Background. Clinical reports on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) suggest its higher incidence and worse outcomes in cancer patients. Considering a rapid pace of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, more data on the risk of contagion and syndrome course is required with this patient group.

Aim. Estimation of the infection rate in cancer patients managed at the Oncology Centre.

Materials and methods. This retrospective study included cancer patients managed at the Oncology Centre between 9 April 2020 and 27 May 2020 and routinely tested for SARS-CoV-2 in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and/or COVID-19 in chest computed tomography (CT).

Results and discussion. A total of 2,628 patients were included in the study, with 119 (4.5 %) confirmed to have COVID-19; 45/119 were PCR-positive, 95/119 had viral pneumonia in CT, 21/119 were positive for both tests. A total of 47.9 % cases were asymptomatic, 11.8 % revealed a mild single-symptom disease. COVID-19 ended in death in 2 (2.5 %) of 80 cases with a known outcome. In PCR results of both patient and staff screening, the virus detection rate was 3.0 % and 2.4 %, respectively (p = 0.33).

Conclusion. A COVID-19 screening revealed no significant difference in the risk of contagion between cancer patients and staff of the Oncology Centre. PCR tests may perform false negative for COVID-19 in cancer patients and should be coupled with CT scanning. The infection is asymptomatic or clinically mild in most other cases.

Background. Malignant melanoma is steadily exaggerating over the recent decades. Nonetheless, improved systemic therapies have substantially increased life expectancy in patients with a locally advanced or disseminated disease. Higherincidence recurrent melanocytic skin lesions become essentially problematic and require more attention and control.

Aim. Cross-survey on the incidence of synchronous multiple primary melanomas in patients with solitary melanoma and those with other operable solid tumours.

Materials and methods. A total of 289 patients with suspected malignant pigmented skin melanoma were included in the survey. Patients were divided in two cohorts by the presence of primary skin melanoma and its tractability for radical excision. Patients with operable melanoma comprised the study cohort, and those with other solid tumours were the control.

Results and discussion. The survey covered 289 patients, with 148 in the study and 141 in the control cohort. The study148 patients revealed 112 malignant pigmented melanomas, but none in the control cohort. A chi-square statistical analysis of clinical values in single and multiple melanoma cases showed a slightly higher prevalence of first-visit melanomas in patients with synchronous tumours (30% pT4 — p = 0.007).

Conclusion. The observed 10% rate of second melanoma in the study cohort and a zero melanoma incidence in the control support the alternative hypothesis of a higher rate of newly detected melanomas in primarily diagnosed melanoma patients vs. those with solid tumours.

Introduction. The study aimed to evaluate a routine accelerated recovery management in patients with extended combined pelvic surgery.

Materials and methods. We surveyed the records and outcomes in various oncological patients following the accelerated recovery protocol after a routine extended combined pelvic surgery at the Moscow City Oncology Hospital No. 1 during 2018–2020.

Results and discussion. Locally advanced tumours comprised 37 (75.5 %) cases, and the remaining 12 (24.5 %) were nonpelvic resections due to metastasis. Radical surgery was achieved in 41 (83.7 %) cases, while the other 8 (16.3 %) were symptomatic due to the emerged complications of intestinal permeability disruption, bleeding, urinary obstruction, paracancrotic abscess, internal fistulae or pain syndrome. Postoperative complications were evaluated in the Clavien-Dindo classification.

Conclusion. The results obtained suggest the feasibility of an accelerated recovery protocol-based practice in extended combined pelvic surgery.

Background. Oral mucosal cancer is the most prevalent squamous cell cancer of head and neck, with 6,723 cases registered in Russia, including 94 per Volgograd Region, in 2018. A high tumour advancement and complex topography of the surgical area result in extensive soft-tissue defects and impaired swallowing, chewing and speech.

Aim. Efficacy assessment of submental myodermal flap application in buccal reconstruction after extended combined oncological resections.

Materials and methods. Submental myodermal flap was used as a buccal reconstruction technique in 112 patients aged 42 to 75 years during 2015–2020. Surgery for primary tumour was performed in 88 cases, and in 24 — for recurrence after radiotherapy or surgical excision.

