Liver-directed treatment is associated with improved survival and increased response to immune checkpoint blockade in metastatic uveal melanoma: results from a retrospective multicenter trial / 医学前沿

Metastases of uveal melanoma (UM) spread predominantly to the liver. Due to low response rates to systemic therapies, liver-directed therapies (LDT) are commonly used for tumor control. The impact of LDT on the response to systemic treatment is unknown. A total of 182 patients with metastatic UM treated with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) were included in this analysis. Patients were recruited from prospective skin cancer centers and the German national skin cancer registry (ADOReg) of the German Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG). Two cohorts were compared: patients with LDT (cohort A, n = 78) versus those without LDT (cohort B, n = 104). Data were analyzed for response to treatment, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). The median OS was significantly longer in cohort A than in cohort B (20.1 vs. 13.8 months; P = 0.0016) and a trend towards improved PFS was observed for cohort A (3.0 vs. 2.5 months; P = 0.054). The objective response rate to any ICB (16.7% vs. 3.8%, P = 0.0073) and combined ICB (14.1% vs. 4.5%, P = 0.017) was more favorable in cohort A. Our data suggest that the combination of LDT with ICB may be associated with a survival benefit and higher treatment response to ICB in patients with metastatic UM.

Research progress on combined treatment of radiotherapy and anti-CTLA-4 antibody / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the three prevailing therapeutics for tumors. With rapid development of immunotherapy (IM), the combination of IM and RT has gainned increasingly widespread attention. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated protein-4(CTLA-4) inhibitor is an important checkpoint target in immune activation and regulation, which exerts significant anti-tumor effects in melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer, etc. Accordingly, the combination of RT and anti-CTLA-4 antibody has become a hot spot. This article reviews research progress on pre-clinical and clinical evidences of RT combined with anti-CTLA-4 antibody, which provides evidence for further exploration in this field.

Comprehensive Characterization of Anti-CTLA4 Monoclonal Antibody by Liquid Chromatography High Resolution Mass Spectrometry / 中国药学杂志

OBJECTIVE: To establish a mass spectrometry method for the qualitative analysis of anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody and its N-linked glycosylation. METHODS The anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody was characterized by liquid-mass technique from the aspects of intact molecular weight, subunit molecular weight, amino acid sequence coverage, disulfide bond, N-linked glycosylation site and glycoform. RESULTS: The molecular weight of anti-CTLA4 mAb (A2G0F/A2G0F) is 147 992; the deglycosylation molecular weight of anti-CTLA4 mAb is 145 103; the molecular weight of light chain is 23 450; the molecular weight of heavy chain (A2G0F) is 50 548; the heavy chain Fd segment has a molecular weight of 25 355 and the heavy chain sFc segment (A2G0F,1xK_Loss) has a molecular weight of 25 189. Peptide mapping was performed with Trypsin & Chymotrypsin, and the coverage of the amino acid sequence was 100%. The peptide containing the N-linked glycosylations site is EEQYNSTYR, and the N-glycosylation site is located at Asn298 of the heavy chains. Thirteen glycoform were characterized including A2G0F(59.8%), A2G1Fa(18.66%), A2G1Fb(7.28%), A2G2F(3.2%), M5(1.66%), A2S1G0F(1.17%), A1G0F (1.16%), A3G1F(0.95%), A2G0(0.94%), A2S2F(0.78%), A2S1G1F(0.67%), A3G0F(0.53%)and A1G1F(0.51%). CONCLUSION: A method for qualitative and quantitative analysis of monoclonal antibody is established.

