The impact of COVID-19 on private healthcare service utilisation: time series analysis in the capital region of Finland during 2020-2022.

Background: Most current studies on COVID-19 have focused on the first weeks or months of the pandemic or have addressed specific diseases. The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare services are insufficiently understood. We analysed the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient healthcare utilisation in the full spectrum of diseases in Uusimaa, the capital region of Finland.

The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare booking and cancellation patterns: time series analysis of private healthcare service utilisation in Finland.

Background: COVID-19 has had wide-reaching effects on healthcare services beyond the direct treatment of the pandemic. Most current studies have reported changes in realised service usage, but the dynamics of how patients engage with healthcare services are less well understood. We analysed the effects of COVID-19 on healthcare bookings and cancellations for various service channels between January 2020 and July 2021.

Bexmarilimab-induced macrophage activation leads to treatment benefit in solid tumors: The phase I/II first-in-human MATINS trial.

Macrophage Clever-1 contributes to impaired antigen presentation and suppression of anti-tumor immunity. This first-in-human trial investigates the safety and tolerability of Clever-1 blockade with bexmarilimab in patients with treatment-refractory solid tumors and assesses preliminary anti-tumor efficacy, pharmacodynamics, and immunologic correlates. Bexmarilimab shows no dose-limiting toxicities in part I (n = 30) and no additional safety signals in part II (n = 108).

Safety and tolerability of long-term treatment with darolutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Background: In patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, darolutamide was well tolerated for 25 months, but minimal long-term safety data are available.

Methods: Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) for patients receiving darolutamide for a median of 38 months (n = 13) are described in this pooled analysis of individual patient data from phase 1/2 studies.

Results: All patients reported TEAEs (mostly grade 1/2).

Single-cell characterization of anti-LAG-3 and anti-PD-1 combination treatment in patients with melanoma.

BackgroundRelatlimab plus nivolumab (anti-lymphocyte-activation gene 3 plus anti-programmed death 1 [anti-LAG-3+anti-PD-1]) has been approved by the FDA as a first-line therapy for stage III/IV melanoma, but its detailed effect on the immune system is unknown.MethodsWe evaluated blood samples from 40 immunotherapy-naive or prior immunotherapy-refractory patients with metastatic melanoma treated with anti-LAG-3+anti-PD-1 in a phase I trial using single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing (scRNA+TCRαβ-Seq) combined with other multiomics profiling.ResultsThe highest LAG3 expression was noted in NK cells, Tregs, and CD8+ T cells, and these cell populations underwent the most significant changes during the treatment.

C-reactive protein and immune-related adverse events as prognostic biomarkers in immune checkpoint inhibitor treated metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients.

Background: There is an ongoing need to identify biomarkers for correct patient selection for immune-oncology treatments in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic role of elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) values and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) to indicate immune checkpoint inhibitors' (ICIs) efficacy in nivolumab-treated mRCC patients.

Materials And Methods: Data from 96 mRCC patients treated with nivolumab at Comprehensive Cancer Center, Helsinki University Hospital in a real-life setting were collected between 2006 and 2020 retrospectively.

Time series analysis of the incidence of acute upper respiratory tract infections, COVID-19 and the use of antibiotics in Finland during the COVID-19 epidemic: a cohort study of 833 444 patients.

Objective: To evaluate the trajectories of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), COVID-19, and the use of antibiotics in Finland during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Setting: Electronic medical records from a nationwide healthcare chain in Finland.

Adjuvant Capecitabine for Early Breast Cancer: 15-Year Overall Survival Results From a Randomized Trial.

Purpose: Few data are available regarding the influence of adjuvant capecitabine on long-term survival of patients with early breast cancer.

Methods: The Finland Capecitabine Trial (FinXX) is a randomized, open-label, multicenter trial that evaluates integration of capecitabine to an adjuvant chemotherapy regimen containing a taxane and an anthracycline for the treatment of early breast cancer. Between January 27, 2004, and May 29, 2007, 1,500 patients with axillary node-positive or high-risk node-negative early breast cancer were accrued.

Decrease of Pro-Angiogenic Monocytes Predicts Clinical Response to Anti-Angiogenic Treatment in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

The modulation of subpopulations of pro-angiogenic monocytes (VEGFR-1CD14 and Tie2CD14) was analyzed in an ancillary study from the prospective PazopanIb versus Sunitinib patient preferenCE Study (PISCES) (NCT01064310), where metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients were treated with two anti-angiogenic drugs, either sunitinib or pazopanib. Blood samples from 86 patients were collected prospectively at baseline (T1), and at 10 weeks (T2) and 20 weeks (T3) after starting anti-angiogenic therapy. Various subpopulations of myeloid cells (monocytes, VEGFR-1CD14 and Tie2CD14 cells) decreased during treatment.

Spatial immunoprofiling of the intratumoral and peritumoral tissue of renal cell carcinoma patients.

While the abundance and phenotype of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are linked with clinical survival, their spatial coordination and its clinical significance remain unclear. Here, we investigated the immune profile of intratumoral and peritumoral tissue of clear cell renal cell carcinoma patients (n = 64). We trained a cell classifier to detect lymphocytes from hematoxylin and eosin stained tissue slides.

Systemic Blockade of Clever-1 Elicits Lymphocyte Activation Alongside Checkpoint Molecule Downregulation in Patients with Solid Tumors: Results from a Phase I/II Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Macrophages are critical in driving an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that counteracts the efficacy of T-cell-targeting therapies. Thus, agents able to reprogram macrophages toward a proinflammatory state hold promise as novel immunotherapies for solid cancers. Inhibition of the macrophage scavenger receptor Clever-1 has shown benefit in inducing CD8 T-cell-mediated antitumor responses in mouse models of cancer, which supports the clinical development of Clever-1-targeting antibodies for cancer treatment.

