Prognostic and functional role of the nuclear export receptor 1 (XPO1) in gastrointestinal cancers: a potential novel target?

In the last decades the survival of metastatic gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients could have been significantly extended due to the introduction of targeted- and immunotherapy. However, only the minority of patients will experience long-lasting survival. Hence, novel therapeutics are clearly necessary for GI cancer patients.

Soluble PD-L1 shows no association to relapse and overall survival in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Background: Cancer immune evasion is critical in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and has been targeted by immunotherapy. High soluble (s)PD-L1 is associated with reduced survival and treatment failure in advanced stages. Here we evaluated the effects of sPD-L1 on T cells, relapse free survival, and overall survival in early stage NSCLC.

The Chlamydia pneumoniae effector SemD exploits its host's endocytic machinery by structural and functional mimicry.

To enter epithelial cells, the obligate intracellular pathogen Chlamydia pneumoniae secretes early effector proteins, which bind to and modulate the host-cell's plasma membrane and recruit several pivotal endocytic host proteins. Here, we present the high-resolution structure of an entry-related chlamydial effector protein, SemD. Co-crystallisation of SemD with its host binding partners demonstrates that SemD co-opts the Cdc42 binding site to activate the actin cytoskeleton regulator N-WASP, making active, GTP-bound Cdc42 superfluous.

Immunotherapy for Microsatellite-Stable Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Can we close the Gap between Potential and Practice?

Purpose Of Review: This review will explore various strategies to rendering MSS mCRCs susceptible to ICI. Moreover, we will provide an overview of potential biomarkers that may aid to better patient selection, and discuss ongoing efforts in this area of research.

Recent Findings: Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks among the top three most common cancers worldwide.

Sarcopenia and Mediastinal Adipose Tissue as a Prognostic Marker for Short- and Long-Term Outcomes after Primary Surgical Treatment for Lung Cancer.

Surgical resection remains the gold standard of treatment for early-stage lung cancer. Several risk models exist to predict postoperative morbidity and mortality. Psoas muscle sarcopenia has already successfully been used for morbidity prediction in lung transplantation and is not yet included in the available risk scores for pulmonary resections.

Radiomic Assessment of Radiation-Induced Alterations of Skeletal Muscle Composition in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma within the Currently Clinically Defined Optimal Time Window for Salvage Surgery-A Pilot Study.

Patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) frequently require primary radiochemotherapy (RCT). Despite intensity modulation, the desired radiation-induced effects observed in HNSCC may also be observed as side effects in healthy tissue, e.g.

[Iron deficiency and anemia in junior women's competitive sport].

An iron deficient athlete is likely to develop iron deficiency anemia, a pathology that may lead to a decrease in performance. If adult athletes, women and men, are aware of the need for regular monitoring, young people under 18 are not necessarily aware of the risks associated with competitive sports practice in the presence of anemia. Even if the guidelines are well known and described, a lack of regular monitoring is found for the aforementioned age group.

Uncommon, foreign-body induced knee arthrofibrosis in a pediatric patient.

Arthrofibrosis is defined as an excessive fibrotic tissue response within a joint leading to a painful loss of motion. This pathological scar formation process with dysregulated, inordinate extracellular matrix formation, especially collagen, may occur in any joints, although is frequently localized in the knee. Different etiologies have been described and most of them are related to trauma, infection or recent surgical procedure.

Sex hormones influence survival of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma undergoing immune checkpoint therapy.

Introduction: Clinical trials investigating efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) revealed sex-specific divergent outcomes in urothelial cancer (UC), suggesting that sex hormones might play an important role in gender-specific dimorphisms of response upon ICI. However, further clinical investigations are still needed to understand the influence of sex hormones in UC. The aim of this study was to get further insights on the prognostic and predictive value of sex hormone levels in patients with metastatic UC (mUC) who underwent ICI.

A chemokine network of T cell exhaustion and metabolic reprogramming in renal cell carcinoma.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is frequently infiltrated by immune cells, a process which is governed by chemokines. CD8 T cells in the RCC tumor microenvironment (TME) may be exhausted which most likely influence therapy response and survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate chemokine-driven T cell recruitment, T cell exhaustion in the RCC TME, as well as metabolic processes leading to their functional anergy in RCC.

Optimization of postoperative surveillance protocols in upper tract urothelial cancer: A retrospective cohort study.

Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is an aggressive disease that is managed by radical or organ-sparing surgery. High recurrence rates require early detection and strict follow-up (FU) protocols. Recommendations are assigned to a low level of evidence.

CXCR3 Expression Is Associated with Advanced Tumor Stage and Grade Influencing Survival after Surgery of Localised Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Background: Surgery is the standard treatment in localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Pembrolizumab is now approved for adjuvant therapy in high-risk patients. However, inhomogeneity of studies gives ambiguity which patient benefit most from adjuvant therapy.

