INTRODUCTION: Preoperative imaging is mandatory for deciding the extent of surgery in tumors of oral tongue. Previous studies have shown the significance of depth of tumor invasion in predicting nodal involvement. AIM: This prospective study aimed to assess the correlation between tumor dimensions in all three planes obtained through preoperative imaging and histopathological findings, as well as the correlation between these and pathological node positivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-nine consecutive patients with nonmetastatic, operable, squamous cell carcinoma of anterior two-thirds of the tongue were included in the study. Preoperative imaging findings were compared with pathological findings and analyzed. RESULTS: Histopathological dimensions were concordant with imaging findings. Anteroposterior, transverse, and craniocaudal (CC) dimensions obtained through imaging showed a significant correlation with corresponding pathological findings (0.730, 0.621, 0.810, respectively; P < 0.001). Among all three, only CC dimension showed a significant correlation with pathological nodal involvement (odds ratio [OR] = 7.875, P = 0.03, relative risk = 0.236). Pathological tumor thickness of >3 mm had a positive predictive value of 54.9% for nodal involvement (OR = 7.875, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: With widespread availability of state-of-the-art magnetic resonance (MR) scanners, CC dimension needs to be emphasized as the most significant prognostic tumor parameter. Recent evidence, including our study, suggests that MR imaging is concordant with pathological findings, justifying its use in the pretreatment evaluation of oral tongue lesions.

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BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a well-established oncogenic agent in the pathogenesis of cervical carcinoma. Its role in the oncogenesis of tumors such as oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is not clear. Globally, approximately 3% of OSCCs are positive for HPV. Studies conducted in India indicate its prevalence from as low as 0% to as high as 74%. However, a recent Indian study on leukoplakia failed to find any evidence of HPV involvement. This motivated us to reexamine the HPV status in OSCC. AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of HPV in OSCC. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a rural teaching hospital-based cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty histopathologically confirmed samples of OSCC were used for the study. Genomic DNA was isolated from frozen, surgically-resected specimens. HPV positivity was tested by polymerase chain reaction-based method using GP5+/6+ primers in the L1 consensus region of the viral genome. RESULTS: None of the samples were HPV positive. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study indicate that the association between HPV and OSCC may be overestimated. Hence, multicentric studies covering diverse geographical and socioeconomic groups are needed to delineate the profile of HPV infectivity and OSCC in the Indian subcontinent.

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BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major health burden and the seventh most common cause of cancer-related death in India. Patients with advanced unresectable HCC have a poor prognosis with a reported median survival of only 2–3 months with the best supportive care (BSC). Sorafenib is the only drug that has demonstrated a survival benefit over BSC in advanced HCC. Unfortunately, even though it has been used for a long time, there are very few published data regarding the experience of sorafenib therapy in advanced HCC from India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed with advanced HCC from January 2012 to July 2017 at our center were reviewed retrospectively. Patients' profile, time to progression, survival, and toxicity of sorafenib therapy were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 48 advanced patients with HCC, 35 (72.9%) were male. The median age at diagnosis was 52 years. The most common presenting symptom was abdominal pain (77%, n = 37), followed by abdominal distension (37.5%, n = 18), loss of appetite and/or weight (33.3%, n = 16), and jaundice (16.7%, n = 8). Hepatitis B virus infection was documented in 37 patients (77%), whereas 4 patients had hepatitis C virus infection. Patients were treated with standard dose sorafenib (n = 30), BSC alone (n = 14), or transarterial chemoembolization followed by sorafenib (n = 4). Sorafenib therapy was well-tolerated in most cases. The median progression-free survival with upfront sorafenib was 4.3 months. The median overall survival (OS) of the patients who received upfront sorafenib was significantly better than those treated with BSC alone (5.9 vs 3.0 months; log-rank P= 0.00). CONCLUSION: Sorafenib therapy was well-tolerated and provided about 3 months longer median OS in our patients with advanced HCC than those treated with BSC alone.

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BACKGROUND: Teratomas are tumors that contain tissues derived from three different germ cell layers and having a wider range of differentiation with different site and age at presentation. The aim of the present study was to know the frequency of teratomas in various sites and to analyze their clinicomorphological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study is a retrospective study conducted in tertiary care hospital of Central India. All the cases diagnosed as teratoma in the period of 8 years were included and studied with reference to age, sex, site, size, gross, and microscopic features. RESULTS: A total of 92 cases were retrieved. The most common teratoma was ovarian (78.26%) followed by intracranial/intraspinal and sacrococcygeal in frequency of 7.61% each. Out of 92 cases, 89 were mature and benign, 2 cases were immature teratoma each in ovary and in sacrococcyx, and 1 case of teratocarcinoma in testis. CONCLUSION: Teratomas have much diversity in their age at presentation, location, gross features, and in degree of differentiation. The prognosis and treatment also depends on the histological grading of teratomas. Thus, pathologists have an important role in establishing a reliable prognostic profile.

