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World Neurosurg 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Neurosurgery, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY; Department of Radiation Oncology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY. Electronic address:

Checkpoint immunotherapy (CIT) is an emerging and exciting treatment modality in the treatment of cancer. Much excitement exists in the potential of CIT to revolutionize the treatment and prognosis of brain metastases. The combination of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and CIT has been further studied and showed promise over treatment with either modalities alone. Read More

J Thorac Oncol 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute; Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences; Guangzhou; China.

In 2018 research in the field of advanced non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) led to an expanded reach and impact of immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) as part of frontline treatment strategy, regardless of histology subtype, while ICI use was extended to include stage III disease, shifting the prognosis of all these patients. This new standard first-line approach opens a gap in standard second-line treatment, and older combinations may again become standard care after progression on ICIs. The characterization of predictive biomarkers, patient selection, the definition of strategies with ICI combinations upon progression on ICIs, as well as prospective evaluation of the efficacy of ICIs in subpopulations (such as patients with poor performance status or brain metastases) represent upcoming challenges in advanced thoracic malignancies. Read More

Brain Res Bull 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology & K.K. Leung Brain Research Centre, Preclinical School of Medicine, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, PR China. Electronic address:

Bone cancer pain (BCP) profoundly compromises the life quality of patients with bone metastases. Severe side effects of the drugs which were widely used and effective in the various stages of this condition results in a huge challenge for BCP treatment. Here, we investigated the antinociceptive effects of XPro1595, a soluble tumor necrosis factor (solTNF) inhibitor with considerable immunoregulatory efficacy, on BCP, as well as the underlying mechanisms within the spinal dorsal horn (SDH). Read More

JCO Clin Cancer Inform 2019 Apr(3):1-9

1 Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Purpose: Although the bulk of patient-generated health data are increasing exponentially, their use is impeded because most data come in unstructured format, namely as free-text clinical reports. A variety of natural language processing (NLP) methods have emerged to automate the processing of free text ranging from statistical to deep learning-based models; however, the optimal approach for medical text analysis remains to be determined. The aim of this study was to provide a head-to-head comparison of novel NLP techniques and inform future studies about their utility for automated medical text analysis. Read More

Oncologist 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

Purpose: Complex brain metastases (BMs), such as large lesions, lesions within or close to eloquent locations, or multiple recurrent/progressive BMs, remain the most challenging forms of brain cancer because of decreased intracranial control rates and poor survival. In the present study, we report the results from a single institutional phase II trial of concurrent temozolomide (TMZ) with hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (HFSRT) in patients with complex brain metastases, including assessment of its feasibility and toxicity.

Patients And Methods: Fifty-four patients with histologically proven primary cancer and complex BMs were enrolled between 2010 and 2015. Read More

Klin Onkol 2019 ;32(2):139-142

Background: Leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) in breast cancer is associated with a poor prognosis. Although no randomised trial has demonstrated that intrathecal chemotherapy actually prolongs survival, this treatment is considered standard of care in this setting. The prognosis of patients with LM is poor, with a median overall survival time of less than 6 months. Read More

Oncol Res Treat 2019 Apr 17;42(5):253-259. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany.

Introduction: Brain metastases (BM) have a very poor prognosis, creating a demand for effective local therapies, such as radiotherapy (RT) and neurosurgery, the combination of which is debatable. The aim of the present study was to investigate prognostic factors and to develop treatment recommendations for patients with BM.

Material And Methods: A total of 84 patients treated between May 2011 and July 2016 were analyzed in a single-institution retrospective study. Read More

Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992) 2019 Mar 11;65(3):424-433. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Chairman of the Program of Postgraduation in Neurooncology of the Teaching and Research Institute at Hospital Sirio-Libanês, São Paulo, SP.

Objective: Extracranial metastases of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) are rare due to the short survival experienced by the patients. Therefore, the natural history of GBM metastases remains elusive. The identification of clinical factors promoting GBM metastases may help elucidate the mechanisms of tumor cell invasion in the brain. Read More

Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) 2019 Apr 16:e13059. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK.

