Articles

Brain metastases: Systemic treatment approach in 2017

BJMO - volume 12, issue 3, may 2018

S. Demartin , L. Duck MD, PhD, L. Carestia , T. Connerotte , R. Poncin MD, N. Whenham MD

This review proposes to go through reasonable systemic therapy options in brain metastases, notably immune checkpoint inhibitors and oncogen-driven targeted therapies. We deliberately focus on drugs currently available in Belgium in clinical practice. In the large majority of cases, clinical trials – in particular registration trials – exclude patients with brain metastases. Therefore we have to deal with small size non-randomised phase II trials or retrospective analysis with the known caveats of highly selected patients and numerous biases.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2018:12(3):96–102)

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Metastatic breast phyllodes tumour: is chemotherapy effective?

BJMO - volume 11, issue 1, february 2017

C. Quaghebeur MD, N. Whenham MD, J.P. Machiels MD, PhD, J-P. Haxhe MD, A-P. Schillings MD, E. Laterre MD, X. Catteau MD, R. Poncin MD, L. Duck MD, PhD

SUMMARY

Breast phyllodes tumours account for less than 0.5% of breast tumours, their diagnosis is therefore often made after pathological exam. They are fibroepithelial lesions of the breast, and are classified as benign, borderline or malignant. For malignant phyllodes tumours, aggressive behaviour with risk of local and distant recurrence may be seen. Therefore, at least one centimetre free-margins, or mastectomy, should be preferred for local malignant tumours. No prospective randomised data exist to elucidate the role of adjuvant chemotherapy, but radiotherapy should probably be offered after breast conservative surgery for borderline and malignant tumours. For metastatic disease, there is no standard chemotherapy regimen. Doxorubicin is the main recommended drug, based on scarce data. Palliative surgery or radiotherapy may also be offered. We present here a patient with lung metastatic disease who partially responded to a platin-etoposide regimen after doxorubicin failure, and make a short review of the literature.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2017;11(1):26–28)

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Adjuvant treatment for uterine cancers, a review of the current evidence

BJMO - volume 10, issue 2, april 2016

L. Duck MD, PhD, J.F. Baurain MD, PhD, C. Kirkove MD, R. Poncin MD, A. Barbeaux MD, V. Malvaux MD, J-C. Verougstraete MD, J-L. Squifflet MD, PhD, M. Luyckx MD

Summary

To date, the main treatment of loco-regional uterine cancer is surgery. The benefit of adjuvant treatment depends on the subtype of cancer, stage, and risk factors. We describe here the current evidence-based data supporting the administration of adjuvant treatment after surgery, with a focus on chemotherapy.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2016;10(2):63–68)

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