Updates on immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer

Development and Verification of a Prostate Cancer Prognostic Signature Based on an Immunogenomic Landscape Analysis

Purpose

Prostate cancer (PCa) has a high incidence among older men. Until now, there are no immunological markers available to predict PCa patients’ survival. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the immunological characteristics of PCa.

Methods

First, we retrieved RNA-seq and clinical data of 499 PCa and 52 normal prostate tissue samples from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We identified 193 differentially expressed immune-related genes (IRGs) between PCa and normal prostate tissues. Functional enrichment analyses showed that the immune system can participate in PCa initiation. Then, we constructed a correlation network between transcription factors (TFs) and IRGs. We performed univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses and identified five key prognostic IRGs (S100A2, NOX1, IGHV7-81, AMH, and AGTR1). Finally, a predictive nomogram was established and verified by the C-index.

Results

We successfully constructed and validated an immune-related PCa prediction model. The signature could independently predict PCa patients’ survival. Results showed that high-immune-risk patients were correlated with advanced stage. We also validated the S100A2 expression in vitro using PCa and normal prostate tissues. We found that higher S100A2 expressions were related to lower biochemical recurrences. Additionally, higher AMH expressions were related to higher Gleason score, lymph node metastasis and positive rate, and tumor stages, and higher ATGR1 expressions were related to lower PSA value.

Conclusion

Overall, we detected five IRGs (S100A2, NOX1, IGHV7-81, AMH, and AGTR1) that can be used as independent PCa prognostic factors.

Efficacy of aerosol therapy of lung cancer correlates with EGFR paralysis induced by AvidinOX-anchored biotinylated Cetuximab

Lung cancer, as well as lung metastases from distal primary tumors, could benefit from aerosol treatment. Unfortunately, because of lung physiology, clearance of nebulized drugs is fast, paralleled by unwanted systemic exposure. Here we report that nebulized AvidinOX can act as an artificial receptor for biotinylated drugs. In nude and SCID mice with advanced human KRAS-mutated A549 metastatic lung cancer, pre-nebulization with AvidinOX enables biotinylated Cetuximab to control tumor growth at a dose lower than 1/25,000 the intravenous effective dose. This result correlates with a striking, specific and unpredictable effect of AvidinOX-anchored biotinylated Cetuximab, as well as Panitumumab, observed on a panel of tumor cell lines, leading to inhibition of dimerization and signalling, blockade of endocytosis, induction of massive lysosomal degradation and abrogation of nuclear translocation of EGFR. Excellent tolerability, together with availability of pharmaceutical-grade AvidinOX and antibodies, will allow rapid clinical translation of the proposed therapy.