Lung Cancer Screening Criteria and Cardiopulmonary Comorbidities.

Introduction: Lung cancer screening criteria should select candidates with minimal cardiopulmonary comorbidities who are fit for curative lung cancer resection.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 728 patients with lung cancer for screening eligibility using the U.S.

Brief Report: Safety and Antitumor Activity of Alectinib Plus Atezolizumab From a Phase 1b Study in Advanced -Positive NSCLC.

Introduction: Alectinib is a preferred first-line treatment option for advanced -positive NSCLC. Combination regimens of alectinib with immune checkpoint inhibitors are being evaluated for synergistic effects.

Methods: Adults with treatment-naive, stage IIIB/IV, or recurrent -positive NSCLC were enrolled into a two-stage phase 1b study.

Abnormal lipid metabolism in epidermal Langerhans cells mediates psoriasis-like dermatitis.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease, frequently associated with dyslipidemia. Lipid disturbance in psoriasis affects both circulatory system and cutaneous tissue. Epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) are tissue-resident DCs that maintain skin immune surveillance and mediate various cutaneous disorders, including psoriasis.

ONS Guidelines™ to Support Patient Adherence to Oral Anticancer Medications.

Purpose: This evidence-based guideline intends to support patients, clinicians, and others regarding interventions and processes to support patient adherence to oral anticancer medications (OAMs).

Methodologic Approach: A panel of healthcare professionals and patient representatives developed a clinical practice guideline to support patients taking OAMs. GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) methodology and criteria for trustworthy guidelines were followed.

The 2021 landscape of FDA-approved artificial intelligence/machine learning-enabled medical devices: An analysis of the characteristics and intended use.

Background: Machine learning (ML), a type of artificial intelligence (AI) technology that uses a data-driven approach for pattern recognition, has been shown to be beneficial for many tasks across healthcare. To characterize the commercial availability of AI/ML applications in the clinic, we performed a detailed analysis of AI/ML-enabled medical devices approved/cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by June 2021.

Methods/materials: The publicly available approval letters by the FDA on 343 AI/ML-enabled medical devices compiled by the agency were reviewed.

Phenylboronic ester-modified polymeric nanoparticles for promoting TRP2 peptide antigen delivery in cancer immunotherapy.

The tremendous development of peptide-based cancer vaccine has attracted incremental interest as a powerful approach in cancer management, prevention and treatment. As successful as tumor vaccine has been, major challenges associated with achieving efficient immune response against cancer are (1) drainage to and retention in lymph nodes; (2) uptake by dendritic cells (DCs); (3) activation of DCs. In order to overcome these barriers, here we construct PBE-modified TRP2 nanovaccine, which comprises TRP2 peptide tumor antigen and diblock copolymer PEG-b-PAsp grafted with phenylboronic ester (PBE).

Concordance Between Tissue Detection by Immunohistochemistry and Plasma Detection by Next-Generation Sequencing in the Randomized Phase 3 ALEX Study in Patients With Treatment-Naive Advanced -Positive NSCLC.

Introduction: The Blood First Assay Screening Trial revealed the clinical applicability of blood-based next-generation sequencing to identify patients with -positive NSCLC for alectinib treatment. To understand the relationship between tissue-based versus blood-based testing, we retrospectively investigated concordance between VENTANA ALK (D5F3) CDx immunohistochemistry and the FoundationACT (FACT; Foundation Medicine, Inc.) plasma assay, and compared clinical efficacy between phase 3 ALEX study subpopulations.

Veterans Affairs Radiation Oncology Quality Surveillance Program and American Society for Radiation Oncology Quality Measures Initiative.

Purpose: Ensuring high quality, evidence-based radiation therapy for patients is of the upmost importance. As a part of the largest integrated health system in America, the Department of Veterans Affairs National Radiation Oncology Program (VA-NROP) established a quality surveillance initiative to address the challenge and necessity of providing the highest quality of care for veterans treated for cancer.

Methods And Materials: As part of this initiative, the VA-NROP contracted with the American Society for Radiation Oncology to commission 5 Blue Ribbon Panels for lung, prostate, rectal, breast, and head and neck cancers experts.

Cetuximab and anemia prevention in head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation is associated with increased production of interleukin 6 (IL6), which is intensified by radiotherapy (RT) induced inflammatory response. Elevated IL6 levels intensifies RT-induced anemia by upregulating hepcidin causing functional iron deficiency. Cetuximab, an EGFR inhibitor, has been associated with lower rates of anemia for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Beyond Checkpoint Inhibitors: Enhancing Antitumor Immune Response in Lung Cancer.

The introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors has dramatically changed the treatment landscape and improved survival for many patients with thoracic malignancies. Although some patients may experience prolonged survival benefit with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a majority do not experience disease control or benefit, supporting the need for research and development of improved approaches for facilitating immune recognition. Additionally, many patients will experience toxicity with the current approaches to immunotherapy, supporting the need for developing treatment strategies with less risk of adverse events.

Adagrasib in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Harboring a Mutation.

Background: Adagrasib, a KRAS inhibitor, irreversibly and selectively binds KRAS, locking it in its inactive state. Adagrasib showed clinical activity and had an acceptable adverse-event profile in the phase 1-1b part of the KRYSTAL-1 phase 1-2 study.

