This open access book reflects on matters of social and ethical concern raised in the daily practices of those working in and around precision oncology. Each chapter addresses the experiences, ...concerns and issues at stake for people who work in settings where precision oncology is practiced, enacted, imagined or discussed. It subsequently discusses and analyses bioethical dilemmas, scientific challenges and economic trade-offs, the need for new policies, further technological innovation, social work, as well as phenomenological research. This volume takes a broad actor-centred perspective as, whenever cancer is present, the range of actors with issues at stake appears almost unlimited. This perspective and approach opens up the possibility for further in-depth and diverse questions, posed by the actors themselves, such as: How are cancer researchers navigating biological uncertainties? How do clinicians and policy-makers address ethical dilemmas around prioritisation of care? What are the patients’ experiences with, and hopes for, precision oncology? How do policy-makers and entrepreneurs envisage precision oncology? These questions are of great interest to a broad audience, including cancer researchers, oncologists, policy-makers, medical ethicists and philosophers, social scientists, patients and health economists.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), a stromal cell population with cell-of-origin, phenotypic and functional heterogeneity, are the most essential components of the tumor microenvironment (TME). ...Through multiple pathways, activated CAFs can promote tumor growth, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis, along with extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and even chemoresistance. Numerous previous studies have confirmed the critical role of the interaction between CAFs and tumor cells in tumorigenesis and development. However, recently, the mutual effects of CAFs and the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) have been identified as another key factor in promoting tumor progression. The TIME mainly consists of distinct immune cell populations in tumor islets and is highly associated with the antitumor immunological state in the TME. CAFs interact with tumor-infiltrating immune cells as well as other immune components within the TIME via the secretion of various cytokines, growth factors, chemokines, exosomes and other effector molecules, consequently shaping an immunosuppressive TME that enables cancer cells to evade surveillance of the immune system. In-depth studies of CAFs and immune microenvironment interactions, particularly the complicated mechanisms connecting CAFs with immune cells, might provide novel strategies for subsequent targeted immunotherapies. Herein, we shed light on recent advances regarding the direct and indirect crosstalk between CAFs and infiltrating immune cells and further summarize the possible immunoinhibitory mechanisms induced by CAFs in the TME. In addition, we present current related CAF-targeting immunotherapies and briefly describe some future perspectives on CAF research in the end.
Gastric cancer (GC) represents the fifth most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide, with a poor prognosis in patients with advanced disease despite many improvements in systemic treatments in the ...last decade. In fact, GC has shown resistance to several treatment options, and thus, notable efforts have been focused on the research and identification of novel therapeutic targets in this setting. The tumor microenvironment (TME) has emerged as a potential therapeutic target in several malignancies including GC, due to its pivotal role in cancer progression and drug resistance. Therefore, several agents and therapeutic strategies targeting the TME are currently under assessment in both preclinical and clinical studies. The present study provides an overview of available evidence of the inflammatory TME in GC, highlighting different types of tumor-associated cells and implications for future therapeutic strategies.
Genomics is majorly impacting therapeutics development in medicine. This book contains up-to-date information on the use of genomics in the design and analysis of therapeutic clinical trials with a ...focus on novel approaches that provide a reliable basis for identifying which patients are most likely to benefit from each treatment. It is oriented to both clinical investigators and statisticians. For clinical investigators, it includes background information on clinical trial design and statistical analysis. For statisticians and others who want to go deeper, it covers state-of-the-art adaptive designs and the development and validation of probabilistic classifiers. The author describes the development and validation of prognostic and predictive biomarkers and their integration into clinical trials that establish their clinical utility for informing treatment decisions for future patients.
To explore whether a cross-talk exists between PARP inhibition and PD-L1/PD-1 immune checkpoint axis, and determine whether blockade of PD-L1/PD-1 potentiates PARP inhibitor (PARPi) in tumor ...suppression.
Breast cancer cell lines, xenograft tumors, and syngeneic tumors treated with PARPi were assessed for PD-L1 expression by immunoblotting, IHC, and FACS analyses. The phospho-kinase antibody array screen was used to explore the underlying mechanism of PARPi-induced PD-L1 upregulation. The therapeutic efficacy of PARPi alone, PD-L1 blockade alone, or their combination was tested in a syngeneic tumor model. The tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor cells isolated from syngeneic tumors were analyzed by CyTOF and FACS to evaluate the activity of antitumor immunity in the tumor microenvironment.
PARPi upregulated PD-L1 expression in breast cancer cell lines and animal models. Mechanistically, PARPi inactivated GSK3β, which in turn enhanced PARPi-mediated PD-L1 upregulation. PARPi attenuated anticancer immunity via upregulation of PD-L1, and blockade of PD-L1 resensitized PARPi-treated cancer cells to T-cell killing. The combination of PARPi and anti-PD-L1 therapy compared with each agent alone significantly increased the therapeutic efficacy
Our study demonstrates a cross-talk between PARPi and tumor-associated immunosuppression and provides evidence to support the combination of PARPi and PD-L1 or PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade as a potential therapeutic approach to treat breast cancer.
