Outcome and management of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who achieved a complete response to immunotherapy-based systemic therapy.

Background And Aims: The outcome of patients with HCC who achieved complete response (CR) to immune-checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based systemic therapies is unclear.

Approach And Results: Retrospective study of patients with HCC who had CR according to modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (CR-mRECIST) to ICI-based systemic therapies from 28 centers in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Of 3933 patients with HCC treated with ICI-based noncurative systemic therapies, 174 (4.

Molecular Markers of Response to Anti-PD1 Therapy in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Single-agent anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitors convey outstanding clinical benefits in a small fraction (∼20%) of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (aHCC) but the molecular mechanisms determining response are unknown. To fill this gap, we herein analyze the molecular and immune traits of aHCC in patients treated with anti-PD1.

Methods: Overall, 111 tumor samples from patients with aHCC were obtained from 13 centers before systemic therapies.

Molecular diagnostics and therapies for gastrointestinal tumors: a real-world experience.

Purpose: Several targeted agents demonstrated efficacy in early clinical trials for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, but in many cases, phase-III trials and/or approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are lacking. The primary focus of this study was to assess the regulatory processes associated with use and reimbursement of off-label treatment in precision oncology and to evaluate the benefit of targeted therapy in a real-world population in Germany.

Methods: Our cohort comprises 137 patients with GI cancers and is biased towards cancer entities with a high frequency of known targetable alterations, such as cholangiocarcinoma.

Advances in systemic therapy for the first-line treatment of unresectable HCC.

: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common and deadliest cancers worldwide. In recent years, several drugs have been approved in first- and second-line setting. Currently, several phase-III trials are ongoing with combinations of checkpoint inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and anti-angiogenic antibodies, which will most likely increase therapeutic options in frontline therapy in the near future.

Immunotherapies in clinical development for biliary tract cancer.

: Cancers of the biliary tract (BTC) are aggressive malignancies with limited treatment options and an overall dismal prognosis. In recent years, two concepts, namely precision oncology and immune oncology (IO) have profoundly influenced and, in some cancers, even revolutionized tumor treatments. While positive data from randomized trials have led to the incorporation of targeted concepts for genetically select BTC patients, IO is not yet implemented in clinical practice.

The orphan response regulator HP1021 of Helicobacter pylori regulates transcription of a gene cluster presumably involved in acetone metabolism.

Helicobacter pylori is a gastric pathogen for which no nonhuman reservoir is known. In accordance with the tight adaptation to its unique habitat, the human stomach, H. pylori is endowed with a very restricted repertoire of regulatory proteins.