Methods: In a registrational phase 2 cohort, we evaluated adagrasib (600 mg orally twice daily) in patients with -mutated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and anti-programmed death 1 or programmed death ligand 1 therapy.

Olutasidenib (FT-2102) in patients with relapsed or refractory IDH1-mutant glioma: A multicenter, open-label, phase Ib/II trial.

Background: Olutasidenib (FT-2102) is a highly potent, orally bioavailable, brain-penetrant and selective inhibitor of mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1). The aim of the study was to determine the safety and clinical activity of olutasidenib in patients with relapsed/refractory gliomas harboring an IDH1R132X mutation.

Methods: This was an open-label, multicenter, nonrandomized, phase Ib/II clinical trial.

Amivantamab compared with real-world therapies in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations who progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy.

Background: In the single-arm CHRYSALIS study, amivantamab showed durable responses and manageable safety in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion mutations (ex20ins) who progressed on prior platinum-based chemotherapy. External controls can provide context for interpreting amivantamab efficacy.

Methods: External controls were selected from three US-based databases (ConcertAI, COTA, and Flatiron).

Longitudinal Remote SBRT/SRS Training in Latin America: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Continuing medical education in stereotactic technology are scarcely accessible in developing countries. We report the results of upscaling a longitudinal telehealth training course on stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), after successfully developing a pilot course in Latin America.

Methods: Longitudinal training on SBRT and SRS was provided to radiation oncology practitioners in Peru and Colombia at no cost.

Improved prediction of radiation pneumonitis by combining biological and radiobiological parameters using a data-driven Bayesian network analysis.

Grade 2 and higher radiation pneumonitis (RP2) is a potentially fatal toxicity that limits efficacy of radiation therapy (RT). We wished to identify a combined biomarker signature of circulating miRNAs and cytokines which, along with radiobiological and clinical parameters, may better predict a targetable RP2 pathway. In a prospective clinical trial of response-adapted RT for patients (n = 39) with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, we analyzed patients' plasma, collected pre- and during RT, for microRNAs (miRNAs) and cytokines using array and multiplex enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively.

Retreatment of Recurrent or Second Primary Head and Neck Cancer After Prior Radiation: Executive Summary of the American Radium Society Appropriate Use Criteria.

Retreatment of recurrent or second primary head and neck cancers occurring in a previously irradiated field is complex. Few guidelines exist to support practice. We performed an updated literature search of peer-reviewed journals in a systematic fashion.

Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Outcomes Among Black and White Patients With Cancer.

Importance: Non-Hispanic Black individuals experience a higher burden of COVID-19 than the general population; hence, there is an urgent need to characterize the unique clinical course and outcomes of COVID-19 in Black patients with cancer.

Objective: To investigate racial disparities in severity of COVID-19 presentation, clinical complications, and outcomes between Black patients and non-Hispanic White patients with cancer and COVID-19.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study used data from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium registry from March 17, 2020, to November 18, 2020, to examine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in Black patients with cancer.

Divergent Metabolic Effects of Metformin Merge to Enhance Eicosapentaenoic Acid Metabolism and Inhibit Ovarian Cancer In Vivo.

Metformin is being actively repurposed for the treatment of gynecologic malignancies including ovarian cancer. We investigated if metformin induces analogous metabolic changes across ovarian cancer cells. Functional metabolic analysis showed metformin caused an immediate and sustained decrease in oxygen consumption while increasing glycolysis across A2780, C200, and SKOV3ip cell lines.

Pembrolizumab in Combination with Chemotherapy in Patients with ERBB2-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Background: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ERBB2) mutation is a known oncogenic driver mutation in a small proportion of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). Many targeted therapies are being developed and investigated for the treatment of ERBB2-mutated NSCLC, however none of these agents have yet been approved as a front-line treatment. Thus, platinum-based chemotherapy with or without immunotherapy remains the preferred first-line therapy for ERBB2-mutated NSCLC.

Predictors of Toxicity Among Older Adults with Cancer.

An increasing number of cancer patients are of advanced age as the incidence of cancer increases with age. In this article, the clinical predictors of toxicity that may help in treatment selection are addressed, as well as mitigators of toxicity. The potential of artificial intelligence to enable further progress in the understanding of the interaction of age and tolerance to radiation is reviewed.

The Biological Process of Aging and the Impact of Ionizing Radiation.

Ionizing radiation is used to create models of accelerated aging because the processes of aging and radiation injury share common elements. In this chapter we review the biological processes of aging and the similarities and impact of ionizing radiation on those processes. The information draws on data from laboratory studies and from epidemiology studies of radiation exposure victims.

Circulating Cell-free DNA as a Prognostic Biomarker in Patients with Advanced ALK+ Non-small Cell Lung Cancer in the Global Phase III ALEX Trial.

Purpose: We retrospectively assessed prognostic value of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) using data from the phase III ALEX study in treatment-naïve, advanced ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Patients And Methods: Patients were randomized to receive twice-daily alectinib 600 mg (n = 152) or crizotinib 250 mg (n = 151). cfDNA was quantified from baseline plasma samples, with patients stratified into ≤median and >median cfDNA biomarker-evaluable populations (BEP).