ObjectiveTo examine the results of the Malaysian Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (MyAPCCC) 2018, held for assessing the generalizability of consensus reached at the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC 2017) to Malaysia, a middle‐income country.MethodsSix key sections were chosen: (1) high‐risk localized and locally advanced prostate cancer, (2) oligometastatic prostate cancer, (3) castration‐naïve prostate cancer, (4) castrate resistant prostate cancer, (5) use of osteoclast‐targeted therapy and (6) global access to prostate cancer drugs. There were 101 consensus questions, consisting of 91 questions from APCCC 2017 and 10 new questions from MyAPCCC 2018, selected and modified by the steering committee; of which, 23 questions were assessed in both ideal world and real‐world settings. A panel of 22 experts, comprising of 11 urologists and 11 oncologists, voted on 101 predefined questions anonymously. Final voting results were compared with the APCCC 2017 outcomes.ResultsMost voting results from the MyAPCCC 2018 were consistent with the APCCC 2017 outcomes. No consensus was achieved for controversial topics with little level I evidence, such as management of oligometastatic disease. No consensus was reached on using high‐cost drugs in castration‐naïve or castration‐resistant metastatic prostate cancer in real‐world settings. All panellists recommended using generic drugs when available.ConclusionsThe MyAPCCC 2018 voting results reflect the management of advanced prostate cancer in a middle‐income country in a real‐world setting. These results may serve as a guide for local clinical practices and highlight the financial challenges in modern healthcare.

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Background: Mediastinal masses comprise of a wide variety of tumors and accounts for about 3% of tumors within the chest. Very few studies have been produced so far on large anterior mediastinal masses, as this pathology is infrequently encountered in clinical practice and tend to be asymptomatic until compression symptoms occur, which leads to mediastinal mass syndrome (MMS). The aim of this writing is to assess the surgical feasibility, approach, safety of resection and outcome in large anterior mediastinal masses.Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on patients referred for mediastinal mass to the Thoracic Surgery Unit, Hospital Kuala Lumpur from October 2017 until March 2020 (30 months). Patients with evidence of primary anterior mediastinal mass measuring >6 cm on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) of thorax and had undergone treatment in our centre were included. Data were analysed by proportions, means and standard deviations. Categorical data were expressed as percentage, whereas interquartile range was used to describe continuous variables.Results: Out of 63 patients with anterior mediastinal mass, 16 (25.4%) patients had anterior mediastinal mass larger than 6 cm and was included in the analysis. The average tumor size was 11.9 cm. Five patients (31.3%) had MMS. Twelve out of 16 patients were operated with 75% rate of clear tumor margin. There was no postoperative mortality recorded within 30 days of surgery.Conclusions: Positive outcome of definitive surgery in this series suggests clinical feasibility with acceptable short-term safety. Multidisciplinary approach with adequate preoperative assessment, intraoperative preparation and short-and long-term postoperative care were key features to successful treatment of this disease.

Background: Much has been done to examine the psychological impact of cancer treatment, but it remains unclear to what extent anxiety and depression is related to symptom prevalence. The present study concerned the characteristics and frequency of distress as related to symptom prevalence in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in Malaysia. Materials and Methods: Participants were 303 consecutive adult cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in an academic medical center. The short form Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS-SF), which covers three domains of symptoms (global distress, physical-and psychological symptoms) was used to cross-sectionally measure symptom frequency and associated distress via self-reporting. One-way ANOVA and t-tests were used to test mean differences among MSAS-SF subscale scores. Results: Complete data were available for 303 patients. The mean number of symptoms was 14.5. The five most prevalent were fatigue, dry mouth, hair loss, drowsiness and lack of appetite. Overall, symptom burden and frequency were higher than in other published MSAS-SF studies. Higher symptom frequency was also found to be significantly related to greater distress in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Conclusions: Patients undergoing chemotherapy suffer from multiple physical and psychological symptoms. Better symptom control or palliative care is needed. Greater frequency of reported symptoms may also indicate a subconscious bid by patients for care and reassurance -thus tailored intervention to manage distress should be offered.

Background Although first- and second-generation EGFR TKIs are considered first-line treatment in EGFRm+ NSCLC, most patients develop resistance and progress, commonly, EGFR T790M mutation. The third-generation EGFR-TKI has demonstrated efficacy in patients with progressive disease harboring the T790M mutation and in the first-line setting, bypassing this mode of resistance. The primary objectives of this study are to describe the proportion of EGFR m+ NSCLC patients treated with first-, second- and third-generation EGFR TKIs, and cytotoxic chemotherapy in the first-line setting, and the time on treatment for each category. Secondary objectives are to determine the dropout rate, the rates for T790M mutation testing at disease progression and the type of subsequent treatment. Methods This multicenter retrospective study utilized data from the Malaysian Lung Cancer Registry that actively registers all lung cancer patients ≥18 years, with primary lung cancer confirmed histologically or cytologically. All patients diagnosed with advanced stages (ie stages IIIB, IIIC and IV) EGFR m+ NSCLC from 1st of January 2015 to 31st December 2019 were included. Results Of 406 patients with EGFR m+ NCSLC, 351 were treated. Types of first-line treatment were as follows: EGFR-TKIs (first generation – 54.1%, second generation – 25.6% and third-generation – 12.5%) and chemotherapy (7.7%). The median time of treatment for each generation of EGFR-TKI was 12 months, 12 months and 24 months, and 2 months for chemotherapy. The dropout rate was 28.7% (n = 101). Nearly half (49.4%) of patients who were on first- or second-generation EGFR-TKI had further genetic testing via liquid or tissue biopsies upon disease progression. About 24.9% of those who developed disease progression after first- or second-generation EGFR TKI were started on a third-generation EGFR TKI. Conclusion In the real-world, the management of EGFR m+ advanced NSCLC patients in an Asian cost-restrictive setting may adversely affect the choice of first-line therapy, time on each line of treatment and subsequently the overall survival of patients.