Mono-institutional Experience Research Articles

Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in implant based mesh-supported breast reconstruction – early results of a multicenter prospective trial

Since 2010 synthetic meshs and acellular dermal matrices are recommended for implant-coverage and fixation of the pectoralis muscle in the German guidelines. In the majority patients underwent implant-based reconstructive surgery with a titanized polypropylene mesh (TiloopBra®). Monoinstitutional experience and data of retrospective analysis (Dieterich, M) shows the procedure as safe and implemented in clinical routine. PROMs are increasingly used for the evaluation of surgical treatments in order to capture and quantify the impact of surgery on individual patients. The BreastQ (Pusic A; 2007) was implemented in PROMs of the reconstructive surgery strategies.

Nuss technique in pectus excavatum: a mono-institutional experience.

Pectus excavatum (PE) is the most common anomaly of the anterior chest wall. Prior PE was corrected by a modified Ravitch operation, but since Nuss published his minimal technique in 1998, most surgeons have preferred this technique. Since 2001 the modified Nuss procedure has routinely been used for correction of more than 1,500 patients at Aarhus University Hospital. In the time period between January 1, 2011 and January 31, 2015, 675 patients have been corrected. The median age was 16 years (range, 11-58 years). All patients had preoperatively an epidural catheter and the operations were done in general anaesthesia. The postoperative pain treatment was planned for 4-5 weeks and the patients were routinely seen in the outpatient clinic 6 weeks after surgery and the bars removed after 3 years. Four hundred-and-fifty patients had one bar, 216 patients with two bars and nine patients with three bars inserted. The median length of the bar was 10 inch. The median duration of the operation was 29 minutes. The median postoperative stay was 3 days. No death, cardiac perforation or deep infection occurred and only 5% of the patients experienced a complication. The Nuss procedure should still be considered in the treatment of PE. To my opinion, it should be the choice for correction of PE. The short bar should be used to achieve the best stability of the system, to obtain a good cosmetic result, a reduced dysfunction motion of the chest wall and an increased cardiac performance.

PO-0798: Bevacizumab treatment in recurrent malignant glioma patients – mono-institutional experience in 125 patients

PO-0798: Bevacizumab treatment in recurrent malignant glioma patients – mono-institutional experience in 125 patients

PD-0483: Evaluation of IOERT with reduced dose in selected early breast cancer:mono-institutional experience

PD-0483: Evaluation of IOERT with reduced dose in selected early breast cancer:mono-institutional experience

EP-1283: Is concurrent chemo-radiotherapy feasible in elderly patients? A mono-institutional experience

EP-1283: Is concurrent chemo-radiotherapy feasible in elderly patients? A mono-institutional experience

Organ sparing and clinical outcome with step-and-shoot IMRT for head and neck cancer: a mono-institutional experience

Intensity-modulated radiotherapy has been suggested as the technique of choice for locally advanced head and neck cancer patients. In the last decade, most radiotherapy departments have focused their efforts in programs to implement this technique. We report our experience for parotid gland and constrictor muscle sparing with intensity-modulated radiotherapy in head and neck cancer using a step-and-shoot technique. Thirty-four consecutive patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx, oropharynx and larynx treated between June 2008 and June 2011 were retrospectively evaluated. A simultaneous integrated boost was adopted to treat different volumes in 30 fractions over 6 weeks. Priority as organs at risk was given to the parotid glands as well as the constrictor muscle of the pharynx in 53 % (n = 18). Dysphagia and xerostomia were evaluated according to RTOG/EORTC scale at 6, 12 and 24 months. Outcomes were analysed using Kaplan-Meier curves. The median follow-up was 43 months. The 5-year overall survival was 70 %, and local control was 94 %. Grade 2 dysphagia and xerostomia at 6, 12 and 24 months were as follows: 26 % (n = 9), 23 % (n = 8), 23 % (n = 8) and 21 % (n = 7), 12 % (n = 4), 12 % (n = 4), respectively. No grade 3 or 4 toxicity was found. Ordinal logistic regression analysis demonstrated that hyposalivation was the main predictive factor for late dysphagia. Excellent loco-regional results were achieved with acceptable acute and late toxicities. The low rate of late dysphagia was related to parotid gland sparing; we did not observe a correlation between late dysphagia and dose to pharyngeal constrictors.

