Prognostic Value of PD-L1, BAP-1 and ILK in Pleural Mesothelioma.

: Pleural mesothelioma (PM) is a rare type of cancer with poor prognosis. Prognostic and predictive biomarkers could improve treatment strategies in these patients. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1), integrin-linked kinase (ILK) and breast cancer gene 1-associated protein (BAP-1) have been proposed to predict outcomes in PM, but existing data are limited and controversial.

Prognostic impact of targetable driver alterations in resected early-stage lung cancer.

Background: Apart from fusions and the common mutations, targetable molecular alterations are irrelevant for adjuvant treatment decision making in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This retrospective analysis aimed to investigate if there is a difference in recurrence-free survival in stage I-III NSCLC harboring druggable molecular alterations compared to subtypes without targetable molecular alterations.

Methods: All consecutive patients who underwent surgery with curative intent for NSCLC (stage I-III) with targetable mutations between January 2015 and December 2020 at three Austrian institutions were identified and compared with tumors without targetable molecular alterations.

Adenosquamous Carcinoma of the Lung: Survival, Radiologic Findings, PD-L1, and Driver Mutations.

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung (ASC) is a rare non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) subtype combining components of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenocarcinoma (AC). Data on ASC, particularly in Caucasian populations, are limited. We reviewed clinicopathological and radiological characteristics of ASC patients diagnosed between 1996 and 2023.

The Landsteiner lung cancer research platform (LALUCA) : Objectives, methodology and implementation of a real-world clinical lung cancer registry.

Background: Lung cancer is a major health burden in Austria; however, limited real-world data exist on the diagnostic and treatment reality of lung cancer patients in Austria. The collection of high-quality data in a clinical setting is needed to gain insights into the real-world diagnostic and therapeutic management of lung cancer patients.

Methods: The Karl Landsteiner Institute for Lung Research and Pulmonary Oncology implemented the Landsteiner lung cancer research platform (LALUCA), recruiting unselected lung cancer patients from two high volume centers in Vienna.

Mobocertinib in Patients with EGFR Exon 20 Insertion-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (MOON): An International Real-World Safety and Efficacy Analysis.

EGFR exon 20 (EGFR Ex20) insertion mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are insensitive to traditional EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Mobocertinib is the only approved TKI specifically designed to target EGFR Ex20. We performed an international, real-world safety and efficacy analysis on patients with EGFR Ex20-positive NSCLC enrolled in a mobocertinib early access program.

Prognostic significance of circulating tumor cells and tumor related transcripts in small cell lung cancer: A step further to clinical implementation.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a fatal disease with limited treatment options. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in liquid biopsy samples may serve as predictive and prognostic biomarkers; but the analysis of CTCs is still challenging. By using microfluidic or density gradient CTC enrichment in combination with immunofluorescent (IF) staining or qPCR of CTC-related transcripts, we achieved a 60.

Effect of short-term storage of blood samples on gene expression in lung cancer patients.

Objectives: The stability of gene transcripts associated with the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been predominantly studied in cultured cancer cell lines added to blood samples under artificial conditions. In the present study the effect of storage on CTC-related transcripts was assessed in blood samples taken from patients with non-small lung cancer (n=58).

Methods: The blood samples were split in two equal parts to compare the gene expression with and without storage for 24 h at ambient temperature without preservative added.

Characteristics and Treatment Outcomes in Advanced-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with a G12C Mutation: A Real-World Study.

About 15% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harbor the Kirsten rat sarcoma homolog G12C mutation (). Selective inhibitors offer new treatment opportunities, but little is known about the prevalence, characteristics, and outcomes of standard-of-care treatment (SOC) in this population. We retrospectively assessed the clinicopathological features of patients with -mutated advanced NSCLC and responses to SOC at two high-volume centers in Austria.

Real-world experience with capmatinib in exon 14-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (RECAP): a retrospective analysis from an early access program.

Background: Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) presenting with mesenchymal-epithelial transition () exon 14 skipping mutation have an unfavorable prognosis with standard treatments. Capmatinib is a selective MET inhibitor, which showed promising efficacy in this patient population in early trials.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, international, multicenter efficacy and safety analysis in patients with NSCLC treated with capmatinib in an early access program between March 2019 and December 2021.

Cancer Stem Cell-Like Circulating Tumor Cells Are Prognostic in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Unlabelled: Despite recent advances in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), less than 10% of patients survive the first five years when the disease has already spread at primary diagnosis.

