Bayesian Analysis Supports Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Exploring nanocarriers as innovative materials for advanced drug delivery strategies in onco-immunotherapies

In recent years, Onco-immunotherapies (OIMTs) have been shown to be a potential therapy option for cancer. Several immunotherapies have received regulatory approval, while many others are now undergoing clinical testing or are in the early stages of development. Despite this progress, a large number of challenges to the broad use of immunotherapies to treat cancer persists. To make immunotherapy more useful as a treatment while reducing its potentially harmful side effects, we need to know more about how to improve response rates to different types of immunotherapies. Nanocarriers (NCs) have the potential to harness immunotherapies efficiently, enhance the efficiency of these treatments, and reduce the severe adverse reactions that are associated with them. This article discusses the necessity to incorporate nanomedicines in OIMTs and the challenges we confront with current anti-OIMT approaches. In addition, it examines the most important considerations for building nanomedicines for OIMT, which may improve upon current immunotherapy methods. Finally, it highlights the applications and future scenarios of using nanotechnology.

Survival benefit of perioperative locoregional adjuvant treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombosis: A systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

To identify the optimal strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) by comparing the oncological prognosis of different perioperative locoregional adjuvant treatments.

METHODS

Electronic database were searched for relevant studies. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were pooled by pairwise and network meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Fourteen eligible trials with 1927 patients and covering four adjuvant treatments were included. All adjuvant therapies in combination with surgery were shown to be superior to surgery alone. Adjuvant therapy with radiotherapy had the lowest hazard ratio (HR) for both OS (HR: 0.38, 95% CrI: 0.25-0.57) and RFS (HR: 0.27, 95% CrI: 0.11-0.65) compared with other combination treatments, with estimated surface under the cumulative ranking of 93.2% and 82.7%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Perioperative locoregional adjuvant therapy provides OS benefits and reduces the risk of recurrence for patients suffering from HCC with PVTT. Radiotherapy is likely to be the most effective adjuvant regimen.

Transmembrane and coiled-coil domains 3 is a diagnostic biomarker for predicting immune checkpoint blockade efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma

Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) is a malignancy with a high mortality and morbidity rate worldwide. However, the pathogenesis of LIHC has still not been thoroughly studied. Transmembrane and coiled-coil domains 3 (TMCO3) encodes a monovalent cation, a member of the proton transducer 2 (CPA2) family of transporter proteins. In the present study, TMCO3 expression and its relationship with cancer prognosis, as well as its immunological role in LIHC were studied by bioinformatic analysis. We found the significant overexpression of TMCO3 in LIHC in the TCGA, HCCDB, and GEO databases. In LIHC patients, high TMCO3 expression was related to poorer overall survival (OS) and TMCO3 had good predictive accuracy for prognosis. Moreover, TMCO3 was linked to the infiltrates of certain immune cells in LIHC. The correlation of TMCO3 with immune checkpoints was also revealed. Moreover, patients with LIHC with low TMCO3 expression showed a better response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) than those with LIHC with high TMCO3 expression. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that TMCO3 was probably involved in the microtubule cytoskeleton organization involved in mitosis, small GTPase mediated signal transduction, and TGF-β pathway. In conclusion, TMCO3 may be a potential biomarker for LIHC prognosis and immunotherapy.