preferred treatment option for isolated lesions. Systemic chemotherapy (with platinum compound) will be recommended for multiple lesions. The genetic expression profile of tumor cells could be useful in the future to determine the site of the primary tumor and/or to offer the best therapy for each patient.

[Biopsy of suspicious lesions in patients with breast cancer]

Discordances between hormone receptors and HER2 status in primary and metastatic breast cancer have been reported by several studies. In this context, systematic biopsies could be clinically relevant in breast cancer to confirm the biological characteristics of a suspicious lesion. In this article, illustrated by 2 case reports and based on a recent review on this topic, we discuss the clinical significance of receptor discordances and possible diagnosis of a secondary primary tumor. The role of these biopsies for the identification of new therapeutic targets is also envisaged as well as underlying mechanisms for receptors' modification like tumoral heterogeneity, clonal selection and technical artifacts.

[Management of febrile neutropenia in cancer patients]

The incidence of cancer is raising and the treatments are increasingly aggressive. Consequently, general practitioners, emergency departments, hematologists and oncologists are regularly facing a severe side-effect of cytotoxic therapy, febrile neutropenia (FN). FN is a serious complication of chemotherapy because it can be quickly fatal and causes a temporary or definitive cessation of treatment. In this article, we summarize the latest recommendations for the management of patients with FN under anti-cancer treatments.

[Angiosarcoma in chronic lymphoedema: a case of Stewart-Treves syndrome]

The Stewart-Treves Syndrome is defined as an angiosarcoma (very aggressive malignant tumor originating from endothelial cells) appearing in a specific clinical setting. This tumor develops in patients suffering from chronic lymphedema of the upper limb following mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection for breast cancer. The diagnosis relies on medical history, clinical examination and a histological assesment (biopsy or resection). This syndrome represents a rare clinical entity. Unfortunately, the prognosis is poor. A large surgical resection is the treatment of choice if the patient is a candidate for a surgical resection with a curative intent Radiotherapy is sometimes used as a palliative local treatment. Chemotherapy is only used in more advanced cases, not curable by surgery alone.