External validation of risk prediction scores in patients undergoing anatomic video-assisted thoracoscopic resection.

Background: EuroLung Risk scores were established to predict postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing anatomic lung resections. We aimed to perform an external validation of the EuroLung scores, which were calculated from data of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons database, in our video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery cohort.

Methods: All available EuroLung scores were calculated for 718 patients scheduled for anatomic video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery resections between 2009 and 2019.

Multi-omic Characterization of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Relates CXCR4 mRNA Expression Levels to Potential Clinical Targets.

Purpose: Chemokines are essential for immune cell trafficking and are considered to have a major impact on the composition of the tumor microenvironment. CX-chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is associated with poor differentiation, metastasis, and prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). This study provides a comprehensive molecular portrait of PDAC according to CXCR4 mRNA expression levels.

Comprehensive Analysis of R-Spondin Fusions and RNF43 Mutations Implicate Novel Therapeutic Options in Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: Gene fusions involving R-spondin (RSPOfp) and RNF43 mutations have been shown to drive Wnt-dependent tumor initiation in colorectal cancer. Herein, we aimed to characterize the molecular features of RSPOfp/RNF43 mutated (mut) compared with wild-type (WT) colorectal cancers to gain insights into potential rationales for therapeutic strategies.

Experimental Design: A discovery cohort was classified for RSPOfp/RNF43 status using DNA/RNA sequencing and IHC.

The DNA damage repair-related gene is a potential biomarker in various malignancies.

Background: Protein kinase membrane associated tyrosine/threonine 1 () regulates cell cycle and is a part of DNA damage repair (DDR)-related signaling. Recent studies have identified a role for in tumor immunity and DDR. Thus, we initiated this study aiming to characterize the molecular and immunological portrait of in cancer.

Correlations between peripheral blood biomarkers and clinical outcomes in advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients who received immunotherapy-based treatments.

Background: Peripheral blood-based biomarkers (PBB) predicting response, survival and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are still a matter of debate. Thus, we investigated the associations between PBB, the efficacy of ICIs and the incidence of irAEs.

Methods: Patients with advanced NSCLC, who had been treated at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and received ICIs or chemoimmunotherapy from January 2015 to December 2020, were retrospectively identified.

Compressed Lateral and anteroposterior Anatomical Systematic Sequences «CLASS»: compressed MRI sequences with assessed anatomical femoral and tibial ACL's footprints, a feasibility study.

Purpose: This study's main objective is to assess the feasibility of processing the MRI information with identified ACL-footprints into 2D-images similar to a conventional anteroposterior and lateral X-Ray image of the knee. The secondary aim is to conduct specific measurements to assess the reliability and reproducibility. This study is a proof of concept of this technique.

Targeting BRCA and DNA Damage Repair Genes in GI Cancers: Pathophysiology and Clinical Perspectives.

Mutated germline alleles in the DNA damage repair (DDR) genes "breast cancer gene 1" () and have originally been identified as major susceptibility genes in breast and ovarian cancers. With the establishment and approval of more cost-effective gene sequencing methods, germline and somatic mutations have been detected in several cancers. Since the approval of poly (ADP)-ribose polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) for mutated cancers, mutations gained rising therapeutic implications.

Real-world experience with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer : A retrospective Austrian multicenter study.

Objective: As real-world data regarding immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer are lacking for Austria, we conducted a retrospective study in six hospitals to present data from real-world practice.

Methods: Patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer were stratified into two groups, either patients with first-line pembrolizumab monotherapy (cohort 1) or patients with second-line nivolumab, pembrolizumab or atezolizumab monotherapy (cohort 2). Primary outcome measures were objective response rate and overall survival.

Deregulated glutamate to pro-collagen conversion is associated with adverse outcome in lung cancer and may be targeted by renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAS) inhibition.

Background: The tumor-microenvironment (TME) represents an attractive therapeutic target in NSCLC and plays an important role for efficacy of cancer therapeutics. We hypothesized that upregulation of collagen synthesis might be associated with adverse outcome in NSCLC. Literature evidence suggests that renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RASi) decrease collagen deposition.

Evaluation of the reporting quality of clinical practice guidelines on lung cancer using the RIGHT checklist.

Background: In recent years, the number of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for lung cancer has increased, but the quality of these guidelines has not been systematically assessed so far. Our aim was to assess the reporting quality of CPGs on lung cancer published since 2018 using the International Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in Health Care (RIGHT) instrument.

Methods: We systematically searched the major electronic literature databases, guideline databases and medical society websites from January 2018 to November 2020 to identify all CPGs for small cell and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).