Recent advances with cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors: therapeutic agents for breast cancer and their role in immuno-oncology

Introduction: Collaborative interactions between several diverse biological processes govern the onset and progression of breast cancer. These processes include alterations in cellular metabolism, anti-tumor immune responses, DNA damage repair, proliferation, anti-apoptotic signals, autophagy, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, components of the non-coding genome or onco-mIRs, cancer stem cells and cellular invasiveness. The last two decades have revealed that each of these processes are also directly regulated by a component of the cell cycle apparatus, cyclin D1.

Area covered: The current review is provided to update recent developments in the clinical application of cyclin/CDK inhibitors to breast cancer with a focus on the anti-tumor immune response.

Expert opinion: The cyclin D1 gene encodes the regulatory subunit of a proline-directed serine-threonine kinase that phosphorylates several substrates. CDKs possess phosphorylation site selectivity, with the phosphate-acceptor residue preceding a proline. Several important proteins are substrates including all three retinoblastoma proteins, NRF1, GCN5, and FOXM1. Over 280 cyclin D3/CDK6 substrates have b\een identified. Given the diversity of substrates for cyclin/CDKs, and the altered thresholds for substrate phosphorylation that occurs during the cell cycle, it is exciting that small molecular inhibitors targeting cyclin D/CDK activity have encouraging results in specific tumors.     

Successful treatment of hemorrhagic bullous Henoch‐Schonlein purpura with intravenous immunoglobulins

Henoch‐Schonlein purpura (HSP) is the most common systemic vasculitis in childhood. There is no consensus about the management for isolated cutaneous manifestations in HSP. We describe a case of HSP presenting with severe skin lesions that did not respond to standard therapy with corticosteroids. The 11‐year‐old child was treated with intravenous immunoglobulins, which induced rapid and persistent resolution of symptomatology.     

Comparison of outcomes between minimally invasive and median sternotomy for double and triple valve surgery: A meta-analysis

Background

Limited data exists demonstrating the efficacy of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) compared to median sternotomy (MS) for multiple valvular disease (MVD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare operative and peri-operative outcomes of MIS vs MS in MVD.

Methods

PubMed, Ovid, and Embase were searched from inception until August 2019 for randomized and observational studies comparing MIS and MS in patients with MVD. Clinical outcomes of intra- and postoperative times, reoperation for bleeding and surgical site infection were evaluated.

Results

Five observational studies comparing 340 MIS vs 414 MS patients were eligible for qualitative and quantitative review. The quality of evidence assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale was good for all included studies. Meta-analysis demonstrated increased cardiopulmonary bypass time for MIS patients (weighted mean difference [WMD], 0.487; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.365-0.608; P < .0001). Similarly, aortic cross-clamp time was longer in patients undergoing MIS (WMD, 0.632; 95% CI, 0.509-0.755; P < .0001). No differences were found in operative mortality, reoperation for bleeding, surgical site infection, or hospital stay.

Conclusions

MIS for MVD have similar short-term outcomes compared to MS. This adds value to the use of minimally invasive methods for multivalvular surgery, despite conferring longer operative times. However, the paucity in literature and learning curve associated with MIS warrants further evidence, ideally randomized control trials, to support these findings.

     

Diet and nutrition against inflammatory bowel disease: Trick or treat(ment)?

Even if the relationships between nutrition and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain underexplored, the current literature is providing, day by day, much more evidence on the effects of various diets in both prevention and treatment of such illnesses. Wrong dietary habits, together with other environmental factors such as pollution, breastfeeding, smoke, and/or antibiotics, are among the theoretical pathogenetic causes of IBD, whose multifactorial aetiology has been already confirmed. While some of these risk factors are potentially reversible, some others cannot be avoided, and efficient treatments become necessary to prevent IBD spread or recurrence. Furthermore, the drugs currently available for treatment of such disease provide low-to-no effect against the symptoms, making the illnesses still strongly disabling. Whether nutrition and specific diets will prove to effectively interrupt the course of IBD has still to be clarified and, in this sense, further research concerning the applications of such dietary interventions is still needed.     

On the Relationship between Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Parameters and the Underlying Vascular Architecture Extracted from Acoustic Angiography

Dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) has been proposed as a powerful tool for cancer diagnosis by estimation of perfusion and dispersion parameters reflecting angiogenic vascular changes. This work was aimed at identifying which vascular features are reflected by the estimated perfusion and dispersion parameters through comparison with acoustic angiography (AA). AA is a high-resolution technique that allows quantification of vascular morphology. Three-dimensional AA and 2-D DCE-US bolus acquisitions were used to monitor the growth of fibrosarcoma tumors in nine rats. AA-derived vascular properties were analyzed along with DCE-US perfusion and dispersion to investigate the differences between tumor and control and their evolution in time. AA-derived microvascular density and DCE-US perfusion exhibited good agreement, confirmed by their spatial distributions. No vascular feature was correlated with dispersion. Yet, dispersion provided better cancer classification than perfusion. We therefore hypothesize that dispersion characterizes vessels that are smaller than those visible with AA.     

Cataract Surgery in HIV Seropositive Patients: Long-Term Follow-Up

Purpose: To study epidemiology and clinical findings of cataract in HIV+ patients.

Methods: A total of 32 HIV+ patients, 11 with uveitis/retinitis before surgery and 21 without, mean follow-up 44.9 ± 36.6 months, and 114 HIV- patients, 57 with uveitis/retinitis before surgery and 57 without, were retrospectively compared.

Results: Visual acuity improved in all HIV+ patients (p < 0.001), who were younger (p = 0.01) and more frequently males (p = 0.027). HIV+ patients with uveitis prior surgery improved less (p = 0.046) than HIV- (p < 0.001); their anterior chamber inflammation was similar to baseline. Male sex (p = 0.005), younger age (p < 0.001), dyslipidaemia (p = 0.058), HBV+ (p = 0.037), and unilateral cataract (p = 0.001) were more frequent in HIV+ patients with senile cataract, but they showed the same postoperative course as HIV- patients.

Conclusion: Cataract surgery in HIV+ patients is safe and effective. Uveitis prior to surgery did not significantly affect the postoperative course. Systemic comorbidities are more frequent in HIV+ patients with senile cataract than in HIV- subjects.