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CONTEXT: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common thyroid malignancy accounting for 80% of the thyroid cancers. Many histopathologic variants of PTC have been recognized, and few of these are of prognostic significance. The studies on clinicopathological features of PTC and its variants are so far seldom reported in India. AIM: The aim of the study was to study the percentage distribution of PTC among total thyroid specimens, the age and sex distribution of PTC, its histopathological features including frequency of nuclear findings, and various histological subtypes are also studied in detail. Methods: All cases of PTC diagnosed in our department from April 2003 to March 2013 formed the material for the study. The tissues were routinely processed and stained. On microscopic examination, tumors were classified according to 2004 WHO classification. RESULTS: PTC formed the predominant type of malignancy accounting to 71% of the total cases. Of these, about 75% of patients were in the second to fifth decade. Male to female ratio was 1:5.4. Other than the usual classic variant and follicular variant, we also found rare types such as clear cell variant, tall cell type, oncocytic type, and macrofollicular variant. Microscopically, nuclear overcrowding and ground glass nuclei were seen in more than 90% of cases. Nodular goiter, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and follicular adenoma were associated lesions in some cases. CONCLUSION: PTC is the most common thyroid malignancy, and it can affect any age group though it presents mostly in the third to fourth decade of life. Recognition of histological subtype is crucial in patient prognosis.

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OBJECTIVE: To establish clinical biosimilarity of BevaciRel™ bevacizumab biosimilar (study bevacizumab) with the reference innovator bevacizumab in terms of pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 119 patients with mCRC were enrolled across 20 centers and randomized to receive study and reference bevacizumab in this Phase III clinical study. Of these, 116 patients were administered bevacizumab 5 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks with folinic acid, fluorouracil, and irinotecan regimen. The primary endpoint of the study was objective response rate (ORR) at week 25, and the secondary endpoints assessed were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and assessment of pharmacokinetics and safety along with immunogenicity in both treatment arms. RESULTS: The ORR was 60.53% in study bevacizumab and 66.67% in reference arm. The proportions of subjects showing CR and PR were comparable in both the arms. The median PFS at 1 year was 3.83 months in test arm and 4.6 months in reference arm. The mean OS was 10.91 months in test arm and 14.68 months in reference arm. The difference in ORR, median PFS, and OS was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The median T_maxwas 6.00 h in both the arms. The median t½ was 330.63 h and 226.14 h, respectively, for test and reference bevacizumab. The adverse event profile of both products was in line with the known profile of bevacizumab. CONCLUSION: The study biosimilar bevacizumab was found to be noninferior and clinically biosimilar to the reference bevacizumab, thereby meeting an unmet medical alternative need in mCRC.

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OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopy in detecting inoperable disease in patients undergoing interval cytoreduction (ICR) for advanced ovarian carcinoma (AOC). The primary outcome measured was the performance of laparoscopy-based predictive index value (PIV) score developed by Fagotti et al. The secondary outcomes measured were performance of individual parameters included in PIV score and optimal cytoreduction (OCR) rates in our population. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a single-arm, prospective validation trial. Patients undergoing ICR for AOC in our institution were evaluated prospectively with laparoscopy before planned attempt at debulking surgery. Seven laparoscopic parameters included in laparoscopic PIV score were evaluated. Laparoscopic findings were compared with the final outcomes of definitive surgery. OCR was defined as residual disease <1 cm. The efficiency of the individual laparoscopy score was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: A total of 73 patients planned for ICR for AEOC were included in the study. Laparoscopic PIV score could successfully predict inoperability in 12 (16.4% of total study population) out of 14 inoperable patients in the total population and thus could avoid 85% of unsuccessful surgeries at a PIV score cutoff of ≥8. Performance of individual parameters included in PIV score was also evaluated. Two parameters out of seven, that is, mesenteric retraction and stomach infiltration had poor performance on ROC curve. Modified PIV score was calculated for each patient after excluding these two parameters. Modified PIV score had similar performance as Fagotti's PIV score at cutoff ≥6 (P = 0.728, for difference in area under the curve). No staging laparoscopy-related serious adverse events were noted in any of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopy is a safe, effective, and accurate method for predicting inoperability in patients undergoing ICR for AEOC.

