Article
Oncology
Adam S. Kibel, Brant A. Inman, Russell K. Pachynski, Tuyen Vu, Nadeem A. Sheikh, Daniel P. Petrylak
Summary: Sipuleucel-T treatment can directly lyse cells expressing prostate cancer target antigens, and the study provides direct evidence of this through the use of video technology.
JNCI-JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Nan Li, Kai Yu, Zhong Lin, Dingyuan Zeng
Summary: This study developed an immune subtyping system and a prognostic model for prostate cancer, providing a more comprehensive understanding of tumor microenvironment and guiding personalized treatment and immunotherapy for patients.
JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Hyunho Han, Hyung Ho Lee, Kwibok Choi, Young Jun Moon, Ji Eun Heo, Won Sik Ham, Won Sik Jang, Koon Ho Rha, Nam Hoon Cho, Filippo G. Giancotti, Young-Deuk Choi
Summary: The transcriptomic landscape of prostate cancer shows multidimensional variability, potentially reflecting the cell-of-origin and drug sensitivities. Through analysis of gene expression in prostate epithelial cells, four distinct subtypes of prostate adenocarcinoma were identified: luminal A, luminal S, AVPC-I, and AVPC-M, each with unique characteristics and drug resistance patterns. The PSA/PAP ratio in advanced cancer may help determine which patients would benefit from specific treatments.
PROSTATE CANCER AND PROSTATIC DISEASES
(2021)
Editorial Material
Urology & Nephrology
Abhishek Srivastava, Neal D. Shore
Summary: There are over 50 clinical trials exploring the combination of immunotherapy with other approved treatments for advanced prostate cancer. Recently, a phase II trial of sipuleucel-T with or without radium-223 in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer revealed intriguing findings.
NATURE REVIEWS UROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Ravi A. A. Madan, Jason M. M. Redman, Fatima Karzai, William L. L. Dahut, Lisa Cordes, Farhad Fakhrejahani, Tuyen Vu, Nadeem Sheikh, Jeffrey Schlom, James L. L. Gulley
Summary: Therapeutic cancer vaccines have shown clinical benefit in mCRPC patients, but the effects of sequential checkpoint inhibitors after therapeutic vaccine are not well understood. A study using avelumab as anti-PD-L1 therapy in mCRPC patients with previous therapeutic vaccine showed disappointing results, indicating a poor response in this patient population.
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOTHERAPY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Feng Shan, Anthony R. Cillo, Carly Cardello, Daniel Y. Yuan, Sheryl R. Kunning, Jian Cui, Caleb Lampenfeld, Asia M. Williams, Alexandra P. Mcdonough, Arjun Pennathur, James D. Luketich, John M. Kirkwood, Robert L. Ferris, Tullia C. Bruno, Creg J. Workman, Panayiotis V. Benos, Dario A. A. Vignali
Summary: Research identified an activated Tregs subpopulation expressing multiple tumor necrosis factor receptor genes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tumors, associated with worse prognosis. The transcription factor BATF plays a central role in limiting excessive activation and promoting the survival of activated T-regs. Additionally, a suite of surface molecules reflective of the BATF-driven transcriptional network on intratumoral T-regs was identified.
SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Raquibul Hannan, Michael J. Dohopolski, Laurentiu M. Pop, Samantha Mannala, Lori Watumull, Dana Mathews, Ang Gao, Aurelie Garant, Yull E. Arriaga, Isaac Bowman, Jin-Sung Chung, Jing Wang, Kiyoshi Ariizumi, Chul Ahn, Robert Timmerman, Kevin Courtney
Summary: The addition of concurrent stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SAbR) did not significantly increase the time to progression in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPCA) treated with sipuleucel-T, but induced cellular and humoral immune responses.
