Safety and efficacy of first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab alternating with nivolumab monotherapy in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma: the non-randomised, open-label, phase IIIb/IV CheckMate 920 trial.

Objectives: The non-randomised, open-label, phase IIIb/IV multicohort CheckMate 920 trial explored the safety and efficacy with a less frequent, but continual nivolumab plus ipilimumab (NIVO+IPI) dosing regimen (cohort 1) to determine whether this modification could potentially retain efficacy benefits while improving on the manageable safety profile previously observed with this combination in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC).

Setting: Patients were enrolled from 48 largely community-based sites in the USA.

Participants: 106 patients with previously untreated, predominantly clear cell aRCC received treatment.

Phase 1/2a, open-label, multicenter study of RM-1929 photoimmunotherapy in patients with locoregional, recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (rHNSCC) represents a significant global health burden with an unmet medical need. In this study we determined the safety and efficacy of RM-1929 photoimmunotherapy in patients with heavily pretreated rHNSCC.

Methods: RM-1929 (anti-EGFR-IR700 dye conjugate) was infused, followed by tumor illumination.

Efficacy and Safety of Avelumab Treatment in Patients With Advanced Unresectable Mesothelioma: Phase 1b Results From the JAVELIN Solid Tumor Trial.

Importance: Patients with malignant mesothelioma whose disease has progressed after platinum and pemetrexed treatment have limited options. Anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) antibodies have antitumor activity in this disease, but little is known about the activity of anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibodies in patients with mesothelioma.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of avelumab in a cohort of patients with previously treated mesothelioma.

Spectrum of myeloid neoplasms and immune deficiency associated with germline GATA2 mutations.

Guanine-adenine-thymine-adenine 2 (GATA2) mutated disorders include the recently described MonoMAC syndrome (Monocytopenia and Mycobacterium avium complex infections), DCML (dendritic cell, monocyte, and lymphocyte deficiency), familial MDS/AML (myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia) (myeloid neoplasms), congenital neutropenia, congenital lymphedema (Emberger's syndrome), sensorineural deafness, viral warts, and a spectrum of aggressive infections seen across all age groups. While considerable efforts have been made to identify the mutations that characterize this disorder, pathogenesis remains a work in progress with less than 100 patients described in current literature. Varying clinical presentations offer diagnostic challenges.

Novel antibody therapy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The treatment of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) poses a tremendous challenge for hematologists. The use of pediatric-based chemotherapy regimens in young adults up to the age of 45 years has resulted in improved outcomes when compared retrospectively with historical controls treated with adult therapy. A better understanding of the molecular landscape of ALL and advances in the field of monoclonal antibody therapy have resulted in the development of several new agents that may provide for a reduction in the toxicity inherent in pediatric-like regimens.

Comparable efficacy and lower cost of PBSC mobilization with intermediate-dose cyclophosphamide and G-CSF compared with plerixafor and G-CSF in patients with multiple myeloma treated with novel therapies.

Studies comparing the efficacy and cost of stem cell mobilization with intermediate-dose CY (ID-CY) and G-CSF against plerixafor and G-CSF, specifically in multiple myeloma (MM) patients treated in the novel therapy era, are not available. Eighty-eight consecutive patients undergoing mobilization with ID-CY (3-4 g/m(2)) and G-CSF (n=55) were compared with patients receiving plerixafor and G-CSF (n=33). Compared with plerixafor, ID-CY use was associated with higher median peak peripheral blood CD34+ cell count (68 vs 160 cells/μL, P<0.

Simultaneous modulation of the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways by simvastatin in mediating prostate cancer cell apoptosis.

Background: Recent studies suggest the potential benefits of statins as anti-cancer agents. Mechanisms by which statins induce apoptosis in cancer cells are not clear. We previously showed that simvastatin inhibit prostate cancer cell functions and tumor growth.

Plerixafor Salvage Is Safe and Effective in Hard-to-Mobilize Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy and Filgrastim-Based Peripheral Blood Progenitor Cell Mobilization.

The combination of filgrastim (G-CSF) and plerixafor is currently approved for mobilizing peripheral blood progenitor cells in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma undergoing autologous peripheral blood hematopoietic cell transplantation. However, chemotherapy and G-CSF-based mobilization remains a widely used strategy for peripheral blood progenitor cell collection. In this paper we describe our experience from two North American transplant centers in a series of patients who received salvage plerixafor while failing chemotherapy and G-CSF mobilization.

Intermediate-dose versus low-dose cyclophosphamide and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for peripheral blood stem cell mobilization in patients with multiple myeloma treated with novel induction therapies.

Peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilization with intermediate-dose cyclophosphamide (ID-CY) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) has been shown to be more efficacious, albeit more toxic, than low-dose cyclophosphamide (LD-CY) mobilization regimens in patients with multiple myeloma treated with conventional therapies. However, the relative importance of cyclophosphamide dose intensity in peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilization after novel induction regimens is not known. Here we report mobilization outcomes of 123 patients who underwent transplantation within 1 year of starting induction chemotherapy with novel agents.

PI3 kinase integrates Akt and MAP kinase signaling pathways in the regulation of prostate cancer.

PI3 kinase (PI3K), Akt and MAP kinase (MAPK) pathways are central to many classical signaling cascades and are often de-regulated in many cancers. Due to this, inhibitors for a number of key signaling molecules in these pathways such as PI3K, Akt, mTOR, Raf and ERK are currently in clinical trials. In the current study, we investigated the effects of specific inhibition of these signaling molecules, alone or in combinations, on prostate cancer cells.

Anticancer efficacy of simvastatin on prostate cancer cells and tumor xenografts is associated with inhibition of Akt and reduced prostate-specific antigen expression.

Prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-associated death among men in the United States. There has been renewed interest in the potential therapeutic benefits of statins for cancer. Simvastatin, a widely used generic drug for preventing cardiovascular events, is well known for its effects on cellular proliferation and inflammation, two key processes that also determine the rate of tumor growth.