Critical Reviews in Oncology/hematology

In recent years, cancer research has highlighted the role of disrupted microbiota in carcinogenesis and cancer recurrence. However, microbiota may also interfere with drug metabolism, influencing the efficacy of cancer drugs, especially immunotherapy, and modulating the onset of adverse events. Intestinal micro-organisms can be altered by external factors, such as use of antibiotics, proton pump inhibitors treatment, lifestyle and the use of prebiotics or probiotics. The aim of our review is to provide a picture of the current evidence about preclinical and clinical data of the role of gut and local microbiota in malignancies and its potential clinical role in cancer treatments...

BACKGROUND: Non-pharmacological interventions have the potential to enhance health-related quality of life (HRQoL) through symptom management. This systematic review aims to identify, collate, and assess randomized controlled trials investigating the effect of non-pharmacological interventions on symptoms and HRQoL within hematology. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, PSYCINFO and COCHRANE were searched up to April 2021. Outcomes were changes in symptoms and HRQoL...

The effects of ovarian stimulation on breast and gynecological tumor incidence remain controversial. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis was to study the risk of cancer in ovarian stimulation. Of the 22713 studies initially identified, 28 were eligible for inclusion. The results revealed that the impact of ovarian cancer (RR = 1.33, [1.05; 1.69]) and cervical cancer (RR = 0.67, [0.46; 0.97]) is significant among the overall effects. In subgroup analysis, in the nulliparous population (RR = 0.81 [0.68; 0...

Aberrant cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) activation has been identified as a main resistance mechanism to CDK4/6 inhibition in hormone-receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer. Additionally, consistent preclinical evidence states its crucial role in MYC and CCNE1 overexpressed cancer survival, such as triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC), thus representing an appealing and relatively unexplored target treatment opportunity. Despite emerging initial results of novel CDK2 inhibitors (CDK2i) activity, a comprehensive outcomes collection is currently absent from the scientific literature...

Esophageal cancer in one of the most malignant and hard-to-treat cancers. Esophageal squamous carcinoma (ESCC) is most common in Asian countries, whereas adenocarcinoma at the esophago-gastric junction (EGJ AC) is more prevalent in the Western countries. Due to differences in both genetic background and response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, both histologic subtypes need different paradigms of management. Since the landmark CROSS study has demonstrated the superior survival benefit of tri-modality including neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy prior to esophagectomy, the tri-modality becomes the standard of care; however, it is suitable for a highly-selected patient...

BACKGROUND: Smoking history is a heterogeneous situation for different populations, and numerous studies suggest that smoking cessation is conducive to reduce the mortality of lung cancer. However, no quantitative meta-analysis regarding smoking cessation duration based on different populations has demonstrated it clearly. METHODS: We systematically searched four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Scoups) till February 2023...

BACKGROUND: Combinations of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) with platinum-based chemotherapy (PlatinumCT) or with another ICI in the first-line setting for patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) have mixed results. METHODS: Records were searched electronically from January 2019 to January 2024. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate OS, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall response rate (ORR). RESULTS: Immune-based combinations were associated with an OS (HR: 0...

Microbiomes in the lung, gut, and oral cavity are correlated with lung cancer initiation and progression. While correlations have been preliminarily established in earlier studies, delving into microbe-mediated carcinogenic mechanisms will extend our understanding from correlation to causation. Building upon the causative relationships between microbiome and lung cancer, a novel concept of microbial biomarkers has emerged, mainly encompassing cancer-specific bacteria and circulating microbiome DNA. They might function as noninvasive liquid biopsy techniques for lung cancer early detection...

Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS) are rare neurological disorders arising from malignancy-triggered autoimmunity, yet their association with urothelial carcinoma remains unclear. This systematic review intends to explore any connection, alongside patient/clinical features and management. A literature search identified 25 cases of bladder and upper tract carcinoma linked to PNS. Overall, while infrequent, a meaningful association between PNS and urothelial carcinoma was found in that 84% of cases met a 'possible'-or-'higher-likelihood' PNS diagnosis...

BACKGROUND: A novel antibody-drug conjugate, trastuzumab deruxtecan is a combination of a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeting antibody and DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor used to treat HER2-low/positive advanced breast cancer. To determine its safety and efficacy in treating HER2-low/positive advanced breast cancer, we performed a meta-analysis of several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) including DESTINY-Breast02 (NCT03523585), DESTINY-Breast03 (NCT03529110), and DESTINY-Breast04 (NCT03734029)...

