Introduction. The lack of effective aetiotropic therapy of COVID-19 prompted researchers around the world searching for various methods of SARS-CoV-2 elimination, including convalescent plasma. The aim of this work was to study the safety and efficacy of severe COVID-19 treatment with convalescence plasma containing specific antibodies to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 S protein in a titer of at least 1: 1000. Methods. A single-center, randomized, prospective, clinical study performed at the FRCC FMBA of Russia with the participation of 85 patients who were stratified in two groups. The first group contains 20 critically ill patients who are on mechanical ventilation; Results. The use of plasma of convalescents in patients with severe COVID-19 with mechanical ventilation does not affect the disease outcome in these patients. Mortality rate in this group was 60%, which corresponds to the average mortality of patients on mechanical ventilation in our hospital. In the second group clinical improvement was detected in 75% and 51%, for convalescent and normal plasma respectively. Of the 46 people who received convalescent plasma, three patients (6.5%) were transferred to mechanical ventilation, two of whom died. In the group receiving non-immune plasma, the need for mechanical ventilation also arose in three patients (15%), of which two died. The hospital mortality in the group of convalescent plasma was 4.3%, which is significantly lower than the average COVID-19 hospital mortality in our Center (6.73%) and more than two times lower than the hospital mortality in the control group (n = 150), matched by age and by the disease severity. Conclusions. Thus, we demonstrated relative safety of convalescent plasma transfusion and the effectiveness of such therapy for COVID-19 at least in terms of the survival of patients with severe respiratory failure without mechanical ventilation. In the absence of bioengineered neutralizing antibodies and effective aetiotropic therapy, the use of hyperimmune convalescent plasma is the simplest and most effective method of specific etiopathogenetic therapy using forms of COVID-19.

PURPOSE The overall survival (OS) results in patients with ALK-positive metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have rarely been reported. The aim of this prospective-retrospective cohort study was to obtain real-world data on the use of crizotinib or chemotherapy in patients with ALK-positive metastatic NSCLC in Russia. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor–negative metastatic NSCLC were screened in 23 cancer centers. To be eligible, patients were required to have confirmation of ALK rearrangement. Patients were treated with crizotinib (250 mg twice daily; n = 96) or the investigator’s choice of platinum-based chemotherapy (n = 53). The primary end point was OS. RESULTS A total of 149 ALK-positive patients were included. Mean age was 53 years in both groups. Patients were predominately women (59%) and never-smokers (74%), and most patients had adenocarcinoma histology (95%). At a median follow-up time of 15 months, 79 of the 149 patients included in the analysis had died. Median OS from the start of treatment was 31 months (95% CI, 28.5 to 33.5 months) in the crizotinib group and 15.0 months (95% CI, 9.0 to 21.0 months) in the chemotherapy group ( P < .001). The objective response rate was 34% in the crizotinib group. Among patients with brain metastasis, one complete response (6%) and five partial responses (31%) were achieved. Grade 3 adverse events were observed in three patients (3%) in the crizotinib group. CONCLUSION The improved OS observed in crizotinib clinical trials in ALK-positive NSCLC was also observed in the less selective patient populations treated in daily practice in Russia. The use of standard chemotherapy in these patients remains common but seems inappropriate as a result of the effectiveness of newer treatments, such as crizotinib.

Aim. The aim of the study is to examine the efficacy and safety of eribulin in HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (BC) in Russian clinical practice. Materials and methods. The analysis included 459 patients with advanced BC from 44 federal and municipal medical clinics in Russia and received at least 2 courses of treatment with eribulin in accordance with the registered indications for drug. The average age of women was 56 years (between 29 and 81 years), 83% of patients had HER2-negative tumor subtype (49.9% - luminal BC and 33.1% - triple-negative BC) HER2-positive biological tumor subtype was registered in 17% of patients. Visceral metastases were diagnosed in 73% of patients and three-zone and multiple zone metastases were diagnosed in 41.6% of cases. The median number of prior lines of therapy in patients with disseminated disease was 2; anthracycline and taxane chemotherapy was applied in 94.3% of patients, and 38.1% of patients were recived CT plus capecitabine. Standard treatment regimen with eribulin was cotinuing (1.4 mg/m² as a 2-5-minute intravenous infusion administrated on days 1, 8 of a 21-day cycle) until disease progression, unacceptable toxic effects, or impossibility of the drug administration for any other reason. We estimated the efficacy and safety of treatment with eribulin in Russian patients with HER2-negative BC. Results. Objective response rate was achieved in 20.5% of cases, complete response rate was in 3.2%, partial - 17.3%, and the stable disease rate was marked in 52.7% of women, and in 19.7% of these cases was prolonged more than 6 months. The frequency of objective response was higher in luminal BC group compared with triple-negative BC: 23.5% vs 15.8%; tumor growth control 76.9% vs. 67.8%, respectively; p

Adverse events affecting the cardiovascular system are one of the most serious problems in the general management of patients with oncological diseases, since they can jeopardize the success in the treatment of malignant neoplasms. Despite modern methods of treatment, some chemotherapeutic drugs, such as anthracyclines, HER2 /ErbB2 inhibitors can have a pronounced effect on the cardiovascular system. These toxic effects lead to cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure, vascular toxicity and even death. It is important for oncologists and cardiologists to understand the basic diagnostic and treatment strategies that should be used in the event of toxicity of this kind.

Cardioncology has emerged as a new field at the intersection of cardiology and oncology. Despite the fact that improving efficiency of antitumor treatment increased the survival of oncological hematological patients, the long-term cardiovascular consequences of this treatment have become more clinically significant.Despite the effectiveness of modern methods of treatment, some drugs, such as Bcr-Abl kinase inhibitors, anthracyclines, HER2/Erbb2 inhibitors, vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors, fluoropyrimidines, as well as radiation therapy can have a pronounced effect on the cardiovascular system. These toxic effects lead to cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure, vascular toxicity and even death. It is important for hematologists, oncologists and cardiologists to understand the basic diagnostic and treatment strategies that should be used in the event of toxicity of this kind. At a time when, due to the developed cardiotoxicity, antitumor therapy should be discontinued, in some cases, it is possible to consider continuing treatment with caution and careful monitoring.