Approaches and challenges in cancer immunotherapy pathways

Cancer immunotherapy is an effective with critical approaches in the treatment of oncological patients.Whilst numerous research and clinical trials are underway to develop endogenous immunotherapy approaches,it is necessary to focus on fundamental issues and identify barriers to basic clinical progress.Addressing these challenges and the new pathways will require researchers and clinicians to join forces to accelerate the understanding of the complex interactions between cancer and the immune system and focus resources on developing better treatments for patients.

Use of zebrafish embryos as avatar of patients with pancreatic cancer:A new xenotransplantation model towards personalized medicine

BACKGROUND The response to chemotherapy treatment of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)is difficult to predict and the identification of patients who most likely will benefit from aggressive chemotherapy approaches is crucial.The concept of personalized medicine has emerged in the last years with the objective to tailor the medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient,and particularly to the tumor biology of each patient.The need for invivo xenotransplantation models for cancer patients has increased exponentially,and for this reason zebrafish avatars have gained popularity.Preliminary studies were conducted also with PDAC tissue.AIM To develop a simple,not expensive,diffusible zebrafish embryo model as avatar for patients affected by PDAC.METHODS Tumor tissue was taken from the surgical specimen by the histopathologist.After its fragmentation into small pieces,they are stained with CM-Dil.Small pieces of stained tissue were transplanted into the yolk of wt AB zebrafish embryos with a glass capillary needle.Embryos were incubated at 35°C in E3 medium supplemented with 1%Pen/Strep in the presence or absence of drugs for the following days in respect of the treatment plan(Gemcitabine;Gemcitabine and Oxaliplatin;Gemcitabine and nab-Paclitaxel;5-Fluorouracil and Folinic acid and Oxaliplatin and Irinotecan).The response of zebrafish xenografts to the chemotherapy options has been analyzed by monitoring the fluorescent stained area at 2 h post injection(hpi),1 d and 2 d post injection(dpi).In each time point,the mean size of the stained area was measured by ImageJ and it was normalized with respect to the 1 dpi time point mean relative tumor area(RTA).We evaluated the effect of the chemotherapy exposition comparing the mean RTA of each treated subgroup and the control group and evaluating the percentage reduction of the mean RTA by comparing each treated subgroup with the control group.RESULTS Between July 2018 and October 2019,a total of 15 patients with pancreatic cancer were prospectively enrolled.In all cases,it was possible to take a fragment of the tumor from the surgical specimen for the xenotransplantation in the zebrafish embryos.The histological examination confirmed the presence of a PDAC in all cases.In absence of chemotherapy(control group),over time the Dil-stained area showed a statistically significant increase in all cases.A statistically significant reduction of the mean RTA in the treated subgroups for at least one chemotherapy scheme was reported in 6/15(40%)cases.The analysis of the percentage reduction of the RTA in treated subgroups in comparison to the control group revealed the presence of a linear relationship in each subgroup between the percentage reduction of the RTA and the number of cases reporting each percentage threshold considered for the analysis.CONCLUSION Our model seems to be effective for the xenotransplantation of PDAC tissue and evaluation of the effect of each chemotherapy scheme on the xenotransplanted tumor tissue.

Incidental radiological findings suggestive of COVID-19 in asymptomatic patients

Despite routine screening of patients for coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)symptoms and signs at hospital entrances,patients may slip between the cracks and be incidentally discovered to have lung findings that could indicate COVID-19 infection on imaging obtained for other reasons.Multiple case reports and case series have been published to identify the pattern of this highly infectious disease.This article addresses the radiographic findings in different imaging modalities that may be incidentally seen in asymptomatic patients who carry COVID-19.In general,findings of COVID-19 infection may appear in computed tomography(CT),magnetic resonance imaging,positron emission tomography-CT,ultrasound,or plain X-rays that show lung or only apical or basal cuts.The identification of these characteristics by radiologists and clinicians is crucial because this would help in the early recognition of cases so that a rapid treatment protocol can be established,the immediate isolation to reduce community transmission,and the organization of close monitoring.Thus,it is important to both the patient and the physician that these findings are highlighted and reported.