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BACKGROUND: Tobacco use and education of an individual are linked to each other. Educated people are more likely to practice healthy behaviors and are aware of the harms of tobacco use. This paper uses the Global Adult Tobacco Survey data (GATS-India) to study the education differential associated with tobacco use and its predictors across India. METHODOLOGY: Secondary data analysis was conducted for GATS conducted in 2009–2010 in India. Data for “illiterate” and “literate” study subjects were analyzed according to study subject's “tobacco consumption pattern,” their “quitting behavior,” “exposure to second hand smoke (SHS)” and “observing health warnings on tobacco products.” RESULTS: Tobacco smokers and smokeless tobacco users were more likely to be illiterate (odds ratio [OR] for smoking tobacco = 1.2; for smokeless tobacco = 1.5) as compared to their counterparts. Significantly, more illiterate initiated smoking tobacco (OR = 1.1; 1.02–1.26) and smokeless tobacco habit (OR = 1.3; 1.21–1.44) before 17 years of age. Illiterate people were less likely to try quitting tobacco (smoking tobacco = OR = 0.8; 0.79–0.94; smokeless tobacco = OR = 0.7; 0.70–0.81) and also less likely to think of quitting tobacco in near future (smoking tobacco = OR = 0.6; 0.59–0.71; smokeless tobacco = OR = 0.6; 0.57–0.66). Illiterate people were more likely to be exposed to SHS at home (OR = 1.8; 1.7–1.9) and less likely to notice health warnings on cigarette packets (OR = 0.2; 0.26–0.28) and smokeless tobacco pouches (unadjusted OR = 0.5; 0.49–0.53). CONCLUSION: The results confirm that education differential exists for tobacco use and its determinants in India. It is recommended that all people of our country should have access to quality education. Policy makers should target uneducated people so as to reverse the tobacco epidemic.

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OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study the compliance and treatment outcome of patients who received adjuvant treatment following curative resection for periampullary cancers periampullary cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institute medical records of PAC treated during 2007–2014 were retrieved. Demographics, treatment, and outcome in patients who were intended to receive adjuvant chemoradiation after curative resection were analyzed. Patients received first cycle chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil folinic acid/capecitabine, followed by external radiotherapy 45 Gy/25 fractions/5 weeks and second and third cycle concurrent chemotherapy. Fourth and fifth cycle chemotherapy were administered after radiotherapy). Various prognostic factors, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were evaluated. Median age was 50 years. 96.9% patients completed the intended course of radiation and overall adherence to chemotherapy was 86.2%. Median follow-up and DFS were 20 and 29.64 months, respectively (range: 1.9–97.3 months). Estimated 1-, 2-, 5-year DFS was 77.8%, 59.3%, and 37.6%, respectively. One-year estimated OS was 92.7%. Median DFS for node-negative and node-positive patients was 88.6 and 24.33 months (P = 0.06). Grade ≥III hematological toxicity was 20%. CONCLUSION: Positive node indicated a trend toward poor survival. The study highlights high compliance to multimodal management of PAC with acceptable toxicity in and out of clinical trial setting in a tertiary cancer center in India.

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BACKGROUND AND AIM: The majority of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) reports on the outcome and prognostic factors are from endemic high-risk regions. Data on the outcome of Indian patients are sparse. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the outcome of NPC patients treated radically with conformal radiotherapy (RT). The primary objective was to assess the outcome, and the secondary objectives were to assess treatment-related morbidities and the impact of various prognostic factors on the outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with biopsy-proven NPC who received radical conformal RT, i.e., three-dimensional conformal RT or intensity-modulated RT (IMRT) during 2004–2013 were analyzed. All patients received conformal RT with or without chemotherapy. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 20.0) software, IBM, USA. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier method. For calculating the hazard ratio of the prognostic factors, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were done. Chi-square test was used to determine the association. RESULTS: In this study, with a median follow-up of 43 months, the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival, and cause-specific survival were 91, 85.2, and 98.4% at 2 years and 78.3, 72.8, and 88.2% at 3 years, respectively. The locoregional failure was low (3%), and the 5-year cause-specific survival with chemoradiation was excellent (79%), even with 50% of the patients being nonmetastatic Stage IV. Eleven out of 12 failures were distant metastases. The treatment-related late morbidities were acceptable and better with IMRT. Significant prognostic factors affecting the outcome were composite stage of the disease and the interval between diagnosis and treatment initiation. CONCLUSION: In locally-advanced NPC, excellent local control is possible with modern conformal RT with concurrent chemotherapy. Distant metastases remain a therapeutic challenge despite systemic chemotherapy. Novel systemic therapies are needed in the future for improving the OS of these patients.

