Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a self-directed online psychosocial intervention for women with metastatic breast cancer: Finding My Way-Advanced.

Purpose: Few digital interventions target patients with advanced cancer. Hence, we feasibility-tested Finding My Way-Advanced (FMW-A), a self-guided program for women with metastatic breast cancer.

Methods: A single-site randomised controlled pilot trial was conducted.

"Pioneers, yes. We all should think that way" Improving Papua New Guinea Cancer Nurses Education through an International Partnership.

Objectives: First, to understand Papua New Guinea (PNG) oncology nursing issues perceived through the nurses' lens of unmet supportive care needs of people affected by cancer and to identify nurses' self-perceived educational priorities in cancer care. Second, to evaluate the tailored bidirectional learning and knowledge transfer among the participants of the Australia Capital Territory Health and PNG Oncology Nursing Development Program hosted in Australia in June 2023.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted.

Response to COVID-19 vaccination in patients on cancer therapy: Analysis in a SARS-CoV-2-naïve population.

Background: Cancer patients have increased morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, but may respond poorly to vaccination. The Evaluation of COVID-19 Vaccination Efficacy and Rare Events in Solid Tumors (EVEREST) study, comparing seropositivity between cancer patients and healthy controls in a low SARS-CoV-2 community-transmission setting, allows determination of vaccine response with minimal interference from infection.

Methods: Solid tumor patients from The Canberra Hospital, Canberra, Australia, and healthy controls who received COVID-19 vaccination between March 2021 and January 2022 were included.

Models for predicting venous thromboembolism in ambulatory patients with lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with lung cancer is relatively high, and risk stratification models are vital for the targeted application of thromboprophylaxis. We aimed to review VTE risk prediction models that have been developed in patients with lung cancer and evaluated their performance.

Methods And Results: Twenty-four eligible studies involving 123,493 patients were included.

Hyperprogressive Disease (HPD) in Solid Tumours Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in a Real-World Setting.

Hyperprogressive disease (HPD) is a state of accelerated tumor growth from cancer immunotherapy, associated with poor outcome. The reported incidence is 6% to 29% among studies using varying definitions of HPD, with no predictive biomarkers. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are prognostic and predictive for immunotherapy benefit in various tumor types, but have only been tested for correlation with HPD in one study.

Identifying cancer-associated leukocyte profiles using high-resolution flow cytometry screening and machine learning.

Background: Machine learning (ML) is a valuable tool with the potential to aid clinical decision making. Adoption of ML to this end requires data that reliably correlates with the clinical outcome of interest; the advantage of ML is that it can model these correlations from complex multiparameter data sets that can be difficult to interpret conventionally. While currently available clinical data can be used in ML for this purpose, there exists the potential to discover new "biomarkers" that will enhance the effectiveness of ML in clinical decision making.

CTLA4 protects against maladaptive cytotoxicity during the differentiation of effector and follicular CD4 T cells.

As chronic antigenic stimulation from infection and autoimmunity is a feature of primary antibody deficiency (PAD), analysis of affected patients could yield insights into T-cell differentiation and explain how environmental exposures modify clinical phenotypes conferred by single-gene defects. CD57 marks dysfunctional T cells that have differentiated after antigenic stimulation. Indeed, while circulating CD57 CD4 T cells are normally rare, we found that they are increased in patients with PAD and markedly increased with CTLA4 haploinsufficiency or blockade.

Building Capability and Capacity: The Establishment of an Oncology Unit in the Solomon Islands.

Purpose: To describe the establishment of an oncology unit at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in the Solomon Islands, a low-income nation in the South Pacific.

Methods: A scoping visit was carried out in 2016 to assist in the development of coordinated cancer services and to establish a medical oncology unit at the NRH at the request of the Medical Superintendent. This was followed by an observership visit to Canberra by an NRH doctor training in oncology in 2017.

Clinical predictors of survival in real world practice in stage IV melanoma.

