Chronic heart failure serum S100B level and its short-term clinical significance

Objective: To explore the clinical significance of serum S100B in chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods: A total of 300 patients with CHF of cardiac function levels II–IV were divided into three groups, and 300 normal cases were selected as controls. Serum S100B, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), LVEF(%) and LVEDD were detected and analyzed. CHF patients were followed up for 1 year. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Results: The level of S100B in CHF patients was significantly increased, and the serum level was positively correlated with BNP. The serum S100B level was positively correlated with heart failure classification, and the area under ROC curve was 0.84. The sensitivity and specificity were 81.2% and 71.5%, respectively. Patients with high serum S100B were at higher risk of major cardiovascular events. Conclusion: Serum S100B level is significantly increased in patients with chronic heart failure, and is negatively correlated with the patients' cardiac function. It is an independent risk factor for the occurrence and development of chronic heart failure, and it has implications for the prognosis of patients with chronic heart failure.

Improving antitumor immunity using antiangiogenic agents:Mechanistic insights,current progress,and clinical challenges

Cancer immunotherapy,especially immune checkpoint blockade(ICB),has revolutionized oncology.However,only a limited number of patients benefit from immunotherapy,and some cancers that initially respond to immunotherapy can ultimately relapse and progress.Thus,some studies have investigated combining immunotherapy with other therapies to overcome resistance to monotherapy.Recently,multiple preclinical and clinical studies have shown that tumor vasculature is a determinant of whether immunotherapy will elicit an antitumor response;thus,vascular targeting may be a promising strategy to improve cancer immunotherapy outcomes.A successful antitumor immune response requires an intact“Cancer-Immunity Cycle,”including T cell priming and activation,immune cell recruitment,and recognition and killing of cancer cells.Angiogenic inducers,especially vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),can interfere with activation,infiltration,and function of T cells,thus breaking the“Cancer-Immunity Cycle.”Together with immunostimulation-regulated tumor vessel remodeling,VEGF-mediated immunosuppression provides a solid therapeutic rationale for combining immunotherapy with antiangiogenic agents to treat solid tumors.Following the successes of recent landmark phase III clinical trials,therapies combining immune checkpoint inhibitors(ICIs)with antiangiogenic agents have become first-line treatments for multiple solid tumors,whereas the efficacy of such combinations in other solid tumors remains to be validated in ongoing studies.In this review,we discussed synergies between antiangiogenic agents and cancer immunotherapy based on results from preclinical and translational studies.Then,we discussed recent progress in randomized clinical trials.ICI-containing combinations were the focus of this review because of their recent successes,but combinations containing other immunotherapies were also discussed.Finally,we attempted to define critical challenges in combining ICIs with antiangiogenic agents to promote coordination and stimulate collaboration within the research community.