Latest Research
All publications from the Cancer3.AI database, newest first.
Urothelial Bladder Carcinoma Incidentally Coexisting with an Ileovesical Fistula Caused by Perforation of Meckel's Diverticulum: A Case Report.
Yamamoto A, et al
Clinicians have reported what appears to be the first documented case of a patient simultaneously diagnosed with an ileovesical fistula — an abnormal connection between the small intestine and the urinary bladder — caused by a perforated Meckel's diverticulum, and urothelial bladder carcinoma. A 74-year-old man presented with fever, and subsequent cystoscopy revealed suspicious bladder lesions that could not rule out cancer, prompting transurethral resection of a bladder tumor (TUR-Bt), which histopathologically confirmed malignancy. One week later, partial small intestine resection was performed to address the fistula, and pathological examination of the removed tissue confirmed the fistula's origin as Meckel's diverticulitis. A repeat TUR-Bt at three months showed no residual tumor, and at six months of follow-up the patient remained free of both cancer recurrence and fistula. This case highlights that when fistulas involve the bladder, clinicians must actively investigate for coexisting malignancy, as the two conditions can occur together and the cancer risk may otherwise be overlooked.
Reports (MDPI)
Source →Dosimetric Results for Organs at Risk from Radiotherapy Dose De-Escalation to the Subclinical Region in HPV-Mediated Oropharyngeal Cancer: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.
Miller DG, et al
A new study published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics investigated whether reducing radiation therapy doses to uninvolved neck regions could meaningfully lower radiation exposure to healthy tissues in patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer. Researchers retrospectively analyzed dosimetric data from 575 patients treated at a single academic institution between 2014 and 2023, comparing a low-dose group receiving 30 Gy to the subclinical neck with a high-dose group receiving 50–60 Gy, using propensity score matching to ensure balanced comparisons. The study found statistically significant reductions in mean radiation doses to all assessed organs at risk — including parotid and submandibular salivary glands and the larynx — in both patients with unilateral and bilateral lymph node involvement, with the contralateral parotid gland receiving 833 cGy versus 1391 cGy in matched unilateral-disease patients. These reductions are clinically important because lower salivary gland doses are strongly associated with reduced rates of dry mouth and swallowing dysfunction, which are among the most debilitating long-term side effects experienced by head and neck cancer survivors. The authors conclude that subclinical neck dose de-escalation consistently yields doses well below established organ-at-risk constraints, supporting the potential to meaningfully improve patients' quality of life. They call for prospective clinical trials to confirm that these dosimetric gains translate into measurable reductions in toxicity and improvements in long-term well-being.
International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics
Source →Ileocecal and Small Bowel Involvement Are Independently Associated with Inferior Survival Despite Complete Cytoreduction in FIGO IIIC-IV Tubo-Ovarian and Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma.
Runnebaum IB, et al
This retrospective study examined 302 patients with advanced-stage (FIGO/AJCC IIIC-IV) tubo-ovarian and primary peritoneal cancer who underwent maximum-effort cytoreductive surgery at a high-volume, ESGO-certified European center between 2006 and 2021. Researchers found that complete macroscopic tumor removal was achieved in 85.8% of patients and remained a strong protective factor for survival, yet the specific location of bowel involvement emerged as a critical independent predictor of long-term outcome. Patients requiring small bowel resection had a 3-year overall survival of only 31.8% compared to 57.0% in those who did not, while those needing ileocecal resection fared worst of all with a 3-year survival of just 24.2%. Large bowel resection significantly increased the risk of major postoperative complications by more than 2.7-fold, and anastomotic leakage occurred in 6% of cases regardless of stoma formation. These findings indicate that extensive small bowel and ileocecal tumor spread defines a high-risk subgroup for whom upfront chemotherapy followed by planned interval surgery may be preferable to immediate aggressive resection, especially in frail or complex patients. Clinicians and multidisciplinary tumor boards are advised to incorporate bowel involvement patterns into preoperative counseling and treatment planning for advanced ovarian cancer.
Annals of surgical oncology
Source →Giant Uterine Leiomyosarcoma with Ascitic Cytology Positive: A Case Report on Diagnostic and Surgical Challenges in a Low-Resource Setting.
Mudei NM, et al
Researchers present a rare and diagnostically complex case of giant uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS) — an aggressive smooth-muscle cancer of the uterus — in a 45-year-old woman from rural Somalia who endured five years of progressive abdominal distension and irregular vaginal bleeding before receiving a definitive diagnosis. Imaging revealed a massive heterogeneous uterine tumor with central necrosis and abdominal fluid accumulation, and the patient underwent total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes. Postoperative pathology confirmed high-grade uLMS with extensive spread into the peritoneum, and malignant cells were detected in the ascitic fluid, indicating advanced disseminated disease at the time of surgery. The case starkly illustrates the persistent challenge of distinguishing uterine leiomyosarcoma from benign fibroids before surgery, a difficulty compounded by the lack of advanced imaging and pathology services in low-resource environments. The authors conclude that expanding gynecologic oncology infrastructure, improving affordable access to diagnostics, and training clinicians to recognize suspicious uterine masses early are essential steps toward reducing the disproportionate cancer burden borne by women in underserved regions.
International journal of women's health
Source →Explainable machine learning integrating metabolic and inflammatory signatures for personalized prognosis in resected intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
Fang J, et al
Researchers developed and externally validated a suite of explainable machine learning models to predict postoperative survival outcomes in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), a particularly aggressive form of bile duct cancer, using data from 690 patients across five medical centers. A survival support vector machine (SSVM) approach integrating clinicopathological, metabolic, and immune-inflammatory variables outperformed four other tested models and achieved concordance indices of 0.754 for overall survival and 0.709 for disease-free survival, surpassing the conventional AJCC-TNM staging system. Using SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) methodology, the team identified gamma-glutamyl transferase, the triglyceride-glucose index, lymph node metastasis, and carcinoembryonic antigen as the most powerful prognostic drivers, lending biological transparency to the model's predictions. The validated models were deployed as an accessible web-based tool that provides individualized risk estimates for death and cancer recurrence, designed to support clinicians in tailoring postoperative surveillance and treatment decisions. This work represents a meaningful advance toward personalized, data-driven management of iCCA, a cancer type where prognostic tools have historically been limited.
European journal of surgical oncology : the journal of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and the British Association of Surgical Oncology
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