Circulating biosignatures in multiple myeloma and their role in multidrug resistance.

A major obstacle to chemotherapeutic success in cancer treatment is the development of drug resistance. This occurs when a tumour fails to reduce in size after treatment or when there is clinical relapse after an initial positive response to treatment. A unique and serious type of resistance is multidrug resistance (MDR).

Safety and tolerability of lenalidomide maintenance in post-transplant acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.

Relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplant in unfavorable-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) portends a poor prognosis. We conducted a single-center phase I dose-escalation study with lenalidomide maintenance in high-risk MDS and AML patients after allogeneic transplantation. Sixteen patients enrolled in a "3 + 3" study design starting at lenalidomide 5 mg daily, increasing in increments of 5 mg up to 15 mg.

Retrospective Analysis of Adult Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treated with FLAG at a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Background: FLAG ± Ida (fludarabine, cytarabine, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and idarubicin), is a salvage chemotherapy regimen for relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with complete remission (CR) rates historically ranging from 52% to 63%. We review the outcomes for patients with R/R AML treated with FLAG ± Ida at the University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Patients And Methods: Adult patients (≥ 18 years) with R/R AML who received FLAG or FLAG + Ida from January 1, 2012 to October 31, 2016 were identified via chart review.

A liquid biopsy to detect multidrug resistance and disease burden in multiple myeloma.

Multiple myeloma is an incurable cancer of bone marrow plasma cells, with a 5-year survival rate of 43%. Its incidence has increased by 126% since 1990. Treatment typically involves high-dose combination chemotherapy, but therapeutic response and patient survival are unpredictable and highly variable-attributed largely to the development of multidrug resistance (MDR).

Liquid Biopsies in Cancer Diagnosis, Monitoring, and Prognosis.

Liquid biopsies, comprising the noninvasive analysis of circulating tumor-derived material (the 'tumor circulome'), represent an innovative tool in precision oncology to overcome current limitations associated with tissue biopsies. Within the tumor circulome, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are the only components the clinical application of which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Extracellular vesicles (EVs), circulating tumor RNA (ctRNA), and tumor-educated platelets (TEPs) are relatively new tumor circulome constituents with promising potential at each stage of cancer management.

Microparticles shed from multidrug resistant breast cancer cells provide a parallel survival pathway through immune evasion.

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. Resident macrophages at distant sites provide a highly responsive and immunologically dynamic innate immune response against foreign infiltrates. Despite extensive characterization of the role of macrophages and other immune cells in malignant tissues, there is very little known about the mechanisms which facilitate metastatic breast cancer spread to distant sites of immunological integrity.