Publications

BACKGROUND

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is an uncommon histologic subtype of bladder cancer with limited data on treatment patterns, outcomes, and prognostic factors. "Real world" information might inform decision-making, prognostic estimates, and clinical trial designs.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A retrospective review of patients with tissue-confirmed bladder SCC treated at Cleveland Clinic from 2007 to 2016 was performed. Data on patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and clinical follow-up were extracted. Univariate analysis was used to identify predictors of overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and time to recurrence.

RESULTS

Of 58 identified patients, 42 had complete data available. Median age at diagnosis was 67 years (range, 37-90). Hematuria was the most common (71%) presenting symptom; 32 patients had pure SCC and 10 predominant/extensive squamous differentiation without major differences noted in clinicopathologic variables or outcomes among those 2 groups. Overall, 35 patients underwent cystectomy with 5 receiving neoadjuvant and 1 adjuvant chemotherapy, whereas 3 had chemotherapy for recurrent disease. Of patients with cystectomy, most had locally advanced disease (75% pT3/4, 35% pN+). Overall, 10 patients progressed and 14 died; median OS was not reached. The 2-year estimated OS, RFS, and cumulative incidence of recurrence were 61% ± 9%, 50% ± 9%, and 32% ± 9%, respectively. Hydronephrosis, older age (70 years or older), lymphovascular invasion, nodal metastases, and advanced T stage were associated with 1 or more poor outcomes.

CONCLUSION

In patients with resectable bladder SCC, radical cystectomy remains the main treatment modality. The role of perioperative chemotherapy remains unclear. The identified prognostic factors might be helpful for prognostication, treatment discussion, and trial eligibility/stratification.

Latent replication-competent HIV-1 persists in individuals on long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART). We developed the Full-Length Individual Proviral Sequencing (FLIPS) assay to determine the distribution of latent replication-competent HIV-1 within memory CD4 T cell subsets in six individuals on long-term ART. FLIPS is an efficient, high-throughput assay that amplifies and sequences near full-length (∼9 kb) HIV-1 proviral genomes and determines potential replication competency through genetic characterization. FLIPS provides a genome-scale perspective that addresses the limitations of other methods that also genetically characterize the latent reservoir. Using FLIPS, we identified 5% of proviruses as intact and potentially replication competent. Intact proviruses were unequally distributed between T cell subsets, with effector memory cells containing the largest proportion of genetically intact HIV-1 proviruses. We identified multiple identical intact proviruses, suggesting a role for cellular proliferation in the maintenance of the latent HIV-1 reservoir.

CONTEXT

Studies on multiple dimensions of the symptom experience of patients with gastrointestinal cancers are extremely limited.

OBJECTIVE

Purpose was to evaluate for changes over time in the occurrence, severity, and distress of seven common symptoms in these patients.

METHODS

Patients completed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, six times over two cycles of chemotherapy (CTX). Changes over time in occurrence, severity, and distress of pain, lack of energy, nausea, feeling drowsy, difficulty sleeping, and change in the way food tastes were evaluated using multilevel regression analyses. In the conditional models, effects of treatment group (i.e., with or without targeted therapy), age, number of metastatic sites, time from cancer diagnosis, number of prior cancer treatments, cancer diagnosis, and CTX regimen on enrollment levels, as well as the trajectories of symptom occurrence, severity, and distress were evaluated.

RESULTS

Although the occurrence rates for pain, lack of energy, feeling drowsy, difficulty sleeping, and change in the way food tastes declined over the two cycles of CTX, nausea and numbness/tingling in hands/feet had more complex patterns of occurrence. Severity and distress ratings for the seven symptoms varied across the two cycles of CTX.

CONCLUSIONS

Demographic and clinical characteristics associated with differences in enrollment levels as well as changes over time in occurrence, severity, and distress of these seven common symptoms were highly variable. These findings can be used to identify patients who are at higher risk for more severe and distressing symptoms during CTX and to enable the initiation of preemptive symptom management interventions.