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INTRODUCTION: It is estimated that around 10% of all head and neck cancer patients in India are aged over 70 years. Elderly patients are often subjected to palliative or inadequate treatment for head and neck cancers in spite of being candidates for curative intent therapy. In this study we evaluated our use of radical radiotherapy in carcinoma larynx for patients over seventy years of age to determine morbidity, likelihood of completing therapy, functional and oncological outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 132 patients of squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx treated between 2005-2015 at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi who were seventy years of age or older were included. The endpoint for analysis was overall survival. Survival curves were generated using Kaplan Meier method and univariable analysis was performed using log rank test. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 77 years (range 70-102). All patients (100%) completed radiotherapy with 6 (5%) requiring treatment breaks. All patients had at least minor (grade I/II) toxicities. Grade III toxicities were seen in 10 (8%) of patients. No grade IV reactions or treatment related deaths occurred. When a univariate analysis was performed for determinants of major toxicities with age range, performance status, smoking, number of co-morbidities or TNM stage, no determinants were statistically significant. 2-year disease free survival for stage I, II, III and IV was 100%, 98%, 80% and 64% respectively, and the 2-year overall survival for all four stages was 100%. CONCLUSION: Patients over seventy years tolerate radical radiotherapy for treatment of laryngeal cancer. In spite of minor toxicities, all patients completed treatment and had good oncological outcomes. Patients with stage III/IV unfit for concomitant chemotherapy administration treated with radiotherapy alone had a good disease free survival. Curative intent therapy should not be withheld from elderly patients on the basis of age.

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BACKGROUND: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukemia among adults in Western populations. CLL has a wide range of clinical presentations and varied outcomes. For CLL, cytogenetic assessment is essential for estimating prognoses and determining the treatment of choice. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique is widely used for genetic assessment due to its high sensitivity. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the frequencies of deletions of 13q14.3, 17p13.1, 11q22.3, and 13q34 and of trisomy 12 and to observe their effects on survival in 226 Turkish CLL patients using FISH analysis. RESULT AND CONCLUSION: The frequencies of abnormalities were 65.4% for del 13q14.3, 39.8% for del 17p13.1, 19% for del 11q22.3 (del ATM), and 15.9% for trisomy 12. No patients had a 13q34.3 aberration. Our results are partially consistent with literature findings. However, certain conflicts with prior results were observed, particularly with respect to the high prevalence of 17p13.1 deletions and the enhanced survival of patients with such deletions. These inconsistencies may represent population-based differences in the genetic epidemiology of CLL.

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BACKGROUND: The major morbidities of modified radical mastectomy both short- and long-term are sequelae of axillary dissection. Flap complications, prolonged seroma, need for axillary drainage, wound infection, lymphedema, shoulder stiffness, and paresthesia are major causes for morbidity after axillary dissection. Different techniques have been implemented to tackle these problems. Few of these include reducing the axillary dead space, using various forms of energy devices. AIMS: We have prospectively compared two energy sources, namely, ultrasonic dissector (UD) against the electrocautery dissection in axillary dissection for breast cancer with respect to outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred female patients with breast cancer undergoing modified radical mastectomy were randomized to either of the two arms – axillary dissection using UD and axillary dissection using electrocautery. The parameters taken into consideration were operating time, operative blood loss, amount and duration of axillary drainage, flap complications, nodal yield, and postoperative pain scoring. RESULTS: There were no significant differences overall between the two groups with respect to oncological safety and functional outcomes.