Correction: Treating Adrenal Tumors in 26 Patients with CyberKnife: A Mono-Institutional Experience

Correction: Treating Adrenal Tumors in 26 Patients with CyberKnife: A Mono-Institutional Experience

Offlabel nab-paclitaxel: Gemcitabine chemotherapy in advanced pancreatic cancer—A monoinstitutional experience.

e15239 Background:: Metastatic pancreatic cancer (MPC) is a chemo-resistant disease with poor prognosis. Nab-paclitaxel–Gemcitabine shows superiority on Gemcitabine alone (Von Off DD et al, NEJMed ...

Palliative radiation therapy in patients with metastasized pancreatic cancer - description of a rare patient group.

BackgroundPancreatic cancer (PAC) patients experience a high rate of locoregional recurrences and distant metastasis finally leading to their demise even after curatively-intended multidisciplinary treatment approaches including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. However, clinical reports on bone and brain metastases in PAC patients are extremely rare and thus timing and dose description are not well defined. Our work therefore summarizes a mono-institutional experience on the use of radiotherapy (RT) for PAC patients with metastatic disease with the aim of identifying overall survival and treatment response in this rarely reported patient group.MethodForty-four PAC patients with 66 metastatic lesions were treated with palliative radiotherapy (RT). Thirty-three patients (48 lesions), 7 patients (11 lesions) and 5 patients (7 lesions) with bone, liver and brain metastases analyzed respectively were analyzed; one patient had both bone and cerebral metastases and was treated for the lesions, thus including him in both subgroups. Indications for RT were pain, neurological impairment, risk of pathological fracture or imminent danger for development of any of these conditions in case of tumor progression. Median age was 64 years (range 38 to 78 years) and there were 27 male (61%) and 17 (39%) female patients. Analyses of overall survival (OS) and local control were performed. OS was calculated from the first day of RT.ResultsMedian overall survival (mOS) of all patients after start of RT was 4.2 months. Survival rates after 1, 3 and 6 months were 79.3%, 55.3% and 30.3% respectively. Patients presenting with bone metastasis had a mOS of 3.1 months and after 1, 3 and 6 months, survival rates were 75.3%, 46.5% and 19.9% respectively. Symptomatic response to therapy was recorded in 85% of all evaluated patients with bone metastasis. Patients undergoing radiosurgery because of liver metastasis were locally controlled in all but one patient after a median follow-up of 8.3 months.ConclusionOverall survival of all patients with metastatic disease was considerably worse. A major goal for the future must be the selection of an appropriate RT treatment in terms of duration and technique for these PAC patients.

Axial skeletal osteosarcoma: a 25-year monoinstitutional experience in children and adolescents

The survival of patients with axial skeletal or pelvic osteosarcoma (OS) remains poor, and the management of these patients is challenging. The object of this study is a cohort of unselected patients aged < 19 years with primary high-grade pelvic/axial OS. Patients were treated with high-dose methotrexate, doxorubicin, cisplatin, ifosfamide followed or preceded by local treatment (surgery and/or radiotherapy). Twenty patients aged 3-19 years were treated. Eight patients had pelvic OS, 8 axial OS and 4 mandible/maxilla OS. All patients received chemotherapy, after which necrosis was evaluable in 9 patients (≥ 90% in 3). Sixteen patients underwent surgery. Radiotherapy was administered to 8 patients (total dose 34-60 Gy). The median follow-up was 35 months (8-276), and the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 37 and 40%, respectively. Six patients were alive at the time of this report: 2 with pelvic OS (both responded well to chemotherapy, one underwent hemipelvectomy and the other had non-radical surgery plus radiotherapy); 1 with axial and multicentric OS (with a good histological response and radical surgery); 3 with mandible/maxilla OS. Two patients died of secondary tumors (one bone and one breast cancer). It is worth noting that 4 patients had a p53 mutation: 1 is alive, 2 died of their OS, 1 of breast cancer. Adequacy of local treatment and pathological response influenced the prognosis for axial OS, which remained dismal. A high incidence of p53 mutation emerged in our series of patients.

EP-1364: Concurrent radio-chemotherapy in elderly patients: Feasibility and tolerance in a mono-institutional experience

EP-1364: Concurrent radio-chemotherapy in elderly patients: Feasibility and tolerance in a mono-institutional experience

EP-1403: Inoperable colorectal liver metastases: A monoinstitutional experience and preliminary outcome of SABR

EP-1403: Inoperable colorectal liver metastases: A monoinstitutional experience and preliminary outcome of SABR

EP-1900: 3D HDR brachytherapy of vaginal apex made with inverse planning dose calculation: a mono-institutional experience

EP-1900: 3D HDR brachytherapy of vaginal apex made with inverse planning dose calculation: a mono-institutional experience

The combination of carmustine wafers and fotemustine in recurrent glioblastoma patients: a monoinstitutional experience.

