Background and objectives: This study aimed to evaluate prognostic factors for post-recurrence survival in local and locally advanced colorectal cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 273 patients with stage III and high-risk stage II colorectal cancer were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent operative treatment of the primary tumor and adjuvant fluorouracil-based chemotherapy. Results: Over the three-year period (2008–2010), a cohort of 273 patients with stage III and high-risk stage II colorectal cancer had been screened. During follow up, 105 (38.5%) patients had disease recurrence. Survival rates 1-, 3- and 5-year after recurrence were 53.9, 18.2 and 6.5%, respectively, and the median post-recurrence survival time was 13 months. Survival analysis showed that age at diagnosis (p < 0.01), gender (p < 0.05), elevated postoperative Ca19-9 (p < 0.01), tumor histology (adenocarcinoma vs. mucinous vs. signet ring tumors, p < 0.01) and tumor stage (II vs. III, p < 0.05) had a significant influence on post-recurrence survival. Recurrence interval and metastatic site were not related to survival following recurrence. Multivariate analysis showed that older age (HR 2.43), mucinous tumors (HR 1.51) and tumors expressing Ca19-9 at baseline (HR 3.51) were independently associated with survival following recurrence. Conclusions: Baseline patient and tumor characteristics largely predicted patient outcomes after disease recurrence. Recurrence intervals in local and locally advanced colorectal cancer were not found to be prognostic factors for post-recurrence survival. Older age, male gender, stage III and mucinous histology were poor prognostic factors after the disease had recurred. Stage II patients had remarkable post-recurrence survival compared to stage III patients.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the prognostic value of pre-treatment hematological parameters in EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Patients and methods: Patients with EGFR mutations were treated with EGFR-TKIs in the first line until progression/unacceptable toxicity. Hematological parameters were derived from the absolute baseline differential counts of a complete blood count. The associations between the patients’ and tumor characteristics were analyzed using Pearson Chi-Square, Fisher’s exact, t-test, and Mann–Whitney tests. Cutoff values were determined using ROC curves, and correlation with survival was examined by Kaplan–Meier method and Cox regression. Results: Patients with NMR2.9 and LMR190 more often had paronichia, diarrhea and hyperbilirubinemia. Conclusion: Low baseline value of the hematological parameter NMR has shown potential as a routine, low-cost, and minimally invasive predictor of survival in EGFR-TKI-treated NSCLC patients.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate for the first time whether certain genetic and clinical factors could serve as minimally invasive predictors of survival and toxicity to platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced lung adenocarcinoma. Methods: The study included 121 advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients treated with platinum-based dublets until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Response was evaluated using standard radiological methods and toxicity graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0. Genotyping was performed using PCR-RFLP. Statistical significance was set at P < .05. Results: No significant influence of the examined polymorphisms on the occurrence of high-grade toxicity was detected. However, TP53 72Pro allele carriers were more prone to nausea (P = .037) and thrombocytopenia (P = .051). Anemia and neuropathy occurred more frequently in XRCC1 399Arg allele carriers (Pearson χ2 test, P = .025 and P = .004 respectively). RAD51 135CC carriers were significantly more prone to neutropenia (P = .027). Conclusions: A set of easily determined genetic and clinical predictors of survival and specific toxicity profiles of platinum-based chemotherapy in advanced lung adenocarcinoma were determined in this study, which might be useful for the construction of population-specific, time- and cost-efficient prognostic and predictive algorithms.

Background: Single-agent pembrolizumab represents a standard of care in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (mNSCLC) with a programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion score (TPS) of ≥50%. Real-world evidence is of increasing importance in oncology, as clinical trial inclusion criteria may not be truly reflective of the patient population seen in daily clinical practice. Methods: We performed a prospective–retrospective single-center study including 121 patients who received pembrolizumab as a first-line therapy for mNSCLC with a PD-L1 TPS ≥ 50%. Our aims were to make a comparison with published clinical trial results by assessing the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab monotherapy in our population. We collected patient demographics, clinical characteristics of the disease, and treatment outcomes, including efficacy and safety. Results: A total of 121 patients were included, with a median follow-up of 40.77 months. The median progression-free survival in the real world (rwPFS) was 20.73 months (95% CI 12.24–29.22), and the median overall survival (OS) was 29.30 months (95% CI 16.57–42.04). Immune-mediated adverse events (irAEs) occurred in 42% of patients, with serious events (grade 3 or more) occurring in 12%. ECOG PS 2, male gender, squamous histology, pleural and visceral metastases, and treatment with corticosteroids prior to initiation of pembrolizumab were found to be negative predictors for overall survival, while the occurrence of irAEs was the predictor of longer survival. Conclusions: This study provides further real-world insights into the efficacy of pembrolizumab in a heterogeneous patient population with advanced NSCLC in a single center in Serbia. It also confirmed the value of good ECOS PS and the occurrence of irAEs as predictors of favorable outcomes.