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BACKGROUND: Outcomes and survival of truly unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancers (LAPC) is often reported along with borderline resectable pancreatic cancers especially from a real world cohort. METHODS: The audit of LAPC patients, diagnosed based on the NCCN criteria between February 2013 and January 2016 was used to identify patients starting and continuing treatment in our institution. Practice patterns, outcomes and prognostic factors for overall survival were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 83 patients, 52 were available for inclusion in the analysis. Median age was 56 years (range 30- 77), with males constituting 75% of patients. Baseline comorbidities seen were diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiac dysfunction in 46.1%, 69.1% and 52% of patients respectively. 84.6% of patients had arterial vascular involvement as criteria for unresectable LAPC. 50% of patients received chemotherapy only, while the remainder received chemotherapy and concurrent chemoradiation. One patient was able to undergo curative R0 resection. FOLFIRINOX was the most commonly used chemotherapy regimen (53.8%). With a median follow up of 15.9 months, median progression free survival (mPFS) was 7.26 months (95% CI: 5.75-8.76) and median OS was 11.8 months (95% CI: 9.96 – 13.61). None of the potential prognostic factors evaluated, i.e., age, gender, nodal status, pre-treatment CA 19.9 levels, showed correlation with OS. CONCLUSION: This analysis shows outcomes in unresectable LAPC comparable to existing literature. Surgery in unresectable LAPC patients is less common than seen in previously published studies, more likely due to this cohort being truly 'unresectable' in terms of major arterial involvement.

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INTRODUCTION: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a B-cell malignancy accounting for 0.8% of all cancer deaths globally. This malignancy is characterized by lytic bone disease renal insufficiency, anemia, hypercalcemia, and immunodeficiency. The myeloma cells have enhanced expression of CD138. CD138 is a transmembrane heparin sulfate glycoprotein expressed on different types of adherent and nonadherent cells.CD138 is used as a standard marker for identification of tumor cells. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Despite introduction of many therapeutic agents, the management of multiple myeloma (MM) remains a challenge and search for new therapeutic agents is in progress. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the effect of an alkaline phosphatase inhibitor, levamisole on expression of CD138, and level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in human MM cell lines RPMI 8226 and U266 B1. MATERIAL AND METHODS: U266B1 and RPMI 8226 cell lines were obtained from the National Centre for Cell Sciences, Pune. Alkaline phosphatase assay, Interleukin-6 assay and CD138 expression on myeloma cells by flow cytometry were investigated when the cells were exposed to Levamisole. RESULTS: Levamisole-mediated growth inhibition of myeloma cells in vitro is associated with a loss of CD138 and increased IL-6 secretion. The increased secretion of IL-6 by myeloma cells could be an attempt to protect themselves from apoptosis. CONCLUSION: Levamisole inhibited CD138 expression and affected the levels of IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner. The results of the present study add new dimension to levamisole's mode of action as inhibitor of CD138 and IL-6 and as an antiapoptotic agent.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of apatinib alone or combined with chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced squamous cell lung cancer. METHODS: Forty patients with advanced squamous cell lung carcinoma were enrolled in this study, who were treated in Xuzhou Central Hospital from 2014 to 2015. All patients underwent first-line or more chemotherapy. Patients were administrated with apatinib 425 mg/day, alone or combined with chemotherapy. The short-term efficacy was evaluated according to the RECIST criteria. The main safety event was evaluated by CTC-AE criteria. RESULTS: Among all the 40 patients, partial response in 5 cases, stable disease in 24 cases, progressive disease in 11 cases, overall response rate in 12.5%, disease control rate in 72.5%, the median progression-free survival was 3.7 months. The main adverse events were leukopenia, fatigue, and hypertension. Most of the adverse events were grade I and II level. CONCLUSION: The use of apatinib alone or combined with chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic squamous cell lung carcinoma demonstrates a high response rate, favorable tolerability profile.

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Primary neuroendocrine tumors of the thymus are unusual anterior mediastinal tumors with a variable prognosis. A retrospective analysis of five patients with primary neuroendocrine tumors of the thymus admitted to the Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Ahmedabad, between 2012 and 2016, was done to study the clinical profile and outcome of these patients. The role of various prognostic factors such as surgical resection, histological grade, and Masaoka-Koga staging was also analyzed. Majority of the patients present with signs and symptoms related to a rapidly expanding mediastinal mass, such as breathlessness, facial puffiness, edema over the neck and extremities, chest pain, and other features of superior vena cava (SVC) syndrome. Collateral venous dilatation over the neck and chest and edema over neck were the most common physical signs. All the patients enrolled in the study presented in advanced stages with a poor differentiation on histopathological examination. Thymic neuroendocrine tumors usually manifest as large, lobulated, and locally invasive anterior mediastinal masses surrounding the great vessels of the neck and thorax. None of the diagnosed patients underwent surgical resection in view of extensive vascular encasement in the neck and thorax, and all of them were started on platinum-based palliative chemotherapy. The median survival of the patients was 12 months with the longest survival of 16 months for one patient. Possibility of this potentially rare entity should be kept in mind when a patient presents with features of SVC syndrome and large mediastinal mass. Complete surgical resection of the tumor is prognostic of improved treatment outcome and long-term survival. Large tumor size could be a determinant of poor overall outcome, and tumor size should strongly be considered as a factor in the revised (NETT) Neuroendocrine tumours of thymus staging. Histological grade and Masaoka-Koga stage are the important prognostic factors, but this study emphasizes the utmost need to further validate the prognostic factors.

