Background: Various factors can affect the survival of patients with laryngeal cancer (LC). In this retrospective study, we assessed clinicopathological features, their prognostic value, and treatment modalities for patients with confirmed squamous cell LC. Methods: We collected patient data on demographics, clinicopathological characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes. The primary endpoints were overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), disease-free survival (DFS), and locoregional control (LRC). We assessed survival using the Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression model analyses of potential prognostic parameters. Results: After a median follow-up of 76 months, 28 (33.3%) patients had a recurrence. The median OS was 78 months, with an event recorded in 50% of patients. The DSS median was not reached (NR) with a survival rate of 72.6%, the DFS survival rate was 66.7% with median NR, and the LRC survival rate was 72.6% with median NR. After conducting a multivariate analysis of significant variables, we found that only recurrence and lymphatic invasion had an independent effect on OS and recurrence in DSS, while subsite impacted DFS and LRC. Conclusions: Survival trends were consistent with other studies, except for OS. Recurrence, lymphatic invasion, and subsite location were significant factors that impacted patient survival.

Introduction/Objective. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of different approaches in the treatment of metastatic melanoma in daily clinical practice in a situation with limited and late availability of new drugs in a resource-limited country and to compare these parameters with those reported in clinical studies and from other real-world data. Methods. Main methods included assessment of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Patients were included in the study if they were treated with first or second-line systemic therapy for radiologically/ pathologically confirmed metastatic melanoma. Patients were divided into four groups based on the type of therapy they received: chemotherapy (dacarbazin), BRAF inhibitor (vemurafenib), BRAF/MEK inhibitors (vemurafenib/cobimetinib and trametinib/dabrafenib) and anti PD-1 therapy with pembrolizumab. Results. Regardless of the line of therapy, the calculated median OS in chemotherapy and vemurafenib group was nine months. The median OS in the BRAF/MEK inhibitor group was 14 months and 15 months in the pembrolizumab group. Median PFS in the chemotherapy group was four months, seven months for vemurafenib, in the BRAF/MEK inhibitor group nine months and in the pembrolizumab group six months. There was a statistically significant difference in survival between first and second-line therapy in the pembrolizumab group. Conclusion. Our results showed lower median OS and PFS in comparison to reported data from clinical trials. Compared to other real-world data from countries with similar problems related to the late reimbursement of new drugs, our research has shown similar results.

COVID-19 infection in patients

Introduction: The introduction of BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib significantly improvedoverall survival (OS) in metastatic melanoma patients.Aim of the Study: The purpose of this study was to determine OS and progressionfree survival (PFS) in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma treated withvemurafenib in the Oncology Clinic, University Clinical Centre of the Republic ofSrpska (UKC RS). The secondary goal is to determine the effect of elevated serumlactate dehydrogenase (LDH) on OS.Patients and Methods: We analysed patients that received vemurafenib in theApril 2015. until March 2018. They had pathohistologically confirmed B-RAF positivemetastatic melanoma. LDH values were measured at the start of the treatment.Results: A total of 16 patients were analyzed, with an average age of 53 years(37-78). A large number of patients at the start had multiple sites of metastases.Calculated OS in patients who received vemurafenib is 11.8 months (p=0,23), withstandard deviation (SD) 9.18. The calculated PFS is 9.5, SD 7,57. OS in patients withnormal LDH is 14.4 months, SD 10.73, and with elevated LDH is 8.4 months, SD4.9 (p=0.079).Conclusion: Use of vemurafenib resulted in an improvement in PFS, with improvedOS in patients with advanced BRAF-mutated melanoma. In patients with elevatedLDH OS was reduced. This shows that LDH is a good prognostic marker and thatwe should do it routinely for all patients with melanoma. This study has indicatedthe need for new diagnostic and therapeutic options for melanoma in Republic ofSrpska.