[Immunotherapy of Bronchogenic Carcinoma and Its Perspectives]. / Imunoterapie u bronchogenního karcinomu a její perspektivy.

Immunotherapy is becoming another possible alternative in the treatment of lung cancer. It is a completely different method of treating cancer which is not directed to the tumor itself, but to the immune system. Surface antigens present on tumor cells may be an effective and specific therapeutic targets and strategies based on antibodies inhibiting immune check-points significantly improves the antitumor immune response. Monoclonal antibody blocking CTLA 4 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen) and PD 1 receptor (protein programmed cell death) and its ligand PD L1 showed clinical efficacy and nivolumab (antiPD 1) was approved in 2nd line treatment squamous nonsmall cell lung cancer.

Electrochemical analysis of a novel ferrocene derivative as a potential antitumor drug.

Ferrocenes represent an interesting group of drugs with potential antitumor properties. Moreover, their electronic properties make them suitable for electrochemical studies. We determined an uptake of a novel ferrocene derivative in low µM concentrations by selected cancer cell lines and showed its localization predominantly in cytoplasm, using glassy carbon electrodes.

[Next generation sequencing -  application in clinical practice]. / Sekvenování nové generace a moznosti jeho vyuzití v onkologické praxi.

Development of new sequencing methods allowed faster and more economical genomic research. With these technologies, it is now possible to determine the complete sequence of human genome in a short time period and at a relatively low cost. Introduction of next generation sequencing methods to cancer research provided a comprehensive molecular characterization of cancers and enabled deeper insights into tumor complexity, heterogeneity and evolution. Next generation technologies have been applied to identify new causal mutations in genes in hereditary cancer syndromes. More than 15 various tumor types have been already sequenced and compared to that of normal cells allowing identification of new cancer driving mutations and genome structural rearrangements. In this review, we describe technical characteristics of main next generation sequencing platforms, briefly overview their pros and cons and clinical perspective.

Second primary cancers -  causes, incidence and the future.

Thanks to continually improving screening programs, diagnostic, and treatment methods, the survival rate in newly diagnosed cancer patients is increasing. With this improvement in survival, attention is now being focused on potential longterm complications such as multiple primary tumors, which represent a leading cause of late nonrelapse mortality. The number of patients who survive cancer dia-gnosis is growing by 2% each year. Multiple primary neoplasms have become the third most common finding in oncology since 1890s, when they were first described. This review aims to summarize recent information regarding the multiple primary neoplasms, elucidate the definition, etiology, association with the primary cancer treatment, genetic and environmental dispositions and finally, it recapitulates new approaches to identification of the risk factors for multiple cancers.

Expression of carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) in malignant mesothelioma. An immunohistochemical and immunocytochemical study.

Malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive tumor with a poor prognosis. Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is a membranously located metalloenzyme involved in pH homeostasis with influence on regulation of cell proliferation, oncogenesis and tumor progression. Much attention has been paid recently to carboanhydrases and their inhibitors as they offer an opportunity for both developing novel anticancer drugs, as well as diagnostic and prognostic tools. This study was designed to assess the expression of CAIX in malignant pleural and peritoneal mesotheliomas, their benign counterparts, and in pleural effusions from patients with malignant mesothelioma, metastatic carcinoma or a benign disease. Tissue blocks from 51 malignant mesotheliomas of pleura (47 cases; 41 epithelioid, 2 biphasic, 4 sarcomatoid) and peritoneum (4 cases; all epithelioid), 14 cases with normal or reactive pleural tissue, and 19 cell blocks were analyzed. CAIX expression was determined using immunohistochemistry and its membranous immunoreactivity was semiquantitatively evaluated. Specimens were divided into five subgroups according to the staining pattern and intensity.Overall, 92.2% (47/51) of mesotheliomas expressed CAIX. All epithelioid mesotheliomas showed CAIX positivity, which was predominantly strong and diffuse (73.3%, 33/45). Sarcomatoid mesotheliomas and sarcomatoid areas in biphasic mesotheliomas were negative. A strong diffuse staining was observed in all cases of normal mesothelia. In pleural effusions, CAIX expression was observed in malignant cells as well as in benign mesothelial cells. In conclusion, CAIX is expressed virtually in all mesotheliomas except for sarcomatoid subtype, and in benign mesothelia. There are probably more mechanisms of CAIX overexpression than hypoxia-induced in malignant mesothelioma, with the influence of other tissue specific transcription or growth factors depending on the type of the cell lineage. CAIX immunoreactivity is not a reliable diagnostic marker for distinguishing malignant cells from benign mesothelia in pleural effusions. Nevertheless, our data support the potential use of therapeutics targeting CAIX in patients with advanced mesothelioma.

Lung cancer in pregnancy: report of nine cases from an international collaborative study.

OBJECTIVE: Lung cancer is an uncommon diagnosis during pregnancy. The combination of smoking in young women, increased maternal age during pregnancy, and increasing incidence of lung cancer worldwide may cause an increase of pregnancy associated lung cancer. The aim of this study was to describe all cases of lung cancer during pregnancy, registered in the international Cancer in Pregnancy registration study (CIP study; www.cancerinpregnancy.org). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We present nine cases, all advanced lung cancer during the course of pregnancy. Collected data included demographic features of the study patients, cancer treatment, pregnancy outcome as well as maternal and fetal outcomes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Nine pregnant patients from 4 European centres with a median age of 33 years old (range, 26-42) were included. The median gestational age at diagnosis was 17 weeks (range, 6-28). All patients presented with metastatic disease including bone, lung, brain, spinal cord, pleura, lymph nodes, adrenal and liver. Histopathology was compatible with adenocarcinoma in 4 patients, non-small cell lung cancer with unidentified subtype in 2 patients and squamous-cell, large-cell and a poorly differentiated carcinoma in 3 patients, respectively. Eight patients were treated with systemic therapy, five of them during gestation. No responses were seen. The maternal postpartum outcome was poor with less than one year survival following delivery. One patient experienced a spontaneous abortion and three pregnancies were terminated. Five infants were all born premature due to poor maternal status by cesarean section, with a median gestational age of 30 weeks (range 26-33). To summarize, lung cancer in pregnancy has a dismal maternal outcome in our series. We add nine new cases and discuss both therapeutic and prognostic results.