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INTRODUCTION: The global burden of cancer incidence and mortality are rising continuously worldwide. As per the GLOBOCAN 2012 estimates, about 14.1 million cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer deaths occurred and 32.6 million people living with cancer (within 5 years of diagnosis) in 2012 worldwide. Reliable data on the magnitude and the pattern of cancer are essential for monitoring the health of the community, assessing the performance of the health care system. Cancer registries should pay great attention to quality of their data. The completeness of cancer registry data- the extent to which all of the incident cancers occurring in the population are included in the registry database- is an extremely important attribute of a cancer registry. There are mainly four aspects influencing the quality of data namely, comparability, completeness, validity and timeliness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data regarding incidence and mortality with methods of diagnosis for individual years were obtained from the National Cancer Registry Program database of the Indian Council of Medical Research for 2009 to 2014 periods and recalculated for combined years (2009-2014). RESULTS: In males in 2009-11, 77.1% were microscopically confirmed cases which are improved in the later years and for the year 2012-2014, it is 81.4%. In females also the percentage of microscopically confirmed cases were increased from 80.2% to 82.9%. An improvement in mortality to incidence ratio was observed over the years. MI ratio in males was improved to 32.9%. for the year 2012-14 as compared to 28.6% for the year 2009-11 while in female MI ratio is also increased from 18.8% to 21.8% over the period from 2009-11 to 2012-14. Whereas DCO was decreased from 12% to 10.7% in males and 7.3% to 6.6% in females respectively from the period 2009-11 to 2012-14. CONCLUSION: Although there is a slight improvement in data quality till date, there is an enormous scope for population based cancer registry Guwahati to improve the data quality.

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PURPOSE: Numerous studies have investigated the role of p16^INK4a alteration in patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) yielding inconsistent and inconclusive results. Hence, we conducted a meta-analysis to precisely assess its prognostic value. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic literature databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science were searched, and five studies with a total of 536 patients were eligible for this meta-analysis. Pooled hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of overall survival (OS) was used to assess the prognostic role of p16^INK4a alteration. RESULTS: Overall, the pooled HR for all five eligible studies evaluating decreased p16^INK4a expression on OS was 1.47 (95% CI: 1.14–1.90); sensitivity analysis suggested that the pooled HR was stable and omitting a single study did not change the significance of the pooled HR. There is no evidence of publication bias in the meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this meta-analysis showed that decreased p16^INK4a expression is associated with lower OS rate in patients with STS, and it is an effective biomarker of prognosis.

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BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and second most common type of cancer overall. The prime objectives of axillary surgery in the management of breast cancer are 1) accurate staging, 2) treatment to cure and 3) quantitative information of metastatic lymph nodes for prognostic purposes and allocation to adjuvant protocols. During axillary dissection, all 3 level lymphnodes are removed, while the important axillary structures (axillary vein, long thoracic and thoracodorsal nerves) are preserved. The latter two structures are particularly vulnerable to injury when dissecting the tissue between them (the interneural tissue). METHODS: This prospective non-randomized study, conducted on 125 female patients, who underwent axillary lymphadenectomy for breast cancer has evaluated the importance of dissection of the Interneural tissue during axillary dissection in breast cancer surgery by reviewing the lymph node yield and metastasis rate. The interneural tissue was excised separately after a routine axillary dissection. RESULTS: Lymph nodes were found in the interneural tissue of 70 out of 125 patients (56%). The average number of interneural lymph nodes recovered per specimen was 1.3. The interneural tissue lymph nodes were positive for metastasis in 10 (8%) patients. There was no incidence of isolated metastasis in the internerve tissue nodes. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant incidence of lymph nodes (56%) and axillary node metastases (8%) in the tissue lying between the long thoracic and thoracodorsal nerves. Therefore, meticulous dissection and excision of this interneural tissue is strongly recommended to optimize decision making regarding adjuvant treatment and outcome.

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