कैंसर विज्ञान एवं चिकित्सा

I am pleased to introduce Journal of Cancer Science and Therapy (JCST) a rapid peer reviewed Journal which has key concerns over the Cancer Science by exploring the best patient oriented clinical research and by promoting these findings both directly as research outcomes and in practice oriented formats of direct application in day to-day situations. I am pleased to announce that, all issues of volume 12 were published on scheduled time during the year of 2020.

The primary mucinous adenocarcinoma of the bladder is an extremely rare urologic malignancy and usually creates a diagnostic dilemma, since it cannot be easily differentiated from adenocarcinoma that originate from the colon and the prostate. Hematuria is the most common presenting symptom. Other symptoms include dysuria, nocturia, frequency and lower abdominal pain. Bladder adenocarcinomas are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation, and surgery remains the most effective treatment option. Commonly seen in patients over the age of 50 years and is believed that these lesions progress from mucinous metaplasia to mucinous adenoma and then mucinous adenocarcinoma; however, no study has confirmed this hypothesis till now. Adult exstrophy of the bladder and persistent urachal remnants are also known to be risk factors associated with vesical adenocarcinoma. The prognosis and survival is poorer in non-urachal than urachal adenocarcinoma. We report a case of mucinous adenocarcinoma of the urinary bladder in a 30 year old adult male.

The present study was aimed at describing a multicentre clinical experience in the treatment of Inoperable carcinoma pyrifom fossa. Carcinoma pyriform fossa is the most frequent cancer arising from the hypopharynx, is rarely diagnosed in its early stage and still a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in developing countries. Despite improvement in overall survival for pyriform fossa cancer, the locally advanced cancer remains essentially incurable.

Methods: This prospective observational study was carried out to compare the effects of concurrent chemoradiation and radiotherapy alone in locally advanced carninoma pyriform fossa cancer. The main objectives of this study are to assess the response and early toxicities in both concurrent chemoradiation and radiotherapy alone.

Results: A total number of 90 patients, 45 in each arm having advanced pyriform fossa cancer were included in the study. Highest percentage of the patients was habituated with smoking, betal nut chewing and tobacco leaf user. The most common presenting symptoms were cervical lymphadenopathy, sore throat and hoarseness of voice. Overall response of patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation was better than in comparison to only radiotherapy. As only a new treatment of locally advanced carcinoma of pyriform fossa concurrent chemoradiation (group-A) represents better symptom improvement, more toxicities and better tumor responses than radiotherapy alone (group-B) regimen.

Conclusion: In the treatment of locally advanced carcinoma pyriform fossa, concurrent chemoradiation with paclitaxel 40mg/m2I,V weekly, represents better symptom improvement, tumor responses with manageable toxicities than radiotherapy alone.

Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most common cancer in the UK and the most common cancer in males. The aetiology of PC is poorly understood and the molecular events that underpin the disease are yet to be elucidated. A number of studies have been aimed at the genetic determinants that contribute to the development and progression of PC and this review focused on the TMPRSS2-ERG, EZH2 and PTEN genes. The TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene has been detected in 50% of PC cases and its specificity to PC makes it hugely relevant in PC development. ERG overexpression is sufficient to induce cell invasive programmes in vitro and metastasis in vivo. While its role as a prognostic biomarker is controversial, it is still a promising therapeutic target. The EZH2 gene has also been implicated in a number of cancers but its extensive upregulation in PC makes it particularly culpable. Studies in vitro and in vivo have demonstrated its ability to contribute to PC progression via epigenetic silencing of key tumour suppressor genes. Lastly, the PTEN gene is involved in the development and progression of PC via its interaction with the PI3K/mTOR pathway. Variations in PTEN dose are able to recapitulate the different stages of PC in vivo and are associated with poor patient prognosis. The studies highlighted in this review do support genetic alterations as being an important factor in the development and progression of PC, however other risk factors must be considered alongside the genetics of the disease.

Beckwith Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) is a genetic overgrowth syndrome with complex molecular heterogeneity and a variable phenotypic spectrum. Macrosomia, anterior abdominal wall defects and macroglossia are its characteristic features. BWS is known for its propensity to develop malignancies, most commonly, solid organ tumours. There is a paucity of literature regarding the association of BWS with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). To our knowledge, this is the first case report of BWS associated with Philadelphia chromosome positive (ph+) ALL. A 10 year boy with BWS was diagnosed with ph+ ALL. After a thorough review of literature, we found the possibility of a link between BWS and leukaemia via one of the few known negative regulator of hematopoiesis, the transforming growth factor beta pathway, depending upon the up-regulation of CDKN1C. This case report will elaborate on the possibilities of association of BWS and ALL due to abnormal genomic imprinting and IGF dysregulation.