Results and discussion. A six-year experience of the submental myodermal flap usage in reconstructive surgery allowed evidently wider indications for extensive oral resection combined with extended, also bilateral, lymphadenectomy. Clinical records on the technique application in primary and recurrent cancer are presented.

Conclusion. The submental myodermal flap technique in combination with extended or extended combined surgery for oral mucosal cancer notably increases the tumour resectability at this location and improves function restore in patients. The method widens indications for higher-volume operative aid, considerably reduces postoperative complications and holds a promise to enable more radical surgery. This plastic surgery technique is aesthetic and effectively repairs speech and digestive functions, bringing improvement to the patients’ quality of life and social adaptation.

Aim. Assessment of the utility and advantage of videoendoscopic inguinal femoral lymphadenectomy (VE-LAD) over the standard open technique (OLAD) in patients with malignant skin melanoma and metastatic lesions of regional inguinal and/or femoral lymph nodes.

Materials and methods. The Saint-Petersburg Clinical Research Centre for Specialty Medical Aid in Oncology managed 86 inguinal femoral LADs in melanoma patients over 2013–2016. VE-LAD was rendered in 48 (54.7 %) cases, and OLAD otherwise.

Results and discussion. A total of 72 patients were included in the study. VE-LAD was performed in 48 (54.7 %) cases, and OLAD otherwise. An average VE-LAD duration was 90 (60 to 160) min. Severe complications were observed in 4/48 (8 %) VE-LAD and 16/24 (66 %) OLAD cases, which reveals a significantly lower complication rate in the study cohort (chi-square p > 0.000). Lymphorrhoea was shorter in the study cohort (> 7 days in 5 patients vs. 3/24 and > 14 days only in 11/24 OLAD cases; chi-square p > 0.000). No significant differences in relapse-free survival were observed between the cohorts, with higher absolute values of 22.6 months in the VE-LAD (95 % CI 14.8–30.4, p = 0.087) vs. 9.4 months (95 % CI 0.0–18.9, p = 0.087) in OLAD cohort. A median OS was 52.3 months (95 % CI 30.5–74.1, p = 0.996) in the VE-LAD vs. 39.9 months (95 % CI 30.6–49.2, p = 0.996) in OLAD cohort.

Conclusion. Videoendoscopic inguinal femoral lymphadenectomy allows a radical inguinal femoral lymph node removal alike in conventional surgical dissection. Our results indicate the method performance towards reduced postoperative wound complications. The oncological indicators are comparable to the traditional surgery cohort.

Introduction. Neuroendocrine breast tumors represent a rare subtype of breast cancer, accounting for less than 1 % of all neuroendocrine neoplasms. Starting from their pathology definition, and going through their prevalence, prognosis and treatment, our knowledge is still really uncertain.

Materials and methods. The article presents a rare clinical observation of a neuroendocrine breast tumor. A breast fibroadenoma was diagnosed at the initial diagnosis stage in a private clinic; after a surgical treatment and further morphological study, it was estimated: a diagnosis of Cancer in situ of the left breast T1N0M0, stage I. Next, 3D-conformal remote radiation therapy was performed on the area of the left breast.

Results and discussion. After conducting positron emission tomography, multiple metastases were detected in the lymph nodes, bones, and liver. Additionally, micropreparations were consulted at the Federal Reference Center in St. Petersburg and at an independent third-party molecular biological laboratory in Germany (Munich). Given all the instrumental, molecular biological, histological and immunohistochemical studies of the patient, an individual regimen of drug therapy was selected.

Conclusion. After 18 months of personalized drug therapy, we observed a positive trend and a significant decrease in metabolic activity according to positron emission tomography.