Methods: Blood samples were taken from 118 NSCLC patients at primary diagnosis or at progression of the disease before the start of a new treatment line and enriched for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) by microfluidic Parsortix™ (Angle plc, Guildford GU2 7AF, UK) technology. The gene expression of epithelial cancer stem cell (CSC), epithelial to mesenchymal (EMT), and lung-related markers was assessed by qPCR, and the association of each marker with overall survival (OS) was evaluated using log-rank tests.

Selpercatinib in RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (SIREN): a retrospective analysis of patients treated through an access program.

Introduction: Rearranged during transfection (RET) gene fusions are rare genetic drivers in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Selective RET-inhibitors such as selpercatinib have shown therapeutic activity in early clinical trials; however, their efficacy in the real-world setting is unknown.

Methods: A retrospective efficacy and safety analysis was performed on data from RET fusion-positive NSCLC patients who participated in a selpercatinib access program (named patient protocol) between August 2019 and January 2021.

Later-Line Treatment with Lorlatinib in - and -Rearrangement-Positive NSCLC: A Retrospective, Multicenter Analysis.

In clinical practice, patients with -rearrangement-positive non-small-cell lung cancer commonly receive sequential treatment with ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The third-generation agent lorlatinib has been shown to inhibit a wide range of resistance mutations and thus offers potential benefit in later lines, although real-world data are lacking. This multicenter study retrospectively investigated later-line, real-world use of lorlatinib in patients with advanced - or -positive lung cancer.

Alectinib following brigatinib: an efficient sequence for the treatment of advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive lung cancer patients.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-translocations are present in up to 5% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), most of them being adenocarcinomas. Even though the availability of five potent ALK-inhibitors for the treatment of ALK-positive NSCLC patients, there is no consensus about the ideal therapy sequence. Alectinib has been so far successfully and routinely used as first-line therapy, especially in patients presenting central nervous system lesions; however, with the very recent European approval of brigatinib in the first line, a new treatment option is now available for ALK+ patient collective.

Successful immune checkpoint inhibition in an EGFR-mutant lung cancer patient refractory to epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment.

It is widely assumed that immune checkpoint inhibition does not give rise to clinical benefits in patients with lung cancer and activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. Clinical trial data have predominantly demonstrated low activity of immunotherapy in this patient group, although some evidence has been obtained that implies outcome improvement with checkpoint inhibitors even in EGFR-positive disease. The case presented here demonstrates excellent activity of the PD-L1 inhibitor atezolizumab and the PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab as the sixth- and seventh-line treatments in a patient with EGFR-mutant metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer who had not responded to EGFR-targeted agents.

Effects of salinomycin and niclosamide on small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer circulating tumor cell lines.

Tumor dissemination and recurrence is attributed to highly resistant cancer stem cells (CSCs) which may constitute a fraction of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) constitutes a suitable model to investigate the relation of CTCs and CSCs due to rapid tumor spread and a high number of CTCs. Expansion of five SCLC CTC lines (BHGc7, 10, 16, 26 and UHGc5) in vitro at our institution allowed for the analysis of CSC markers and cytotoxicity of the CSC-selective drugs salinomycin and niclosamide against CTC single cell suspensions or CTC spheroids/ tumorospheres (TOS).

Molecular Characterization of Circulating Tumor Cells Enriched by A Microfluidic Platform in Patients with Small-Cell Lung Cancer.

At initial diagnosis, most patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) present with metastatic disease with a high number of tumor cells (CTCs) circulating in the blood. We analyzed RNA transcripts specific for neuroendocrine and for epithelial cell lineages, and Notch pathway delta-like 3 ligand (), the actionable target of rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T) in CTC samples. Peripheral blood samples from 48 SCLC patients were processed using the microfluidic Parsortix™ technology to enrich the CTCs.

Treatment of ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer with brigatinib as second or later lines: real-world observations from a single institution.

The second-generation ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor brigatinib has recently been approved in the European Union for use after crizotinib treatment in patients with EML4-ALK-rearranged lung cancer. In the current study, brigatinib was investigated as second-line or later-line treatment in 35 patients who had developed resistance to crizotinib, ceritinib, or alectinib. Most patients (68.

Intracranial remission with brigatinib rechallenge as fifth-line ALK inhibition therapy in a lung cancer patient.

Several anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been developed for the treatment of EML4-ALK-rearranged non-small-cell lung cancer, with the newer generation agents brigatinib, alectinib and lorlatinib showing pronounced central nervous system activities. Intracranial efficacy is an important feature for these agents, as metastatic lesions frequently occur in the central nervous system in the ALK-positive setting. Here, we report on an updated case of a patient who received her diagnosis in 2005 and has had disease progression with new lesions on six occasions over the last 8 years.