Katarzyna Konat-Bąska

PURPOSE: This multicenter observational study conducted in Poland aims to analyze referral patterns and clinical practice in patients with unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), during the early stage of the national implementation of consolidation immunotherapy, focusing on the use of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT), sequential chemoradiotherapy (sCRT), and definitive radiotherapy (dRT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adult patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC treated with curative-intent radiotherapy between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, were included. Descriptive analyses were performed per the registered protocol. Group comparisons used Fisher's exact test, the chi-squared test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Pearson's chi-squared test. RESULTS: Among 273 patients, cCRT and sCRT were administered with equal frequency (37.7% each), followed by dRT (16.5%) and overlapping chemoradiotherapy (8.1%). Groups differed in performance status (PS) and age but not in Union for International Cancer Control-Tumor, Node, Metastasis (UICC-TNM) classification. PS and disease extent influenced the treatment choice. The cCRT was primarily chosen because of the tumor location, whereas sCRT was chosen mainly because of large tumor mass. Complication rates were similar, except for grade 3-4 hematologic toxicity, more frequent with cCRT. CONCLUSION: In Poland, cCRT and sCRT are equally used. Treatment decisions are primarily driven by PS and tumor characteristics rather than UICC-TNM staging.

We performed a multi-institutional analysis of 74 children with ependymoma to evaluate to what extent the clinical outcome of prospective trials could be reproduced in routine practice. The evaluation of factors that correlated with outcome was performed with a log rank test and a Cox proportional-hazard model. Survival was estimated with the Kaplan–Meier method. The majority of patients had brain tumours (89%). All had surgery as primary treatment, with adjuvant radiotherapy (RTH) and chemotherapy (CTH) applied in 78% and 57%, respectively. Median follow-up was 80 months and 18 patients died. Five- and 10-year overall survival (OS) was 83% and 73%. Progression was observed in 32 patients, with local recurrence in 28 cases. The presence of metastases was a negative prognostic factor for OS. Five- and 10-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 55% and 40%, respectively. The best outcome in patients with non-disseminated brain tumours was observed when surgery was followed by RTH (+/−CTH afterwards; p = 0.0001). Children under 3 years old who received RTH in primary therapy had better PFS (p = 0.010). The best outcome of children with ependymoma is observed in patients who received radical surgery followed by RTH, and irradiation should not be omitted in younger patients. The role of CTH remains debatable.

Due to the rarity of high-grade gliomas (HGG) in children, data on this topic are scarce. The study aimed to investigate the long-term results of treatment of children with HGG and to identify factors related to better survival. We performed a retrospective analysis of patients treated for HGG who had the main tumor located outside the brainstem. The evaluation of factors that correlated with better survival was performed with the Cox proportional-hazard model. Survival was estimated with the Kaplan–Meier method. The study group consisted of 82 consecutive patients. All of them underwent surgery as primary treatment. Chemotherapy was applied in 93% of children with one third treated with temozolomide. After or during the systemic treatment, 79% of them received radiotherapy with a median dose of 54 Gy. Median follow-up was 122 months, and during that time, 59 patients died. One-, 2-, 5-, and 10-year overall survival was 78%, 48%, 30% and 17%, respectively. Patients with radical (R0) resection and temozolomide-based chemotherapy had better overall survival. Progression-free survival was better in patients after R0 resection and radical radiotherapy. The best outcome in HGG patients was observed in patients after R0 resection with immediate postoperative temozolomide-based chemotherapy and radical radiotherapy.

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed malignant neoplasm among females. The proportion of women diagnosed in the premenopausal period is relatively small. Nevertheless, this is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among young women. The aim of the study was to analyze the incidence rate of breast cancer in a group of young women based on data obtained in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship between 1984 and 2016. A total of 34,251 women with a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer were analyzed. The median age of diagnosis exhibited an upward trend from 57 to 63. The youngest age of breast cancer diagnosis did not decrease. Women up to the age of 24 were sporadically diagnosed. Given the total number of cases, the proportion of women under the age of 39 was approximately 5%, and it did not increase throughout the entire examination period. The major increase in the growth trend during the analyzed period was observed in a group of women aged of 50–69 (regression coefficient: +24.9) and above 70 (regression coefficient +21.2). In a group of women under 40 the regression coefficient was only +4. It seems that breast cancer does not increasingly affect younger women since the risk in this age group remains low. However, an increasing incidence rate of breast cancer is more commonly observed in premenopausal women.

Purpose Prostate and colorectal cancers are the first and the third most popular malignancies in male population, in which some patients may develop these tumors metachronously or synchronously. At present, there are no standard recommendations, and oncologists need to provide an optimal...