Peritoneal carcinomatosis is viewed by many experts as a terminal illness with an unfavourable course and prognosis. Existing therapies are controversial and exhibit ambiguous efficacy. We review the current state of the art in therapy for peritoneal metastases of various origin and its historical background. Cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy compound the treatment of choice as achieving the highest survival rates. Palliative surgery and systemic chemotherapy are an alternative that proved even more aggressive and ineffective in comparative survival evaluations. Manifold studies and expert opinions exist on the efficacy and expedience of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis. Today, however, their routine use in everyday practice is hotly debated. Despite an evident progress in managing peritoneal metastases, a series of questions remain unsolved. Contentious research data, late diagnosis, low treatment efficacy in severe peritoneal dissemination, a limited applicability of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, all highlight the importance of inventing and developing novel methods for early high-accuracy diagnosis and careful selection of the treatment strategy. Fundamental knowledge of malignant metastasis underlies the choice of patient management and the innovative toolkit for prevention and treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis.

The review covers recent research on cancer as a genetic disease manifesting both sporadically and in germline through variant genomic mutations or DNA rearrangements. This change can be point mutations, chromosomal aberrations or hypermethylation leading to DNA repair failures. Defects in tumour suppressor genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, PTCH1, etc.) underly hereditary predisposition to breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) due to genome instability. Studying somatic mutations is key to the understanding of carcinogenesis mechanisms and finding apt therapies. Heterogeneity of cancers renders the tumour mutation profiling uneasy. The treatment choice and efficacy in BC and OC depends on homologous recombination defects in tumour cells usually imposed by damaged BRCA1/2 genes. CHEK2- associated neoplasms account for most hereditary BCs linked to flaws in the DNA repair machinery. Overexpression of the PTCH1 protein is the target in breast, lung, ovarian, colonic cancers, etc.

Genetic research has fundamentally altered our understanding of the aetiology and pathogenesis of human malignancy. The molecular cancer phenotype is of paramount importance in the disease prognosis and treatment personalisation.

Gynaecological malignancy is a major challenge in women’s health worldwide. Cervical cancer (CC) is a particularly common type affecting the female reproductive system through an uncontrolled cell propagation causing cervical tissue injury in women. The advent of new technologies empowers research into the discovery and development of novel markers for early diagnosis, as well as therapy evaluation and monitoring. Despite manifold attempts to unravel the molecular mechanisms of CC, its pathogenesis remains largely unclear. The study of putative CC predictors is key to the invention of effective alleviating treatments. Systems biology enabled with high-throughput methods currently provides routes to tackle this problem. Unlike a traditional approach, it generates a wealth of data on prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cervical cancer, fuelling the search for novel high-sensitive and specific molecular markers. This approach will help improve the early diagnosis and treatment efficacy at a lower relapse rate. This review presents the currently on-stage and emerging biomarkers in cellular and molecular research into cervical cancer detection and prognosis.

Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) are a heterogeneous group of malignant neoplasms with diverse morphology and nomenclature. Well-differentiated NETs were historically termed carcinoid tumours, which entailed abundant confusion and misclassification. Cross body-localised NETs have been described from the central nervous system, respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, larynx, thyroid, skin, breast and urogenital system. The evidence on NET prevalence is diverse, with selected sources estimating a 0.5% rate among total malignancies diagnosed. Carcinoid syndrome is a known important associate of NETs. Its presence resulting from the amine and peptide hypersecretion often facilitates the NET diagnosis, and curative surgery becomes a treatment of choice, if technically feasible. Adjuvant therapy is ambiguous. When surgery is impractical due to a usually advanced NET at diagnosis, drug therapy is adopted to relief symptoms and control the disease.

Prostate malignancies aggressively grow worldwide frequently occurring inoperable at diagnosis. A proper choice of treatment strategy is currently a challenge. Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer remains fatal and poor-prognosis, albeit the list of chemotherapeutic agents and androgen receptor signalling inhibitors has recently been extending towards a certain therapeutic success. Numerous studies suggest a frequent association of the unfavourable prognosis with germline or somatic damage of DNA repair genes. Such are mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes bearing important clinical implications for the patient outcome through an adverse clinical manifest of primary tumours and poor treatment in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. This review attempts to describe the BRCA1/2 mutations in prostate cancer with a focus on their prognostic value.