Cancer

BACKGROUND: To the authors' knowledge, little is known regarding the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on people living with HIV and cancer (PLWHC), who have lower cancer treatment rates and worse cancer outcomes. To investigate this research gap, the authors examined the effects of the ACA on insurance coverage and receipt of cancer treatment among PLWHC in the United States. METHODS: HIV-infected individuals aged 18 to 64 years old with cancer diagnosed between 2011 and 2015 were identified in the National Cancer Data Base...

BACKGROUND: Persistent rural-urban disparities for colorectal and cervical cancers raise concerns regarding access to treatment providers. To the authors knowledge, little is known regarding rural-urban differences in residential proximity to cancer specialists. METHODS: Using the 2018 Physician Compare data concerning physician practice locations and the 2012 to 2016 American Community Survey, the current study estimated the driving distance from each residential zip code tabulation area (ZCTA) centroid to the nearest cancer provider of the following medical specialties involved in treating patients with colorectal and cervical cancer: medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology, general surgery, gynecological oncology, and colorectal surgery...

The emergence of immunotherapy has dramatically changed how non-small-cell lung cancer is treated, and longer survival is now possible for some patients, even those with advanced disease. Although some patients achieve durable responses to checkpoint blockade, not all experience such benefits, and some suffer from significant immunotoxicities. Given this, biomarkers that predict response to therapy are essential, and testing for tumor programmed death ligand 1(PD-L1) expression is the current standard. The extent of PD-L1 expression determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) has demonstrated a correlation with treatment response, although limitations with this marker exist...

BACKGROUND: Desmoid tumors (or aggressive fibromatosis) are locally infiltrative connective-tissue tumors that can arise in any anatomic location; they can be asymptomatic, or they can result in pain, deformity, swelling, and loss of mobility and/or threaten visceral organs with bowel perforation, hydronephrosis, neurovascular damage, and other complications. Existing clinical trial endpoints such as the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (version 1.1) and progression-free survival are inadequate in capturing treatment efficacy...

BACKGROUND: Although management guidelines exist for several genes associated with a 2-fold to 5-fold increase in the relative risk for certain cancers, the value of testing for them remains controversial. METHODS: De-identified personal and family history data for 654 individuals with pathogenic variants (PVs) in PALB2, ATM, CHEK2, NBN, BRIP1, RAD51C, and/or RAD51D were analyzed for pretest and post-test candidacy for guideline-recommended management of cancer risk...

BACKGROUND: Optimal chemotherapy for treating mixed-phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) and the role of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) remain uncertain. Major limitations in interpreting available data are MPAL's rarity and the use of definitions other than the currently widely accepted criteria: the World Health Organization 2016 (WHO2016) classification. METHODS: To assess the relative efficacy of chemotherapy types for treating pediatric MPAL, the Children's Oncology Group (COG) Acute Leukemia of Ambiguous Lineage Task Force assembled a retrospective cohort of centrally reviewed WHO2016 MPAL cases selected from banking studies for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML)...

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer screening uptake is low, particularly among individuals enrolled in Medicaid. To the authors' knowledge, little is known regarding the effectiveness of direct-to-member outreach by Medicaid health insurance plans to raise colorectal cancer screening use, nor how best to deliver such outreach. METHODS: BeneFIT is a hybrid implementation-effectiveness study of 2 program models that health plans developed for a mailed fecal immunochemical test (FIT) intervention...

BACKGROUND: News of cancer progression is critical to setting accurate prognostic understanding, which guides patients' treatment decision making. This study examines whether religious belief in miracles modifies the effect of receiving news of cancer progression on change in prognostic understanding. METHODS: In a multisite, prospective cohort study, 158 patients with advanced cancer, whom oncologists expected to die within 6 months, were assessed before and after the visit at which scan results were discussed...

BACKGROUND: Sixty percent of patients with stage IV melanoma may develop brain metastases, which result in significantly increased morbidity and a poor overall prognosis. Phase 3 studies of melanoma usually exclude patients with untreated brain metastases; therefore, clinical data for intracranial responses to treatments are limited. METHODS: A multicenter, retrospective case series investigation of consecutive BRAF-mutant patients with melanoma brain metastases (MBMs) treated with a combination of BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and MEK inhibitor binimetinib was conducted to evaluate the antitumor response...

BACKGROUND: Body mass index (BMI) is used to define obesity, but it is an imperfect measure of body composition. In the current study, the authors explored the association between types of fat and survival in patients treated with immunotherapy. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 90 patients who were treated with immunotherapy on phase 1 clinical trials at the Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, from 2009 through 2017 was performed. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were used to measure clinical outcomes...