Article
Oncology
Lei Zheng, Ding Ding, Barish H. Edil, Carol Judkins, Jennifer N. Durham, Dwayne L. Thomas, Katherine M. Bever, Guanglan Mo, Sara E. Solt, Jessica A. Hoare, Raka Bhattacharya, Qingfeng Zhu, Arsen Osipov, Beth Onner, Katrina A. Purtell, Hongyan Cai, Rose Parkinson, Amy Hacker-Prietz, Joseph M. Herman, Dung T. Le, Nilofer S. Azad, Ana M. C. De Jesus-Acosta, Alex B. Blair, Victoria Kim, Kevin C. Soares, Lindsey Manos, John L. Cameron, Martin A. Makary, Matthew J. Weiss, Richard D. Schulick, Jin He, Christopher L. Wolfgang, Elizabeth D. Thompson, Robert A. Anders, Elizabeth Sugar, Elizabeth M. Jaffee, Daniel A. Laheru
Summary: The study showed that neoadjuvant immunotherapy with GVAX for resectable PDAC is safe and feasible. Patients treated with GVAX had a longer overall survival, while those who received low-dose cyclophosphamide in addition to GVAX had significantly shorter disease-free survival.
CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Romain Banchereau, Avantika S. Chitre, Alexis Scherl, Thomas D. Wu, Namrata S. Patil, Patricia de Almeida, Edward E. Kadel, Shravan Madireddi, Amelia Au-Yeung, Chikara Takahashi, Ying-Jiun Chen, Zora Modrusan, Jacqueline McBride, Rhea Nersesian, Ehab A. El-Gabry, Mark D. Robida, Jeffrey C. Hung, Marcin Kowanetz, Wei Zou, Mark McCleland, Patrick Caplazi, Shadi Toghi Eshgi, Hartmut Koeppen, Priti S. Hegde, Ira Mellman, W. Rodney Mathews, Thomas Powles, Sanjeev Mariathasan, Jane Grogan, William E. O'Gorman
Summary: CD8+ tissue-resident memory T (T-RM) cells expressing CD103 (ITGAE) are believed to actively suppress cancer progression, and their presence in tumors may predict response to immunotherapy. This study found that in inflamed tumors, CD103+ CD8+ T-RM cells exhibit a complex phenotype characterized by increased clonal expansion, expression of checkpoint regulators, and cytotoxic proteins, suggesting their involvement in antitumor response.
JOURNAL FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Ajibola Omokanye, Li Ching Ong, Cristina Lebrero-Fernandez, Valentina Bernasconi, Karin Schon, Anneli Stromberg, Mats Bemark, Xavier Saelens, Paulo Czarnewski, Nils Lycke
Summary: Intranasal immunization with CTA1-3M2e-DD stimulates M2e-specific Th17 Trm cells, which provide strong protection against influenza virus infection and tissue injury. Single-cell RNAseq analysis reveals functional diversity of these Trm cells in the lung, and the same TCR clonotype can differentiate into different subclusters with distinct functions. These findings have important implications for vaccine development against respiratory virus infections.
MUCOSAL IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Nityam Rathi, Taylor Ryan McFarland, Roberto Nussenzveig, Neeraj Agarwal, Umang Swami
Summary: Immunotherapies have shown success in treating multiple cancer types, but have faced challenges in prostate cancer. The immune evasion in prostate cancer is attributed to intrinsic tumor factors, immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and host factors. Researchers are exploring ways to transform prostate cancer from a 'cold' tumor to a 'hot' tumor through various approaches, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and other upcoming immunotherapies.
Article
Immunology
Simon Eschweiler, James Clarke, Ciro Ramirez-Suastegui, Bharat Panwar, Ariel Madrigal, Serena J. Chee, Ioannis Karydis, Edwin Woo, Aiman Alzetani, Somaia Elsheikh, C. J. Hanley, G. J. Thomas, Peter S. Friedmann, Tilman Sanchez-Elsner, Ferhat Ay, Christian H. Ottensmeier, Pandurangan Vijayanand
Summary: Studies have shown the importance of T-FR cells within tumor tissues in enhancing the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. Depleting or blocking T-FR cells can improve the effectiveness of anti-PD-1 treatment and contribute to better survival outcomes in melanoma patients.
Review
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Vahid Karpisheh, Seyedeh Mahboubeh Mousavi, Parinaz Naghavi Sheykholeslami, Mehrdad Fathi, Mehran Mohammadpour Saray, Leili Aghebati-Maleki, Reza Jafari, Naime Majidi Zolbanin, Farhad Jadidi-Niaragh
Summary: Treg cells play a critical role in the progression of prostate cancer, with higher levels of Tregs associated with an increased risk of cancer recurrence. Suppressing Tregs or depleting Tregs may be an effective strategy for prostate cancer immunotherapy.