Aims: The role of selected treatments for brain metastases (BM) is well documented; however, the prevalence of these is not. We report on the patterns of care in the management of BM in a large oncology centre.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively audited 236 cases of newly diagnosed BM from January 2016 to December 2017 by looking at 2 years of radiology reports and gathered data on primary site, survival, treatment received, palliative care input and brain metastases-related admissions. Read More

Curr Oncol Rep 2019 Apr 16;21(6):50. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis Street, ASB1, L2, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.

Purpose Of Review: For patients with breast cancer who develop brain metastases, radiation therapy (RT) provides local control. Here, we review the current role for central nervous system RT, particularly focusing on the evolving role for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Recent Findings: SRS treats only known CNS disease as opposed to whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT), which treats the entire brain parenchyma. Read More

Cell Oncol (Dordr) 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, CA, 92354, USA.

Background: Caveolin-1 (cav-1) is the major structural protein of caveolae, the flask-shaped invaginations of the plasma membrane mainly involved in cell signaling. Today, cav-1 is believed to play a role in a variety of disease processes including cancer, owing to the variations of its expression in association with tumor progression, invasive behavior, metastasis and therapy resistance. Since first detected in the brain, a number of studies has particularly focused on the role of cav-1 in the various steps of brain tumorigenesis. Read More

Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 2019 May 20;16:48-54. Epub 2018 Nov 20.

INSERM CIC 1402, CHU, Poitiers, France.

Objective: To evaluate the computerized Inter Hemispheric Transfer Time Test (IHTTT), a cognitive test designed for the detection of information processing speed impairment in patients undergoing stereotactic radiation therapy for brain metastases.

Methods: Inclusion criteria: age ≥18 years, brain metastases treated by stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) with dose schedule: 33 Gy in 3 fractions, solid tumour, ≥70 Karnofsky Performance Status, Mini-Mental State Evaluation (MMSE) ≥ 24, no history of stroke brain injury. Twenty-nine patients were recruited from June 2014 to April 2015. Read More

Clin Cancer Res 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Center for Melanoma, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center

The characterization of the MAPK signaling pathway has led to the development of multiple promising targeted therapy options for a subset of patients with metastatic melanoma. The combination of BRAF and MEK inhibitors represents an FDA-approved standard of care in patients with metastatic and resected BRAF mutated melanoma. There are currently three FDA-approved BRAF/MEK inhibitor combinations for the treatment of patients with BRAF mutated melanoma. Read More

World J Surg Oncol 2019 Apr 16;17(1):70. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Radiotherapy Department, Centre Paul Strauss, UNICANCER, 3, rue de la Porte de l'hôpital, F-67065, Strasbourg, France.

Background: Meningioma is the most common adult primary intracranial tumor. Malignant meningioma is a rare variant of meningioma. The prognosis for the patients with these tumors is poor, due to the tumor's capacity for relapse and to develop distant metastases. Read More

Radiat Oncol 2019 Apr 15;14(1):65. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

Neuroradiology Unit, Department of Biomedical, Dental Science and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.

Background: The differential diagnosis between radiation necrosis, tumor recurrence and tumor progression is crucial for the evaluation of treatment response and treatment planning. The appearance of treatment-induced tissue necrosis on conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is similar to brain tumor recurrence and it could be difficult to differentiate the two entities on follow-up MRI examinations. Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast-enhanced (DSC) and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (DCE) are MRI perfusion techniques that use an exogenous, intravascular, non-diffusible gadolinium-based contrast agent. Read More

BMC Cancer 2019 Apr 16;19(1):360. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China, 610041.

Background: In clinical practice, the detection of biomarkers is mostly based on primary tumors for its convenience in acquisition. However, immune checkpoints may express differently between primary and metastatic tumor. Therefore, we aimed to compare the differential expressions of PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 between the primary and metastatic sites of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Read More

BMC Cancer 2019 Apr 16;19(1):362. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Gastroenterology and Endocrinology, University Hospital Marburg, Baldinger Strasse, 35043, Marburg, Germany.