Background. To date, there is no standard treatment for recurrent glioblastoma. We analyzed the feasibility of second surgery plus carmustine wafers followed by intravenous fotemustine. Methods. Retrospectively, we analyzed patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with this multimodal strategy. Results. Twenty-four patients were analyzed. The median age was 53.6; all patients had KPS between 90 and 100; 19 patients (79%) performed a gross total resection > 98% and 5 (21%) a gross total resection > 90%. The median progression-free survival from second surgery was 6 months (95% CI 3.9–8.05) and the median OS was 14 months (95% CI 11.1–16.8 months). Toxicity was predominantly haematological: 5 patients (21%) experienced grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia and 3 patients (12%) grade 3-4 leukopenia. Conclusion. This multimodal strategy may be feasible in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, in particular, for patients in good clinical conditions.

Treating Adrenal Tumors in 26 Patients with CyberKnife: A Mono-Institutional Experience

BackgroundCyberKnife (CK) is a novel stereotactic radiosurgery system for treating tumors in any part of the body. It is a non-invasive or minimally invasive tumor treatment modality that can deliver high doses of spatially precise radiation and minimize exposure to neighboring healthy tissues or vital organs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of CK in the treatment of adrenal tumors. Methods and ResultsWe performed a retrospective analysis of 26 patients with adrenal tumors who had been treated with CK in the radiotherapy center of our hospital between March 2009 and March 2012. Eight patients had primary adrenal tumors and 18 patients had metastatic adrenal tumors. In addition to CK, 4 patients received chemotherapy and 2 patients received immunotherapy. The average tumor volume was 72.1 cm3 and the prescribed radiation dosage ranged from 30 to 50 Gy and was fractionated 3 to 5 times with a 58% to 80% isodose line. Abdominal CT was performed between 1 to 3 months after the CK treatment to evaluate the short-term efficacy with follow-up examinations once every 3 months. Three patients had complete remission, 12 patients had partial remission, 5 patients had stable disease, and 6 patients had progressive illness. The effective rate of pain relief was 93.8% and the disease control rate was 77% with a median overall survival of 17 months and a median progression-free survival of 14 months. Treatment Related toxicity was well-tolerated, but preventative measure need to be taken for radiation enteritis.Conclusions CK is safe and effective for treating adrenal tumors with few adverse reactions. Nonetheless, its long-term effects requires further follow-up.

Prostate-specific antigen growth rate constant after first-line cytotoxic chemotherapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: A monoinstitutional experience

ObjectiveValidation in clinical practice, after first-line chemotherapy (CT) of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (PC), of prostate-specific antigen growth rate constant logarithm (PSA-G), calculated by a formula developed by Stein et al. in comparison with PSA decrease (PSA-D), calculated as recommended by PCWG2. Patients and methodsThis study is a retrospective monoinstitutional assessment of PSA-G and PSA-D after 12 weeks from the beginning of first-line cytotoxic CT in 49 patients with metastatic castration-resistant PC treated from 2006 to 2011, and whose pre-CT PSA and post-CT PSA determinations have been measured at specific time points. The 12-week PSA was measured at 80 to 91 days from the beginning of CT. ResultsPSA-G exhibited a significant correlation with overall survival by Mann-Whitney U test and by linear regression, whereas PSA-D did only at the first test. After multivariate analysis, PSA-G was the only posttreatment measure to predict overall survival. ConclusionPSA-G appears a reliable surrogate end point after first-line cytotoxic CT outside of clinical trials. A cutoff value of PSA-G post-CT higher than−2.4 could be considered suggestive for moving to another treatment.

Retrospective Analysis on the Management of Metastatic Gastric Cancer Patients. A Mono-institutional Experience. What happens in Clinical Practice?

Few studies show what happens outside of randomized clinical trials. The purpose of the study was to describe the clinical management of metastatic gastric cancer patients resident in the Forlì area from 2000 to 2009. A total of 270 metastatic gastric cancer patients at diagnosis or relapse were considered. Data from medical records were analysed, and survival probabilities were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. A total of 115 patients received best supportive care, 155 at least one line of chemotherapy, 71 (45.8%) underwent second-line therapy, and 49 (31.6%) required a drug dose reduction during the first cycle of first-line therapy. Twelve (7.7%) patients died within 15 days of finishing the last chemotherapy. Median overall survival with best supportive care or chemotherapy was 3 months (95% CI, 2-4) and 11 months (95% CI, 9-12) (P <0.0001), respectively. Drug dose reductions and delivery of second-line therapy were common. Chemotherapy given towards the end of life was similar to other experiences. Median overall survival was similar to randomized clinical trials.