Background And Aim: While studies continually identify new clinical prognostic factors in stage IV melanoma, the introduction of targeted and immunotherapies have revolutionised the prognosis of advanced melanoma since 2011. The study aims to investigate the prognostic significance of past and newly identified clinical factors in a contemporary cohort.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of The Canberra Hospital melanoma database identified 161 patients with Stage IV melanoma between 2011 and 2017.

A Phase 1 Proof of Concept Study Evaluating the Addition of an LSD1 Inhibitor to Nab-Paclitaxel in Advanced or Metastatic Breast Cancer (EPI-PRIMED).

Objective: Lysine-Specific Demethylase-1 (LSD1) is overexpressed in breast cancer cells and facilitate mesenchymal properties which may contribute to therapeutic resistance and cancer progression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the safety of combination, nab-paclitaxel and phenelzine, an irreversible LSD1 inhibitor in patients with metastatic breast cancer (mBC).

Methods: Eligible patients with mBC were treated with nab-paclitaxel (100mg/m) weekly for 3 weeks with one week break in a 28-day cycle.

Selective Targeting of Protein Kinase C (PKC)-θ Nuclear Translocation Reduces Mesenchymal Gene Signatures and Reinvigorates Dysfunctional CD8 T Cells in Immunotherapy-Resistant and Metastatic Cancers.

Protein kinase C (PKC)-θ is a serine/threonine kinase with both cytoplasmic and nuclear functions. Nuclear chromatin-associated PKC-θ (nPKC-θ) is increasingly recognized to be pathogenic in cancer, whereas its cytoplasmic signaling is restricted to normal T-cell function. Here we show that nPKC-θ is enriched in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) brain metastases and immunotherapy-resistant metastatic melanoma and is associated with poor survival in immunotherapy-resistant disease.

Prediction models for venous thromboembolism in ambulatory adults with pancreatic and gastro-oesophageal cancer: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication of cancer. Pancreatic and gastro-oesophageal cancers are among malignancies that have the highest rates of VTE occurrence. VTE can increase cancer-related morbidity and mortality and disrupt cancer treatment.

Managing patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma: Evolving landscape from an Australian perspective.

Aim: Despite lack of advances in the first-line systemic therapy, the overall survival (OS) has continued to improve in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS) with the recent estimation of median OS at 20 months. Several systemic therapy options are available now for the second-line and beyond, with more treatment tailored to histology and molecular subtype. The aim of this retrospective study was to characterize current patterns of care in managing patients with advanced STS (aSTS) in Australia.

Models for predicting venous thromboembolism in ambulatory patients with lung cancer: a systematic review protocol.

Introduction: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication in patients with cancer and has a determining role in the disease prognosis. The risk is significantly increased with certain types of cancer, such as lung cancer. Partly due to difficulties in managing haemorrhage in outpatient settings, anticoagulant prophylaxis is only recommended for ambulatory patients at high risk of VTE.

Atezolizumab and bevacizumab as first line therapy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: Practical considerations in routine clinical practice.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer. For advanced HCC, sorafenib was considered the standard of care for more than ten years. Recently the atezolizumab and bevacizumab combination has become standard of care for these patients without contraindications to either immune checkpoint inhibitors or antiangiogenic therapy.

Role of direct oral anticoagulants in gastrointestinal cancer associated thrombosis "practical issues in clinical practice"-narrative review.

Objective: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) are now considered an effective treatment option for cancer associated thrombosis (CAT). There are still controversies in the use of DOACs in CAT associated with gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies.

Background: Patients with GI malignancies and CAT present several unique management challenges.

Risk Factors and Prediction Models for Venous Thromboembolism in Ambulatory Patients with Lung Cancer.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of mortality in patients with lung cancer. Despite the availability of a wide range of anticoagulants to help prevent thrombosis, thromboprophylaxis in ambulatory patients is a challenge due to its associated risk of haemorrhage. As a result, anticoagulation is only recommended in patients with a relatively high risk of VTE.