Phase I/IIa, open-label, multicentre study to evaluate the optimal dosing and safety of ODM-203 in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumours.

Background: Genetic alterations in fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) signalling are observed in various tumours. We report a first-in-human phase I/IIa trial evaluating tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary antitumour activity of ODM-203, a novel FGFR and VEGFR inhibitor.

Methods: Open-label, non-randomised, multicentre, phase I/IIa dose escalation and expansion study in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumours.

First-in-human Phase 1 open label study of the BET inhibitor ODM-207 in patients with selected solid tumours.

Background: Bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins are reported to be epigenetic anti-cancer drug targets. This first-in-human study evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetics and preliminary anti-tumour activity of the BET inhibitor ODM-207 in patients with selected solid tumours.

Methods: This was an open-label Phase 1 study comprised of a dose escalation part, and evaluation of the effect of food on pharmacokinetics.

Real-world Effectiveness and Safety of Pazopanib in Patients With Intermediate Prognostic Risk Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness and safety of pazopanib in patients with intermediate-risk advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma in the PRINCIPAL study (NCT01649778).

Patients And Methods: Patients had clear-cell advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma and met intermediate-risk International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) criteria. Assessments included progression-free survival, overall survival, objective response rate, and safety.

Nivolumab Alone and With Ipilimumab in Previously Treated Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma: CheckMate 032 Nivolumab 1 mg/kg Plus Ipilimumab 3 mg/kg Expansion Cohort Results.

Purpose: CheckMate 032 is an open-label, multicohort study that includes patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) treated with nivolumab 3 mg/kg monotherapy every 2 weeks (NIVO3), nivolumab 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 1 mg/kg every 3 weeks for four doses followed by nivolumab monotherapy 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks (NIVO3+IPI1), or nivolumab 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks for four doses followed by nivolumab monotherapy 3 mg/kg every 2 weeks (NIVO1+IPI3). We report on the expanded NIVO1+IPI3 cohort and extended follow-up for the NIVO3 and NIVO3+IPI1 cohorts.

Methods: Patients with platinum-pretreated mUC were enrolled in this phase I/II multicenter study to receive NIVO3, NIVO3+IPI1, or NIVO1+IPI3 until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Prospective Observational Study of Pazopanib in Patients with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (PRINCIPAL Study).

Background: Real-world data are essential to accurately assessing efficacy and toxicity of approved agents in everyday practice. PRINCIPAL, a prospective, observational study, was designed to confirm the real-world safety and efficacy of pazopanib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Subjects, Materials, And Methods: Patients with clear cell advanced/metastatic RCC and a clinical decision to initiate pazopanib treatment within 30 days of enrollment were eligible.

Second-line targeted therapies after nivolumab-ipilimumab failure in metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Background: Nivolumab-ipilimumab demonstrated a survival benefit over sunitinib in first-line setting for metastatic renal cell carcinomas (mRCCs) and is becoming a new standard of care for naïve patients with intermediate or poor risk prognosis (International mRCC Database Consortium). The efficacy of subsequent vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) after nivolumab-ipilimumab failure remains unclear.

Methods: Medical records of mRCC patients treated with nivolumab-ipilimumab, who received subsequent TKI, as part of Checkmate 214 study were reviewed in 13 institutions.

ODM-204, a Novel Dual Inhibitor of CYP17A1 and Androgen Receptor: Early Results from Phase I Dose Escalation in Men with Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer.

Background: Most prostate cancer patients develop castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) after androgen deprivation therapy treatment. CRPC growth is mediated mostly by androgen receptor signalling driven by primary androgens synthesised largely by the CYP17A1 enzyme.

Objective: To evaluate the safety profile and dose-limiting toxicities of ODM-204.

p95HER2 Methionine 611 Carboxy-Terminal Fragment Is Predictive of Trastuzumab Adjuvant Treatment Benefit in the FinHer Trial.

Expression of p95HER2 (p95), a truncated form of the HER2 receptor, which lacks the trastuzumab binding site but retains kinase activity, has been reported as a prognostic biomarker for poor outcomes in patients with trastuzumab-treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The impact of p95 expression on trastuzumab treatment efficacy in early HER2-positive breast cancer is less clear. In the current study, p95 was tested as a predictive marker of trastuzumab treatment benefit in the HER2-positive subset of the FinHer adjuvant phase III trial.

Cancer costs and outcomes for common cancer sites in the Finnish population between 2009-2014.

Background: The cost of cancer and outcomes of cancer care have been discussed a lot since cancer represents 3-6% of total healthcare costs and cost estimations have indicated growing costs. There are studies considering the cost of all cancers, but studies focusing on the cost of disease and outcomes in most common cancer sites are limited. The objective of this study was to analyze the development of the costs and outcomes in Finland between 2009 and 2014 per cancer site.

Modularising outpatient care delivery: A mixed methods case study at a Finnish University Hospital.

Background: Modularisation is a potential means to develop health care delivery by combining standardisation and customisation. However, little is known about the effects of modularisation on hospital care. The objective was to analyse how modularisation may change and support health care delivery in specialised hospital care.

Safety and Antitumour Activity of ODM-201 (BAY-1841788) in Chemotherapy-naïve and CYP17 Inhibitor-naïve Patients: Follow-up from the ARADES and ARAFOR Trials.

Background: ODM-201, a new androgen receptor antagonist for treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), demonstrated antitumour activity and acceptable tolerability in phase 1/2 trials.

Objective: To determine the antitumour activity and safety profile of extended treatment with ODM-201 in men with mCRPC.

Design, Setting, And Participants: ARADES and ARAFOR trials with ODM-201 enrolled chemotherapy-naïve and CYP17 inhibitor (CYP17i)-naïve mCRPC patients.