Introduction: In cancer, the immune response to tumor antigens is often suppressed by inhibitors and ligands. Checkpoint blockade, considered one of the most promising frontiers for anti-cancer therapy, aims to stimulate the immune anti-cancer response. Agents such as cytotoxic T lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors offer prolonged survival with manageable side effects.
Areas covered: We summarize the recent clinical successes of CTLA-4 inhibitors and place a strong emphasis on those in early phase clinical trials, often in combination with other immune check-point inhibitors, i.e., programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and BRAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors.
Expert opinion: Recent phase I and phase II clinical trials confirm the efficacy of anti-CTLA-4 therapy for treatment of cancers such as renal cell carcinoma. These studies also indicated increased efficacy with combined immune checkpoint blockade with PD-1 or Ras/Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase (MEK)/extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibitors. Researchers must search for new immune targets that may enable more effective and safe immune checkpoint blockade and cancer therapy. This goal may be achieved by next-generation combination therapies to overcome immune checkpoint therapy resistance. 相似文献
Among the numerous signaling pathways involved in tumorigenesis, PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR is a key one that regulates diverse cellular functions. However, its prognostic value in esophageal carcinoma remains unclear. In our study, we examined the immunohistochemical expression of phosphorylated (p‐) AKT, mTOR, p70S6K and 4E‐BP1 along with the mutational status of PIK3CA and AKT1 genes by High Resolution Melting Analysis and Pyrosequencing in 44 esophageal carcinomas. The results were correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics of the patients in an effort to define their possible prognostic significance. Total p‐mTOR cytoplasmic expression, assessed in 10 random areas, was positively correlated with tumor stage (Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA, I/II vs III/IV, p = 0.0500). Μoreover, maximum p‐mTOR cytoplasmic immunoexpression, estimated in hot spot areas, was positively associated with tumor grade (Mann–Whitney U test, I/II vs III, p = 0.0565). Interestingly, p‐4E‐BP1 immunoreactivity was negatively correlated with tumor histological grade (Mann–Whitney U test, I/II vs III, p = 0.0427). No mutation was observed in exons 9 and 20 of PIK3CA gene and in exon 4 of AKT1 gene. In conclusion, our findings depict the presence of activated PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in esophageal cancer bringing forward p‐mTOR and p‐4E‐BP1 for their potential role in esophageal carcinogenesis. Additional studies are warranted to validate our findings. 相似文献
We have recently shown that human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) levels correlate with the severity of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. However, there are no data on how HE4 levels alter in patients receiving CFTR modulating therapy.
Methods
In this retrospective clinical study, 3 independent CF patient cohorts (US-American: 29, Australian: 12 and Irish: 19 cases) were enrolled carrying at least one Class III CFTR CF-causing mutation (p.Gly551Asp) and being treated with CFTR potentiator ivacaftor. Plasma HE4 was measured by immunoassay before treatment (baseline) and 1–6?months after commencement of ivacaftor, and were correlated with FEV1 (% predicted), sweat chloride, C-reactive protein (CRP) and body mass index (BMI).
Results
After 1?month of therapy, HE4 levels were significantly lower than at baseline and remained decreased up to 6?months. A significant inverse correlation between absolute and delta values of HE4 and FEV1 (r?=??0.5376; P?<?.001 and r?=??0.3285; P?<?.001), was retrospectively observed in pooled groups, including an independent association of HE4 with FEV1 by multiple regression analysis (β?=??0.57, P?=?.019). Substantial area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) value was determined for HE4 when 7% mean change of FEV1 (0.722 [95% CI 0.581–0.863]; P?=?.029) were used as classifier, especially in the first 2?months of treatment (0.806 [95% CI 0.665–0.947]; P?<?.001).
Conclusions
This study shows that plasma HE4 levels inversely correlate with lung function improvement in CF patients receiving ivacaftor. Overall, this potential biomarker may be of value for routine clinical and laboratory follow-up of CFTR modulating therapy. 相似文献
Pulmonary immune-related adverse events represent rare but potentially severe side effects of immunotherapies. Diagnosis is often challenging, as symptoms and imaging features are not specific and may mimic other lung diseases, thus potentially delaying appropriate patient management. In this setting, an accurate imaging evaluation is essential for a prompt detection and correct management of these drug-induced lung diseases. The purpose of this article is to review the different types of pulmonary immune-related adverse events, describe their imaging characteristics on both high-resolution computed tomography and positron emission tomography/computed tomography and stress their underlying diagnostic challenge by presenting the mimickers. 相似文献