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Background: The ever-growing complexity of cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT), with new antineoplastic drugs and anticoagulants, distinctive characteristics, and decisions with low levels of evidence, justifies this registry. Method: TESEO is a prospective registry promoted by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology to which 34 centers contribute cases. It seeks to provide an epidemiological description of CAT in Spain. Results: Participants (N=939) with CAT diagnosed between July 2018 and December 2019 were recruited. Most subjects had advanced colon (21.4%), non-small cell lung (19.2%), and breast (11.1%) cancers, treated with dual-agent chemotherapy (28.4%), monochemotherapy (14.4%), or immune checkpoint inhibitors (3.6%). Half (51%) were unsuspected events, albeit only 57.1% were truly asymptomatic. Pulmonary embolism (PE) was recorded in 571 (58.3%); in 120/571 (21.0%), there was a concurrent deep venous thromboembolism (VTE). Most initially received low molecular weight heparin (89.7%). Suspected and unsuspected VTE had an OS rate of 9.9 (95% CI, 7.3-non-computable) and 14.4 months (95% CI, 12.6-non-computable) (p=0.00038). Six-month survival was 80.9%, 55.9%, and 55.5% for unsuspected PE, unsuspected PE admitted for another reason, and suspected PE, respectively (p<0.0001). The 12-month cumulative incidence of venous rethrombosis was 7.1% (95% CI, 4.7-10.2) in stage IV vs 3.0% (95% CI, 0.9-7.1) in stages I-III. The 12-month cumulative incidence of major/clinically relevant bleeding was 9.6% (95% CI, 6.1-14.0) in the presence of risk factors. Conclusion: CAT continues to be a relevant problem in the era of immunotherapy and targeted therapies. The initial TESEO data highlight the evolution of CAT, with new agents and thrombotic risk factors.

Diffuse infiltrating low-grade gliomas include oligodendrogliomas and astrocytomas, and account for about 5% of all primary brain tumors. Treatment strategies for these low-grade gliomas in adults have recently changed. The 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification has updated the definition of these tumors to include their molecular characterization, including the presence of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation and 1p/19p codeletion. In this new classification, the histologic subtype of grade II-mixed oligoastrocytoma has also been eliminated. The precise optimal management of patients with low-grade glioma after resection remains to be determined. The risk–benefit ratio of adjuvant treatment must be weighed for each individual.

There is a current unmet medical need for treatment of leptomeningeal metastases (LMD). To analyze the efficacy and safety of systemic temozolomide (TMZ) for first-line treatment of patients with LMD associated with solid tumors, a phase II, non-randomized, multicenter, prospective study was conducted. The planned duration of treatment was a maximum of six cycles (24 weeks) or until unacceptable toxicity was reported. One cycle of oral TMZ (100 mg/m(2) daily) consisted of one week on treatment/one week off treatment for four weeks. The study was stopped early because of poor accrual. Nineteen patients (median age 51(33-72); 32 % male) were enrolled. The LMD source was breast cancer (53 %) and non-small-cell lung cancer (37 %). Previous treatment was chemotherapy (100 %), surgery 74 %, radiotherapy 79 %, and hormone therapy 42 %. The average last dose of TMZ received by patients was 171 mg and only one patient required dose reduction. Three of 19 patients (15.8 %) had clinical benefit and 16 of 19 patients (84.2 %) progressed. Of the two patients completing the study (six cycles, 24 weeks), one had a partial response and the other stable disease. Median survival was 43 days (95 % CI 28.7-57.3); there were 18 deaths. Median TTP was 28 days (95 % CI 14-42). The most common adverse event was vomiting (52.6 %); nine patients (47.4 %) reported at least one serious adverse event but only one episode of thrombocytopenia was drug related. Median Karnofsky score remained at or above 70 % throughout the study, and was 75 % at the end of the study. First-line TMZ was well tolerated, and did not adversely affect the quality of life of patients with LMD. Future studies are needed to verify the efficacy results of this pilot trial.

The association between venous thromboembolism (VTE) and cancer has been recognized for more than 100 years. Numerous studies have been performed to investigate strategies to decrease VTE incidence and to establish whether treating VTE impacts cancer progression and overall survival. Accordingly, it is important to understand the role of the hemostatic system in tumorigenesis and progression, as there is abundant evidence associating it with cell survival and proliferation, tumor angiogenesis, invasion, and dissemination, and metastasis formation. In attempts to further the scientific evidence, several studies examine survival benefits in cancer patients treated with anticoagulant therapy, specifically treatment with vitamin K antagonists, unfractionated heparin, and low-molecular-weight heparin. Several studies and meta-analyses have been conducted with a special focus on brain tumors. However, no definitive conclusions have been obtained, and more well-designed clinical trials are needed.