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Research

Cancer chemotherapy: insights into cellular and tumor microenvironmental mechanisms of action

Chemotherapy has historically been the mainstay of cancer treatment, but our understanding of what drives a successful therapeutic response remains limited.

Research

Experience of patients with lung cancer and with targeted therapy-related skin adverse drug reactions: A qualitative study

To explore the experience of non-small-cell lung cancer patients with targeted therapy-related skin adverse drug reactions.

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The health-related quality of life of lung cancer patients with EGFR-The Kids-related skin adverse drug reactions and its relationship with coping style and self-management

The status and associated factors of the health-related quality of life of non-small-cell lung cancer patients under targeted anti-cancer therapy have not been investigated. Self-management and coping style have been proven to be closely related to patients’ health-related quality of life.

Research

Inhibition of Autophagy Promotes the Elimination of Liver Cancer Stem Cells by CD133 Aptamer-Targeted Delivery of Doxorubicin

Doxorubicin is the most frequently used chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, one major obstacle to the effective management of liver cancer is the drug resistance derived from the cancer stem cells.

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Malignant Pleural Effusions—A Window Into Local Anti-Tumor T Cell Immunity?

The success of immunotherapy that targets inhibitory T cell receptors for the treatment of multiple cancers has seen the anti-tumor immune response re-emerge as a promising biomarker of response to therapy. Longitudinal characterization of T cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME) helps us understand how to promote effective anti-tumor immunity. However, serial analyses at the tumor site are rarely feasible in clinical practice.

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Targeting cross-presentation as a route to improve the efficiency of peptide-based cancer vaccines

Cross-presenting dendritic cells (DC) offer an attractive target for vaccination due to their unique ability to process exogenous antigens for presentation on MHC class I molecules. Recent reports have established that these DC express unique surface receptors and play a critical role in the initiation of anti-tumor immunity, opening the way for the development of vaccination strategies specifically targeting these cells.

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IFNβ Is a Potent Adjuvant for Cancer Vaccination Strategies

Cancer vaccination drives the generation of anti-tumor T cell immunity and can be enhanced by the inclusion of effective immune adjuvants such as type I interferons (IFNs). Whilst type I IFNs have been shown to promote cross-priming of T cells, the role of individual subtypes remains unclear. Here we systematically compared the capacity of distinct type I IFN subtypes to enhance T cell responses to a whole-cell vaccination strategy in a pre-clinical murine model.

Research

Making a Killer: Selecting the Optimal Natural Killer Cells for Improved Immunotherapies

Over the past 20 years natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapies have emerged as a safe and effective treatment option for patients with relapsed or refractory leukemia. Unlike T cell-based therapies, NK cells harbor an innate capacity to eliminate malignant cells without prior sensitization and can be adoptively transferred between individuals without the need for extensive HLA matching.

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Comprehensive Testing of Chemotherapy and Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Preclinical Cancer Models Identifies Additive Combinations

Antibodies that target immune checkpoints such as cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA‐4) and the programmed cell death protein 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) are now a treatment option for multiple cancer types. However, as a monotherapy, objective responses only occur in a minority of patients. Chemotherapy is widely used in combination with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Although a variety of isolated immunostimulatory effects have been reported for several classes of chemotherapeutics, it is unclear which chemotherapeutics provide the most benefit when combined with ICB.

Research

Adherence to Oral Targeted Anti-Lung Cancer Therapy: A Qualitative Interview Study

Oral targeted antineoplastic drugs (OTADs) are becoming more and more acceptable for lung cancer treatment due to their advantages such as the convenience of administration and milder side effects. However, medication adherence represents a major issue for prolonged OTAD treatment.