Effect of risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy on sex steroid hormone serum levels among postmenopausal women: an NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group study.

Background: Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy is an effective ovarian cancer risk reduction strategy. However, bilateral oophorectomy has also been associated with increased long-term nonneoplastic sequelae, effects suggested to be mediated through reductions in systemic sex steroid hormone levels. Currently, it is unclear whether the postmenopausal ovary contributes to the systemic hormonal milieu or whether postmenopausal ovarian volume or other factors, such as body mass index and age, affect systemic hormone levels.

Randomized phase II trial of autologous dendritic cell vaccines versus autologous tumor cell vaccines in metastatic melanoma: 5-year follow up and additional analyses.

Background: Despite improved survival following checkpoint inhibitors, there is still a potential role for anti-cancer therapeutic vaccines. Because of biological heterogeneity and neoantigens resulting from each patient's mutanome, autologous tumor may be the best source of tumor-associated antigens (TAA) for vaccines. Ex vivo loading of autologous dendritic cells with TAA may be associated with superior clinical outcome compared to injecting irradiated autologous tumor cells.

Dendritic Versus Tumor Cell Presentation of Autologous Tumor Antigens for Active Specific Immunotherapy in Metastatic Melanoma: Impact on Long-Term Survival by Extent of Disease at the Time of Treatment.

In patients with metastatic melanoma, sequential single-arm and randomized phase II trials with a therapeutic vaccine consisting of autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded with antigens from self-renewing, proliferating, irradiated autologous tumor cells (DC-TC) showed superior survival compared with similar patients immunized with irradiated tumor cells (TC). We wished to determine whether this difference was evident in cohorts who at the time of treatment had (1) no evidence of disease (NED) or (2) had detectable disease. Eligibility criteria and treatment schedules were the same for all three trials.

Prognostic significance of microscopic tumor burden in sentinel lymph node in patients with cutaneous melanoma.

Background/aim: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy provides useful prognostic information for patients with melanoma. The present study sought to determine the prognostic value of SLN tumor burden on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). We also assessed its association with non-sentinel lympth node (NSLN) involvement.

Tumor stem cell antigens as consolidative active specific immunotherapy: a randomized phase II trial of dendritic cells versus tumor cells in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Only 10% of metastatic melanoma patients survive 5 years, even though many can achieve substantial tumor reduction by surgical resection and/or radiation therapy and/or systemic therapy. An effective, nontoxic, consolidation immunotherapy could benefit such patients. We initiated a randomized trial to compare 2 promising patient-specific immunotherapy cell products.

A randomized phase 2 study of temozolomide and bevacizumab or nab-paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab in patients with unresectable stage IV melanoma : a North Central Cancer Treatment Group study, N0775.

Background: Increasing evidence shows chemotherapy in combination with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibition is a clinically active therapy for patients with metastatic melanoma (MM).

Methods: A phase 2 trial was conducted in chemotherapy-naive patients with unresectable stage IV MM who were randomized to temozolomide (200 mg/m(2) on days 1 through 5) and bevacizumab (10 mg/kg intravenously on days 1 and 15) every 28 days (Regimen TB) or nab-paclitaxel (100 mg/m(2) , or 80 mg/m(2) post-addendum 5 secondary to toxicity, on days 1, 8, and 15), bevacizumab (10 mg/kg on days 1 and 15), and carboplatin (area under the curve [AUC] 6 on day 1, or AUC 5 post-addendum 5) every 28 days (Regimen ABC). Accrual goal was 41 patients per regimen.

Serial monitoring of circulating tumor cells predicts outcome of induction biochemotherapy plus maintenance biotherapy for metastatic melanoma.

Purpose: Molecular biomarkers in blood are promising for assessment of tumor progression and treatment response. We hypothesized that serial monitoring of circulating tumor cells (CTC) with the use of multimarker quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR assays could be a surrogate predictor of outcome for melanoma patients enrolled in a multicenter phase II clinical trial of biochemotherapy (BCT) combined with maintenance biotherapy (mBT).

Experimental Design: Blood specimens were collected from 87 patients before and during induction BCT and mBT for stage IV melanoma.

Phase II multicenter study of neoadjuvant biochemotherapy for patients with stage III malignant melanoma.

Purpose: To determine the relapse-free survival, overall survival, and response rate of patients with stage III melanoma treated with neoadjuvant biochemotherapy in a multicenter setting.

Patients And Methods: Patients with pathologically proven stage III melanoma, either via clinical detection or sentinel lymph node positivity, were eligible for enrollment. Patients received two cycles of preoperative biochemotherapy followed by complete regional lymphadenectomy and two postoperative courses of biochemotherapy.

Microphthalmia transcription factor as a molecular marker for circulating tumor cell detection in blood of melanoma patients.

Purpose: Microphthalmia transcription factor (Mitf), which is important in melanocyte development and melanoma growth, was assessed using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assay to investigate its expression as a marker for circulating melanoma cells in blood and determine the correlation with disease stage and survival in melanoma patients.

Experimental Design: In optimization studies for Mitf, we tested 15 melanoma cell lines, 41 peripheral blood lymphocytes from healthy volunteers, and 21 metastatic melanoma tissues. Blood specimens were procured from 90 patients with stage I (n = 20), stage II (n = 20), stage III (n = 28), and stage IV (n = 22) melanoma.

Serial monitoring of circulating melanoma cells during neoadjuvant biochemotherapy for stage III melanoma: outcome prediction in a multicenter trial.

Purpose: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in blood may be important in assessing tumor progression and treatment response. We hypothesized that quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction using multimarker mRNA assays could detect CTCs and be used as a surrogate predictor of outcome in patients receiving neoadjuvant biochemotherapy (BC) for melanoma.

Patients And Methods: Blood specimens were collected at four sampling points from 63 patients enrolled on a prospective multicenter phase II trial of BC before and after surgical treatment of American Joint Committee on Cancer stage III melanoma.