Welcome to the winter edition of European Oncology & Haematology, i>which features a wide variety of articles covering several topics. We begin with some worrying statistics regarding fertility preservation after breast cancer, in an article by Brauten-Smith. A survey has revealed that around 5,000 younger women are missing out on fertility care, despite being at risk of infertility as a result of their treatment.
This issue features two articles on genitourinary cancer. Fernandez-Castro et al. present the first reported case study of a patient with luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) receptor positive urothelial carcinoma (UC) treated with zoptarelin doxorubicin. The positive outcome of this case was remarkable, given the poor prognosis of UC, and merits further study. Another case study, presented by Samol et al., describes an unusual finding of primary penile Kaposi’s sarcoma in a HIV-negative 21-year-old male. In the haematological malignancies section Barkate et al. present an overview of the role of azacitidine in the management of myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid syndromes. The drug has shown improved tolerability and equivalent or superior efficacy to established treatments in both conditions.
Psyrri et al. present highlights of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 congress on the subject of head and neck cancers. Of note, the phase III LUX-Head and Neck 1 clinical trial is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of an active oral targeted agent in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Head and neck cancers are also the subject of an article by Barley et al., which describes atlas-based auto segmentation, a time-saving technique for the delineation of organs at risk in head and neck patients being treated with intensity modulated radiotherapy.
As a result of spiraling healthcare costs, biosimilars are playing an increasingly important role in supportive cancer care. A report by Jilma et al. demonstrates a lack of clinically meaningful differences between the granulocyte-colony stimulatory factor Neupogen® and its biosimilar Accofil®/Grastofil® (filgrastim).
Finally, three articles discuss the important topic of personalised cancer care. Cazap presents further highlights from ESMO 2014; Dittrich discusses the status and challenges of molecular profiling in achieving treatments stratified to the individual; and Westhoff et al. apply Darwinian principles to tumour biology, bringing new insights into potential therapeutic targets and novel treatment options.
European Oncology & Haematology would like to thank all expert authors who contributed towards this edition. A special thanks goes to our Editorial Board for their continuing support and guidance. We hope that these timely and thought-provoking articles will be of interest to all our readers.
