Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Sapna P. Patel, Megan Othus, Yuanbin Chen, G. Paul Wright, Kathleen J. Yost, John R. Hyngstrom, Siwen Hu-Lieskovan, Christopher D. Lao, Leslie A. Fecher, Thach-Giao Truong, Jennifer L. Eisenstein, Sunandana Chandra, Jeffrey A. Sosman, Kari L. Kendra, Richard C. Wu, Craig E. Devoe, Gary B. Deutsch, Aparna Hegde, Maya Khalil, Ankit Mangla, Amy M. Reese, Merrick I. Ross, Andrew S. Poklepovic, Giao Q. Phan, Adedayo A. Onitilo, Demet G. Yasar, Benjamin C. Powers, Gary C. Doolittle, Gino K. In, Niels Kokot, Geoffrey T. Gibney, Michael B. Atkins, Montaser Shaheen, James A. Warneke, Alexandra Ikeguchi, Jose E. Najera, Bartosz Chmielowski, Joseph G. Crompton, Justin D. Floyd, Eddy Hsueh, Kim A. Margolin, Warren A. Chow, Kenneth F. Grossmann, Eliana Dietrich, Victor G. Prieto, Michael C. Lowe, Elizabeth I. Buchbinder, John M. Kirkwood, Larissa Korde, James Moon, Elad Sharon, Vernon K. Sondak, Antoni Ribas
Summary: This study aimed to investigate whether giving pembrolizumab both before and after surgery would improve event-free survival in patients with resectable stage III or IV melanoma. Results showed that patients who received pembrolizumab both before and after surgery had significantly longer event-free survival. Overall rating: 9 out of 10.
NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Yen-Hao Chen, Ching-Hua Tsai, Yen-Yang Chen, Chih-Chi Wang, Jing-Houng Wang, Chao-Hung Hung, Yuan-Hung Kuo
Summary: This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of nivolumab and pembrolizumab in the management of pretreated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. The results showed that the two drugs had comparable efficacy and safety in real-world practice for the treatment of HCC patients who had previous treatments.
Article
Oncology
Kaysia Ludford, Won Jin Ho, Jane V. Thomas, Kanwal P. S. Raghav, Mariela Blum Murphy, Nicole D. Fleming, Michael S. Lee, Brandon G. Smaglo, Y. Nancy You, Matthew M. Tillman, Carlos Kamiya-Matsuoka, Selvi Thirumurthi, Craig Messick, Benny Johnson, Eduardo Vilar, Arvind Dasari, Sarah Shin, Alexei Hernandez, Xuan Yuan, Hongqui Yang, Wai Chin Foo, Wei Qiao, Dipen Maru, Scott Kopetz, Michael J. Overman
Summary: Pembrolizumab has shown significant clinical benefits in advanced MSI-H/dMMR solid tumors. This phase II trial evaluated the use of pembrolizumab in neoadjuvant treatment for localized unresectable or high-risk resectable MSI-H/dMMR tumors. The study demonstrated high rates of response and safety, suggesting potential implications for organ-sparing strategies.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Yana G. Najjar, Dustin McCurry, Huang Lin, Yan Lin, Yan Zang, Diwakar Davar, Arivarasan Karunamurthy, Joseph J. Drabick, Rogerio I. Neves, Lisa H. Butterfield, Marc S. Ernstoff, Igor Puzanov, Joseph J. Skitzki, Jennifer Bordeaux, IlaSri B. Summit, Jehovana O. Bender, Ju Young Kim, Beiru Chen, Ghanashyam Sarikonda, Anil Pahuja, Jennifer Tsau, Zeni Alfonso, Christian Laing, James F. Pingpank, Matthew P. Holtzman, Cindy Sander, Amy Rose, Hassane M. Zarour, John M. Kirkwood, Ahmad A. Tarhini
Summary: Neoadjuvant concurrent HDI and pembrolizumab therapy showed promising clinical activity in resectable advanced melanoma patients, despite high rates of treatment discontinuation. Pathologic complete response was identified as a prognostic indicator.
CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Hsin-Yu Kuo, Meng-Zhi Han, Chih-Hsiang Liao, Yih-Jyh Lin, Chung-Teng Wang, Shang-Hung Chen, Ting-Tsung Chang, Po-Jun Chen, Sheng-Hsiang Lin, Chiung-Yu Chen, Chiao-Hsiung Chuang, I-Chin Wu, Juei-Seng Wu, Tzu-Chun Hong, Ming-Tsung Hsieh, Yang-Cheng Lee, Hung-Tsung Wu, Hong-Ming Tsai
Summary: This study investigated the differences in efficacy and safety between nivolumab and pembrolizumab in unresectable HCC patients. The results showed that pembrolizumab had a significantly higher objective response rate and overall survival compared to nivolumab.