Background: Brain metastases (BM) are rarely reported in patients with neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of non-lung origin and neuroendocrine tumors (NET) of the gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) or bronchopulmonary system. However, symptomatic brain metastases are associated with dismal prognosis, so early detection and treatment could be advisable.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 51 patients with GEP-NEN and bronchopulmonary NEN excluding small cell lung cancer. Read More

Rev Bras Ginecol Obstet 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Specialized Medicine, Universidade Federal do Piauí, Teresina, PI, Brazil.

Background:  Most endometrial cancers (75%) are diagnosed in early stages (stages I and II), in which abnormal uterine bleeding is the most frequent clinical sign. When the diagnosis is performed in stage IV, the most common sites of metastasis are the lungs, liver and bones. Central nervous system (CNS) metastasis is a rare condition. Read More

J Neurooncol 2019 Apr 16. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Department of Neurosurgery, Computational Neuroscience Outcomes Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 60 Fenwood Rd., 4th Floor, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.

Purpose: While surgery and radiation remain the mainstays of therapy for all patients with brain metastases (BM), the management is moving to a more individualized approach based on the underlying tumor. We sought to identify prognostic factors of both intracranial progression (IC-PFS) and overall survival (OS) in a surgical cohort.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 1015 patients treated surgically for BM at Brigham and Women's Hospital (2007-2017). Read More

Clin Cancer Res 2019 Apr 15. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Purpose: Lapatinib and capecitabine cross the blood tumor-barrier in breast cancer brain metastasis but have modest clinical efficacy. Administration of high dose tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) has been evaluated in brain metastases and primary brain tumors as a strategy to improve drug exposure in the central nervous system (CNS).We derived a rational drug scheduling of intermittent high dose lapatinib alternating with capecitabine-basedon our preclinical data and Norton-Simon mathematical modeling. Read More

Clin Genitourin Cancer 2019 Feb 20. Epub 2019 Feb 20.

Clinical Hospital Number 1 of Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.

Background: Cabozantinib is an approved treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). This report presents an analysis of the safety profile and efficacy of cabozantinib in an unselected population from Poland.

Patients And Methods: Patients with mRCC, who had been treated with at least 1 previous agent targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway, were eligible to receive cabozantinib at a once-daily dose of 60 mg orally, according to the Managed Access Program (MAP). Read More

J Immunother 2019 Apr 10. Epub 2019 Apr 10.

Departments of Radiation Oncology, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX.

Immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma has rapidly expanded, but racial and/or socioeconomic factors often impact the type of therapies delivered for cancer care. This study addressed a crucial public health priority by evaluating disparities in administration of immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma. The National Cancer Database was queried for newly diagnosed metastatic melanoma. Read More

Clin Nucl Med 2019 Apr 12. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

From St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia.

Brain metastases from prostate cancer are rare and occur at a late stage in the natural history of the disease. Men usually present with neurological manifestations. We present a 66-year-old asymptomatic man who had incidental brain metastases detected on Ga-PSMA PET/CT, which was later confirmed on biopsy to be prostate adenocarcinoma. Read More

Front Oncol 2019 29;9:205. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Significantly better local control is achieved with combination of whole brain radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery in the treatment of multiple brain metastases. However, no survival benefit was reported from this advantage in local control. The objective of this study was to review the available evidence whether better local control achieved with whole brain radiotherapy plus stereotactic radiosurgery leads to any benefit in survival in patients with favorable prognostic factors. Read More

Front Oncol 2019 28;9:184. Epub 2019 Mar 28.

Academic Department of Radiation Oncology, Centre Oscar Lambret, University Lille II, Lille, France.

The aim of this study was to assess, in a large series, the efficacy and tolerance of post-operative adjuvant hypofractionated stereotactic radiation therapy (HFSRT) for brain metastases (BMs). Between July 2012 and January 2017, 160 patients from 2 centers were operated for BM and treated by HFSRT. Patients had between 1 and 3 BMs, no brainstem lesions or carcinomatous meningitis. Read More

J Pathol 2019 Apr 14. Epub 2019 Apr 14.

Institute for Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology; Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.

Tspan8 exhibits a functional role in many cancer types including pancreatic, colorectal, oesophagus carcinoma and melanoma. We present a first study on the expression and function of Tspan8 in breast cancer. Tspan8 protein was present in the majority of human primary breast cancer lesions and metastases in the brain, bone, lung, and liver. Read More

J Neurooncol 2019 Apr 13. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California - Davis, 4800 Y Street, Suite 3740, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA.