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We have come a long way in our understanding and treatment of neuroendocrine tumors since the term "karzinoide" was coined in 1907. Neuroendocrine tumors are a group of biologically and clinically ...heterogeneous neoplasms that most commonly originate in the lungs, GI tract, and pancreas. The selection of initial and subsequent therapies requires careful consideration of both tumor and treatment characteristics. With recent advances, we now have more tools for the diagnosis and treatment of our patients. This comprehensive review article summarizes recent advances in the field of neuroendocrine tumors and places them into context for best management practices.
TNF, an inflammatory cytokine that is enriched in the tumor microenvironment, promotes tumor growth and subverts innate immune responses to cancer cells. We previously reported that tumors implanted ...in TNF receptor-deficient (Tnfr-/-) mice are spontaneously rejected; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying this rejection are unclear. Here we report that TNF signaling drives the peripheral accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs expand extensively during inflammation and tumor progression in mice and humans and can enhance tumor growth by repressing T cell-mediated antitumor responses. Peripheral accumulation of MDSCs was drastically impaired in Tnfr-/- mice. Signaling of TNFR-2, but not TNFR-1, promoted MDSC survival through upregulation of cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) and inhibition of caspase-8 activity. Loss of TNFRs impaired the induction of MDSCs from bone marrow cells, but this could be reversed by treatment with caspase inhibitors. These results demonstrate that TNFR-2 signaling promotes MDSC survival and accumulation and helps tumor cells evade the immune system.
How tumor cells genetically lose antigenicity and evade immune checkpoints remains largely elusive. We report that tissue-specific expression of the human long noncoding RNA LINK-A in mouse mammary ...glands initiates metastatic mammary gland tumors, which phenotypically resemble human triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). LINK-A expression facilitated crosstalk between phosphatidylinositol-(3,4,5)-trisphosphate and inhibitory G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) pathways, attenuating protein kinase A-mediated phosphorylation of the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM71. Consequently, LINK-A expression enhanced K48-polyubiquitination-mediated degradation of the antigen peptide-loading complex (PLC) and intrinsic tumor suppressors Rb and p53. Treatment with LINK-A locked nucleic acids or GPCR antagonists stabilized the PLC components, Rb and p53, and sensitized mammary gland tumors to immune checkpoint blockers. Patients with programmed ccll death protein-1(PD-1) blockade-resistant TNBC exhibited elevated LINK-A levels and downregulated PLC components. Hence we demonstrate lncRNA-dependent downregulation of antigenicity and intrinsic tumor suppression, which provides the basis for developing combinational immunotherapy treatment regimens and early TNBC prevention.
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a powerful tool for the molecular characterization of cancer. The most frequent pediatric kidney tumors (KT) are Wilms’ tumors (WT), but other diagnoses may occur. ...According to the SIOP strategy, in most countries pediatric KT have a presumptive diagnosis of WT if they are clinically and radiologically compatible. The histologic confirmation is established after post‐chemotherapy nephrectomy. Thus, there is a risk for a small fraction of patients to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy that is not adapted to the disease. The aim of this work is to perform molecular diagnosis of pediatric KT by tumor genetic characterization based on the analysis of ctDNA. We analyzed ctDNA extracted from plasma samples of 18 pediatric patients with KT by whole‐exome sequencing and compared the results to their matched tumor and germline DNA. Copy number alterations (CNAs) and single nucleotide variations (SNVs) were analyzed. We were able to detect tumor cell specific genetic alterations—CNAs, SNVs or both—in ctDNA in all patients except in one (for whom the plasma sample was obtained long after nephrectomy). These results open the door to new applications for the study of ctDNA with regards to the molecular diagnosis of KT, with a possibility of its usefulness for adapting the treatment early after diagnosis, but also for disease monitoring and follow up.
What's new?
The analysis of cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) in pediatric patients with kidney tumors is of interest for the molecular diagnosis and early identification of aggressive disease subtypes. In this study, significant amounts of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) were successfully isolated from pediatric patients with malignant kidney tumors. Accurate copy number profile and mutation calling to identify specific tumor cell genetic alterations was performed with whole‐exome sequencing using only low volumes of blood (≥100 μL) and low amounts of cfDNA (≥4 ng). The findings suggest that ctDNA analysis can facilitate the molecular diagnosis of specific subtypes of pediatric kidney tumors, potentially enabling earlier treatment.
The anatomic location and immunologic characteristics of brain tumors result in strong lymphocyte suppression. Consequently, conventional immunotherapies targeting CD8 T cells are ineffective against ...brain tumors. Tumor cells escape immunosurveillance by various mechanisms and tumor cell metabolism can affect the metabolic states and functions of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Here, we discovered that brain tumor cells had a particularly high demand for oxygen, which affected γδ T cell-mediated antitumor immune responses but not those of conventional T cells. Specifically, tumor hypoxia activated the γδ T cell protein kinase A pathway at a transcriptional level, resulting in repression of the activatory receptor NKG2D. Alleviating tumor hypoxia reinvigorated NKG2D expression and the antitumor function of γδ T cells. These results reveal a hypoxia-mediated mechanism through which brain tumors and γδ T cells interact and emphasize the importance of γδ T cells for antitumor immunity against brain tumors.
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