Oral PD-L1 inhibitor GS-4224 selectively engages PD-L1 high cells and elicits pharmacodynamic responses in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Background: Checkpoint inhibitors targeting the programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) pathway are effective therapies in a range of immunogenic cancer types. Blocking this pathway with an oral therapy could benefit patients through greater convenience, particularly in combination regimens, and allow flexible management of immune-mediated toxicities.

Methods: PD-L1 binding activity was assessed in engineered dimerization and primary cell target occupancy assays.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM): use and views among patients with solid organ and haematological malignancies in Northland, New Zealand.

Aims: Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) use among patients with malignant diagnosis has been rising globally. This study assesses the prevalence of CAM among patients with solid organ or haematological malignancy at a regional outpatient cancer and blood service in Northland, New Zealand. Secondary objectives include determining: i) types of CAM used, ii) sources of information, and iii) patient perspectives on CAM.

Survival Outcomes and Care Equity among Patients with Advanced Breast Cancer in Auckland, New Zealand.

Aim: The Auckland Advanced Breast Cancer Review (AABC) was a review of patients diagnosed with advanced inoperable/metastatic breast cancer (ABC) within the Auckland region of New Zealand, commissioned in response to a Breast Cancer Registry report (BCFNZR) that showed poor and inequitable survival outcomes. The review was aimed at assessing equity of care and identifying healthcare delivery gaps for patients with ABC in the Auckland region.

Method: In this retrospective study, patients living within the Auckland region, diagnosed with ABC between the 1st January 2013 to the 31st December 2015 were identified from the Breast Cancer Registry.

Re-thinking the possible interaction between proton pump inhibitors and capecitabine.

Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) rank within the top ten most prescribed medications in Europe and USA. A high frequency of PPI use has been reported amongst patients undergoing chemotherapy, to mitigate treatment-induced gastritis or gastro-oesophageal reflux. Several recent, mostly retrospective, observational studies have reported inferior survival outcomes among patients on capecitabine who concomitantly use PPI.

Cardiac Troponin I and T in Checkpoint Inhibitor-associated Myositis and Myocarditis.

Checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis (ir-myocarditis) and myositis (ir-myositis) may occur concurrently among patients on checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. While cardiac-specific troponin I (cTnI) and troponin T (cTnT) are regarded to have similar sensitivities and specificities in conditions such as acute coronary syndrome, the cardiac specificity of cTnT has been challenged following observation that patients with neuromuscular diseases, including myositis, may have elevated cTnT without apparent clinical evidence of myocardial injury. Consequently, in the context of concurrent ir-myositis, cTnI may be a more appropriate biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring ir-myocarditis.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in non-metastatic breast cancer: a study on practice trends in a regional cancer treatment service.

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is increasingly used for managing locally advanced and high risk non-metastatic breast cancer.

Aims: To describe trends in NACT use, assess compliance to best practice recommendations and determine treatment response rates in a regional cancer treatment service.

Methods: In this retrospective cross- sectional study, electronic records of patients who underwent NACT in centres covered by the MidCentral Regional Cancer Treatment Service in 2013 and 2017 were reviewed.

Thirty-day mortality after systemic anticancer treatment as a real-world, quality-of-care indicator: the Northland experience.

Background: Systemic anticancer treatment (SACT) at the end of life is considered poor practice due to its futility and associated toxicities. Consequently, 30-day mortality after SACT is increasingly recognised as a potential real-world quality-of-care indicator in medical oncology.

Aims: Whangarei Base Hospital (WBH) provides outpatient SACT treatment to all patients living in the Northland region of New Zealand.