Article
Oncology
Sascha Marx, Fabian Wilken, Lea Miebach, Mikael Ispirjan, Frederik Kinnen, Sebastian Paul, Sandra Bien-Moeller, Eric Freund, Jorg Baldauf, Steffen Fleck, Nikolai Siebert, Holger Lode, Andreas Stahl, Bernhard H. Rauch, Stephan Singer, Christoph Ritter, Henry W. S. Schroeder, Sander Bekeschus
Summary: Despite the potential of immune-targeted therapies shown in other cancers, glioblastoma remains challenging due to its unique pathoanatomical features and immunosuppressive mechanisms, which limit the efficacy of therapies like immune checkpoint blockade. This study provides a comprehensive characterization of immune profiles in glioblastoma patients, highlighting potential immunotherapeutic targets for future neurooncology research.
Article
Oncology
Kevin Kos, Camilla Salvagno, Max D. Wellenstein, Muhammad A. Aslam, Denize A. Meijer, Cheei-Sing Hau, Kim Vrijland, Daphne Kaldenbach, Elisabeth A. M. Raeven, Martina Schmittnaegel, Carola H. Ries, Karin E. de Visser
Summary: This study reveals that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) contribute to the accumulation of regulatory T cells (T-regs) in breast tumors by promoting the conversion of CD4(+) T cells into T-regs. It is found that TAMs directly promote the conversion of CD4(+) T cells into T-regs through TGF-beta, and indirectly enhance the accumulation of T-regs by enhancing PD-1 expression on CD4(+) T cells.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Erin L. Van Blarigan, June M. Chan, Ada Sanchez, Li Zhang, Kerri Winters-Stone, Vivian Liu, Greta Macaire, Neil Panchal, Rebecca E. Graff, Imelda Tenggara, Anthony Luke, Jeffry P. Simko, Matthew R. Cooperberg, Peter R. Carroll, Stacey A. Kenfield
Summary: This is a 4-arm randomized controlled trial that aims to examine the effects of long-term exercise and diet changes on prostate cancer recurrence, biology, and quality-of-life. The study includes 200 men with prostate cancer who undergo radical prostatectomy and are randomized into exercise-only, diet-only, exercise + diet, or usual care groups. The primary endpoint is biochemical recurrence, and secondary endpoints include changes in tumor biomarkers, patient-reported outcomes, and blood and urine biomarkers.
CONTEMPORARY CLINICAL TRIALS
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Elena Flowers, Bradley E. Aouizerat, Alka M. Kanaya, Jose C. Florez, Xingyue Gong, Li Zhang
Summary: This study identified 5 miRs (miR-144, miR-186, miR-203a, miR-205, miR-206) that can effectively predict the incidence of type 2 diabetes. After adjusting for covariates, the HR for the highest quartile risk group compared with the lowest quartile risk group was 5.91. There was significant interaction between the intensive lifestyle and metformin groups compared with placebo. These findings may have potential clinical utility for risk stratification of individuals with prediabetes.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrew D. Chapp, Andrea R. Collins, Kyle M. Driscoll, Jessica E. Behnke, Zhiying Shan, Li Zhang, Qing-Hui Chen
Summary: This study investigated the effect of acetate on CeA neurons and found that it increased neuronal excitability through the activation of NMDAR. The enhancement of calcium signaling by acetate was abolished by memantine. These findings provide insight into the impact of ethanol consumption on the CeA and autonomic circuitry.