Background: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) can enhance immune activation and improve disease control through stimulation of anti-tumor immunity. However, patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy are often immunosuppressed, which may impact the efficacy of SRS. Here we investigate the relationship between systemic lymphopenia and response to SRS in patients with brain-metastatic lung cancer. Read More

Breast Cancer Res Treat 2019 Apr 13. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.

Purpose: Brain metastases from breast cancer are frequently managed with brain-directed radiation but the impact of subtype on intracranial recurrence patterns after radiation has not been well-described. We investigated intracranial recurrence patterns of brain metastases from breast cancer after brain-directed radiation to facilitate subtype-specific management paradigms.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 349 patients with newly diagnosed brain metastases from breast cancer treated with brain-directed radiation at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute between 2000 and 2015. Read More

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Alfred Health Radiation Oncology Services, Australia; Central Clinical School, Monash University, Australia.

Purpose: / Objective: To evaluate the adoption of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists Choosing Wisely (CW) radiation oncology recommendations before and after the release of the recommendations METHODS: / Material: The Victorian Radiotherapy Minimum Data Set (VRMDS) captures details of radiotherapy delivered in the state of Victoria, Australia. This study comprised the following three groups of patients relevant to three of the five CW recommendations: women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer at age 50 or above who had breast radiotherapy (excluding nodal irradiation), cancer patients who had palliative bone radiotherapy (excluding those with primary bone malignancies), and cancer patients who had stereotactic radiotherapy to the brain (excluding those with primary malignancies of central nervous system). The outcomes of interest were: use of hypofractionated breast radiotherapy (<25 fractions), use of long-course palliative bone radiotherapy (>10 fractions), and use of adjuvant whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) within 1 month of stereotactic radiotherapy. Read More

Diagnostics (Basel) 2019 Apr 11;9(2). Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Medical Oncology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO) IRCCS, Via F. Gallini 2, 33081 Aviano, Italy.

Most non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients are likely to develop brain metastases during the course of their illness. Currently, no consensus on NSCLC patients' treatment with brain metastasis has been established. Although whole brain radiotherapy prolongs the median survival time of approximately 4 months, a cisplatin-pemetrexed combination may also represent a potential option in the treatment of asymptomatic NSCLC patients with brain metastases. Read More

Phys Med Biol 2019 Apr 12. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, JAPAN.

Parallax error caused by the detector crystal thickness degrades spatial resolution at the peripheral regions of the field-of-view (FOV) of a scanner. To resolve this issue, depth-of-interaction (DOI) measurement is a promising solution to improve the spatial resolution and its uniformity over the entire FOV. Even though DOI detectors have been used in dedicated systems with a small ring diameter such as for human brain, breast and small animals, the use of DOI detectors for a large bore whole-body PET system has not been demonstrated yet. Read More

Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2019 May 19;180:117-121. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

Klinik für Radioonkologie und Strahlentherapie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Stephanstraße 9 a, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address:

Objectives: Brain metastasis (BM) is a major complication of different cancers. There is increasing evidence for influence of vascular factors on BM in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is not known if the same is true for other tumors that might rely on different forms of vasculogenesis. Read More

Target Oncol 2019 Apr 11. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Medical Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, 200032, China.

Background: Approximately 1-2% of patients with non‒small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harbor ROS1 rearrangements. Crizotinib, an oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that targets anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), MET, and ROS1, has shown marked antitumor activity in patients with ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC.

