Respiratory Viruses in Patients With Hematological Malignancy in Boreal Autumn/Winter 2023-2024: EPICOVIDEHA-EPIFLUEHA Report.

Community-acquired respiratory viral infections (CARV) significantly impact patients with hematological malignancies (HM), leading to high morbidity and mortality. However, large-scale, real-world data on CARV in these patients is limited. This study analyzed data from the EPICOVIDEHA-EPIFLUEHA registry, focusing on patients with HM diagnosed with CARV during the 2023-2024 autumn-winter season.

Longitudinal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Survivors of Testicular Germ Cell Tumor.

Background And Objective: Survivors of testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) may experience long-term cognitive changes. The aim of our prospective study was to longitudinally assess cognitive function among TGCT survivors to identify potential lasting cognitive changes over a period of 5 yr.

Methods: TGCT survivors (n = 151) completed Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function (FACT-Cog) questionnaires annually, with median time to first follow-up visit (FUV) of 8 (range 4-24) yr since completion of treatment.

Targeting the gut and tumor microbiome in cancer treatment resistance.

Therapy resistance represents a significant challenge in oncology, occurring in various therapeutic approaches. Recently, animal models and an increasing set of clinical trials highlight the crucial impact of the gut and tumor microbiome on treatment response. The intestinal microbiome contributes to cancer initiation, progression, and formation of distant metastasis.

Several factors that predict the outcome of large B-cell lymphoma patients who relapse/progress after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy can be identified before cell administration.

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse the outcomes of patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) treated with chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-Tx), with a focus on outcomes after CAR T-cell failure, and to define the risk factors for rapid progression and further treatment.

Methods: We analysed 107 patients with LBCL from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who were treated in ≥3rd-line with tisagenlecleucel or axicabtagene ciloleucel between 2019 and 2022.

Results: The overall response rate (ORR) was 60%, with a 50% complete response (CR) rate.

The beneficial effect of probiotics in the prevention of irinotecan-induced diarrhea in colorectal cancer patients with colostomy: a pooled analysis of two probiotic trials (Probio-SK-003 and Probio-SK-005) led by Slovak Cooperative Oncology Group.

Background: Probiotics could decrease irinotecan-induced diarrhea due to the reduction of intestinal beta-d-glucuronidase activity. This study included a combined analysis of two clinical trials aimed to determine the effectiveness of the probiotics in the prophylaxis of irinotecan-induced diarrhea in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.

Methods: This combined analysis included 46 patients with CRC enrolled in the Probio-SK-003 (NCT01410955) and 233 patients from Probio-SK-005 (NCT02819960) starting a new line of irinotecan-based therapy with identical eligibility criteria.

ASP210: a potent oligonucleotide-based inhibitor effective against TKI-resistant CML cells.

Clinical experience with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) over the past two decades has shown that, despite the apparent therapeutic benefit, nearly 30% of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) display primary resistance or intolerance to TKIs, and approximately 25% of those treated are forced to switch TKIs at least once during therapy due to acquired resistance. Safe and effective treatment modalities targeting leukemic clones that escape TKI therapy could hence be game changers in the professional management of these patients. Here, we aimed to investigate the efficacy of a novel therapeutic oligonucleotide of unconventional design, called ASP210, to reduce mRNA levels in TKI-resistant CML cells, with the assumption of inducing their apoptosis.

Impact of teratoma on survival probabilities of patients with metastatic non-seminomatous germ cell cancer: Results from the IGCCCG Update Consortium.

Aims: To resolve the ongoing controversy surrounding the impact of teratoma (TER) in the primary among patients with metastatic testicular non-seminomatous germ-cell tumours (NSGCT).

Patients And Methods: Using the International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) Update Consortium database, we compared the survival probabilities of patients with metastatic testicular GCT with TER (TER) or without TER (NTER) in their primaries corrected for known prognostic factors. Progression-free survival (5y-PFS) and overall survival at 5 years (5y-OS) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method.

The Emergence of the Old Drug Captagon as a New Illicit Drug: A Narrative Review.

First developed in the 1960s in Europe and approved briefly for use in the United States, fenethylline (sold as Captagon, one of its early trade names) is now a prominent drug of abuse in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The drug was withdrawn from the United States market because of side effects that included hallucinations, visual distortions, and psychosis; it has also been linked to rare cases of myocardial infarction, seizures, and delusions. The chemical synthesis of fenethylline is straightforward and inexpensive.

DNA damage levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells before and after first cycle of chemotherapy have comparable prognostic values in germ cell tumor patients.

Background: Germ cell tumors (GCTs) represent the most frequent solid malignancy in young men. This malignancy is highly curable by cisplatin (CDDP)-based chemotherapy. However, there is a proportion of patients having a poor prognosis due to refractory disease or its relapse.

Microbiome in Cancer Development and Treatment.

Targeting the microbiome, microbiota-derived metabolites, and related pathways represents a significant challenge in oncology. Microbiome analyses have confirmed the negative impact of cancer treatment on gut homeostasis, resulting in acute dysbiosis and severe complications, including massive inflammatory immune response, mucosal barrier disruption, and bacterial translocation across the gut epithelium. Moreover, recent studies revealed the relationship between an imbalance in the gut microbiome and treatment-related toxicity.