ACS CHEMICAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Nitya Raj, Jennifer A. Chan, Stephanie J. Wang, Rahul R. Aggarwal, Susan Calabrese, April DeMore, Lawrence Fong, Jennifer Grabowsky, Thomas A. Hope, Kanti Pallav Kolli, Claire K. Mulvey, Pamela N. Munster, Kimberly Perez, Sippy Punn, Diane Reidy-Lagunes, Sofia Von Fedak, Li Zhang, Emily K. Bergsland
Summary: Single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy has shown limited effectiveness against EP-PDNECs, and the efficacy of combination therapy with chemotherapy is still being investigated. This study evaluated the effectiveness of pembrolizumab alone and pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced EP-PDNECs.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF CANCER
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Arian Lundberg, Meng Zhang, Rahul Aggarwal, Haolong Li, Li Zhang, Adam Foye, Martin Sjostrom, Jonathan Chou, Kevin Chang, Thaidy Moreno-Rodriguez, Raunak Shrestha, Avi Baskin, Xiaolin Zhu, Alana S. Weinstein, Noah Younger, Joshi J. Alumkal, Tomasz M. Beer, Kim N. Chi, Christopher P. Evans, Martin Gleave, Primo N. Lara, Rob E. Reiter, Matthew B. Retting, Owen N. Witte, Alexander W. Wyatt, Felix Y. Feng, Eric J. Small, David A. Quigley
Summary: This study comprehensively characterized treatment-emergent mCRPC by integrating different sequencing techniques and found that AR-/NE- tumors were clinically and molecularly distinct with the shortest survival. In addition, the study identified CHD7 amplification and PTEN loss in these tumors, and linked elevated CHD7 expression to methylation changes in candidate enhancers. The study also revealed KLF5 as a driver of the AR-/NE- phenotype and its activity was linked to RB1 loss.
Article
Oncology
Anil P. Bidkar, Sinan Wang, Kondapa Naidu Bobba, Emily Chan, Scott Bidlingmaier, Emily A. Egusa, Robin Peter, Umama Ali, Niranjan Meher, Anju Wadhwa, Suchi Dhrona, Chandrashekhar Dasari, Denis Beckford-Vera, Yang Su, Ryan Tang, Li Zhang, Jiang He, David M. Wilson, Rahul Aggarwal, Henry F. VanBrocklin, Youngho Seo, Jonathan Chou, Bin Liu, Robert R. Flavell
Summary: This study developed the radioimmunotherapy agent [225Ac]DOTA-YS5 based on the YS5 antibody and evaluated its therapeutic efficacy and toxicity. The results showed that [225Ac]DOTA-YS5 effectively suppressed the growth of cell-derived and patient-derived xenografts, including both prostate-specific membrane antigen-positive and prostate-specific membrane antigen-deficient models. These findings suggest that CD46-targeted radioligand therapy with [225Ac]DOTA-YS5 has high clinical translational potential in prostate cancer.
CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Oncology
Bryan Khuong Le, Patrick McGarrah, Alan Paciorek, Amr Mohamed, Andrea B. Apolo, David L. Chan, Diane Reidy-Lagunes, Haley Hauser, Jaydira D. Rivero, Julia Whitman, Kathleen Batty, Li Zhang, Nitya Raj, Tiffany Le, Emily Bergsland, Thorvardur R. Halfdanarson
Summary: This study reviewed the treatment patterns and oncologic outcomes of patients with U-NENs in the recent era of NEN therapy. It found that PDNECs were more common in bladder NENs, while WDNETs predominated in non-bladder tumors. Potential disease control activity was observed in WD-UNETs treated with PRRT and everolimus.
CLINICAL GENITOURINARY CANCER
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Tanya Jindal, Li Zhang, Prianka Deshmukh, Kevin Reyes, Emily Chan, Vipul Kumar, Xiaolin Zhu, Edward Maldonado, Stephanie Feng, Michelle Johnson, Austin Angelidakis, Daniel Kwon, Arpita Desai, Hala T. Borno, Rohit Bose, Anthony Wong, Julian Hong, Peter Carroll, Maxwell Meng, Sima Porten, Rahul Aggarwal, Eric J. Small, Lawrence Fong, Jonathan Chou, Terence Friedlander, Ivan de Kouchkovsky, Vadim S. Koshkin
Summary: Urothelial carcinoma with squamous differentiation (UCS) is a common variant of bladder cancer, and the treatment outcomes with novel agents for UCS patients are largely unknown. In this retrospective analysis, UCS patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors or Enfortumab vedotin had inferior outcomes compared to patients with pure UC.
