A comparison of the clinicopathological features and genetic alterations in stage II/III gastric cancer with no recurrence, early recurrence and late recurrence after curative surgery.

Background: Few studies have explored the genetic changes and clinicopathological features of stage II/III gastric cancer (GC) patients with no tumor recurrence, early recurrence, or late recurrence after curative surgery.

Methods: In this study, 376 patients who underwent curative surgery for stage II/III GC were analyzed. The clinical and genetic features of patients with no recurrence, early recurrence (<2 years), and late recurrence (≥2 years) were compared.

The correlation between LAG-3 expression and the efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy in advanced biliary tract cancer.

In our previous phase II T1219 trial for advanced biliary tract cancer (ABTC), the combination of nivolumab with modified gemcitabine and S-1 exhibited promising efficacy, while the programmed-death-ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression did not predict chemoimmunotherapy efficacy. Lymphocyte-activation-gene-3 (LAG-3), a negative immune checkpoint, is frequently co-expressed with PD-L1. This study assessed the predictive value of LAG-3 expression in ABTC patients who received chemoimmunotherapy.

Hepatic Events During Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment Between Liver and Non-Liver Malignancies in Hepatitis B Endemic Areas.

Background: Notable advances have been made in immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for cancer treatment. However, the adverse effects of ICIs, especially hepatotoxicity, remain a challenging problem. Whether patients in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-endemic areas are prone to developing hepatic adverse events during ICI treatment warrants further exploration.

Efficacy and safety of durvalumab rechallenge in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients refractory to prior anti-PD-1 therapy.

Background/purpose: Recently, anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (anti-PD-1) and anti-PD-L1 therapies were approved for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the effectiveness of rechallenging with one immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) after failure of another remains unclear. This study explores the efficacy and safety of anti-PD-L1 rechallenge in patients who failed anti-PD-1 therapy.

Real-world effectiveness and prognostic factors of durvalumab plus chemotherapy in a multicentric cohort with advanced biliary tract cancer.

Background: Biliary tract cancer (BTC) is an aggressive biliary tract cancer, arising from the bile ducts and gallbladder, with a poor prognosis. The TOPAZ-1 trial of durvalumab plus first-line chemotherapy (gemcitabine plus cisplatin) showed improved survival vs chemotherapy alone. This real-world study aimed to confirm the effectiveness of this regimen.

Real-World Study of Lanreotide Autogel in Routine Practice in Patients with Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors (GEP-NETs) in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Introduction: There is a lack of data on the efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of lanreotide autogel in patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) of Chinese ethnicity. This noninterventional, retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of lanreotide autogel in patients of Chinese ethnicity with GEP-NETs in clinical practice.

Methods: Patients' charts were abstracted from five hospitals in Hong Kong and Taiwan (July-September 2021), where lanreotide autogel is approved for treating GEP-NETs.

RAB31 drives extracellular vesicle fusion and cancer-associated fibroblast formation leading to oxaliplatin resistance in colorectal cancer.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is associated with tumorigenesis and drug resistance. The Rab superfamily of small G-proteins plays a role in regulating cell cytoskeleton and vesicle transport. However, it is not yet clear how the Rab family contributes to cancer progression by participating in EMT.

Durvalumab or placebo plus gemcitabine and cisplatin in participants with advanced biliary tract cancer (TOPAZ-1): updated overall survival from a randomised phase 3 study.

Background: In the preplanned interim analysis of the TOPAZ-1 study, durvalumab plus gemcitabine-cisplatin significantly improved overall survival versus placebo plus gemcitabine-cisplatin in participants with advanced biliary tract cancer. We aimed to report updated overall survival and safety data from TOPAZ-1 with additional follow-up and data maturity beyond the interim analysis.

Methods: TOPAZ-1 was a phase 3, randomised, double-masked, placebo-controlled, global study done at 105 sites in 17 countries.

Cost-effectiveness of ivosidenib versus chemotherapy for previously treated IDH1-mutant advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in Taiwan.

Background: International guidelines recommend ivosidenib followed by modified FOLFOX (mFOLFOX) for advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) with isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutations. Taiwan National Health Insurance covers only fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) chemotherapy for this ICC group, and there has been no prior economic evaluation of ivosidenib. Therefore, we aimed to assess ivosidenib's cost-effectiveness in previously treated, advanced ICC-presenting IDH1 mutations compared with mFOLFOX or 5-FU/LV.

