Articles related to Oncology, Surgical

This meta-analysis examined 1,212 published articles and abstracts, of which the 30 fulfilling their criteria were analyzed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D levels on OS, PFS, and secondarily on time to treatment, relapse rate, and non-relapse mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies. Lower vitamin D level at diagnosis was related to a significantly impaired prognosis for myeloid and lymphoid malignancies, as previously reported.

This retrospective cohort study included 2,833 patients with stage IB to IIIA NSCLC who enrolled in the Adjuvant Lung Cancer Enrichment Marker Identification and Sequencing Trial (ALCHEMIST) screening study from August 18, 2014, to April 1, 2019. Although 93% received surgical resection, just 53% had adequate lymph node dissection and 57% received any adjuvant chemotherapy. The authors suggest more effort at optimizing use of proven therapies in this patient population.

This study evaluates the effect of including a patient-reported electronic symptom scoring system in terms of outcomes. Symptoms scored included pain, fatigue, disturbed sleep, shortness of breath, and coughing. The intervention group reported fewer symptom threshold events than the control group in hospital and 4 weeks post discharge.

Patients with T-LL had significantly improved EFS and OS with bortezomib on the AALL1231 backbone. Systemic therapy intensification allowed elimination of CRT in more than 90% of patients with T-ALL without excess relapse. There was no difference in rates of receiving CRT.

A randomized trial showed no significant difference in the rate of invasive melanoma between patients taking daily aspirin and those taking a placebo. There were slightly fewer melanoma events in the aspirin group than in the placebo group — 177 and 189, respectively — but the difference between the groups was not statistically significant (hazard ratio [HR], 0.94; 95% CI, 0.77-1.16; P =.58). Similarly, there were slightly fewer invasive melanoma events in the aspirin group than in the placebo group — 76 and 94, respectively — but the between-group difference was not significant (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.60-1.10; P =.18).

Meaningful advances in sarcoma treatment have been painfully slow. Modern immunotherapy may change that. The article referenced by this editorial reports the results of CMB305 plus atezolizumab or atezolizumab alone in patients with NY-ESO-1–expressing synovial or myxoid round cell liposarcoma. The relevance of this study furthers the data using novel immunotherapeutic strategies, which generate B- and T-cell responses for two rare sarcomas that can serve as a foundation for future trials.