Treatment of advanced melanoma - A changing landscape / Tratamento de melanoma avançado - Um panorama em transformação

Summary Following decades of relative ostracism, advances in the treatment of melanoma have brought a new reality for patients, physicians and researchers. While antibodies targeting molecules involved in the modulation of the interaction between melanoma and immune cells changed the meaning of the term "cancer immunotherapy," a better characterization of the molecular aberrations involved in melanoma carcinogenesis prompted the development of inhibitors of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (MAPK) that also led to significant improvements both in response rates and survival. As a result, new drugs have been approved for clinical use in the United States and Europe, including the immune-checkpoint blockers ipilmumab, pembrolizumab and nivolumab, the oncolytic herpesvirus talimogene laherparepvec, and the targeted-agents vemurafenib, dabrafenib, cobimetinib and trametinib. In this article, we review the results of studies that brought new approaches to the bedside and discuss how these developments are being incorporated into the care of patients in Brazil.

Resumo Após décadas de ostracismo, os recentes avanços no tratamento do melanoma trouxeram uma nova realidade para pacientes, médicos e pesquisadores. Enquanto anticorpos monoclonais voltados a moléculas envolvidas na modulação da interação entre células do melanoma e do sistema imune consolidaram o uso da "imunoterapia", um melhor conhecimento acerca das aberrações genômicas envolvidas na carcinogênese do melanoma viabilizaram o desenvolvimento de inibidores da via mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (MAPK), o que também resultou em ganhos significativos em taxas de resposta e sobrevida. Consequentemente, novas modalidades de tratamento foram aprovadas para uso clínico nos Estados Unidos e na Europa, incluindo os bloqueadores de correceptores imunes ipilimumabe, nivolumabe e pembrolizumabe, o herpesvírus oncolítico talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), e os agentes-alvo vemurafenibe, dabrafenibe, cobimetinibe e trametinibe. Nesse artigo, revisamos os resultados que trouxeram novas alternativas para a prática clínica e discutimos a incorporação desses avanços ao cuidado de pacientes no Brasil.

Effect and mechanism of combined therapy using anti-CTLA-4 antibody and doxorubicin on mice bearing breast cancer / 重庆医学

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of combined therapy using anti-CTLA-4 antibody and doxoru-bicin on mice bearing breast cancer.Methods Balb/c mice inoculated with 4T-1 mouse breast cancer cell were used as tumor mod-els,which were randomly divided into blank group,solvent control group,anti-CTLA-4 antibody only group,doxorubicin only group and combined therapy group.Tumor growth of mice was observed.The ratio of spleen and bone marrow cell subgroup were evaluated.Tumor microenvironment apoptosis and microvessel density (MVD)were evaluated.Results The tumor volume of an-ti-CTLA-4 antibody only group,doxorubicin only group and combined therapy group were lower than those in the rest groups(P <0.05).The tumor volume and mass of combined therapy group was significantly higher than those of anti-CTLA-4 antibody only group,doxorubicin only group (P <0.05).Compared with blank group,solvent control group,CD8 + Tand CD4 + T ratio in anti-CTLA-4 antibody only group,doxorubicin only group,combined therapy group increased with significant difference (P <0.05). The positive cell apoptosis rate of combined therapy group was significantly higher than those of other groups(P < 0.05 ).The MVD of combined therapy group was significantly lower than those of other groups(P <0.05).The positive cell apoptosis rate and MVD of anti-CTLA-4 antibody only group,doxorubicin only group were better than those of blank group,solvent control group. Conclusion Combined therapy using anti-CTLA-4 antibody and doxorubicin could improve the immune,significantly inhibit the growth of tumor,promote cancer cell apoptosis and decrease MVD.

Current Trends in Glioblastoma Multiforme Treatment: Radiation Therapy and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common primary brain cancer. Even with aggressive combination therapy, the median life expectancy for patients with GBM remains approximately 14 months. In order to improve the outcomes of patients with GBM, the development of newer treatments is critical. The concept of using the immune system as a therapeutic option has been suggested for several decades; by harnessing the body's adaptive immune mechanisms, immunotherapy could provide a durable and targeted treatment against cancer. However, many cancers, including GBM, have developed mechanisms that protect tumor cells from being recognized and eliminated by the immune system. For new immunotherapeutic regimens to be successful, overcoming immunosuppression via immune checkpoint signaling should be taken into consideration.