J Thorac Oncol
July 2025
Introduction: TNM staging systems create prognostic categories by anatomic extent of disease. Whether therapeutically important molecular alterations in NSCLC augment the prognostic information of TNM staging is unclear. To study this, we analyzed molecular data from the ninth edition of the lung cancer staging system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Lung squamous cell cancer (LUSC) is associated with very poor survival due to the lack of specific treatments. A common genetic alteration in LUSC involves mutations in (protein named NRF2) or its regulator, , resulting in increased activity of the NRF2 transcription factor (TF). This study compares the requirement for active-NRF2 in LUSC cell lines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe interaction of programmed cell death receptor 1 (PD-1) on the surface of immune cells with its ligand, programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), expressed on tumour cells and antigen-presenting cells, leads to tumour immune evasion. Antibodies that target either PD-1 or its ligand PD-L1 have shown a favourable response in cancer patients, especially those with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, only 15 to 25% of advanced NSCLC patients will benefit from immunotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Molecular tumor boards (MTBs) are multidisciplinary meetings of specialists dedicated to analyzing biomarker test results to provide personalized treatment recommendations. However, global disparities in the successful implementation of MTBs exist, driven by unequal access to molecular diagnostics and supportive multidimensional expertise.
Objective: To establish recommendations for MTB implementation, outline practical frameworks for their operation, and address disparities in expertise and resources between new and established MTBs.
Basic and translational research in lung cancer is a rapidly evolving field with a transformational impact on early detection, diagnosis, therapeutic development, and personalization of care. Recent advances have greatly increased our understanding of the molecular genomics, proteomics, pathogenesis, and cellular biology of this deadly malignancy. The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) recently formed a Basic and Translational Science (BaTS) Committee to further enhance the scientific leadership of IASLC in thoracic cancer research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: TP53 mutations (TP53-MUT) are common in NSCLC and have been reported as predictive of response and prognostic of poor outcome in EGFR-mutant NSCLC. The impact of TP53-MUT in NSCLCs with rarer driver mutations and approved targeted treatments is unclear.
Methods: Records of 436 patients were reviewed and associations between TP53 status, demographics, and outcomes (overall response [ORR], survival [OS] and progression-free survival [PFS], and incidence of brain metastases [BM]), were investigated.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.jtocrr.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer immunotherapy has brought significant clinical benefits to patients with cancer, including those with lung cancer. Patient-derived tumor xenograft mouse models have become the preferred animal model for translational cancer research and preclinical studies. Given the unmet need for improved predictive models in immuno-oncology, humanized mouse models which are co-engrafted with both human tumors and immune system components have been used to investigate novel immunotherapeutics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe implementation of biomarker testing for targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors is a cornerstone in the management of metastatic and locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), playing a pivotal role in guiding treatment decisions and patient care. The emergence of precision medicine in the realm of operable NSCLC has been marked by the recent approvals of osimertinib, atezolizumab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab and alectinib for early-stage disease, signifying a shift towards more tailored therapeutic strategies. Concurrently, the landscape of this disease is rapidly evolving, with several further pending approvals and numerous clinical trials in progress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Pulmonary high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) includes SCLC and large cell NEC (LCNEC). The seventh and eighth editions of the TNM classification for lung cancer confirmed the applicability of this staging system for SCLC. With the proposal of N2 and M1c subcategories for the ninth edition classification, we assessed the applicability to NECs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly heterogeneous disease that is frequently associated with a host of known oncogenic alterations. Advances in molecular diagnostics and drug development have facilitated the targeting of novel alterations such that the majority of NSCLC patients have driver mutations that are now clinically actionable. The goal of this review is to gain insights into clinical research and development principles by summary, analysis, and discussion of data on agents targeting known alterations in oncogene-driven, advanced NSCLC beyond those in the and the .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Discov
April 2025
Our landmark discovery of viral mimicry characterized repetitive elements as immunogenic stimuli that cull cancer cells. If expressed repetitive elements cull cancer cells, why does every human cancer express repetitive elements? Our report offers an exciting advancement toward understanding this paradox and how to exploit this mechanism for cancer interception. See related commentary by Murayama and Cañadas, p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTher Adv Med Oncol
December 2024
Background: Given advancements in adjuvant treatments for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-targeted therapies, it is important to consider postoperative targeted therapies for other early-stage oncogene-addicted NSCLC. Exploring baseline outcomes for early-stage NSCLC with these rare mutations is crucial.