Exploring the Role of the Gut and Intratumoral Microbiomes in Tumor Progression and Metastasis.

Cancer cell dissemination involves invasion, migration, resistance to stressors in the circulation, extravasation, colonization, and other functions responsible for macroscopic metastases. By enhancing invasiveness, motility, and intravasation, the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process promotes the generation of circulating tumor cells and their collective migration. Preclinical and clinical studies have documented intensive crosstalk between the gut microbiome, host organism, and immune system.

The third dimension of tumor microenvironment-The importance of tumor stroma in 3D cancer models.

Recent advances in the three-dimensional (3D) cancer models give rise to a plethora of new possibilities in the development of anti-cancer drug therapies and bring us closer to personalized medicine. Three-dimensional models are undoubtedly more authentic than traditional two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures. Nowadays, they are becoming preferentially used in most cancer research fields due to their more accurate biomimetic characteristics.

Modulating the gut microbiota by probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation: An emerging trend in cancer patient care.

Treatment resistance, together with acute and late adverse effects, represents critical issues in the management of cancer patients. Promising results from preclinical and clinical research underline the emerging trend of a microbiome-based approach in oncology. Favorable bacterial species and higher gut diversity are associated with increased treatment efficacy, mainly in chemo- and immunotherapy.

Habitual physical activity modulates cardiometabolic health in long-term testicular cancer survivors.

Purposes: Physical activity (PA) may mitigate late cardiometabolic toxicity of cisplatin-based chemotherapy in testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) long-term survivors. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated the effects of habitual PA on metabolic syndrome (MetS) prevalence, and on the markers of cardiometabolic health and chronic inflammation in a population of long-term TGCT survivors.

Methods: MetS prevalence was evaluated, and habitual PA was assessed using Baecke's habitual PA questionnaire in TGCT survivors (n=195, age=41.

Randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter phase III study of prevention of irinotecan-induced diarrhea by a probiotic mixture containing Bifidobacterium BB-12 LGG in colorectal cancer patients.

Background: The incidence of irinotecan-induced diarrhea varies between 60-90%, by which the incidence of severe diarrhea is 20-40%. The objective of this phase III trial was to determine the effectiveness of the probiotic mixture containing , BB-12 and , LGG in the prophylaxis of irinotecan-induced diarrhea in metastatic colorectal cancer patients due to a reduction in the activity of intestinal beta-D-glucuronidase.

Methods: From March 2016 to May 2022, a total of 242 patients with colorectal cancer starting a new line of irinotecan-based therapy were registered to the study in 11 cancer centers in Slovakia.

Determination of short-chain fatty acids as putative biomarkers of cancer diseases by modern analytical strategies and tools: a review.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are the main metabolites produced by bacterial fermentation of non-digestible carbohydrates in the gastrointestinal tract. They can be seen as the major flow of carbon from the diet, through the microbiome to the host. SCFAs have been reported as important molecules responsible for the regulation of intestinal homeostasis.

Levels of NT‑proBNP in patients with cancer.

At present, it is well known that natriuretic peptides may be produced by cancer cells. Stimulation of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) synthesis may be a reaction to activity of several proinflammatory cytokines. NT-proBNP is also a marker of myocardial damage during cardiotoxic chemotherapy by anthracyclines.

Guideline adherence and survival of patients with candidaemia in Europe: results from the ECMM Candida III multinational European observational cohort study.

Background: The European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) collected data on epidemiology, risk factors, treatment, and outcomes of patients with culture-proven candidaemia across Europe to assess how adherence to guideline recommendations is associated with outcomes.

Methods: In this observational cohort study, 64 participating hospitals located in 20 European countries, with the number of eligible hospitals per country determined by population size, included the first ten consecutive adults with culture-proven candidaemia after July 1, 2018, and entered data into the ECMM Candida Registry (FungiScope CandiReg). We assessed ECMM Quality of Clinical Candidaemia Management (EQUAL Candida) scores reflecting adherence to recommendations of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines.

Prognostic role of plasma vitamin D and its association with disease characteristics in germ cell tumours.

Background: Testicular cancer is the most common malignancy among young men. Vitamin D has pluripotent effects on cancer pathogenesis and plays a role in the metastatic cascade. The aim of this study is to analyze plasma vitamin D in association with clinico-pathological findings and prognosis in patients with germ-cell tumors (GCTs).

Cognitive impairment and biomarkers of gut microbial translocation in testicular germ cell tumor survivors.

Background: Survivors of testicular germ cell tumors (GCT) may suffer from late cognitive impairment. We hypothesized that disruption of intestinal barrier during chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy may be a contributing factor of cognitive dysfunction within the gut-blood-brain axis.

Methods: GCT survivors (N = 142) from National Cancer Institute of Slovakia completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Cognitive Function questionnaires during their annual follow-up visit at 9-year median (range 4-32).