Primary cardiac angiosarcomas (PCA) are highly aggressive malignant heart tumors. Previous reports have shown a poor prognosis regardless of management, and no consensus or guidelines exist. It is necessary to clarify this information since patients with PCA have a short survival. Therefore, we aimed to systematically review clinical manifestations, management, and outcomes. We systematically searched in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE. We intended to include cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, cohort studies, and case series that reported clinical characteristics, management, and outcomes of patients with PCA. As a methodological approach, we used the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Series and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for cohorts. We included six studies (five case series, one cohort). The mean/median age ranged from 39 to 48.9 years. Male sex was predominant. The most frequent manifestations were dyspnea (range: 50%-80%), pericardial effusion (29% & 56%), and chest pain (10%-39%). The mean tumor size ranged from 5.8 to 7.2 cm, with the majority of these localized in the right atrium (70-100%). The most common locations of metastasis were the lung (20%-55.6%), liver (10%-22.2%), and bone (10%-20%). Resection (22.9%-94%), and chemotherapy as neoadjuvant or adjuvant (30%-100%) were the most commonly used methods of treatment. Mortality ranged from 64.7% to 100%. PCA often presents late in its course and usually results in poor prognosis. We strongly recommend performing multi-institutional prospective cohorts to better study disease course and treatments to develop consensus, algorithms, and guidelines for this type of sarcoma.
Chest wall resection for breast cancer: 21st century Mayo clinic experience
AbstractBackgroundWe hypothesized full‐thickness chest wall resection (FTCWR) with advanced surgical techniques and modern systemic therapy is safe, provides local control, and good overall survival.MethodsRetrospective review of FTCWR (including rib or part of sternum) for breast cancer between 2000 and 2020. Primary endpoints included 90‐day morbidities and all‐cause mortality. Secondary endpoints were loco‐regional and distant recurrence, DFS and overall survival (OS).ResultsA total of 35 patients met the criteria. 34 FTCWR were for recurrence and the median time to chest wall recurrence was 6 years. Tumor subtype was triple‐negative in 51% and the remainder HR+ Her2−. 58% were palliative resections. FTCWR included rib(s) in 89% and portion of sternum in 57%; 94% required reconstruction and 80% were R0 resections. There were no 90‐day mortalities. Overall morbidity was 10/35(28%). 17(49%) patients received neoadjuvant systemic therapy for their recurrence and three received neoadjuvant radiation. Adjuvant treatment included chemotherapy (8), endocrine therapy (3), and both (8). Ten patients (28%) received adjuvant radiation. The Median follow‐up was 31 months and there were 6 (17%) loco‐regional and 7 (20%) distant recurrences. OS was 86% and 67% at 1 and 3 years, respectively.ConclusionFTCWR was associated with low morbidity, mortality, recurrence rates, and good OS. Selective FTCWR is safe and has acceptable short‐term survival rates.
Family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer (FHBOC) as an independent prognostic factor in triple negative breast cancer overall survival.
e12579 Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) seems to be associated with a hereditary disease cause based on the earlier age of onset, the high rate of TNBC cases with a positive family history of cancer, and the higher prevalence of breast cancer susceptibility genes. The impact of family history in breast and/or ovarian cancer (FHBOC) in TNBC overall survival is unclear, we conducted this study to evaluate this factor in a Peruvian cohort. Methods: Retrospectively reviewed the medical files from TNBC patients diagnosed at Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas (INEN) in Lima, Peru, from 2000 to 2014. New cases with histologically confirmed TNBC defined as lack of expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors by immunohistochemistry and HER2- were included. A positive FHBOC was defined as a history of breast and/or ovarian cancer in 1st, 2nd and/or 3rd degree relatives at any age. Patients who had three affected relatives in two generations with two of them being first-degree relatives were considered as exhibiting a clinical autosomal dominant (AD) inheritance pattern. Results: 2006 patients, 99.8% were females. Mean age was 50.2 years old (19 - 95) and 54.6% were postmenopausal. According clinical staging: stage I, 7.2%; stage II, 34.2%; stage III, 51.0%; and stage IV, 6.5%. 76.5% of women underwent surgery. 13% (n=266) had a positive FHBOC. Of these, 44.0% (n=117), 35.0% (n=93), and 13.5% (n=36) had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree affected relatives, respectively. An AD inheritance pattern was observed in 20.7% (n=55) of patients with FHBOC. With a median follow-up of 80 months (range 0 - 249), 5y-overall survival (OS) for the whole population was 53.8%. 5 year-OS was significantly better in patients with FHBOC as compared to those without it; 64.5% vs. 52.2%, respectively (HR 0.73; 95% CI [0.60-0.88] p=0.001). FHBOC showed a positive impact on survival rates among patients with stages III and IV (5-year OS 42.3% vs. 32.7%; HR 0.79; 95% CI [0.64-0.99], p=0.041) but not in stages I and II (5-year OS 88.4% vs. 81.3%; HR 0.72; 95% CI [0.49-1.08], p=0.11). The 5y-OS for the patients with an AD inheritance pattern was 70.9%. However, pairwise multiple comparison did not find a significant difference between these patients and those with FHBOC without an AD inheritance pattern (62.8%). On multivariate analysis, FHBOC (HR: 0.80; 95% CI [0.66-0.97], p=0.023), had an independent effect on OS, adjusted for age, menopausal status, clinical stage and surgery. Conclusions: A positive FHBOC was associated with an improved survival in patients with TNBC, suggesting FHBOC as an independent prognostic factor. These results need validation and confirmation through additional retrospective cohorts and analysis in prospective clinical trials.
Factors associated with COVID‐19 in people with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
AbstractBackgroundThere is debate as to whether there is an increased risk of COVID‐19 infection in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), possibly due to associated factors. This study aimed to systematically review the factors associated with COVID‐19 in people with PD.MethodsA search was carried out in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science up to November 2020 (updated until 1 April 2021). Observational studies that analyzed factors associated with COVID‐19 in people with PD were selected and revised.ResultsThe authors included six studies (four case‐controlled studies and two cross‐sectional studies) in the qualitative and quantitative syntheses. The authors found that the following factors were associated with COVID‐19 in people with PD: obesity (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.07–2.99, I2: 0%), any pulmonary disease (OR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.17–3.15, I2: 0%), COVID‐19 contact (OR: 41.77, 95% CI: 4.77 – 365.56, I2: 0%), vitamin D supplementation (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.30–0.83, I2: 0%), hospitalization (OR: 11.78, 95% CI: 6.27–22.12, I2: 0%), and death (OR: 11.23, 95% CI: 3.92–32.18, I2: 0%). The authors did not find any significant association between COVID‐19 and hypertension, diabetes, cardiopathy, cancer, any cognitive problem, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, renal or hepatic disease, smoking, and tremor.ConclusionsMeta‐analyses were limited by the number of events and some methodological limitations. Despite this, the authors assessed the available evidence, and the results may be useful for future health policies.