Publications by authors named "Victor R Vaz"

Purpose: Among patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who discontinue immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) because of immune-related adverse events (irAE), post-discontinuation clinical outcomes and factors associated with disease progression after discontinuation are largely unknown.

Experimental Design: Clinicopathologic data were abstracted from patients with advanced NSCLC who received ICI and discontinued treatment because of irAE. Factors associated with post-discontinuation progression-free survival (PFS) and post-discontinuation overall survival (OS) were evaluated.

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Background: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients aged ≥80 years [y] are underrepresented in clinical trials. We evaluated whether age correlates with a distinct immunophenotype or impacts outcomes to first-line pembrolizumab in patients with advanced NSCLC, PD-L1 Tumor Proportion Score (TPS) of ≥50%, and aged ≥80y.

Methods: Three NSCLC cohorts were retrospectively analyzed to assess the impact of age (<80y versus ≥80y) on pembrolizumab efficacy and the tumor microenvironment (TME).

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Article Synopsis
  • Activating point mutations in the MET tyrosine kinase domain are identified as oncogenic drivers in various cancers, occurring in about 0.5% of cases, particularly in certain papillary renal cell carcinomas.
  • Specific mutations at positions H1094, L1195, F1200, D1228, Y1230, and M1250 were labeled as oncogenic or likely oncogenic based on genetic profiling.
  • Preclinical models and patient responses indicate that these mutations may enhance sensitivity to MET inhibitors, highlighting the potential for targeted precision treatments in oncology.
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Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) improve survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but many patients eventually develop acquired resistance (AR), with underlying mechanisms largely unknown.
  • The study analyzed tumor biopsies from 82 NSCLC patients who developed AR after ICI treatment, using techniques like genomic profiling and immunophenotyping, and compared them to control patients who received other treatments.
  • Results showed that AR was linked to specific mutations in about 27.8% of patients, significant reductions in certain immune cells and HLA class I expression, pointing to the complex nature of resistance that must be addressed in future therapies.
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Background: Powassan virus is an emerging neurotropic arbovirus transmitted by the tick This systematic review was conducted to aggregate data on its clinical manifestations, diagnostic findings, and complications.

Methods: PubMed was searched until August 2023 using the term "Powassan", to identify all published cases of Powassan virus infections, as per PRISMA guidelines.

Results: Among the 380 abstracts identified, 45 studies describing 84 cases (70 adult, 14 pediatric) were included.

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Introduction: Although gene-level copy number alterations have been studied as a potential biomarker of immunotherapy efficacy in NSCLC, the impact of aneuploidy burden and chromosomal arm-level events on immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy in NSCLC is uncertain.

Methods: Patients who received programmed cell death protein 1 or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor at two academic centers were included. Across all 22 chromosomes analyzed, an arm was considered altered if at least 70% of its territory was either gained or deleted.

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Objectives: The study investigated tumor burden dynamics on computed tomography (CT) scans in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) during first-line pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy, to provide imaging markers for overall survival (OS).

Methods: The study included 133 patients treated with first-line pembrolizumab plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy. Serial CT scans during therapy were assessed for tumor burden dynamics during therapy, which were studied for the association with OS.

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Purpose: ATM is the most commonly mutated DNA damage and repair gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, limited characterization has been pursued.

Experimental Design: Clinicopathologic, genomic, and treatment data were collected for 5,172 patients with NSCLC tumors which underwent genomic profiling. ATM IHC was performed on 182 NSCLCs with ATM mutations.

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Introduction: Although programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade in combination with platinum-doublet chemotherapy has become a mainstay of first-line treatment for advanced NSCLC, factors associated with efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) are not well characterized.

Methods: In this multicenter retrospective analysis, clinicopathologic and genomic data were collected from patients with advanced NSCLC (lacking sensitizing genomic alterations in EGFR and ALK) and evaluated with clinical outcomes to first-line CIT.

Results: Among 1285 patients treated with CIT, a worsening performance status and increasing derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in the blood were associated with a significantly reduced objective response rate (ORR), median progression-free survival (mPFS), and median overall survival (mOS).

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Importance: Although tumor mutation burden (TMB) has been explored as a potential biomarker of immunotherapy efficacy in solid tumors, there still is a lack of consensus about the optimal TMB threshold that best discriminates improved outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Objectives: To determine the association between increasing TMB levels and immunotherapy efficacy across clinically relevant programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) levels in patients with NSCLC.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter cohort study included patients with advanced NSCLC treated with immunotherapy who received programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) or PD-L1 inhibition in the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), and in the Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)/Mark Foundation data sets.

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Introduction: It has been recognized that increasing body mass index (BMI) is associated with improved outcome from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with various malignancies including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, it is unclear whether baseline BMI may influence outcomes from first-line chemoimmunotherapy combinations.

Methods: In this international multicenter study, we evaluated the association between baseline BMI, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in a cohort of patients with stage IV NSCLC consecutively treated with first-line chemoimmunotherapy combinations.

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Background: An elevated peripheral blood derived neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) is a negative prognostic marker for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Whether dNLR is also associated with clinical outcomes to first-line pembrolizumab among patients with NSCLC and a programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) Tumor Proportion Score (TPS) of ≥50% is uncertain. How dNLR relates to the tumor immune microenvironment is also unclear.

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Introduction: STK11 and KEAP1 mutations (STK11 mutant [STK11] and KEAP1) are among the most often mutated genes in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Although STK11 has been associated with resistance to programmed death-(ligand)1 (PD-[L]1) inhibition in KRAS LUAD, its impact on immunotherapy efficacy in KRAS wild-type (KRAS) LUAD is currently unknown. Whether KEAP1 differentially affects outcomes to PD-(L)1 inhibition in KRAS and KRAS LUAD is also unknown.

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