BackgroundThe incidence of melanoma, one of the most aggressive of the skin cancers, has been increasing worldwide in the last few decades. Data from Latin America and Brazil remain scarce. We aimed to describe the demographic, clinical, and histopathological data; therapy characteristics; and survival rates of the Brazilian melanoma patient population.ResultsWe collected and analysed retrospective data from 15 years at a tertiary cancer centre. We describe patient characteristics and treatment. We calculated survival, and identified the main prognostic factors through univariate and multivariate analysis. We analysed a total of 1073 patients, with a mean age of 56.7 years. Men and women experienced similar prevalence, and 91.2% of patients had white skin. The most prevalent subtype was superficial spreading, and the most prevalent anatomic location was the trunk (32.2%), followed by the lower extremities (28%). Of all cases, 567 (52.9%) were assigned to clinical stages I and II, while 382 (32.6%) were stages III and IV. Surgery was the main treatment. Sentinel node biopsy was performed in 373 patients, with 23.8% positivity. Overall actuarial 5-year survival was 67.6%. Multivariate analysis showed that gender, serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels at diagnosis; anatomic location, TNM stage, and local recurrence were significant prognostic factors.ConclusionsOverall survival was lower than worldwide rates. The main factors influencing survival were similar to those in other populations. Local recurrence was independently associated with lower survival rates. The high prevalence of advanced cases reinforces the importance of strategies to diagnose melanomas in the early stages. There is a need for future multi-institutional prospective studies to attain a better understanding of possible socioeconomic and other influences on survival among melanoma populations in Brazil and Latin America.

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PURPOSE Breast cancer (BC) in young women is uncommon and tends to present with more aggressive characteristics. To better understand and characterize this scenario in Brazil through real-world data, we performed a subanalysis of AMAZONA III study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02663973 ). METHODS The AMAZONA III study (GBECAM 0115) is a prospective registry that included 2,950 women newly diagnosed with invasive BC in Brazil from January 2016 until March 2018 at 22 sites. Valid data were obtained from 2,888 patients regarding age at diagnosis and complete baseline information. To compare epidemiologic and clinicopathological features at the time of diagnosis, patients with BC were divided into two groups according to age: ≤ 40 years and > 40 years. Quantitative variables were described as means, and categorical variables were described as frequencies and percentages and compared using the Pearson’s χ2 test. RESULTS Of 2,888 women diagnosed with BC, 486 (17%) were ≤ 40 years old. Young women had higher educational level, most were employed and a significant number were married ( P < .001 for all associations). Younger patients were more symptomatic at BC diagnosis ( P < .001), and they also presented more frequently with stage III, T3/T4, grade 3 tumors, HER-2–positive, luminal B, and triple-negative subtypes. CONCLUSION Brazilian women younger than age 40 years have unfavorable clinicopathological features of BC at diagnosis, with more aggressive subtypes and advanced stage when compared with older women. These differences are not explained by socioeconomic or ethnic imbalances. The causes of a higher prevalence of BC among young women in Brazil deserve additional investigation.

Because median overall survival after platinum failure is less than 1 year, there is a clear requirement for new phase II/III studies with agents that have the potential to improve overall survival and quality of life. The previous use of platinum-based chemotherapy and the type of tumor response observed may substantially impact prognosis. Therefore, prior platinum use should be clearly defined in future clinical trials to enable a more accurate interpretation of the data.

Objective: To evaluate the difference between early and delayed removal of indwelling urinary catheter after radical hysterectomy (RH) or radical trachelectomy (RT). Methods: An ambispective study was conducted in early-stage cervical cancer patients who underwent RH or RT. Delayed indwelling urinary catheter removal occurred on a postoperative day (POD) 7 in the retrospective group (January 2012-November 2013), and early removal occurred on POD 1 in the prospective group (May 2014-June 2017). The postvoid residual (PVR) test was performed after indwelling catheter removal in both groups. Results: Our sample included 47 patients in the delayed group and 48 in the early one. There was no difference in age, body mass index, tumor size, histology, stage, surgical approach, and intraoperative and postoperative complications. Indwelling urinary catheter reinsertion was needed in 16 (34%) patients in the delayed group and 12 (25%) in the early group (P = .37), with no statistical difference between the median PVR volumes −82.5 and 45 mL (P = .06), respectively. Seven (14.9%) patients in the delayed group presented with 30-day urinary tract infection vs two (4.2%) in the early group (P = .09). Conclusions: Early indwelling urinary catheter removal, in regard to the rate of catheter reinsertion and PVR volume, does not differ from delayed removal.