Objectives: This study aims to assess relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with resected early-stage NSCLC with rare targetable driver mutations.
A companion diagnostic is a diagnostic test that provides information essential for the safe and effective use of a corresponding therapeutic product. To obtain marketing approval, the companion diagnostic must demonstrate acceptable analytical and clinical performance. Companion diagnostic regulations are intended to protect patients by ensuring quality and consistency of treatment-guiding biomarker testing in clinical trials and clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Thorac Oncol
March 2025
Introduction: With the implementation of low-dose computed tomography screening, multiple pulmonary tumor nodules are diagnosed with increasing frequency and the selection of surgical treatments versus systemic therapies has become challenging on a daily basis in clinical practice. In the presence of multiple carcinomas, especially adenocarcinomas, pathologically determined to be of pulmonary origin, the distinction between separate primary lung carcinomas (SPLCs) and intrapulmonary metastases (IPMs) is important for staging, management, and prognostication.
Methods: We systemically reviewed various means that aid in the differentiation between SPLCs and IPMs explored by histopathologic evaluation and molecular profiling, the latter includes DNA microsatellite analysis, array comparative genomic hybridization, TP53 and oncogenic driver mutation testing and, more recently, with promising effectiveness, next-generation sequencing comprising small- or large-scale multi-gene panels.
Purpose: PD-L1 is overexpressed by dendritic cells in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) progressing on androgen receptor pathway inhibitors. We tested whether checkpoint blockade could enhance antitumor activity in mCRPC.
Patients And Methods: In a multicenter open-label noncomparative randomized phase II study, patients with mCRPC treated with ≤1 prior cytotoxic chemotherapy, with measurable disease and progression on abiraterone and/or enzalutamide, were randomized to durvalumab 1,500 mg intravenously every 4 weeks ±4 doses of tremelimumab 75 mg intravenously.
Functional genomic screens in two-dimensional cell culture models are limited in identifying therapeutic targets that influence the tumor microenvironment. By comparing targeted CRISPR-Cas9 screens in a two-dimensional culture with xenografts derived from the same cell line, we identified MEN1 as the top hit that confers differential dropout effects in vitro and in vivo. MEN1 knockout in multiple solid cancer types does not impact cell proliferation in vitro but significantly promotes or inhibits tumor growth in immunodeficient or immunocompetent mice, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Thorac Oncol
November 2024
Centrosome amplification (CA), an abnormal increase in the number of centrosomes in the cell, is a recurrent phenomenon in lung and other malignancies. Although CA promotes tumor development and progression by inducing genomic instability (GIN), it also induces mitotic stress that jeopardizes cellular integrity. CA leads to the formation of multipolar mitotic spindles that can cause lethal chromosome segregation errors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Lepidic growth is considered noninvasive in lung nonmucinous adenocarcinoma, whereas other patterns are invasive. Considerable interobserver variability in assessing "invasion" has been reported. We assessed the utility of cytokeratin 7 (CK7) stain and recently proposed International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer criteria to improve assessment of noninvasion in lung adenocarcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdvances in the multidisciplinary care of early stage resectable NSCLC (rNSCLC) are emerging at an unprecedented pace. Numerous phase 3 trials produced results that have transformed patient outcomes for the better, yet these findings also require important modifications to the patient treatment journey trajectory and reorganization of care pathways. Perhaps, most notably, the need for multispecialty collaboration for this patient population has never been greater.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSeveral observations indicate that protein expression analysis by immunohistochemistry (IHC) remains relevant in individuals with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) when considering targeted therapy, as an early step in diagnosis and for therapy selection. Since the advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS), the role of IHC in testing for NSCLC biomarkers has been forgotten or ignored. We discuss how protein-level investigations maintain a critical role in defining sensitivity to lung cancer therapies in oncogene- and non-oncogene-addicted cases and in patients eligible for immunotherapy, suggesting that IHC testing should be reconsidered in clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext.—: Mesothelioma is an uncommon tumor that can be difficult to diagnose.
Objective.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The centrosome is the main microtubule-organizing center in animal cells and centrosome amplification is a hallmark of cancer cells. To investigate the importance of centrosomes in colorectal cancer, we induced centrosome loss in normal and cancer human-derived colorectal organoids using centrinone B, a Polo-like kinase 4 (Plk4) inhibitor.
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