SBRT in unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer: preliminary results of a mono-institutional experience

BackgroundTo assess the efficacy and safety of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in patients with either unresectable locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma or by locally recurrent disease after surgery.MethodsBetween January 2010 and October 2011, 30 patients with unresectable or recurrent pancreatic adenocarcinoma underwent exclusive SBRT. Twenty-one patients (70%) presented with unresectable locally advanced disease and 9 patients (30%) showed local recurrence after surgery. No patients had metastatic disease. Gemcitabine-based chemotherapy was administered to all patients before SBRT. Prescription dose was 45Gy in 6 daily fractions of 7.5Gy. SBRT was delivered using the volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) by RapidArc. Primary end-point of this study was freedom from local progression (FFLP), secondary end-points were overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS) and toxicity.ResultsMedian Clinical Target Volume (CTV) was 25.6 cm3 (3.2-78.8 cm3) and median Planning Target Volume (PTV) was 70.9 cm3 (20.4- 205.2 cm3). The prescription dose was delivered in 25 patients (83%), in 5 patients (17%) it was reduced to 36Gy in 6 fractions not to exceed the dose constraints of organs at risk (OARs). Median follow-up was 11 months (2–28 months). FFLP was 91% at 6 months, 85% at median follow-up and 77% at 1 and 2 years. For the group with prescription dose of 45Gy, FFLP was 96% at 1 and 2 years. The median PFS was 8 months. The OS was 47% at 1 year and median OS was 11 months. At the end of the follow-up, 9 patients (32%) were alive and 4 (14%) were free from progression. No patients experienced G ≥ 3 acute toxicity.ConclusionsOur preliminary results show that SBRT can obtain a satisfactory local control rate for unresectable locally advanced and recurrent pancreatic adenocarcinoma. This fractionation schedule is feasible, and no G ≥ 3 toxicity was observed. SBRT is an effective emerging technique in the multi-modality treatment of locally advanced pancreatic tumors.

Adjuvant treatment in locally advanced gastric cancer: A monoinstitutional experience

Adjuvant treatment in locally advanced gastric cancer: A monoinstitutional experience

Prognostic factor and outcome of 32 patients with classic and iatrogenic Kaposi sarcoma: A monoinstitutional experience.

e21500 Background: Classic Kaposi Sarcoma (CKS) is a rare and mild form of the disease that primarily affects men, older than 50 years in the endemic areas. Iatrogenic KS (IKS) is associated with the use of steroids, immunosuppressive agents in patients with autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders, or organ transplantation. We have conducted a retrospective analysis from January 2008 to December 2012 for CKS and IKS to evaluated outcomes and potential prognostic factors in this rare disease. Methods: Patients with histologically proven KS lesions of the skin and negative HIV-1/2 were enrolled. In some cases diagnosis was completed by immunohistochemical tests for HHV-8 staining. Eligible patients received different systemic chemotherapy for disease at stage IIb and in all variants of stage III and IV, according Mediterranean KS staging. Results: 32 cases of non-AIDS KS were identified in this study. Mean age at diagnosis of the group was 70 year-old. Approximate male/female ratio was 2:1. 78.2% of cases was classic KS. All patients received systemic chemotherapy containing one of this agent: alkaloid of vinca, taxane, pegylated lyposomial doxorubicin. Ten patients (31.5%) experienced a partial response, a complete response was achieved in 4 patients (12.4%) and stability in 16 cases (50%). Two patients (6.2%) developed multiple local recurrences. PFS was 11.7 months while OS resulted 28.5 months. At multivariate analysis nodular lesions were related to lower PFS compared to macular lesions (HR: 2,5817, 95% CI 1,2911 to 5,1624; p: 0,0049), and HHV8 status (positive vs. negative) had a statistically significant correlation with a worse response to treatment (HR: 5,0289 95% CI 1,6540 to 15,2901; p: 0,0046). Conclusions: Classic and iatrogenic KS patients appears less aggressive, mostly limited to the skin and well-responsive on local or systemic therapeutic strategies. Our data show as positivity to HHV8 and nodular lesions correlate with a worse response to treatment.