Objective: Our objective was to analyze the efficacy and safety of crizotinib treatment in Chinese patients with advanced NSCLC with ROS1 rearrangement in real-world clinical practice. Read More

Biochem Biophys Rep 2019 Jul 25;18:100625. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

Brain metastasis (BM) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is relatively common and has a poor prognosis. Moreover, identifying which patients are more likely to develop BM is challenging. Akt, a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase, can be activated in various tumors, including lung cancer, and may be associated with poor prognosis. Read More

Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2019 Apr 8. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Department of Orthopedics Surgery, Hebei Medical University Fourth Affiliated Hospital and Hebei Provincial Tumor Hospital, 12 Health Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050011, PR China. Electronic address:

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is rare. One of its characteristics is a high rate of distant metastasis, and the most common site is the lungs, followed by the brain and liver. Bony metastases account for up to 1. Read More

J Immunother Cancer 2019 Apr 11;7(1):102. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

IRCCS Neuromed, 86077, Pozzilli (IS), Italy.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of concurrent stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and ipilimumab or nivolumab in patients with untreated melanoma brain metastases.

Patients And Methods: Eighty consecutive patients with 326 melanoma brain metastases receiving SRS in combination with ipilimumab or nivolumab were identified from an institutional database and retrospectively evaluated. Patients started systemic treatment with intravenous nivolumab or ipilimumab within one week of receiving SRS. Read More

Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2019 Apr 9. Epub 2019 Apr 9.

Medical Oncology Division, Pendik Education and Research Hospital, Marmara University, School of Medicine, Fevzi Çakmak Mahallesi, Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu Cd No:10, 34899, Pendik/Istanbul, Turkey.

Purpose: In this study our aim was to compare efficacy and toxicity profiles of two different schedule of carboplatin-paclitaxel regimen in elderly advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Methods: Data from the charts of 59 elderly patients with metastatic NSCLC, treated with weekly paclitaxel combined with two different schedule of carboplatin were collected retrospectively from three medical oncology centers in Turkey between September 2002 to March 2018. No prior systemic therapy or radiotherapy was allowed. Read More

Front Oncol 2019 26;9:168. Epub 2019 Mar 26.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Center Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States.

Melanoma brain metastasis with ependymal spread/metastases is uncommon. These cases are frequently classified together with leptomeningeal disease. However, the commonalities and differences in the underlying pathophysiology and clinical outcomes between these two types of spread are not clear. Read More

Acta Neuropathol Commun 2019 Apr 10;7(1):55. Epub 2019 Apr 10.

Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Brain Tumour Research Centre, Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, 5009, Bergen, Norway.

Melanoma patients carry a high risk of developing brain metastases, and improvements in survival are still measured in weeks or months. Durable disease control within the brain is impeded by poor drug penetration across the blood-brain barrier, as well as intrinsic and acquired drug resistance. Augmented mitochondrial respiration is a key resistance mechanism in BRAF-mutant melanomas but, as we show in this study, this dependence on mitochondrial respiration may also be exploited therapeutically. Read More

Monaldi Arch Chest Dis 2019 Apr 5;89(1). Epub 2019 Apr 5.

Department of Translational Medical Sciences, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Monaldi Hospital, Naples.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide and majority of patients are diagnosed in advanced/metastatic disease stage. Sites of distant metastases mainly include contralateral lung, lymph nodes, brain, bones, adrenal glands and liver; skeletal muscles metastases (SMMs) are less common. Psoas muscle and diaphragm metastases are mainly found during autopsy, as their involvement commonly is asymptomatic. Read More

Epigenet Insights 2019 31;12:2516865719840284. Epub 2019 Mar 31.

Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, CA, USA.

DNA methylation profiling has proven to be a powerful analytical tool, which can accurately identify the tissue of origin of a wide range of benign and malignant neoplasms. Using microarray-based profiling and supervised machine learning algorithms, we and other groups have recently unraveled DNA methylation signatures capable of aiding the histomolecular diagnosis of different tumor types. We have explored the methylomes of metastatic brain tumors from patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, and cutaneous melanoma and primary brain neoplasms to build epigenetic classifiers. Read More

Mol Clin Oncol 2019 May 20;10(5):560-566. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Komaki City Hospital, Gamma Knife Center, Komaki, Aichi 485-8520, Japan.

The efficacy and safety of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in comparison with whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) for brain metastases (BMs) remains unclear. The present study retrospectively reviewed 44 patients who received SRS or WBRT as an initial treatment for 10-20 BMs from non-small cell lung cancer between 2009 and 2016. Of the patients, 24 (54. Read More

Gynecol Oncol Rep 2019 May 20;28:79-83. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

University of Colorado Denver, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aurora, CO, United States.