CLINICAL GENITOURINARY CANCER
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Lufan Wang, Crystal Langlais, Stacey A. Kenfield, Katherine Van Loon, Angela Laffan, Chloe E. Atreya, June M. Chan, Li Zhang, Isabel E. Allen, Christine Miaskowski, Yoshimi Fukuoka, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt, Alan P. Venook, Erin L. Van Blarigan
Summary: This study aimed to assess the effect of a 12-week web-based dietary intervention with text messages on quality of life among colorectal cancer survivors. The results showed that participants receiving the intervention experienced improvements in emotional functioning and social functioning at 12 and 24 weeks. There was also a decrease in fatigue at 24 weeks. However, no other changes in quality of life scores were associated with the intervention.
SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER
(2023)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Dorian Kariuki, Bradley E. Aouizerat, Kesava Asam, Alka M. Kanaya, Li Zhang, Jose C. Florez, Elena Flowers
Summary: Our study aimed to identify the mRNAs and biological pathways targeted by a subset of five miRNAs that predict incident type 2 diabetes, in order to understand the mechanisms and responses to interventions. The findings showed that these miRNA predictors targeted mRNAs and pathways associated with type 2 diabetes, suggesting their potential as therapeutic targets in preventing and treating the disease.
DIABETES RESEARCH AND CLINICAL PRACTICE
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Bridget P. Keenan, Amanda Sibley, Li Zhang, Alyssa F. Westring, Ana Velazquez, Erin M. Bank, Emily K. Bergsland, Lauren Boreta, Patricia Conroy, Mariza Daras, Michelle Hermiston, Gerald Hsu, Pamela L. Paris, Sorbarikor Piawah, Sumi Sinha, Julie A. Sosa, Mazie Tsang, Alan P. Venook, Melisa Wong, Sue S. Yom, Katherine Van Loon
Summary: This study aimed to determine whether there were gender differences in workplace culture in academic oncology during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey tool called the Culture Conducive to Women's Academic Success (CCWAS) was used to assess the academic climate at an NCI-designated Cancer Center. The findings revealed specific issues related to gender differences in the workplace and proposed solutions to improve workforce culture, mitigate gender bias, and retain faculty.
Article
Oncology
Vivian N. N. Liu, Kyle B. B. Zuniga, Alan Paciorek, Li Zhang, June M. M. Chan, Peter R. R. Carroll, Katherine Van Loon, Angela Laffan, Alan Venook, Erin L. L. Van Blarigan, Stacey A. A. Kenfield
Summary: Remote-based behavioral interventions can help cancer survivors overcome barriers to healthy diet and exercise, such as lack of discipline, time, energy, and knowledge. Both colorectal cancer and prostate cancer survivors commonly face barriers related to motivation, time, social support, and lack of knowledge.
SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER
(2023)
Letter
Surgery
Tasce Bongiovanni, Elizabeth Lancaster, Matthias Behrends, Li Zhang, Elizabeth Wick, Andrew Auerbach, Mark J. Pletcher
Article
Immunology
Hai Yang, Jason Cham, Brian Patrick Neal, Zenghua Fan, Tao He, Li Zhang
Summary: T cells are important for adaptive immunity and play a role in anti-tumoral immunity and defense against infections, including respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2. A customized pipeline for Network Analysis of Immune Repertoire (NAIR) was developed to analyze T-cell receptor (TCR) sequences. Network analysis and statistical methods were used to characterize the repertoire and correlate it with clinical outcomes. Disease-specific/associated clusters and shared clusters were identified, and a new metric incorporating clonal generation probability and clonal abundance was used to identify disease-specific TCRs. The proposed approach revealed potential disease-specific TCRs responsible for the immune response to COVID-19.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrew D. Chapp, Andrea R. Collins, Kyle M. Driscoll, Jessica E. Behnke, Zhiying Shan, Li Zhang, Qing-Hui Chen
Summary: Acetate exerts an excitatory effect on amygdala neurons and cytosolic calcium signaling, potentially through activation of NMDA receptors. These findings provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of ethanol consumption on autonomic circuitry.
ACS CHEMICAL NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)