Hyperprogressive Disease in Patients With Urothelial Carcinoma or Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated With PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitors

BackgroundA rapid progression pattern called hyperprogressive disease (HPD) has been observed during early cycles of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor therapy. Data regarding HPD in patients with genitourinary cancer are limited.Patients and MethodsWe included 203 patients with genitourinary cancer treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors between February 2015 and June 2018. HPD was defined as a greater than 50% increase in tumor burden, greater than 2-fold increase in tumor growth rate, or development of extensive (10 or more) new lesions.ResultsPatients (n = 102) with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and patients (n = 101) with urothelial carcinoma (UC) were included. HPD was observed in 13 (6.4%) patients. The median overall survival for patients with progressive disease and HPD was 7.3 months and 3.5 months, respectively. HPD occurred more frequently in patients with UC than in those with RCC (11.9% vs. 0.9%; P = .01). Multivariate analysis showed that UC and creatinine above 1.2 mg/dL were independent predictive factors for HPD. A 30% increase in lymphocyte number following PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor treatment was a negative predictor of HPD. The incidence of HPD in patients with UC treated with paclitaxel-based chemotherapy was one-third of those treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.ConclusionHPD developed predominantly in patients with UC, and the incidence of HPD in patients with RCC was negligible. Treatment with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors should be prescribed with caution in patients with UC and creatinine above 1.2 mg/dL.     

α7 nAChRs expressed on antigen presenting cells are insensitive to the conventional antagonists α-bungarotoxin and methyllycaconitine

Expression of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) on antigen presenting cells (APCs), such as macrophages and dendritic cells, is now well established. We have shown that GTS-21, a selective α7 nAChR agonist, downregulates APC-dependent CD4⁺ T cell differentiation into regulatory T cells (Tregs) and effector Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells by inhibiting antigen processing, thereby interfering with antigen presentation. α7 nAChRs on Jurkat human leukemic T cells require functional T cell receptors (TCRs)/CD3 and leukocyte-specific tyrosine kinase to mediate nicotine-induced Ca²⁺-signaling via Ca²⁺ release from intracellular stores, and are insensitive to two conventional α7 nAChR antagonists, α-bungarotoxin (α-BTX) and methyllycaconitine (MLA). We investigated the effects of GTS-21, α-BTX and MLA on ovalbumin (OVA)-induced Th cytokine release from spleen cells isolated from OVA-specific TCR transgenic DO11.10 mice. We found that: (1) GTS-21 dose-dependently suppresses OVA-induced IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-17 release, but neither α-BTX nor MLA alone affected the OVA-induced cytokine release. (2) Neither α-BTX nor MLA abolished the suppressive effects of GTS-21 on IFN-γ and IL-17 release from OVA-activated DO11.10 spleen cells. (3) GTS-21 significantly suppressed OVA-induced APC-dependent CD4⁺ T cell differentiation into Tregs. Neither MLA nor mecamylamine, a non-specific nAChR antagonist, abolished the suppressive effect of GTS-21 on Treg differentiation. These results suggest that α7 nAChRs on APCs involved in cytokine synthesis and T cell differentiation are insensitive to the conventional α7 nAChR antagonists, α-BTX and MLA, and that α7 nAChRs on APCs differ pharmacologically from those in neurons.     

A prognostic signature based on immune-related genes for cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma

Cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endocervical adenocarcinoma (CESC) is the fourth commonest female malignancy worldwide. CESC progresses in immune-microenvironment mainly composed of infiltrating immune and stromal cells. Here, we performed an integrated analysis incorporating the expression profiles from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and scores of immune and stromal cells calculated by Estimation of Stromal and Immune cells in Malignant Tumours using Expression data (ESTIMATE) algorithm. A two-gene signature (CD1C and CD6 genes) was established to predict the prognosis of CESC. Based on this signature, patients were divided into the high- and low-risk groups, and this signature showed good prognostic performance according to the results of Kaplan-Meier analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in train set and two validation sets. A nomogram was built for evaluating the clinical applicability of this signature. In addition, based on Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) database, 2 hub genes showed negative correlations with tumor purity and positive correlations with infiltrating levels of immune filtrating cells. What’s more, we propose new treatment strategies for the two prognostic subtypes. Low- risk patients were found presenting with a higher level of immune checkpoint molecules and showing higher immunogenicity in immunophenoscore (IPS) analysis, which indicated a better response for immunotherapy. Meanwhile, estimated by Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer (GDSC) database, the high-risk patients showed sensitive responses to five chemotherapy drugs. Finally, 10 candidate small-molecule drugs for CESC were defined. In summary, the CD1C-CD6 signature can accurately predict the prognosis of CESC.     