Brain metastases from endometrial carcinoma are rare, however they do occur, and they are associated with an especially poor prognosis. There is evidence demonstrating improved outcomes with early diagnosis and subsequent multimodal treatment. This study therefore aims to review cases of brain metastases from endometrial carcinoma with specific focus on clinical presentation and disease history. Read More

ESMO Open 2019 12;4(Suppl 1):e000471. Epub 2019 Mar 12.

Department of Urology, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.

Oligometastatic disease was proposed by Hellman and Weichselbaum in 1995 as an intermediate tumour state between localised lesions and widespread metastases, characterised by the limited number and size of metastases in specific organs such as lung, liver, bone or even brain. The oligometastatic state has increasingly been recognised as a unique clinical state during which local ablative treatment can be effective in several types of cancer, including prostate cancer. However, the role of systemic therapy, such as hormone therapy and chemotherapy, is not yet well known. Read More

Sarcoma 2019 10;2019:1960593. Epub 2019 Mar 10.

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Introduction: Primary cardiac sarcoma (PCS) has a poor prognosis compared to other sarcomas due to late presentation, challenging resection, incidence of metastases, and limited efficacy of systemic therapies.

Methods: A medical record search engine was queried to identify patients diagnosed with PCS from 1992 to 2017 at the University of Michigan.

Results: Thirty-nine patients with PCS had a median age of 41 years (range 2-77). Read More

Pathol Res Pract 2019 Apr 3. Epub 2019 Apr 3.

Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Cancer Evolution Research Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Brain metastasis from ovarian/peritoneal cancer is a rare disease that has a dismal prognosis. And genomic alterations and immune-profiling in primary ovarian/ peritoneal cancer and brain metastatic tumor tissues have not been fully elucidated. Multiplexed immunofluorescence and whole-exome sequencing of two matched brain metastatic tumor and primary ovarian/peritoneal cancer tissues were performed. Read More

Curr Opin Pharmacol 2019 Apr 4;47:102-109. Epub 2019 Apr 4.

Laboratory for Research on Neurodegenerative Disorders, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri SpA SB - IRCCS, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Electronic address:

Peptides have emerged as novel and promising medicaments for the treatment of many human diseases, including tumors. In the treatment of cancer, they can be employed directly as bioactive therapeutics, promoting the reduction of tumor growth, but also as drug delivery systems, to facilitate the passage of drugs through cell and tissue barriers and to increase the selectivity of therapeutics for tumor cells. The advantages of peptides over standard chemotherapeutic agents are several-fold and include ease of synthesis, high efficacy, reduced side-effects, and low production cost. Read More

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2019 Apr 5. Epub 2019 Apr 5.

Department of Radiation Oncology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC.

Background: Several studies evaluating stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for patients with >4 brain metastases (BM) demonstrated similar outcomes after treatment of 1, 2-4, and 5-15 BM; others found clinically significant survival decrements in the latter group. In this review of eight academic centers, we compared outcomes of patients undergoing initial SRS for 1, 2-4, and 5-15 BM.

Methods: A total of 2,089 patients treated with initial SRS for brain metastases were included. Read More

Thorac Cancer 2019 Apr 7. Epub 2019 Apr 7.

Department of Oncology, Cancer Center, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.

Background: This study was conducted to investigate if radiotherapy improved the overall survival (OS) of patients with oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: From January 2012 to August 2015, 323 NSCLC patients with distant metastasis were administered radiotherapy. Ninety-five patients with oligometastatic NSCLC who were sensitive to the initial chemotherapy were treated with radiotherapy for the residual lesions. Read More

Curr Oncol Rep 2019 Apr 8;21(6):49. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Department of Medical Oncology, Division of Breast Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, 450 Brookline Ave., Boston, MA, 02215, USA.

Purpose Of The Review: Historically, systemic treatment options for patients with breast cancer brain metastases have been very limited. This review focuses on important considerations for systemic therapy as well as ongoing clinical trials evaluating novel agents.

Recent Findings: For patients with hormone receptor-positive brain metastases, endocrine therapy or chemotherapy options can be considered. Read More