TNF-α-Secreting Lung Tumor-Infiltrated Monocytes Play a Pivotal Role During Anti-PD-L1 Immunotherapy.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) of the PD-1 pathway revolutionized the survival forecast for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Yet, the majority of PD-L1 NSCLC patients are refractory to anti-PD-L1 therapy. Recent observations indicate a pivotal role for the PD-L1 tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells in therapy failure.

Fractionated Radiation Severely Reduces the Number of CD8+ T Cells and Mature Antigen Presenting Cells Within Lung Tumors.

Purpose: The combination of standard-of-care radiation therapy (RT) with immunotherapy is moving to the mainstream of non-small cell lung cancer treatment. Multiple preclinical studies reported on the CD8 T cell stimulating properties of RT, resulting in abscopal therapeutic effects. A literature search demonstrates that most preclinical lung cancer studies applied subcutaneous lung tumor models.

Therapeutic potential of the vagus nerve in cancer.

Accumulating evidence points to a beneficial effect ofvagus nerve activity in tumor development. The vagus nerve is proposed to slow tumorigenesis because of its anti-inflammatory properties mediated through ACh and the α7nAChR. Since α7nAChRs are widely expressed by many types of immune cells we hypothesized that the vagus nerve affects the tumor microenvironment and anticancer immunity.

Circulation of HRSV in Belgium: from multiple genotype circulation to prolonged circulation of predominant genotypes.

Molecular surveillance of HRSV in Belgium for 15 consecutive seasons (1996-2011) revealed a shift from a regular 3-yearly cyclic pattern, into a yearly alternating periodicity where HRSV-B is replaced by HRSV-A. Phylogenetic analysis for HRSV-A demonstrated the stable circulation of GA2 and GA5, with GA2 being dominant over GA5 during 5 consecutive seasons (2006-2011). We also identified 2 new genotype specific amino acid mutations of the GA2 genotype (A122 and Q156) and 7 new GA5 genotype specific amino acid mutations (F102, I108, T111, I125, D161, S191 and L217).