Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in frontline treatment of advanced ovarian cancer: Clinical and translational results from a phase 2 trial.

Background: The efficacy and feasibility of pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in frontline management of advanced high-grade epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is unknown. Additionally, modification of the tumor microenvironment following neoadjuvant therapy is not well understood.

Methods: In this single-arm phase 2 trial (this study was registered at ClinicalTrials.

Exploratory pilot study to characterize the immune landscapes of malignant pleural effusions and their corresponding primary tumors from patients with breast carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a frequent complication of advanced malignancies. In this pilot study, we characterized the immune landscapes of MPEs, compared them to their primary tumor (PT) samples from breast carcinoma (BC) and lung adenocarcinoma (LADC), and tested the utility of multiplexed image technology in cytological samples.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated the immune contexture of 6 BC and 5 LADC MPEs and their PTs using 3 multiplex immunofluorescence panels.

The Immunological Landscape of M1 and M2 Macrophages and Their Spatial Distribution in Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.

Background: Several tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) have shown promise as prognosticators in cancer. Our aim was to validate the importance of TAMs in malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) using a two-stage design.

Methods: We explored The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA-MESO) to select immune-relevant macrophage genes in MPM, including M1/M2 markers, as a discovery cohort.

Highlights from the 7th Oncological Pathology Conference 'Pathological Anatomy in the context of the National Cancer Law: An overview of the Latin American experience', 15, 22 and 23 July 2022, Trujillo, Peru.

The seventh session of the Oncological Pathology Conference (JoPaO) entitled 'Pathological Anatomy in the context of the National Cancer Law: An overview of the Latin American experience', was held virtually on July 15, 22 and 23. Peru was the headquarters for this event, where 17 national and international professors of high academic standing participated. They interacted in a multidisciplinary context through talks with national panellists and the general public.

Phase II study of durvalumab (anti-PD-L1) and trametinib (MEKi) in microsatellite stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Background: Monotherapy with immune checkpoint blockade is ineffective for patients (pts) with microsatellite stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). This study investigates whether the combination of trametinib (T) with durvalumab (D) can alter the immune tumor microenvironment (TME) by successfully priming and activating T-cells.

Methods: Open-label, single-center, phase II trial with primary endpoint of immune-related response rate for combination of T+D in refractory MSS mCRC pts (NCT03428126).

Multiplex Immunofluorescence and the Digital Image Analysis Workflow for Evaluation of the Tumor Immune Environment in Translational Research.

A robust understanding of the tumor immune environment has important implications for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, research, and immunotherapy. Traditionally, immunohistochemistry (IHC) has been regarded as the standard method for detecting proteins , but this technique allows for the evaluation of only one cell marker per tissue sample at a time. However, multiplexed imaging technologies enable the multiparametric analysis of a tissue section at the same time.

Genotype-to-Phenotype Associations in the Aggressive Variant Prostate Cancer Molecular Profile (AVPC-m) Components.

The aggressive variant prostate cancer molecular profile (AVPC-m), composed of combined defects in TP53, RB1 and PTEN, characterizes a subset of prostate cancers linked to androgen indifference and platinum sensitivity. To contribute to the optimization of the AVPC-m assessment for inclusion in prospective clinical trials, we investigated the status of the AVPC-m components in 28 patient tumor-derived xenografts (PDXs) developed at MDACC. We subjected single formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks from each PDX to immunohistochemistry (IHC), targeted next-generation genomic sequencing (NGS) and Clariom-S Affymetrix human microarray expression profiling.

Impact of Region-of-Interest Size on Immune Profiling Using Multiplex Immunofluorescence Tyramide Signal Amplification for Paraffin-Embedded Tumor Tissues.

Introduction: Representative regions of interest (ROIs) analysis from the whole slide images (WSI) are currently being used to study immune markers by multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) and single immunohistochemistry (IHC). However, the amount of area needed to be analyzed to be representative of the entire tumor in a WSI has not been defined.

Methods: We labeled tumor-associated immune cells by mIF and single IHC in separate cohorts of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples and we analyzed them as whole tumor area as well as using different number of ROIs to know how much area will be need to represent the entire tumor area.

Best Practices for Technical Reproducibility Assessment of Multiplex Immunofluorescence.

Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) tyramide signal amplification is a new and useful tool for the study of cancer that combines the staining of multiple markers in a single slide. Several technical requirements are important to performing high-quality staining and analysis and to obtaining high internal and external reproducibility of the results. This review manuscript aimed to describe the mIF panel workflow and discuss the challenges and solutions for ensuring that mIF panels have the highest reproducibility possible.

Interventional cytopathology and cancer in Peru: how to act during COVID-19?

The worldwide health crisis due to SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has affected all healthcare systems. Low- and middle-income countries have needed to establish health strategies to combat the pandemic, many of which have collaterally affected the diagnosis and treatment of other illnesses. One of these other illnesses is cancer, which in Peru represents the primary cause of mortality.