Systematic literature review and meta-analysis of concordance and accuracy of pretransfusion immunohematology routine tests.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the concordance and comparative accuracy of commercially available immunohematology (IH) tests for pretransfusion testing.

Background: Pretransfusion tests are intended to ensure donor blood is matched with a compatible recipient. Automated testing has become the mainstay since the commercialisation of IH analysers, because of their reduced risk of human error and increased efficiency.

Quantification and structure-function analysis of calpain-1 and calpain-2 protease subunit interactions.

Calpain-1 and calpain-2 are heterodimeric proteases consisting of a common small regulatory subunit CAPNS1 and a large catalytic subunit, CAPN1 or CAPN2, respectively. These calpains have emerged as potential therapeutic targets in cancer and other diseases through their roles in cell signaling pathways affecting sensitivity to chemotherapeutic and targeted drugs and in promoting metastasis. While inhibition of calpains has the potential to provide therapeutic benefit to cancer patients, there are currently no clinically approved active site-directed drugs that specifically and effectively inhibit them.

Mucosal and Transmural Healing and Long-term Outcomes in Crohn's Disease.

Background: Healing in Crohn's disease is complex and difficult to measure due to incongruencies between clinical symptoms and disease states. Mucosal healing (MH) and transmural healing (TH) are increasingly used to measure clinical improvement in Crohn's disease, but definitions of MH and TH can vary across studies, and their relationship to long-term outcomes is not clear. To address this knowledge gap, we performed a systematic literature review (SLR) to examine studies measuring MH and TH in Crohn's disease.

Effectiveness of Single-Tablet Combination Therapy in Improving Adherence and Persistence and the Relation to Clinical and Economic Outcomes.

Single-tablet combination therapies (STCTs) combine multiple drugs into one formulation, making drug administration more convenient for patients. STCTs were developed to address concerns with treatment adherence and persistence, but the impact of STCT use is not fully understood across indications. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to examine STCT-associated outcomes across 4 evidence domains: clinical trials, real-world evidence (RWE), health-related quality of life (HRQoL) studies, and economic evaluations.

TAZ upregulates MIR-224 to inhibit oxidative stress response in multiple myeloma.

Background: Oxidative stress within the bone marrow niche of multiple myeloma contributes to disease progression and drug resistance. Recent studies have associated the Hippo pathway with miRNA biogenesis and oxidative stress in solid tumors. Oxidative stress and miRNA pathway inter-relates in several cancers.

MST1 downregulates TAZ tumor suppressor protein in multiple myeloma and is a potential therapeutic target.

We have previously reported that transcriptional activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) functions as a tumor suppressor in multiple myeloma (MM). MST1 is a serine-threonine kinase upstream of the Hippo-signaling pathway that functions as a tumor suppressor in many non-hematologic malignancies. However, its role in hematologic malignancies, including MM is still poorly understood.

Plain language summary of a fingerprinting technique to monitor blood cancer.

What Is This Summary About?: This is a plain language summary discussing the results of our study published in the journal . The study describes how to improve the detection of blood cancer and chart the progress of recovery/remission to reassure patients living with cancer.

What Did We Do?: In our study, we used a new tool called Raman spectroscopy to detect molecules found uniquely in the blood plasma of people with, or recovering from, blood cancer.

Epidemiology, Healthcare Resource Utilization, and Mortality of Asthma and COPD in COVID-19: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analyses.

Purpose: There has been concern that asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] increase the risk of developing and exacerbating COVID-19. The effect of medications such as inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and biologics on COVID-19 is unclear. This systematic literature review analyzed the published evidence on epidemiology and the burden of illness of asthma and COPD, and the use of baseline medicines among COVID-19 populations.

Nanoparticle surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy as a noninvasive, label-free tool to monitor hematological malignancy.

Monitoring minimal residual disease remains a challenge to the effective medical management of hematological malignancies; yet surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has emerged as a potential clinical tool to do so. We developed a cell-free, label-free SERS approach using gold nanoparticles (nanoSERS) to classify hematological malignancies referenced against two control cohorts: healthy and noncancer cardiovascular disease. A predictive model was built using machine-learning algorithms to incorporate disease burden scores for patients under standard treatment upon.

Targeting NK Cell Inhibitory Receptors for Precision Multiple Myeloma Immunotherapy.

Innate immune surveillance of cancer involves multiple types of immune cells including the innate lymphoid cells (ILCs). Natural killer (NK) cells are considered the most active ILC subset for tumor elimination because of their ability to target infected and malignant cells without prior sensitization. NK cells are equipped with an array of activating and inhibitory receptors (IRs); hence NK cell activity is controlled by balanced signals between the activating and IRs.

Immunohistochemical validation study of 15-gene biomarker panel predictive of benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in resected non-small-cell lung cancer: analysis of JBR.10.

Objective: There are no validated approaches to predict benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy for resected patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to translate a 15-gene mRNA expression profile published by Zhu shown to be prognostic and predictive of benefit, into a readily applicable immunohistochemistry (IHC) panel.

Methods: For seven of the genes in the gene expression profile (GEP) for which suitable commercial antibodies were available, we semiquantitatively assessed the IHC expression and prognostic significance for 173 patients treated at the Saint John Regional Hospital (SJRH).

TAZ functions as a tumor suppressor in multiple myeloma by downregulating MYC.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable blood cancer that is often characterized by amplification and overexpression of the MYC oncogene. Despite efforts, direct targeting of MYC is not yet possible; therefore, alternative strategies to inhibit MYC activity are necessary. TAZ is a transcriptional coactivator downstream of the Hippo-signaling pathway that functions as an oncogene in many solid tumors.

Calpain Genetic Disruption and HSP90 Inhibition Combine To Attenuate Mammary Tumorigenesis.

Calpain is an intracellular Ca(2+)-regulated protease system whose substrates include proteins involved in proliferation, survival, migration, invasion, and sensitivity to therapeutic drugs. Genetic disruption of calpain attenuated the tumorigenic potential of breast cancer cells and hypersensitized cells to 17AAG, an inhibitor of the molecular chaperone HSP90. Calpain-1 or -2 overexpression rendered cells resistant to 17AAG, whereas downregulation or inhibition of calpain-1/2 led to increased cell death in multiple breast cancer cell lines, including models of HER2(+) (SKBR3) and triple-negative basal-cell-like (MDA-MB-231) breast cancer.