It is a well-known fact that cancer can be augmented by infections and inflammation. In fact, chronic inflammation establishes a tumor-supporting-microenvironment (TME), which contributes to neoplastic progression. Presently, extensive research is going on to establish the interrelationship between infection, inflammation, immune response, and cancer. Cytokines are the most essential components in this linkage, which are secreted by immune cells and stromal cells of TME. Cytokines have potential involvement in tumor initiation, elongation, progression, metastatic outgrowth, angiogenesis, and development of therapeutic resistance...

To evaluate the efficacy, feasibility and safety of neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) for renal cell carcinoma with tumor thrombus (RCC-TT) in terms of response, perioperative and oncological outcomes, and compare the results between neoadjuvant and non-neoadjuvant groups. Overall, 29 single-arm studies and 5 cohort studies were included. Of the 204 patients undergoing NAT, 16.2% were level I, 35.3% level II, 24.0% level III and 18.6% level IV thrombus. Most of patients underwent preoperative targeted therapy, immunotherapy-based combination therapy was applied in 5...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to evaluate the scientific interest, the collaboration patterns and the emerging trends regarding HPV+ OPSCC diagnosis and treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional bibliometric analysis of articles reporting on HPV+ OPSCC within Scopus database was performed and all documents published up to December 31th, 2022 were eligible for analysis. Outcomes included the exploration of key characteristics (number of manuscripts published per year, growth rate, top productive countries, most highly cited papers, and the most well-represented journals), collaboration parameters (international collaboration ratio and networks, co-occurrence networks), keywords analysis (trend topics, factorial analysis)...

Cancer is a major disease that endangers human health. Cancer drug resistance and relapse are the two main causes contributing to cancer treatment failure. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small fraction of tumor cells that are responsible for tumorigenesis, metastasis, relapse, and resistance to conventional anticancer therapies. Therefore, CSCs are considered to be the root of cancer recurrence, metastasis, and drug resistance. Novel anticancer strategies need to face this new challenge and explore their efficacy against CSCs...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with chemotherapy for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients with different clinical characteristics. METHODS: Randomized clinical trials for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and chemotherapy combination were included. Pooled analysis of odds ratio (OR) for pathological complete response (pCR) and hazard ratio (HR) for event-free survival (EFS) was conducted overall and for predefined subgroups...

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate outcomes after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT) in TP53-mutated myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). A literature search was performed on PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, and Clinicaltrials.gov. After screening 626 articles, eight studies were included. Data were extracted following the PRISMA guidelines and analyzed using the meta-package by Schwarzer et al. We analyzed 540 patients. The pooled median 3 (1-5) year overall survival was 21% (95% CI 0...

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have reported the efficacy of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for treating breast cancer. However, during cytotoxic drug treatment, long-term disabling fatigue is common. Moreover, studies in the relevant literature have indicated that fatigue can significantly increase the incidence of depression and sleep disorders. Therefore, this meta-analysis aims to evaluate the incidence of fatigue in breast cancer survivors treated with ADCs. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases were systematically searched for articles and conference abstracts published before March 16, 2023...

Filgrastim is approved for several indications, including reduction of the incidence and duration of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and for stem cell mobilization. The filgrastim biosimilar, EP2006, has been available in Europe since 2009, and in the United States since 2015. In this time, preclinical and clinical data used to support the approval of EP2006 have been published. These data established the biosimilarity of EP2006 to reference filgrastim in terms of structure, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity...

BACKGROUND: Early-phase clinical trials (EPCT) represent an important part of innovations in medical oncology and a valuable therapeutic option for patients with metastatic cancers, particularly in the era of precision medicine. Nevertheless, adult patients' participation in oncology clinical trials is low, ranging from 2% to 8% worldwide, with unequal access, and up to 40% risk of early discontinuation in EPCT, mostly due to cancer-related complications. DESIGN: We review the tools and initiatives to increase patients' orientation and access to early phase cancer clinical trials, and to limit early discontinuation...

Cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors have unprecedentedly advanced hormone-dependent breast cancer treatment paradigm. In the metastatic setting, ribociclib has consistently demonstrated survival benefit in pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal patients, conjugating efficacy with health-related quality of life preservation. Accordingly, the emergence of cardiac and/or vascular adverse events related to this novel targeted agent is gaining significant interest. This narrative review provides an overview of the incidence and spectrum of cardiovascular toxicity, in both clinical trial framework and real-world evidence...