W. Lybaert MD

Highlights in head and neck cancer

The ASCO Annual Meeting was held from 4 till 8 June 2021 in a virtual format. During this meeting, immunotherapy arrived in first-line recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adjuvant capecitabine enters prudently the treatment algorithm of nasopharyngeal cancer, results of de-escalation studies in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer are promising and forwarding to phase III studies, cabozantinib shows impressive results in later-line radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer, and immunotherapy tries to find a place in recurrent/metastatic salivary gland tumours, a tumour type without a uniform standard of care anno 2021. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2021;15(5):226-33)

Highlights of the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) Congress

The 17^th Annual European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) Congress took place as a virtual meeting from March 11^th until March 13^th, 2020. This article will provide you with the highlights discussed at the meeting.

Masterclass On Site Neuroendocrine Tumours 2020

SUMMARY

On January 30-31^st, 2020 the Masterclass on neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) took place in Antwerp, Belgium. This meeting was organised by NETwerk Antwerpen-Waasland (ENETS Centre of Excellence) with support from IPSEN. A broad plethora of presentations on molecular aspects, lung NETs, digestive NETs and neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs), immunotherapy, Merkel cell carcinoma and patient-centred care were presented. This report will highlight the key messages of the symposium.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2020;14(4):165–70)

Highlights of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium 2020

SUMMARY

At the background of the Golden Gate Bridge with a view on the Pacific Ocean, the annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was held from 23^rd until 25^th January 2020 in the Moscone Congress Center in San Francisco, California. During this meeting, the potential of immunotherapy in the treatment of cancers from the upper and lower digestive tract was discussed, but no major breakthroughs were presented this year. In addition to immunotherapy, ASCO GI 2020 featured several interesting presentations on the molecular profiling of different types of gastro-intestinal cancers. These increased molecular insights will hopefully pave the way for a more biomarker-driven treatment approach for these tumours in the near future. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2020;14(3):116–25)

Not just a ‘usual’ Li-Fraumeni syndrome

SUMMARY

The Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is characterised clinically by the appearance of tumours in multiple organs, generally at an early age. This hereditary condition is caused by germinal mutations in the TP53 gene, which codifies for the tumour suppressor gene p53.

We present here the case of a patient aged 40 with the diagnosis of LFS who presented with premenopausal breast cancer. She had a positive family history of cancer. As a consequence, she was referred to genetic counselling. Genetic analysis revealed a TP53 germline mutation, which is diagnostic for LFS. However, further genetic analysis of different tissues showed a genetic mosaicism in our patient.

Patients with LFS have a high risk for a broad spectrum of tumours. The diagnosis and management of Li-Fraumeni syndrome should be performed by a multidisciplinary team, and genetic counselling should be offered to patients and their relatives. Targeted next-generation sequencing represents an efficient approach for the identification of mutations in families with a heterogeneous phenotype. Theoretically, since mosaics do not have mutations in all of their cells, the cells that do not have mutant p53 are less likely to undergo malignant transformation or have the same risk of everyone else.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2020;14(3):100–105)

Highlights of the 2019 annual meeting of the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS)

MARCH 6-8TH, 2019, BARCELONA

Highlights of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium 2019

SUMMARY

At the background of the Golden Gate Bridge with a view on the Pacific Ocean, the annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium was held from 17–19 January 2019 in the Moscone Congress Center in San Francisco, California. The meeting further underlined the invasion of immunotherapy in the treatment landscape of gastrointestinal tumours, both in the upper and lower digestive tract. In addition to immunotherapy, lots of efforts were made in the molecular profiling of gastrointestinal cancers in every possible tumour location, which will hopefully fuel more biomarker-driven medicine in this setting in the near future. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2019;13(4):142–149)