Publications by authors named "Soichi Hirai"

Purpose: Rearranged during transfection (RET) aberrations represent a targetable oncogene in several tumor types, with RET inhibitors displaying marked efficacy. However, some patients with RET-aberrant cancer are insensitive to RET tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Recently, drug-tolerant mechanisms have attracted attention as targets for initial therapies to overcome drug resistance.

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Sarcopenia assessed at a single time point is associated with the efficacy of immunotherapy, and we hypothesized that longitudinal changes in muscle mass may also be important. This retrospective study included patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received durvalumab treatment after concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) between January 2017 and April 2023. Muscle loss and sarcopenia were assessed based on the lumbar skeletal muscle area.

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We previously reported that combined therapy with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) osimertinib and AXL inhibitor ONO-7475 is effective in preventing the survival of drug-tolerant cells in high-AXL-expressing EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Nevertheless, certain residual cells are anticipated to eventually develop acquired resistance to this combination therapy. In this study, we attempted to establish a multidrug combination therapy from the first-line setting to overcome resistance to this combination therapy in high-AXL-expressing EGFR-mutated NSCLC.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lazertinib is a new drug effective for treating EGFR-mutant lung cancer, but resistance to it often develops, leading researchers to seek new treatment combinations.
  • The study found that targeting AXL can reduce lung cancer cell survival when combined with lazertinib, as AXL activation plays a role in resistance to the drug.
  • Further, using a triple therapy approach that includes AXL inhibitors and MCL-1 or YAP inhibitors alongside lazertinib significantly decreases cell viability and boosts cell death, showing promise in overcoming lazertinib resistance.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined the safety of re-administering EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients who had experienced pneumonitis from osimertinib, particularly focusing on the risk of recurrent pneumonitis.
  • - Out of 124 patients treated, 54.8% underwent EGFR-TKI rechallenge, with a 27% recurrence rate of pneumonitis within 12 months, showing that patients on osimertinib had a significantly higher risk of recurrence compared to those on older EGFR-TKIs.
  • - Findings indicate that osimertinib leads to higher rates of recurrent pneumonitis upon rechallenge compared to traditional EGFR-TKIs, suggesting more caution is
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Recently, novel Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) inhibitors have been clinically developed to treat KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, achieving complete tumor remission is challenging. Therefore, the optimal combined therapeutic intervention with KRAS G12C inhibitors has a potentially crucial role in the clinical outcomes of patients.

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Few treatment options exist for pleural mesothelioma (PM), which is a progressive malignant tumor. However, the efficacy of molecular-targeted monotherapy is limited, and further therapeutic strategies are warranted to treat PM. Recently, the cancer cell-cycle checkpoint inhibitors have attracted attention because they disrupt cell-cycle regulation.

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Background: Lung cancer patients face a high risk of thromboembolism (TE), which is considered to be a poor prognostic factor. However, the impact of symptomatic cerebral infarction (CI) and pulmonary embolism (PE) on the prognosis of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is not fully understood.

Methods: We retrospectively identified 46 patients with advanced NSCLC who developed symptomatic CI or PE at five hospitals in Japan between January 2010 and December 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors like lorlatinib often don't completely eliminate cancer cells in advanced ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) due to a subset of tumor cells developing adaptive resistance.
  • The study identified that the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling contributes to this resistance, triggered by a specific growth factor via c-Jun activation.
  • Combining EGFR inhibitors with lorlatinib significantly reduces tumor regrowth in lab models, suggesting potential new treatment strategies for patients with ALK-rearranged lung cancer.
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Introduction: Patients with cancer have been prioritized for vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Nevertheless, there are limited data regarding the safety, efficacy, and risk of developing immune-related adverse events (irAEs) associated with mRNA vaccines in patients with lung cancer, especially those being actively treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Methods: This multicenter observational study was conducted at nine hospitals in Japan.

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Cancer immunotherapy, including atezolizumab monotherapy, is a promising alternative strategy for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several inflammatory indices have been reported as potential biomarkers regarding the effectiveness of various treatments. This study aimed to analyze the efficacy of atezolizumab monotherapy using baseline inflammatory markers in NSCLC patients.

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Secondary sarcopenia is defined as a decrease in muscle mass due to disease or malnutrition. Several studies have reported that secondary sarcopenia is an indicator of postoperative recurrence. We hypothesized that there is a correlation between the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and sarcopenia.

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Background: Treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) leads to initial response in most patients with EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In contrast, little is known of the subpopulation of patients with NSCLC with EGFR mutations who exhibit clinical outcomes that require treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Therefore, to identify eligible cases to treat with ICIs, we retrospectively analyzed the correlation between clinical features and the efficacy of ICIs in patients with EGFR mutations.

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NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations respond to EGFR-TKIs; however, the management of refractory tumors to EGFR-TKIs remains unclear. We demonstrated that repeated genetic testing might be useful for detecting resistance mechanisms as well as for decision-making in EGFR mutated NSCLC patients, following the emergence of resistance to the initial EGFR-TKIs. A 69-year-old man was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma with an EGFR exon 19 deletion.

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Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma (PPC) is a rare disease with a poor prognosis. Most patients with PPC are refractory to chemotherapy, whereas good responses to platinum-based chemotherapy in combination with the anti-angiogenesis agent bevacizumab have been reported. An 82-year-old man was diagnosed with PPC with a clinical stage of T3N0M0, coincident with primary lung adenocarcinoma in an early stage.

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