Article
Oncology
Brian G. Topp, Madhav Channavazzala, Kapil Mayawala, Dinesh P. De Alwis, Eric Rubin, Alexandra Snyder, Jedd D. Wolchok, Antoni Ribas
Summary: Pembrolizumab demonstrates meaningful efficacy in a subset of patients treated beyond RECIST v1.1 progression, with some patients showing reduction in lesion diameter and others exhibiting stable target lesion.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lars Ny, Henrik Jespersen, Joakim Karlsson, Samuel Alsen, Stefan Filges, Charlotta All-Eriksson, Bengt Andersson, Ana Carneiro, Hildur Helgadottir, Max Levin, Ingrid Ljuslinder, Roger Olofsson Bagge, Vasu R. Sah, Ulrika Stierner, Anders Stahlberg, Gustav Ullenhag, Lisa M. Nilsson, Jonas A. Nilsson
Summary: The combination of HDAC inhibitor entinostat with anti-PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab shows durable responses in a subset of patients with metastatic uveal melanoma. Factors such as wildtype BAP1 gene, low tumor burden, and iris melanoma may be associated with better treatment response and longer survival.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Oncology
Khalil Saleh, Manal Kordahi, Tony Felefly, Hampig Raphael Kourie, Nadine Khalife
Summary: The optimal sequencing and combination of ICIs to enhance oncologic outcomes for these patients remains a million-dollar question, as it is challenging to strike a delicate balance between utilizing the right window of opportunity to cure the disease and jeopardizing proven therapies for metastatic disease.
Review
Oncology
Anupam Kotwal, Jordan E. Perlman, Whitney S. Goldner, Alissa Marr, Jennifer S. Mammen
Summary: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPis) have shown great efficacy in cancer therapy, but they also come with a variety of immune-related adverse events (irAEs), including endocrine irAEs. The clinical features of endocrine dysfunction are nonspecific and accurate hormone testing is crucial for diagnosis. Management of endocrine irAEs focuses on hormone replacement rather than suppressing the autoimmune process. Prompt recognition and treatment are essential for potentially life-threatening irAEs such as adrenal insufficiency and insulin-dependent diabetes. This clinical review provides pearls and pitfalls in the evaluation and management of endocrine irAEs, with reference to guidelines from oncologic societies.
JCO ONCOLOGY PRACTICE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Kevin K. Zarrabi, Elizabeth Handorf, Benjamin Miron, Matthew R. Zibelman, Fern Anari, Pooja Ghatalia, Elizabeth R. Plimack, Daniel M. Geynisman
Summary: This study compared real-world outcomes in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with axitinib/pembrolizumab or ipilimumab/nivolumab. The results showed that patients with IMDC favorable risk disease had better survival when treated with axitinib/pembrolizumab compared to ipilimumab/nivolumab.
Article
Oncology
Henry Hiep Vo, Carrie Cartwright, I-Wen Song, Daniel D. Karp, Graciela M. Nogueras Gonzalez, Yuran Xie, Michael Karol, Matthew Hitron, David Vining, Apostolia-Maria Tsimberidou
Summary: This study investigated the combination of BBI608 with immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced cancer. The results showed that the treatment was well tolerated and several patients had prolonged disease stabilization and overall survival.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Michael C. Stark, Anna M. Joubert, Michelle H. Visagie
Summary: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are effective immunotherapy agents that can overcome the immunosuppressive effects exerted by tumorigenic cells, specifically targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint. However, the high cost of ICIs like pembrolizumab and nivolumab limits their accessibility in LMICs. Therefore, developing cost-effective biomanufacturing platforms is crucial for expanding access to these therapies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joseph Han, Aneesh Agarwal, Jade N. Young, Shayan Owji, Yen Luu, Dina Poplausky, Daniel Yassky, Yeriel Estrada, Jonathan Ungar, James G. Krueger, Nicholas Gulati
Summary: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as pembrolizumab, have revolutionized the treatment of advanced melanoma. However, many patients do not respond to ICIs alone, creating a need for additional treatment options. Diphencyprone (DPCP), a topical immunomodulator, has shown clinical use in the treatment of advanced melanoma, particularly in cutaneous metastases. In this study, the authors analyzed proteomic data from a patient treated with pembrolizumab and DPCP, and observed upregulation of checkpoint inhibitor proteins during DPCP monotherapy, downregulation during pembrolizumab monotherapy, and robust upregulation during dual therapy. This suggests potential synergy between DPCP and ICIs in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma metastases.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Thomas S. Uldrick, Scott Adams, Remi Fromentin, Michael Roche, Steven P. Fling, Priscila H. Goncalves, Kathryn Lurain, Ramya Ramaswami, Chia-Ching Jackie Wang, Robert J. Gorelick, Jorden L. Welker, Liz O'Donoghue, Harleen Choudhary, Jeffrey D. Lifson, Thomas A. Rasmussen, Ajantha Rhodes, Carolin Tumpach, Robert Yarchoan, Frank Maldarelli, Martin A. Cheever, Rafick Sekaly, Nicolas Chomont, Steven G. Deeks, Sharon R. Lewin
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of anti-PD-1 antibodies on reversing HIV latency. The results showed that administration of anti-PD-1 antibodies increased the levels of unspliced HIV RNA and the RNA:DNA ratio in CD4(+) T cells. There was also an increase in the frequency of CD4(+) T cells with inducible virus. The study suggests that combining anti-PD-1 with other interventions may help reduce the HIV reservoir.
SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Otorhinolaryngology
Alice L. Tang, Thomas O'Neil, Sean McDermott, Siddhant Tripathi, Raisa Tikhtman, Jonathan R. Mark, Yash Patil, Meredith Tabangin, Mekibib Altaye, Trisha M. Wise-Draper, Chad A. Zender
Summary: This study evaluated the incidence of postoperative adverse events in patients with advanced oral cavity cancer receiving neoadjuvant pembrolizumab compared with a matched control group. The results showed that serious adverse events were similar between the two groups.
JAMA OTOLARYNGOLOGY-HEAD & NECK SURGERY
(2022)