Meeting report, “First Indian national conference on cervical cancer management - expert recommendations and identification of barriers to implementation”

Objective

In India, cervical cancer accounts for almost 14% of all female cancer cases. Although poverty continues to cast a wide net over the Indian subcontinent, the preceding three decades have borne witness to improvements in nutrition and sanitation for many citizens. However, due to an absence of a national immunization program to cover human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and lack of accessible cervical cancer screening, the disease is characterized by late detection, lack of access to affordable and quality health care, and high mortality rates. Treatment of cervical cancer is stage-specific and depends on the patient’s age, desire to preserve fertility, overall health, the clinician’s expertise, and accessibility to resources. There is a paucity of uniform treatment protocols for various stages of cervical cancer in India. Considering all these parameters, a need to optimize treatment paradigms for the Indian population emerged.

Methods/materials

Three expert panel meetings were held in different regions of India from 2016 to 2017. They were comprised of 15 experts from across the country, and included surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists. The panel members reviewed the literature from both national and global sources, discussed their clinical experience and local practices and evaluated current therapeutic options and management gaps for women diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Results

This article summarizes the expert opinion from these meetings. It discusses the available resources and highlights the current therapeutic options available for different cervical cancer stages: early stage disease, locally advanced tumors, recurrent/persistent/metastatic cancer. An Indian consensus governing treatment options emerged, including guidelines for use of the only approved targeted therapy in this disease, the anti-angiogenesis drug, bevacizumab.

Conclusions

The panel concluded that given the availability of state-of-the-art imaging modalities, surgical devices, radiotherapeutics, and novel agents in several population-dense urban centers, a uniform, multi-disciplinary treatment approach across patient care centers is ideal but not realistic due to cost and a paucity of third party payors for most Indian citizens. Preventative strategies including visual inspection with acetic acid to screen for precursor lesions (i.e., cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) with immediate referral for cervical cryotherapy and possible large-scale roll-out of the HPV vaccine in the near future can be expected to reduce mortality rates significantly in this country.

Current Treatment Options for Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-Directed Therapy in Metastatic Breast Cancer: An Indian Perspective

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer and has historically been associated with poor outcomes. The availability of various anti-HER2 therapies, including trastuzumab, lapatinib, pertuzumab, and trastuzumab emtansine (TDM-1), has remarkably improved the clinical outcomes in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC). However, there is a need to optimize treatment within this population, given the wide variability in clinical presentation. Additionally, geographical and socio-economic considerations too need to be taken into account. To clarify and collate evidence pertaining to HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, a panel of medical and clinical oncologists from across India developed representative clinical scenarios commonly encountered in clinical practice in the country. This was followed by two meetings wherein each clinical scenario was discussed in detail and relevant evidence appraised. The result of this process is presented in this manuscript as evidence followed by therapeutic recommendations of this panel for management of HER2-positive mBC in the Indian population.

Minimally Differentiated Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Morphologic, Cytochemical and Ultrastructural Study

Seven of 368 cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) could not be subclassified by routine morphologic, cytochemical and immunologic analyses during the period January 1989 to December 1990. Further investigations including ultrastructural examination, anti-myeloperoxidase and myeloid specific antigen analysis were carried out in all these patients and they were classified as AML-MO, as per the FAB criteria. Morphologically these blasts resembled ALL-L2/AML-M1. Cytochemlcally they were negative for Sudan black, myeloperoxidase, periodic acid-Schiff, and non-specific esterase. On initial immunophenotypic analysis, they could not be classified Into B, T or myeloid lineages. Further investigations revealed CD13 and CD33 positivity in 4 of 6 patients. Anti-myeloperoxidase was positive in 6 of 6 patients and ultrastructural examination revealed myeloperoxidase-positive blasts in 6 of 7 cases. Cytogenetic analysis done in one patient revealed 60 % abnormal metaphases. Six of 7 cases were treated with aggressive chemotherapy. One patient achieved complete remission but relapsed after 6 months, whereas others were resistant to treatment. Hence we conclude that an aggressive investigative and therapeutic approach is required to identify and treat AML-MO.

Long-term right atrial catheters in patients with malignancies: an Indian experience

Ninety-eight single lumen and two double lumen silicone right atrial Hickman/Broviac catheters inserted in 91 patients with various malignancies over a period of 36 months were prospectively studied. The average duration of use for all Hickman/Broviac catheters was 7,460 days with an average of 74.6 days. A total of 41 episodes of catheter-related infections were documented in all patients (0.5 per 100 access days). Catheter related bacteremia was the most frequent type of infection (31 out of 41, 75%). Majority of the bacteremias could be controlled with routine antimicrobial therapy. Exit site infections were seen in 5 Hickman/Broviac catheters. Two catheters had to be removed because of catheter tunnel infections. Gram negative bacteremic infections were the most common, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa being the major pathogen. Silicone rubber Hickman/Broviac catheters proved to be convenient, reliable, and easily manageable devices in our experience.

Primary endodermal sinus tumor of the penis: a case report

We report a case of primary extragonadal germ cell tumor of the penis in a 2-year-old child with elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein. The patient responded well to a combination of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin, achieving a complete response within 3 cycles. He was alive and disease-free 8 months after diagnosis. To our knowledge this is the first case of an endodermal sinus tumor of the penis reported in the literature. The possible histogenesis of this tumor at such a rare site is discussed.

Long term survival in a patient with multiple myeloma. A case report with review of literature

A 37 year old man with symptomatic multiple myeloma diagnosed in April 1968 presented with generalised bony pains, extensive skeletal osteolytic lesions, monoclonal gammopathy and 90 percent atypical plasma cells in the marrow. He was given cyclophosphamide for six months with minimal response and then initiated on melphalan for one year. He was asymptomatic for 15 years thereafter and presented again in 1985 with a relapse of the disease. Over the next four years he was given various combinations of chemotherapy including cyclophosphamide, vincristine, melphalan and carmustine. He responded well on two more occasions only to relapse again. Recently, he has developed a symptomatic relapse with 36 percent plasma cells. This case report highlights the fact that there is a subset of patients with myeloma who survive beyond ten years, but remain symptomatic and respond slowly to chemotherapy.

Primary Liver Lymphoma: A Case Report with Review of Literature

Primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the liver is exceedingly rare and until now only 53 cases have been recorded. Most extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are in the head and neck region and the gastrointestinal tract. We report a patient with primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the liver and also review the relevant literature.