血清SCC-Ag、CYFRA21-1及VEGF水平与宫颈癌临床病理特征及预后的关系

目的:探讨血清鳞状细胞癌抗原（SCC-Ag）、细胞角蛋白19片段抗原(CYFRA21-1)及血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）水平与宫颈癌临床病理特征及预后的关系。方法:选取2010年1月至2012年12月海南西部中心医院收治的146例宫颈癌患者、50例宫颈上皮内瘤病变（CIN）患者(CIN组)和50例正常健康女性(对照组)，比较各组血清SCC-Ag、CYFRA21-1及VEGF水平。分析宫颈癌患者血清SCC-Ag、CYFRA21-1及VEGF水平与临床病理特征的关系，采用Kaplan-Meier法分析不同临床病理特征患者生存率差异，多因素COX比例风险回归模型分析宫颈癌患者预后的影响因素。结果:宫颈癌组血清SCC-Ag、CYFRA21-1及VEGF水平均明显高于CIN组和对照组［SCCA（ng/ml）:9.04±2.35 vs 1.91±0.62和0.65±0.14；CYFRA21-1（ng/ml）:5.48±1.62 vs 0.92±0.43和0.64±0.25；VEGF（pg/ml）:326.42±48.15 vs 125.48±23.60和108.62±18.73，均P＜0.01］。血清SCC-Ag、CYFRA21-1及VEGF水平与宫颈癌患者的临床分期、病理分级、淋巴结转移、浸润深度及脉管浸润相关（P＜0.05）。单因素及多因素COX回归分析显示，临床分期［HR（95%CI）:2.016（1.512～2.915）］、淋巴结转移［HR（95%CI）:4.013（2.937～6.016）］、SCC-Ag［HR（95%CI）:2.972（2.106～4.618）］、CYFRA21-1［HR（95%CI）:1.704（1.335～2.519）］及VEGF［HR（95%CI）:2.116（1.685～3.164）］阳性表达是宫颈癌患者预后不良的危险因素。结论:宫颈癌患者血清SCC-Ag、CYFRA21-1及VEGF水平明显升高，SCC-Ag、CYFRA21-1及VEGF阳性表达是影响宫颈癌患者预后不良的危险因素。     

肺鳞癌治疗新靶点FGFR的研究进展

肺癌是目前全球发病率和死亡率均居前列的恶性肿瘤，其中肺鳞癌经手术、放化疗等综合治疗后，其疗效仍不满意。随着分子靶向治疗在肺腺癌中取得了令人瞩目的成果，而肺鳞癌患者中EGFR基因突变及ALK融合基因少见，急需探索新的靶点指导肺鳞癌患者的临床治疗。研究表明，FGFR家族（FGFR1-4）是肺鳞癌中突变频率较高的基因，FGFR基因的激活突变和扩增与肺鳞癌的发生和发展密切相关，同时许多小分子 FGFR 抑制剂在临床应用中已经取得较好的治疗效果。目前，许多FGFR抑制剂治疗肺鳞癌的临床试验也正在进行研究，针对FGFR靶点的基因治疗可为肺鳞癌的治疗提供一种新的策略。本文就FGFR在肺鳞癌的靶向治疗中的最新研究进展进行综述。     

食管癌高、低发区食管鳞癌患者生存及其影响因素分析

目的 探讨食管癌高、低发区食管鳞癌患者的生存状况及其影响因素。方法 收集38 741例经病理学证实为食管鳞癌患者的资料，其中，高发区患者23 273例（60.1%），低发区15 468例（39.9%）。所有患者均行食管癌根治术。运用卡方检验分析不同临床病理特征患者的组间差异，Kaplan-Meier法绘制不同临床病理特征患者的生存曲线并用Log rank进行检验。多因素Cox比例风险回归模型法分析影响生存的主要因素。结果 低发区男性患者所占比例高于高发区（P<0.001），低发区诊断年龄≥50岁食管癌患者所占比例高于高发区（P<0.001）。高发区食管鳞癌患者的整体生存优于低发区患者（P<0.001）。Cox比例风险回归模型综合分析结果表明：高低发区、性别、确诊年龄、肿瘤部位、分化程度、TNM分期和肿瘤家族史均是影响食管鳞癌患者生存的独立因素。结论 高发区食管鳞癌患者整体生存优于低发区；低发区是食管鳞癌患者预后差的独立危险因素。     

Treating acute myeloid leukemia in the modern era: A primer

Recent years have seen tremendous advances in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML), largely because of progress in understanding the genetic basis of the disease. The US Food and Drug Administration approved 7 agents for AML in the last 2 years: the first new drugs in decades. In this review, the authors discuss these new approvals in the backdrop of an overall strategy for treating AML today. Treating AML in the modern era requires: 1) access to and use of upfront genetic and cytogenetic testing, not only to describe prognosis but also to help identify the best available therapy; 2) effectively working new therapies into a conventional backbone of treatment, including transplantation; and 3) continued commitment to clinical trials designed to capitalize on advances in genetics and immunology to foster the next wave of drug approvals.     

Correlation of PD-L1 Expression with Tumor Mutation Burden and Gene Signatures for Prognosis in Early-Stage Squamous Cell Lung Carcinoma

Objectives

Anti–programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunotherapy has demonstrated success in the treatment of advanced NSCLC. Recently, PD-1/PD-L1 blockade also has demonstrated interesting results in small trials of neoadjuvant treatment in stage IB to IIIA NSCLC. In addition, several clinical trials using anti–PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy as an adjuvant or neoadjuvant treatment in patients with resectable stage NSCLC are ongoing. However, few analyses of anti–PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy–related biomarkers in early-stage squamous cell lung carcinoma (SqCLC) have been reported. In this study, we evaluated PD-L1 protein expression, tumor mutation burden, and expression of an immune gene signature in early-stage SqCLC, providing data for identifying the potential role for patients with anti–PD-1/PD-L1 treatment in early-stage SqCLC.