Worse survival of hepatocellular cancer patients with membranous insulin receptor overexpression.

Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) therapy is in need for an ideal companion diagnostic. Preclinical experimental studies have identified the insulin receptor (IR) and its synergistic counterpart, the IGF1 receptor (IGF1R), as relevant in HCC development, and the ligands IGF1 and IGF2 have been found to be elevated in HCC. This study aimed to bridge the gap to the clinical setting and explore whether the IR or the IGF1R would be of prognostic significance and would be associated with clinicopathologic parameters in HCC patients.

Expression and role of the immune checkpoint regulator PD-L1 in the tumor-stroma interplay of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), e.g., targeting programmed cell death protein 1-ligand 1 (PD-L1) or its receptor PD-1, have markedly improved the therapy of many cancers but so far failed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

LAG3 in gastric cancer: it's complicated.

Purpose: Lymphocyte activation gene 3 (LAG3) is thought to contribute to T cell exhaustion within the tumor microenvironment of solid tumors. This study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of LAG3 + cells in relation to clinicopathological and survival data in a large set of 580 primary resected and neoadjuvantly treated gastric cancers (GC).

Methods: LAG3 expression was evaluated in tumor center and invasive margin using immunohistochemistry and whole-slide digital image analysis.

Hepatic myofibroblasts exert immunosuppressive effects independent of the immune checkpoint regulator PD-L1 in liver metastasis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Introduction: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) represents the 4 most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Western countries. Most patients are diagnosed at advanced stages, often already with metastases. The main site of metastasis is the liver and hepatic myofibroblasts (HMF) play a pivotal role in metastatic outgrowth.

SMARCA4 and SMARCE1 in gastric cancer: Correlation with ARID1A, and microsatellite stability, and SMARCE1/ERBB2 co-amplification.

Background: Recent studies have shown an association between certain subunits of the SWI/SNF complex with specific tumor characteristics in gastric cancer (GC). In an earlier study, we applied multiregional whole exome sequencing on multiple primary tumor samples and found alterations of the SWI/SNF complex in 78% of the cases. ERBB2, which encodes for Her2/neu, is a well-known predictive biomarker used to guide the treatment of GC in the palliative setting.