memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology

Chilingirova, N.; Hammoudeh, Z.; Balabanski, L.; Ivanov, S.; Vazharova, R.; Nikolova, D.; Kurteva, G.; Toncheva, D.; Chilingirov, P.

2015 memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology

doi: 10.1007/s12254-015-0244-2

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death worldwide, and its prognosis and treatment response rate as well as the survival rate remain poor. In our study, we performed next generation sequencing (NGS) with cancer panel (Illumina) for 19 Bulgarian patients with both non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; 18 patients) and neuroendocrine tumor (1 patient) and focused on common polymorphisms which define proven or reported sensitivity to platinum-based therapy. We report reference SNP (rs)1042522 (TP53), rs2228001 (XPC), rs2227983 (EGFR), rs1799793, and rs13181 (ERCC2) single nucleotide polymorphism variants which have been detected in our patients in homozygous and/or heterozygous state. Therefore, we give important information to confirm the role of those polymorphisms in tumor resistance and recurrence after chemotherapy treatment. The results reveal that TruSight Cancer Panel could be a useful clinical tool for determining pharmacogenetic variants associated with the effect of chemotherapy.

Farkas, Martin

2015 memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology

doi: 10.1007/s12254-015-0242-4

The advent of lenalidomide has fundamentally changed the treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and deletion of the long arm of chromosome 5 (del(5q)), inducing high rates of red blood cell transfusion independence and cytogenetic response. We report a case of an 84-year-old patient with International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS)-defined low-risk MDS with isolated del(5q), who has received continuous lenalidomide treatment for the past 8 years and whose treatment is ongoing. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia, which occurred in approximately 60 % of the patients during the first weeks of treatment, did not occur in our patient. Also, there were no thromboembolic events or a progression to acute myeloid leukemia. This case highlights the role of lenalidomide in modifying the course of low-risk del(5q) MDS in long-term responders by inducing a durable hematologic response and thereby contributing to control iron overload and improving long-term outcomes in selected patients.

Sobhani, M. E.; Molla, A. W.; Rahman, Shaifur

2015 memo - Magazine of European Medical Oncology

doi: 10.1007/s12254-015-0240-6