Stability of microRNAs in serum and plasma reveal promise as a circulating biomarker.

Purpose: To verify the stability and reliability of circulating microRNA (miRNA) profiles in plasma and serum under different processing and storage conditions to inform future applications to circulating biomarker analyses.

Background: The development of blood-based methods for early disease detection has become increasingly desirable across various medical fields. RNA profiles have been investigated but have been a challenge due to rapid degradation of the analyte by ubiquitous RNases.

Advances in Oncolytic Viral Therapy in Melanoma: A Comprehensive Review.

Checkpoint inhibitor therapy revolutionized the treatment of patients with melanoma. However, in patients where melanoma exhibits resistance to checkpoint inhibitor therapy, the treatment options are limited. Oncolytic viruses are a unique form of immunotherapy that uses live viruses to infect and lyse tumor cells to release the elusive neoantigen picked up by the antigen-presenting cells, thus increasing the chances of an immune response against cancer.

Socioeconomic Influences on Melanoma Incidence Patterns by Stage in the US.

Background And Objectives: Melanoma is one of the fastest-growing cancers in the United States, with nearly 100% 5-year survival for early-stage disease compared to 35% for late-stage disease. Regional studies suggest that areas with increased early-stage melanoma diagnoses may not experience a reduction in late-stage cases, raising questions about the effectiveness of early detection. We hypothesize that higher socioeconomic status (SES) will correlate with increased early-stage melanoma without a decrease in late-stage disease, with geographic variation across US regions.

Factors Associated With Metastasis of Eccrine Porocarcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis of National Cancer Databases.

Background: Eccrine porocarcinoma is a rare cutaneous adnexal malignancy. Factors associated with metastasis of porocarcinoma and evidence for the utility of sentinel lymph node biopsy are incomplete within the literature.

Objective: Determine prognostic factors that may guide the decision to pursue sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with porocarcinoma.

The Role of Social Determinants of Health in the Receipt of Systemic Treatment for Metastatic Melanoma.

Simple Summary: The development of contemporary immune and targeted therapies for patients with metastatic extended survival compared to the previous standard of care treatments. Therefore, equitable access to these therapies for all patients with advanced melanoma is of high importance. We aimed to understand the association between SES with treatment receipt and prognosis.

The epidemiology of Merkel cell carcinoma in the United States.

Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare, aggressive skin cancer with poor outcomes. Many questions remain regarding its epidemiology.

Objective: To characterize the epidemiology of MCC.

Outcomes in patients with multiple sclerosis and solid organ cancers treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are excluded from studies of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) due to concern for MS flare. This study aims to report the incidence of MS relapse, immune-related adverse events (irAEs), and cancer outcomes in MS patients with solid-organ malignancy treated with ICIs.

Methods: In this retrospective study, MS patients who received ICIs at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center were identified electronically.

Reasons for Surgical Attrition Among Nonmetastatic Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Patients: A Single Institutional Experience.

Introduction: Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) cancers require multidisciplinary treatment, but surgery provides the only potentially curative option. We sought to understand reasons for attrition before surgery within our regional hospital network.

Methods: We performed chart reviews of patients (age 18-80) with stage I-III UGI cancers (gastroesophageal junction, gastric, and hepatopancreatobiliary adenocarcinomas) in our multihospital cancer registry from 2015 to 2021.

Perfusion Strategies for Cytoreductive Surgery With Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma.

Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with heated intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has been shown to improve survival for patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM). Presently, there is no standardized HIPEC protocol with respect to chemotherapeutic agent, dose, administration temperature, or duration and limited literature comparing outcomes in different regimens. In this study, we analyze common practices and outcomes of published HIPEC regimens to gain insight into current practice to inform future directions of study.

A comprehensive analysis of metastatic disease following surgery for clinically localized cutaneous melanoma.

Background: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network considers "baseline staging" (whole body computed tomography or positron emission tomography scans with or without brain magnetic resonance imaging scans) for all patients with asymptomatic melanoma who had a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy result. The true yield of these workups is unknown.

Methods: We created cohorts of adult patients with malignant melanoma using the National Cancer Database (2012-2020) to mimic 3 common scenarios: 1) clinically node-negative disease, with positive sentinel lymph node biopsy results; 2) clinically node-negative disease, with negative sentinel lymph node biopsy results; and 3) clinically node-positive disease, with confirmed lymph node metastases.

A Ketogenic Diet Sensitizes Pancreatic Cancer to Inhibition of Glutamine Metabolism.

Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and while conventional chemotherapy remains the standard treatment, responses are poor. Safe and alternative therapeutic strategies are urgently needed . A ketogenic diet has been shown to have anti-tumor effects across diverse cancer types but will unlikely have a significant effect alone.

The Utility of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Elderly Patients with Melanoma.

Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is performed less often for older patients with melanoma. We investigated the association of SLNB and melanoma-specific survival (MSS) in the elderly.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER: 2010-2019) for patients ≥ 70 years with cT2-4N0M0 melanoma.

Therapeutic implications of the metabolic changes associated with BRAF inhibition in melanoma.

Melanoma metabolism can be reprogrammed by activating BRAF mutations. These mutations are present in up to 50% of cutaneous melanomas, with the most common being V600E. BRAF mutations augment glycolysis to promote macromolecular synthesis and proliferation.

An Age-Stratified Analysis of Early Postoperative Mortality Among Medicare-Eligible Patients With Common Gastrointestinal and Hepato-pancreato-biliary Malignancies.

The frequency of major cancer surgery in the elderly (≥80 years) has increased concomitantly with the rise in average age of the population. We assessed early postoperative mortality following hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) and gastrointestinal (GI) procedures for common malignancies stratified by age. The National Cancer Database (2004-2017) was queried for patients who underwent resection for GI (gastroesophageal and colorectal) or HPB (pancreatic adenocarcinoma, biliary tract, and primary liver) cancers.

First-line Immunotherapy for Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Analysis of Real-world Survival Data and Practice Patterns.

Objectives: Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a promising new therapy for advanced Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC). We investigated real-world utilization and survival outcomes of first-line immunotherapies in a contemporary cohort.

Methods: Using the National Cancer Database (NCDB), we identified 759 patients with MCC between 2015 and 2020 with stage IV disease and known status of first-line systemic therapy.

Neoadjuvant Dual Checkpoint Inhibitors vs Anti-PD1 Therapy in High-Risk Resectable Melanoma: A Pooled Analysis.

Importance: Despite the clear potential benefits of neoadjuvant therapy, the optimal neoadjuvant regimen for patients with high-risk resectable melanoma (HRRM) is not known.

Objective: To compare the safety and efficacy of dual checkpoint inhibitors with anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (anti-PD1) therapy in a neoadjuvant setting among patients with HRRM.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this pooled analysis of clinical trials, studies were selected provided they investigated immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment, were published between January 2018 and March 2023, and were phase 1, 2, or 3 clinical trials.

Disparities in the Receipt of Systemic Treatment in Metastatic Melanoma.

Background: In 2011, immunotherapy and targeted therapy revolutionized melanoma treatment. However, inequities in their use may limit the benefits seen by certain patients.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients in the National Cancer Database for patients with stage IV melanoma from 2 time periods: 2004-2010 and 2016-2020, distinguishing between those who received systemic therapy and those who did not.