Dynamic expression of Schlafen 11 (SLFN11) in circulating tumour cells as a liquid biomarker in small cell lung cancer.

Introduction: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive malignancy with no established biomarkers. Schlafen 11(SLFN11), a DNA/RNA helicase that sensitises cancer cells to DNA-damaging agents, has emerged as a promising predictive biomarker for several drug classes including platinum and PARP inhibitors. Detection of SLFN11 in circulating tumour cells (CTCs) may provide a valuable alternative to tissue sampling.

Circulating Tumor Cell Subtypes and T-cell Populations as Prognostic Biomarkers to Combination Immunotherapy in Patients with Metastatic Genitourinary Cancer.

Purpose: Circulating tumor cells (CTC) are under investigation as a minimally invasive liquid biopsy that may improve risk stratification and treatment selection. CTCs uniquely allow for digital pathology of individual malignant cell morphology and marker expression. We compared CTC features and T-cell counts with survival endpoints in a cohort of patients with metastatic genitourinary cancer treated with combination immunotherapy.

Biomimetic protein nanoparticles facilitate enhanced dendritic cell activation and cross-presentation.

Many current cancer vaccine strategies suffer from the inability to mount a CD8 T cell response that is strong enough to overcome the low immunogenicity of tumors. Viruses naturally possess the sizes, geometries, and physical properties for which the immune system has evolved to recognize, and mimicking those properties with nanoparticles can produce robust platforms for vaccine design. Using the nonviral E2 core of pyruvate dehydrogenase, we have engineered a viral-mimicking vaccine platform capable of encapsulating dendritic cell (DC)-activating CpG molecules in an acid-releasable manner and displaying MHC I-restricted SIINFEKL peptide epitopes.

Longitudinal change in telomere length and the chronic stress response in a randomized pilot biobehavioral clinical study: implications for cancer prevention.

Shortened telomere length is associated with increased cancer incidence and mortality. Populations experiencing chronic stress have accelerated telomere shortening. In this exploratory study, we examined associations between longitudinal changes in patient reported outcomes (PRO) of psychologic distress and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) telomere length to test the hypothesis that modulation of the chronic stress response would also modulate telomere dynamics.