Analysis of B-cell receptor repertoire to evaluate immunogenicity of monovalent Omicron XBB.1.5 mRNA vaccines.

Monovalent Omicron XBB.1.5 mRNA vaccines were newly developed and approved by the FDA in Autumn 2023 for preventing COVID-19.

Response to mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination evaluated by B-cell receptor repertoire after tixagevimab/cilgavimab administration.

The use of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody products like tixagevimab/cilgavimab represents an important strategy to protect immunocompromised patients with haematological malignancies from COVID-19. Although patients who receive these agents should still be vaccinated, the use of tixagevimab/cilgavimab can mask the production of anti-spike antibody after vaccination, making it hard to assess vaccine response. We have newly established a quantification method to assess the response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination at the mRNA level using B-cell receptor (BCR) repertoire assay and the Coronavirus Antibody Database (CoV-AbDab).

GSK3 inhibitor enhances gemtuzumab ozogamicin-induced apoptosis in primary human leukemia cells by overcoming multiple mechanisms of resistance.

In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the heterogeneity of genetic and epigenetic characteristics makes treatment difficult. The prognosis for AML is therefore poor, and there is an urgent need for new treatments for this condition. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO), the first antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), targets the CD33 antigen expressed in over 90% of AML cases.

Incidence of venous thromboembolism in patients with solid cancers in Japan: retrospective study of 2735 patients.

Background: The incidence of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (CA-VTE) in Japan has not been fully investigated.

Methods And Results: Clinicopathological information from patients with solid malignancies who first visited our department between November 2011 and March 2018 were retrospectively reviewed from medical records. The primary outcome was incidence of CA-VTE, defined as deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonary embolism (PE).

Guidelines for clinical evaluation of anti-cancer drugs.

Clinical studies intended for regulatory approval must demonstrate the clinical benefits of the drug in a target population. Clinical development of a drug proceeds by stepwise clinical studies; after safety and pharmacokinetics are evaluated and the recommended dosage and administration are determined, efficacy and safety are evaluated in an exploratory manner, and finally clinical benefits are compared with conventional standard therapies. Guidelines for the clinical evaluation of anti-cancer drugs in Japan were established in 1991 and amended in 2006 after molecular-targeted drugs were introduced.

Secondary -rearranged sarcoma responsive to chemotherapy regimens for Ewing sarcoma: A case report.

Capicua transcriptional repressor -rearranged sarcoma is an Ewing-like sarcoma with an aggressive clinical course and poor prognosis. No standard treatment has been established. The present study describes a case of -rearranged sarcoma with lung metastases developing in a 24-year-old woman as a therapy-associated malignancy following chemotherapy for anaplastic large cell lymphoma at nine years old.

Regorafenib-induced exacerbation of chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura in remission: A case report.

Regorafenib is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor which targets tumor angiogenesis, the tumor microenvironment and oncogenesis. Based on this mode of action, regorafenib has a broad spectrum of toxicities. However, at present, few reports have focused on autoimmune adverse events.

Phase 1 study of Gemcitabine/Nab-paclitaxel/S-1 in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer (GeNeS1S trial).

Purpose: We conducted a phase 1 study to determine the maximum tolerated dose and the recommended dose of gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel/S-1 combination chemotherapy in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.

Methods: We enrolled patients aged 20 years or older with unresectable pancreatic cancer and who had not been treated with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel were administered on days 1 and 8, and S-1 was administered orally twice daily for 2 weeks, repeated every 3 weeks.

Association of antithyroglobulin antibodies with the development of thyroid dysfunction induced by nivolumab.

Thyroid dysfunction (TD) induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors is not sufficiently understood. The purpose of this retrospective observational study was to identify risk factors and the clinical course of TD induced by nivolumab. Patients with advanced solid tumors who were treated with nivolumab from March 2009 through to March 2016 at the National Cancer Center Hospital (Tokyo, Japan) were included.

Immune checkpoint and inflammation as therapeutic targets in pancreatic carcinoma.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) is one of the most deadly malignant neoplasms, and the efficacy of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy is far from satisfactory. Recent research studies have revealed that immunosuppression and inflammation are associated with oncogenesis, as well as tumor development, invasion, and metastasis in PAC. Thus, immunosuppression-related signaling, especially that involving immune checkpoint and inflammation, has emerged as novel treatment targets for PAC.

Rapid improvement of glucagonoma-related necrolytic migratory erythema with octreotide.

Necrolytic migratory erythema (NME) is a classical paraneoplastic symptom observed in patients with pancreatic glucagonoma. We report a 46-year-old Japanese woman with glucagonoma who presented with mucocutaneous manifestations 1 year prior to the diagnosis of the pancreatic neoplasm with multiple liver metastases. She was treated with octreotide long-acting release, a somatostatin analog, which resulted in a dramatic improvement of NME within 2 weeks after the start of treatment.

A case report of epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma with RANBP2-ALK fusion gene treated with the ALK inhibitor, crizotinib.

Epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma is a variant of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor with aggressive clinical course associated with RANBP2-ALK fusion. The present report describes a case of a 22-year-old Japanese man with a pelvic mesenchymal neoplasm. The feature of the neoplasms, including epithelioid morphology, anaplastic lymphoma kinase staining on the nuclear membrane, and results from the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, led to diagnosis of epithelioid inflammatory myofibroblastic sarcoma with RANBP2-ALK fusion.

[Evaluation of recurrence rates on change in hormone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients].

Background: Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)may affect hormone receptor(HR)and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)status in breast cancer patients. However, the correlation between recurrence rates and this status change remains unclear.

Methods: We evaluated 70 consecutive breast cancer patients receiving NAC with anthracyclines and taxanes, with or without trastuzumab, between January 2005 and May 2012.