Exploiting autophagy-regulative nanomaterials for activation of dendritic cells enables reinforced cancer immunotherapy.

Dendritic cells (DCs), as the most powerful antigen presenting cells, play a critical role in regulating immune response and anti-tumor process. However, the immunosuppressive cells and factors resided in the tumor microenvironment (TME) pose various challenges that can subvert competent DC function comprising antigen presentation and immune initiation. In this setting, developing potent strategies to improve the function of DCs is critically required for improving the efficacy of tumor immunotherapy.

MMP-responsive transformation nanomaterials with IAP antagonist to boost immune checkpoint therapy.

The clinical effect of immune checkpoint therapy is limited by the poor blocking efficiency of immune checkpoints and the insufficient infiltration of tumor-specific T cells. Here, we constructed enzyme-responsive PVA-peptide conjugates (PPCs) to achieve re-assembly with enhanced accumulation in the tumor region, enable enhanced PD-L1 occupancy and improve the blocking efficiency. The self-assembled PPC-1 nanoparticles can enter tumor environment, whereas the enzyme-cleavable peptide was digested under overgenerated matrix metalloproteinases (MMP).

Hypoxia-modulatory nanomaterials to relieve tumor hypoxic microenvironment and enhance immunotherapy: Where do we stand?

The past several years have witnessed the blooming of emerging immunotherapy, as well as their therapeutic potential in remodeling the immune system. Nevertheless, with the development of biological mechanisms in oncology, it has been demonstrated that hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME) seriously impairs the therapeutic outcomes of immunotherapy. Hypoxia, caused by Warburg effect and insufficient oxygen delivery, has been considered as a primary construction element of TME and drawn tremendous attention in cancer therapy.

Staging laparoscopy improves treatment decision-making for advanced gastric cancer.

Aim: To evaluate the clinical value of staging laparoscopy in treatment decision-making for advanced gastric cancer (GC).

Methods: Clinical data of 582 patients with advanced GC were retrospectively analyzed. All patients underwent staging laparoscopy.

An automatically contamination-avoiding technique for intracorporeal esophagojejunostomy using a transorally inserted anvil during laparoscopic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Background: Intracorporeal Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy during laparoscopic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer remains a challenging manipulation due to the uncontrolled direction of the jejunal side or unintended embedded tissues, although several methods have been introduced. In this study, we simplified the procedure based on a surgical string fixing technique using a transorally inserted anvil (OrVil™; Covidien Ltd., Mansfield, MA, USA).