BACKGROUND: The extent of breast cancer outcome disparity can be measured by comparing Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) by region and with institutional cohort (IC) rates. METHODS: Patients who were diagnosed with a first primary, de novo, stage IV breast cancer at ages 25 to 84 years from 1990 to 2011 were studied. The change in 5-year BCSS over time from 1990 to 2011 was compared using the SEER 9 registries (SEER 9) without the Seattle-Puget Sound (S-PS) region (n = 12,121), the S-PS region alone (n = 1931), and the S-PS region IC (n = 261)...

BACKGROUND: Metastasectomy of isolated colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) requires significant clinical expertise and may not be readily available or offered. The authors hypothesized that hospitals that treat a greater percentage of patients from higher income catchment areas are more likely to perform metastasectomies regardless of patient or tumor characteristics. METHODS: Using the National Cancer Data Base, the authors classified facilities into facility income quartiles (FIQs) based on the percentage of patients from the wealthiest neighborhoods (by zip code)...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to determine whether fertility preservation (FP) with oocyte/embryo cryopreservation is associated with differences in disease-free survival (DFS). METHODS: This retrospective study included patients aged 18 to 45 who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2007 and 2017 and were seen for FP consultation at a university fertility center before cancer treatment. The primary endpoint, DFS, was defined as the time from FP consultation until patients developed a locoregional recurrence, distant metastasis, a contralateral breast tumor, or a new primary malignancy...

BACKGROUND: Active surveillance (AS) is an accepted means of managing low-risk prostate cancer. Because of the rarity of downstream events, data from existing AS cohorts cannot yet address how differences in surveillance intensity affect metastasis and mortality. This study projected the comparative benefits of different AS schedules in men diagnosed with prostate cancer who had Gleason score (GS) ≤6 disease and risk profiles similar to those in North American AS cohorts. METHODS: Times of GS upgrading were simulated based on AS data from the University of Toronto, Johns Hopkins University, the University of California at San Francisco, and the Canary Pass Active Surveillance Cohort...

BACKGROUND: Significant progress was recently observed in the treatment of metastatic melanoma (MM). With >50% of patients now reaching a second line of treatment and a significant improvement in the survival rate, an assessment of quality of life (QoL) during the whole course of the disease becomes necessary. The objective of this study was to describe the QoL of patients with MM in France, from their diagnosis of advanced disease to their death, in real life. METHODS: QoL data were collected through MelBase, a prospective, French, multicentric cohort dedicated to the follow-up of adults with MM...

BACKGROUND: Although pediatric cancer survivors in the United States are at an increased risk of developing chronic conditions, to the authors' knowledge there is limited information regarding the types and combinations of conditions they experience in the years immediately after the completion of cancer therapy. METHODS: An observational cohort study of early pediatric cancer survivors (children who were ≥2 years from the end of therapy and aged ≤18 years) was conducted using the Truven Health MarketScan (r) Commercial Claims and Encounters database (2009-2014)...

BACKGROUND: Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at increased risk for both treatment-related exercise intolerance and neurocognitive deficits. This analysis aimed to identify the association between exercise intolerance and neurocognitive impairments in ALL survivors. METHODS: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing, results from a 2-hour standardized neuropsychological assessment, and self-report questionnaires were obtained for 341 adult survivors of childhood ALL and 288 controls...

BACKGROUND: The 5-year overall survival (OS) rate remains at 50% for patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC), thereby underscoring the need for improved treatments. An antidiabetic agent, metformin, was found in retrospective studies to improve survival in patients with HNSCC. Therefore, the authors conducted a phase 1 dose escalation study combining metformin with chemoradiotherapy in patients with LAHNSCC. METHODS: Nondiabetic patients with LAHNSCC were enrolled in the current study to receive escalating doses of metformin and CRT based on the modified toxicity probability interval design...

BACKGROUND: Surgery is a notable stressor for older adults with cancer, who often are medically and psychosocially complex. The current study examined rates of preoperative psychosocial risk factors in older adults with cancer who were undergoing elective surgery and the relationship between these risk factors and the provision of mental health services during the postoperative hospitalization. METHODS: A total of 1211 patients aged ≥75 years who were referred to the geriatrics service at a comprehensive cancer center were enrolled...

BACKGROUND: Social support is a key component in maintaining cancer caregiver well-being, and many resources exist to facilitate caregivers' use of social support (eg, cancer support groups). This study sought to determine how informal cancer caregivers use social resources over the course of caregiving. METHODS: The data are from the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System study of informal caregivers (n = 202) of patients with recently diagnosed lung cancer...