OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among women. One of the most important parameters in the prognosis of patients is the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The most important parameter for neoadjuvant chemotherapy success is appropriate patient selection. We investigated the effect of tumor-stroma type and tumor-stroma ratio on neoadjuvant chemotherapy response, using the Residual Cancer Burden scoring systems.

Aim of the present analysis is to compare the impact of antihormonal therapy versus cytotoxic chemotherapy versus a watch a wait approach on disease-free survival (DFS) in the adjuvant setting of patients who underwent complete cytoreductive surgery(CRS) for recurrent adult type granulosa cell tumours of the ovary (GCT). Moreover, we wished to identify prognostic risk factors for recurrence. We included recurrent GCT-patients who underwent CRS resulting in total macroscopic tumour clearance, treated in two gynaecological cancer centres over a 20-year period (2000–2020). CRS was performed for 51 recurrences in 26 GCT-patients. Adjuvant systemic treatments were as follows: chemotherapy in 21 cases, hormonotherapy in 10 cases, no systemic treatment in 20 cases. There were no statistically significant differences in DFS between chemotherapy, hormonotherapy and no systemic treatment: median DFS was 57, 36 and 57 months, respectively (p = 0.616). Extra-pelvic and/or multifocal tumour dissemination were found to be independent predictive factors for subsequent recurrences. In the cases with both lower and upper abdominal involvement (n = 18), patients who received chemotherapy (n = 9) had longer DFS than those who had hormonotherapy (n = 2) or no adjuvant therapy (n = 7) at all: median DFS was 36, 13 and 15 months, respectively (p = 0.9). Our findings do not encourage the administration of adjuvant therapy following complete CRS for GCT-relapse. Selected high-risk patients with disseminated disease may derive clinical benefit from additional chemotherapy, larger-scale multicentre studies are warranted to define treatment algorithms for this rare disease.

Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in breast cancer screening and diagnostic procedures. The aim of this research was to compare the status of breast cancer screenings and newly diagnosed breast cancer cases during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period. Material and method: This retrospective study included patients with screening mammography, imaging-guided biopsies, and newly diagnosed breast cancer from March 2020– February 2021 (during-COVID-19) were compared with March 2019–February 2020 (pre-COVID-19). We compared numbers and distribution over time of mammography and biopsies between the time periods. In the breast cancer group; the stage at diagnosis and histopathological features of the tumor were also compared. Results: Compared to pre-pandemic mammography scans, a 44% decrease was observed in total during pandemic, the most significant being in April (-98%) and May (-93%). While there was a significant decrease in the number of biopsies in April (-100%) and May (-69%), it was seen that there was no decrease in the pandemic period when the whole year was looked at with a rebound increase that started with 29% in June. In the breast cancer group, there was a significant increase in the number of patients who were metastatic at the time of diagnosis compared to the pre-pandemic period (p=0.001). No significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of tumor grade, hormone receptor status, or HER2 positivity (p>0.05). Conclusions: In this study, it was observed that both screening and diagnosis processes in breast cancer were significantly affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was observed that the delay in admission to the hospital in the first months of the pandemic resulted in an increase in patients who were metastatic at the time of diagnosis.

Aim: Hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer which represents the most common subgroup of metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Recently, further subclassification for HER2-negative tumors has emerged as HER2-low. There is limited knowledge regarding the effect of HER2-low expression on outcomes of patients with HR-positive and HER2-negative MBC treated with CDK 4/6 inhibitors plus hormonal therapy. Therefore, we evaluated survival parameters according to HER2-low status for this patient group in this study. Material and Methods: As the Turkish Oncology Group (TOG) Project, retrospectively collected data from 423 patients with HR-positive/HER2-negative MBC treated with ribociclib and palbociclib plus letrozole therapy was assessed. Included patients had metastatic first-line therapy and endocrine-sensitive disease. Survival outcomes were compared between HER2-negative and HER2-low patient groups. Conclusion: HER2-low status had no statistically significant impact on survival in patients treated with palbociclib or ribociclib plus letrozole.

Introduction: Breast cancer consists huge amount of the cancerrelated death in population. Ovarian cancer is the second most frequent seen type of gynecological cancer and has the highest mortality among gynecological cancers since most cases are detected late. The current study intended to determine the prevalence of oncogene mutations, especially BRCA1 and BRCA2, in high-risk patients diagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer in the Black Sea region of our country. Material and method: Between August 2017 and January 2022, a total of 223 individuals who applied to our center and met the genetic test criteria were included in the study. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was used to detect germ-line deleterious variants in genes included in the oncogenetic panel of patients (34 genes). Results: Among the 223 patients analyzed within the scope of the study, 195 had breast cancer, and 28 had ovarian cancer, resulting in the detection of 15 different pathogenic variants of BRCA1 (%4,9) and BRCA2 (%6,7) genes in 26 (11.6%) patients. In the analysis of 32 oncogenes other than BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, 26 different pathogenic (P) or likely pathogenic (LP) variants were detected in a total of 35 patients (15.7%). Based on the analysis of 223 breast/ ovarian cancer patients together, 41 different pathogenic (P) or likely pathogenic (LP) variants were found in 61 patients (27.3%). Furthermore, 65 different VUSs (Variant of Uncertain Significance) were detected in 73 patients (32.7%). Conclusion: This is the first study to be conducted in our region in a single center located in the Black Sea region. The study was conducted in a single center within the Black Sea region and, to our knowledge, provides the first data in this region in terms of cancer genes other than BRCAs. To appreciate of the genetic susceptibility spectrum of hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer better, it is imperative to clarify the risks associated with genes other than BRCAs, which carry a high risk for other breast and ovarian cancers, as well as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Therefore, patients in the risk group must undergo multigene panel testing in addition to routine BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene testing. We detected two novel variants in the BRCA2 gene and five novel variants other than BRCA oncogenes. Furthermore, the results of this study contributed to the development of our country's specific variant pool.