Safety and efficacy of immune checkpoint therapy for the treatment of patients with cardiac metastasis: a multicenter international retrospective study.

Background: Data on the safety profiles and clinical outcomes of patients with solid tumors and cardiac metastasis treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are limited.

Methods: This is an international multicenter retrospective study of patients with cancer and cardiac metastasis at baseline. Patients who had received ≥1 dose of ICI were included.

Inflammatory vaginitis in women with multiple sclerosis: a retrospective analysis of B-cell depleting therapy compared to other disease modifying therapies.

This study investigates the occurrence of inflammatory vaginitis in women with Multiple Sclerosis (wwMS) undergoing B-cell depleting therapy versus other disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). Retrospective analysis of medical records from Stanford University between 2015-2023 shows similar rates of vaginitis in both groups, suggesting no significant association with B-cell therapy. Despite this, inflammatory vaginitis remains prevalent in both treatment groups, warranting further investigation into its mechanisms and management.

Antipsychotic medications associated with increased length of hospital stay in autoimmune encephalitis and multiple sclerosis: A retrospective study.

Background: Antipsychotic medications (APMs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are frequently utilized in patients with neuroinflammatory disorders, such as autoimmune encephalitis and multiple sclerosis (MS). This retrospective study investigates how in-hospital treatment with APMs and SSRIs in patients with these neuroinflammatory diseases are associated with differences in hospital length-of-stay (LOS) and mortality.

Methods: We evaluated all the inpatients in the Stanford University Hospital from 2008 to 2023 diagnosed with either non-infectious encephalitis or MS and subdivided them into those who did or did not receive APMs or SSRIs while hospitalized.

Do Cancer Genetics Impact Treatment Decision Making? Immunotherapy and Beyond in the Management of Advanced and Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma.

Bladder cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed genitourinary malignancies. For many years, the primary treatment for metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC) was predicated on the use of platinum-based chemotherapy. More recently, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) were approved by regulatory agencies such as the US FDA for use in both the first- and second-line settings.

The Potential Revolution of Cancer Treatment with CRISPR Technology.

Immuno-oncology (IO) and targeted therapies, such as small molecule inhibitors, have changed the landscape of cancer treatment and prognosis; however, durable responses have been difficult to achieve due to tumor heterogeneity, development of drug resistance, and adverse effects that limit dosing and prolonged drug use. To improve upon the current medicinal armamentarium, there is an urgent need for new ways to understand, reverse, and treat carcinogenesis. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) 9 is a powerful and efficient tool for genome editing that has shown significant promise for developing new therapeutics.

Racial Diversity and Reporting in United States Food and Drug Administration Registration Trials for Thoracic Malignancies from 2006 to 2020.

There is significant racial disparity in thoracic malignancies in terms of epidemiology and outcomes. We analyzed race reporting and racial diversity in the registration trials of drugs approved by the FDA for thoracic malignancies from 2006 to 2020. We found a significant under-representation of non-white participants in FDA drug registration trials in thoracic malignancies.

Patient-reported outcome measurement implementation in cancer survivors: a systematic review.

Purpose: Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) are increasingly used for cancer patients receiving active treatment, but little is known about the implementation and usefulness of PROMs in cancer survivorship care. This systematic review evaluates how cancer survivors and healthcare providers (HCPs) perceive PROM implementation in survivorship care, and how PROM implementation impacts cancer survivors' health outcomes.

Methods: We systematically searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from database inception to February 2022 to identify randomized and nonrandomized studies of PROM implementation in cancer survivors.

Treatment Equity in the Immunotherapy Era: Options for Patients with Both Autoimmune Disease and GU Cancers.

Numerous immunotherapeutic agents, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), have been approved for the treatment of genitourinary (GU) malignancies. While ICIs have improved treatment outcomes and expanded treatment options, they can cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). The scope of irAEs is broad, and this paper aims to review the rheumatologic side effects associated with immunotherapy drugs approved for bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma.

Treating Penile Cancer in the Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapy Era.

While localized penile cancers are typically treated surgically and metastatic penile cancers benefit from standard chemotherapy, there have been studies on the horizon demonstrating immunotherapy as a novel approach to metastatic penile cancers that have failed standard chemotherapy. We report a case series of two patients who improved on immunotherapy after progressing with standard chemotherapy regimens. The first case describes a 64-year-old male with a penile mass and significant lymphadenopathy who had surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy prior to continued disease progression.

Rapidly progressive neurologic decline and morbilliform rash presenting in a patient with lymphoma.

A 67-year-old male with past medical history of mantle cell lymphoma and atrial fibrillation presented with a truncal rash, bilateral lower extremity weakness, and confusion. Within three days of presentation, his condition rapidly deteriorated with the onset of diffuse flaccid paralysis, aphasia, and severe alteration in mental status. Initial results from serum studies, lumbar puncture, magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalogram were not diagnostic.

The Current Status and Future Role of the Phosphoinositide 3 Kinase/AKT Signaling Pathway in Urothelial Cancer: An Old Pathway in the New Immunotherapy Era.

The phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is a well studied signaling pathway that regulates diverse cellular functions including proliferation, metabolism, and transcription. Aberrant activation of this pathway has been implicated in multiple cancers. Genomic studies have shown that activating mutations in oncogenes as well as inactivating mutations in tumor suppressor genes are present across a variety of malignancies, including urothelial carcinoma.

Angina in Coronary Artery Disease Patients With and Without Diabetes: US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2010.

Background: Angina pectoris (AP) is common in coronary artery disease (CAD), but whether those with diabetes mellitus (DM) experience AP as often as those without DM is unclear.

Hypothesis: AP prevalence is similar in those with vs without DM in a community sample with CAD.

Methods: In adults with CAD in the US NHANES 2001-2010, AP was determined by self-report and Rose questionnaire and compared by DM status.