Immunotherapy of ovarian cancer with antibodies: a focus on oregovomab

Recent advances in the molecular and cellular biology of malignancy and tumour immunology have stimulated significant progress in the application of immunotherapies as adjuvant treatments in cancer. Oregovomab (OvaRex^®,AltaRex) is a murine monoclonal antibody with high affinity to the ovarian cancer associated antigen CA125. Infusion of low-dose antibody results in formation of circulating immune complexes which can trigger a cellular immune response targeting CA125 and the ovarian cancer. Oregovomab has activity following initial chemotherapy and in recurrent disease settings and is in Phase III trials to establish its efficacy to prolong time to relapse in patients with advanced ovarian cancer and favourable outcomes to their front-line treatment. Additional studies of antigen processing and combination chemo-immunotherapy are ongoing. The treatment shows promise as a potential new addition to the standard care of ovarian cancer.     

Immunotherapy of ovarian cancer with antibodies: a focus on oregovomab

Recent advances in the molecular and cellular biology of malignancy and tumour immunology have stimulated significant progress in the application of immunotherapies as adjuvant treatments in cancer. Oregovomab (OvaRex, AltaRex) is a murine monoclonal antibody with high affinity to the ovarian cancer associated antigen CA125. Infusion of low-dose antibody results in formation of circulating immune complexes which can trigger a cellular immune response targeting CA125 and the ovarian cancer. Oregovomab has activity following initial chemotherapy and in recurrent disease settings and is in Phase III trials to establish its efficacy to prolong time to relapse in patients with advanced ovarian cancer and favourable outcomes to their front-line treatment. Additional studies of antigen processing and combination chemo-immunotherapy are ongoing. The treatment shows promise as a potential new addition to the standard care of ovarian cancer.     

miRNA in clinical practice: Pancreatic cancer

To date, pancreatic cancer (PDAC) can't be diagnosed early. Consequently, a majority of patient (80%) display an advanced disease that results in a low resection rate leading to an overall median survival of 4 to 6 months. Accordingly, robust markers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer, or markers indicative of survival and/or metastatic disease are desperately needed to help alleviate the dismal prognosis of this disease. In this chapter, we review the translational studies demonstrating that miRNAs, alone or in combination, may soon translate into clinical applications as long-awaited screening tools for PDAC.     

Psychosocial issues associated with increased breast and ovarian cancer risk: findings from focus groups.

The advent of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility has raised concurrent psychosocial issues. Within the context of limited health care resources, the ability to identify a subgroup of women who are at increased genetic risk for breast and ovarian cancers and who are also vulnerable to significant psychosocial sequelae is critical. Use of a focus group methodology substantiated the notion that there are factors that may predispose certain women who are at increased risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer to sustained psychosocial problems. In this era of rapid scientific strides coupled with efforts to contain health care costs, it is imperative that screening instruments be developed that can identify women who are at risk for significant psychosocial sequelae so that interventions can be instituted in a timely fashion.     

Hormonal therapy for breast cancer: focus on fulvestrant

Fulvestrant, the first drug of the pure estrogen antagonists to be approved for clinical use, is a new therapeutic option for metastatic breast cancer. Fulvestrant offers a unique metastatic breast cancer treatment option because its mechanism of action is the destruction, rather than the blockade, of estrogen receptors. No known agonistic activity exists, limiting potential side effects and receptor exhaustion. The side effect profile of fulvestrant is related to its antiestrogen effect and includes gastrointestinal disturbance, urinary tract infection, and vaginitis. Suggestions for managing the side effects of fulvestrant are described, and a case study is provided as an illustrative aid in understanding the role of this new hormonal agent.     

New therapeutic options in colon cancer: focus on oxaliplatin

Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the second leading cause in the Northern, Central, and Southern Americas. Appropriate treatment depends on the stage of malignancy, which is determined using the tumor-lymph node-metastases system. In stage III disease, adjuvant chemotherapy increases disease-free and long-term survival following surgery, and chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for advanced disease. New therapies are being evaluated, including oxaliplatin, a third-generation platinum analogue approved as first- and second-line therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer in Europe; the drug shows great promise combined with 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin or with irinotecan. The dose-limiting toxicity of oxaliplatin is neurologic, which can be acute or chronic; this can be prevented or reduced in some cases through patient education. Nurses play a critical role in education concerning prevention and management of oxaliplatin-related side effects.     

Oncology today: ovarian cancer

While researchers work to improve treatment and come up with an accurate way to detect the disease early on, ovarian cancer will kill 14,000 women in the United States this year. Here's an update on this particularly insidious form of cancer: how it's managed today and treatment options for the future.     

卵巢癌病人心理护理干预对生存质量影响的对照研究

现代医学证明,恶性肿瘤病人的预后,除了与肿瘤的生物学特性及是否及时、规范的治疗有关外,还受到病人的生活质量、心理护理干预、家庭照料等多方面的社会心理因素的影响.积极的心理护理和治疗态度、良好的生活质量和家庭照料能延长肿瘤病人的生存时间并提高生存质量.     

Defining the immunogram of breast cancer: a focus on clinical trials

In phase III ImPassion130 trial, the addition of immunotherapy to chemotherapy improved overall survival in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients. This benefit was significant only in patients harboring PD-L1-positive tumors, suggesting that stratification according to response biomarkers is needed to achieve consistent responses. Besides PD-L1 expression, a variety of potential biomarkers are under investigation for predicting immunotherapy efficacy in breast cancer, such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, gene signatures, tumor mutational burden, microsatellite instability, and gut microbiome. Enriching future trials through these biomarkers could help identifying the population of responders, realizing what has been called precision immunotherapy.     

微小RNA在乳腺癌干细胞中的表达

微小RNA作为生物体正常生长发育的调控分子,不仅在多种恶性肿瘤中表达异常,而且在维持胚胎干细胞以及成体干细胞自我更新及多向分化潜能中起重要作用.因此,筛选乳腺癌干细胞相关微小RNA表达谱,探讨微小RNA参与肿瘤干细胞形成的分子机制,具有重要的理论意义.文章综合分析相关文献,对乳腺癌干细胞和微小RNA方面的研究情况予以综述分析和展望.乳腺癌叶干细胞具有自身特征性微小RNA,随着微小RNA在乳腺癌干细胞研究的不断进展,对乳腺癌干细胞的生物学特征会不断得以揭示,为进一步从干细胞层面研究乳腺癌发病机制及靶向治疗打下基础.     

大肠癌的临床研究热点

大肠癌(colorectal cancer,CRC)已经成为严重影响我国人民健康的重要疾病之一。本文以临床实践为中心,围绕CRC筛查、新辅助化疗、CRC肝转移治疗、分子靶向治疗、生物免疫治疗、基因治疗以及干细胞研究等作一综述,并结合国际前沿,展开讨论。