0000000000223899
AUTHOR
Erika Pedone
Body mass index and baseline platelet count as predictive factors in Merkel cell carcinoma patients treated with avelumab
BackgroundMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive skin cancer, associated with a worse prognosis. The Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) avelumab and pembrolizumab have been recently approved as first-line treatment in metastatic MCC (mMCC). The clinical observation of improved outcomes in obese patients following treatment with ICIs, known as the “obesity paradox”, has been studied across many types of tumors. Probably due to the rarity of this tumor, data on mMMC patients are lacking.Patients and methodsThis is an observational, hospital-based, study to investigate the role of Body Mass Index (BMI) as predictive biomarker of ICI response in mMCC patients treated with aveluma…
Prognostic and Predictive Role of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) in Ovarian Cancer
In the last decade, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been recognized as clinically relevant prognostic markers for improved survival, providing the immunological basis for the development of new therapeutic strategies and showing a significant prognostic and predictive role in several malignancies, including ovarian cancer (OC). In fact, many OCs show TILs whose typology and degree of infiltration have been shown to be strongly correlated with prognosis and survival. The OC histological subtype with the higher presence of TILs is the high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) followed by the endometrioid subtype, whereas mucinous and clear cell OCs seem to contain a lower percentage of TI…
MUTYH-associated tumor syndrome: The other face of MAP
MUTYH gene is involved in the base excision repair (BER) mechanism and its pathogenic alterations are associated with colorectal polyposis and cancer. MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP) is a condition which is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. MAP patients, beyond colorectal cancer (CRC), may develop other types of tumors, including duodenal, breast, ovarian, pancreatic, bladder and skin cancers. Carriers of biallelic MUTYH likely pathogenic/pathogenic variants exhibit a high lifetime risk of CRC, though cancer risk evidence becomes less clear when monoallelic carriers and extraintestinal tumors are considered. However, several studies recently reported an increased genetic suscepti…
Exploring the Dynamic Crosstalk between the Immune System and Genetics in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs) represent a paradigmatic model of oncogene addiction. Despite the well-known impact of the mutational status on clinical outcomes, we need to expand our knowledge to other factors that influence behavior heterogeneity in GIST patients. A growing body of studies has revealed that the tumor microenvironment (TME), mostly populated by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and lymphocytes (TILs), and stromal differentiation (SD) have a significant impact on prognosis and response to treatment. Interestingly, even though the current knowledge of the role of immune response in this setting is still limited, recent pre-clinical and clinical data have highlight…