RESULTS For 1 year of trastuzumab use, the incremental benefit per patient, incremental cost per QALY gained, and probability of being cost effective using HERA trial estimates were 1.29 QALYs, 178,877 Indian national rupees (INRs; US$2,558), and 4%, respectively, whereas the corresponding figures using joint analysis estimates were 1.69 QALYs, INR 134,413 (US$1,922), and 57.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION Use of trastuzumab for 1 year is not cost effective in India at the current price. However, trastuzumab use for 9 weeks is cost effective and should be included in clinical guidelines and reimbursement policies. A price reduction of 15% to 35% increases the probability of 1-year trastuzumab use being cost effective, to 90%.PURPOSE Trastuzumab has shown an overall survival (OS) benefit in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer (BC), in both the adjuvant and the metastatic setting. We assessed the effectiveness of trastuzumab in patients treated in daily practice according to national treatment coverage protocols and compared our results with those reported by randomized clinical trials. These coverage protocols included patient selection criteria similar to those of those clinical trials and were developed by the Uruguayan National Resource Fund (FNR), the agency that has funded these prescriptions for more than a decade. PATIENTS AND METHODS We included all patients with HER2-positive BC treated with trastuzumab under FNR coverage approved between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2016. The source of data was the FNR database, and primary outcome was OS, analyzed through Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. RESULTS A total of 1,944 women were included 1,085 women (55.8%) were postmenopausal and 1,240 (63.7%) had HER2 and hormone receptor-positive BC. Trastuzumab was administered as adjuvant therapy to 1,233 patients (63.5%), of whom 154 also received it as a neoadjuvant treatment. Three hundred nineteen patients (16.4%) received trastuzumab for advanced disease. Five-year OS in the adjuvant setting was 86.4% (95% CI, 84.0% to 88.7%). The median survival of patients with advanced BC was 25.1 months (95% CI, 10.1 to 42.5 months). CONCLUSION Our survival results are not inferior to those reported in clinical trials, in both adjuvant and advanced settings. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/th-z816.html Importantly, these results support the relevance and the feasibility of treating patients in routine practice, following coverage protocols based on patient selection criteria and methods supported by positive clinical trials. In addition, these results favor quality and appropriate access to BC treatment in our country.PURPOSE Vietnam is undergoing rapid socio-economic transition with an increasing cancer burden. The contribution of modifiable risk factors to cancers in Vietnam has not been studied. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the attributable causes of cancer in Vietnam. METHODS We reviewed the data on burden of cancer in Vietnam from 2 cancer registries in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City between 1995 and 2012. Next, we calculated the fractions of cancers occurring in 2018 attributable to established modifiable risk factors whose impact could be quantified. Data on exposure prevalence were obtained for the period from 2000 to 2010 from national sources wherever possible. RESULTS Cancer incidence in Vietnam has decreased slightly in both sexes. Cancer related to infectious agents decreased sharply, whereas cancer related to nutrition and metabolism has increased. In 2018, established carcinogens included in the analysis explained 47.0% of cancer burden in Vietnam. Chronic infections accounted for 29.1% of cancers (34.7% in men and 22.1% in women), tobacco smoking for 13.5% (23.9% in men and 0.8% in women), and alcohol drinking for 10.3%. Passive smoking was responsible for 8.8% of cancers in women. Other risk factors, including overweight or obesity, nulliparity, and low vegetable and fruit intake, accounted for less then 1% of all cancers each. CONCLUSION Cancer incidence is slowly decreasing in Vietnam, and the causes of more than half of cancers remain unexplained. This result underlines the need for further epidemiologic and fundamental research. Our findings confirm the notion that controlling oncogenic infections and decreasing tobacco smoking are the most effective approaches to reduce the burden of cancer in Vietnam, but other risk factors, including alcohol drinking and diet, should not be neglected.PURPOSE To provide guidelines for the accurate pathologic diagnosis of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL), the preoperative evaluation of the patient with suspected BIA-ALCL, and the pathologic evaluation of the capsulectomy specimen. METHODS To better inform patients and healthcare providers about BIA-ALCL, we convened to review diagnostic procedures used in the evaluation of patients with suspected BIA-ALCL. We focused on the processing of the seroma fluid/effusion surrounding the implant, the handling of capsulectomy specimens following removal of implant(s), and the preoperative evaluation of the patient with suspected BIA-ALCL. Recommendations were based on the published literature and our experience to optimize procedures to obtain an accurate diagnosis and assess for tumor invasion and the extent of the disease. RECOMMENDATIONS Early diagnosis of BIA-ALCL is important as the disease can progress and deaths have been reported. Because the most common presentation of BIA-ALCL is swelling of the breast with fluid collection, an accurate diagnosis requires cytologic evaluation of the effusion fluid surrounding the affected implant. The first priority is cytocentrifugation and filtration of fresh, unfixed effusion fluid to produce air-dried smears that are stained with Wright-Giemsa or other Romanowsky-type stains. Preparation of a cell block is desirable to allow for hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical analysis of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded histologic sections. Cell block sections can be used for polymerase chain reaction-based investigation of T-cell receptor gene rearrangement to detect clonality. Fixation and mapping of the capsulectomy specimen to select multiple representative sections are advised to assess for microscopic tumor involvement and capsular invasion. It is appropriate to assess lymph node involvement by excisional biopsy material rather than fine needle aspiration, due to propensity for focal involvement.