Cervical cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality amongst females in Latin America (LATAM). Cervical cancer is a preventable disease and HPV vaccination is a main key strategy towards its elimination. This study analyzes HPV vaccine implementation current status and the main barriers to achieve adequate coverage in the region. Data from the nineteen sovereign states of LATAM (comprised of all Portuguese and Spanish-speaking nations located south of the United States) were collected, including year of HPV vaccine implementation, gender and age targets, the number of doses included in the public program and coverage by dose. Sixteen out of the 19 evaluated countries have already implemented HPV vaccination programs. However, despite its proven efficacy and safety, HPV vaccine uptake in LATAM has been lower than expected. There is an evident decline in adhesion, mainly regarding the second dose. Several reasons are probably involved, of note: limited knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccine, misguided safety concerns, high cost, cultural barriers, and the Covid19 pandemic. Proper strategies to overcome these barriers are needed to ensure successful uptake. Effective policies are: adopting the one dose schedule, delivering the vaccine on both health center and schools, and advising health professionals to recommend the vaccine. Further research regarding HPV vaccine hesitancy in Latin America is needed.

Objective To describe a series of cases of ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors (SLCTs). Methods Retrospective review of 12 cases of SLCT treated at the Hospital do Câncer de Barretos, Barretos, state of São Paulo, Brazil, between October 2009 and August 2017. Results The median age of the patients was 31 years old (15–71 years old). A total of 9 patients (75.0%) presented symptoms: 8 (66.7%) presented with abdominal pain, 5 (41.7%) presented with abdominal enlargement, 2 (16.7%) presented with virilizing signs, 2 (16.7%) presented with abnormal uterine bleeding, 1 (8.3%) presented with dyspareunia, and 1 (8.3%) presented with weight loss. The median preoperative lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was 504.5 U/L (138–569 U/L), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was 2.0 ng/ml (1.1–11.3 ng/ml), human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) was 0.6 mUI/ml (0.0–2.3 mUI/ml), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was 0.9 ng/ml (0.7–3.4 ng/ml), and cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) was 26.0 U/ml (19.1–147.0 U/ml). All of the tumors were unilateral and surgically treated. Lymphadenectomy was performed in 3 (25.0%) patients, but none of the three patients submitted to lymphadenectomy presented lymph node involvement. In the anatomopathological exam, 1 (8.3%) tumor was well-differentiated, 8 (66.7%) were moderately differentiated, and 3 (25.0%) were poorly differentiated. A total of 5 (55.6%) tumors were solid-cystic, 2 (22.2%) were purely cystic, 1 (11.1%) was cystic with vegetations, and 1 (11.1%) was purely solid, but for 3 patients this information was not available. The median lesion size was 14.2 cm (3.2–23.5 cm). All of the tumors were at stage IA of the 2014 classification of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). A total of 2 (16.7%) patients received adjuvant treatment; 1 of them underwent 3 cycles of paclitaxel and carboplatin every 21 days, and the other underwent 4 cycles of ifosfamide, cisplatin and etoposide every 21 days. None of all of the patients had recurrence, and one death related to complications after surgical staging occurred. Conclusion Abdominal pain was the most frequent presentation. There was no ultrasonographic pattern. All of the SLCTs were at stage IA, and most of them were moderately differentiated. Relapses did not occur, but one death related to the surgical staging occurred.

BackgroundEndometrial cancer presents well-defined risk factors: myometrial invasion, histological subtype, tumor grade, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI). Some low and intermediate-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer patients exhibited unexpected outcomes. This study aimed to investigate other clinical-pathological factors that might influence the recurrence rates of patients diagnosed with low and intermediate-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer.MethodsA case-control study from a cohort retrospective of 196 patients diagnosed with low and intermediate-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer at a single institution from 2009 to 2014 was conducted. Medical records were reviewed to compare clinical (race, smoking, menopause age, body mass index) and pathological (endometrioid vs endometrioid with squamous differentiation, tumor differentiation grade, tumor location, endocervical invasion, LVSI) features of patients with recurrence (case) and without recurrence (control) of disease. Three controls for each case were matched for age and staging.ResultsTwenty-one patients with recurrence were found (10.7%), of which 14 were stage IA, and 7 were stage IB. In accordance, 63 patients without recurrence were selected as controls. There were no significant differences in any clinical characteristics between cases and controls. Among pathological variables, presence of squamous differentiation (28.6% vs. 4.8%, p = 0.007), tumor differentiation grade 2 or 3 (57.1% vs. 30.2%, p = 0.037) and presence of endocervical invasion (28.6% vs. 12.7%, p = 0.103) were associated with disease recurrence on a univariate analysis. On multivariable analysis, only squamous differentiation was a significant risk factor for recurrence (p = 0.031).ConclusionOur data suggest that squamous differentiation may be an adverse prognostic factor in patients with low and intermediate-risk endometrioid endometrial cancer, that showed a 5.6-fold increased risk for recurrence.