Comparison of therapeutic outcomes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy: A prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) may not always receive resection despite the possible achievement of a pathologic complete response (pCR) being associated with superior survival benefit. We aimed to compare outcomes among ESCC patients with or without pCR and those refusing surgery.

Methods: In total, 111 medically operable, non-cervical ESCC patients after the same protocol of nCRT (platinum/5-fluorouracil plus radiation 50Gy) were prospectively enrolled between 2011 and 2021.

Immunoprofile of adenosquamous carcinoma in gastric cancer.

Background: Gastric adenosquamous carcinoma (GASC) is a rare subtype of gastric cancer. Research on GASC treatment is limited, and its outcome is usually poor. We investigated the clinical features, immunoprofile of GASC, and determined the optimal treatment modality for these patients.

Comparison of the mutation patterns between tumor tissue and cell-free DNA in stage IV gastric cancer.

Compared to stage I-III gastric cancer (GC), the level of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) was significantly higher in stage IV GC. The mutation patterns of different metastatic patterns between cfDNA and tumor DNA in stage IV GC have not yet been reported. We used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze cfDNA and tumor DNA in 56 stage IV GC patients.

A G-quadruplex stabilizer, CX-5461 combined with two immune checkpoint inhibitors enhances in vivo therapeutic efficacy by increasing PD-L1 expression in colorectal cancer.

Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) alone or in combination with chemotherapy can improve the limited efficacy of colorectal cancer (CRC) immunotherapy. CX-5461 causes substantial DNA damage and genomic instability and can increase ICIs' therapeutic efficacies through tumor microenvironment alteration.

Results: We analyzed whether CX-5461 enhances ICIs' effects in CRC and discovered that CX-5461 causes severe DNA damage, including cytosolic dsDNA appearance, in various human and mouse CRC cells.

The clinicopathological and genetic differences among gastric cancer patients with no recurrence, early recurrence, and late recurrence after curative surgery.

Background: To date, few reports have investigated the genetic alterations and clinicopathological features among gastric cancer (GC) patients with no tumor recurrence, early recurrence, and late recurrence following curative surgery.

Methods: A total of 473 GC patients undergoing curative surgery were included. The clinicopathological characteristics, patient prognosis, recurrence patterns, and genetic alterations were compared between GC patients with early recurrence and late recurrence.

Chimeric immune checkpoint protein vaccines inhibit the tumorigenesis and growth of rat cholangiocarcinoma.

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is the second most common primary liver malignancy and carries a dismal prognosis due to difficulties in achieving an optimal resection, and poor response to current standard-of-care systemic therapies. We previously devised a CTLA4-PD-L1 DNA cancer vaccine (DNA vaccine) and demonstrated its therapeutic effects on reducing tumor growth in a thioacetamide (TAA)-induced rat intrahepatic CCA (iCCA) model. Here, we developed a CTLA4-PD-L1 chimeric protein vaccine (Protein vaccine), and examined its effects in the rat iCCA model.

Impaired Chromatin Remodeling Predicts Better Survival to Modified Gemcitabine and S-1 plus Nivolumab in Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer: A Phase II T1219 Study.

Purpose: Modified gemcitabine and S-1 (GS) is an active regimen for patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (ABTC) in our previous study. Herein, we report the results of a single-arm phase II of nivolumab plus modified GS (NGS) as first-line treatment in ABTC.

Patients And Methods: Patients received nivolumab 240 mg and 800 mg/m2 gemcitabine on day 1 plus daily 80/100/120 mg of S-1 (based on body surface area) on days 1 to 10, in a 2-week cycle.

A generational comparison for unfavorable cancer of unknown primary in a single institute over 20 years.

Background: The prognosis of unfavorable cancer of unknown primary is extremely poor. This is the first report to compared the treatment results between generations of CUP and examined prognostic factors.

Methods: This retrospective single-center cohort study enrolled 68 patients with newly diagnosed unfavorable cancer of unknown primary at Taipei Veteran General Hospital from 2017 to 2020 as study cohort and 167 patients from 2000 to 2009 as historical cohort.

The immune microenvironment features and response to immunotherapy in EBV-associated lymphoepithelioma-like cholangiocarcinoma.

Background And Aims: Limited data are available for tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated lymphoepithelioma-like cholangiocarcinoma (EBV-LELCC), a rare subtype of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC). We aimed to investigate TIME features in EBV-LELCC and the correlation between the components of TIME and the clinical outcomes.

Methods: Tumor tissues from five EBV-LELCC cases confirmed through EBER in situ hybridization and five stage-matched conventional IHCC (non-EBV IHCC) cases were collected.