Long-term outcomes and cost savings of office fulguration of papillary Ta low-grade bladder cancer

OBJECTIVES

To assess whether office-based fulguration (OF) under local anaesthesia for small, recurrent, pathological Ta low-grade (LG) non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) is an effective alternative to transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT), avoiding the costs and risks of procedure, and anesthesia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Of 521 patients with primary TaLG NMIBC, this retrospective study included 270 patients who underwent OF during follow-up for recurrent, small, papillary LG-appearing tumours at a university centre (University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada). We assessed the cumulative incidence of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and disease progression (to MIBC or metastases), as well as possible direct cost savings.

RESULTS

In the 270 patients with recurrent TaLG NMIBC treated with OF, the mean (sd) age was 64.9 (13.3) years, 70.8% were men, and 60.3% had single tumours. The mean (sd, range) number of OF procedures per patient was 3.1 (3.2, 1-22). The median (interquartile range) follow-up was 10.1 (5.8-16.2) years. Patients also underwent a mean (sd) of 3.6 (3.0) TURBTs during follow-up in case of numerous or bulkier recurrence. In all, 44.4% of patients never received intravesical therapy. The 10-year incidence of CSM and progression were 0% and 3.1% (95% confidence interval 0.8-5.4%), respectively. Direct cost savings in Ontario were estimated at $6994.14 (Canadian dollars) per patient over the study follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

This study supports that properly selected patients with recurrent, apparent TaLG NMIBC can be safely managed with OF under local anaesthesia with occasional TURBT for larger or numerous recurrent tumours, without compromising long-term oncological outcomes. This approach could generate substantial cost-saving to healthcare systems, is patient-friendly, and could be adopted more widely.

Survival in oral and pharyngeal cancers is catching up with laryngeal cancer in the NORDIC countries through a half century

BACKGROUND

Cancers of the head and neck (HN) are heterogeneous tumors with incidence rates varying globally. In Northern Europe oral and oropharyngeal cancers are the most common individual types. Survival for HN varies by individual tumor type but for most of them survival trends are not well known over extended periods of time.

METHODS

Data for a retrospective survival study were obtained for Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish patients from the NORDCAN database from 1971 to 2020. Relative 1- and 5-year survival rates and 5/1-year conditional survival for years 2-5 were calculated.

RESULTS

Both 1- and 5-year survival improved for all HN cancers but only marginally for laryngeal cancer. For the other cancers a 50-year increase in 5-year survival was about 30% units for nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal cancers, 20% units for oral cancer and somewhat less for hypopharyngeal cancer.

CONCLUSIONS

5-year survival reached about 65% for all HN cancers, except for hypopharyngeal cancer (30%). Human papilloma virus infection is becoming a dominant risk factor for the rapidly increasing oropharyngeal cancer, the prevention of which needs to emphasize oral sex as a route of infection.

Steady survival improvements in soft tissue and bone sarcoma in the Nordic countries through 50 years

PURPOSE

Sarcomas are rare cancers with many subtypes in soft tissues, bone and cartilage. International survival trends in these cancers are not well known. We present 50-year survival trends for soft tissue sarcoma (STS) and bone sarcoma (BS) in Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO) and Sweden (SE).

METHODS

Relative 1-, 5/1 conditional- and 5-year survival data were obtained from the NORDCAN database for years 1971-20. We additionally estimated annual changes in survival rates and determined significant break points.

RESULTS

In the last period, 2016-20, 5-year survival in STS was best for NO men (74.6%) and FI women (71.1%). For the rarer BS, survival rates for SE men (72.0%) and DK women (71.1%) were best. Survival in BS was lower than that in STS in 1971-75 and the difference remained in 2016-20 for men, but for women the rates were almost equal. Sex- and country-specific differences in survival in STS were small. The 50-year improvement in 5-year survival in STS was highest in NO men, 34.0 % units and FI women, 30.0 % units. The highest improvements in BS were in SE men 26.2 % units and in FI women 29.2 % units.

CONCLUSIONS

The steady development in survival over the half century suggests contribution by stepwise improvements in diagnostics, treatment and care. The 10-15% mortality in the first year probably indicates diagnostic delays which could be improved by organizing patient pathways for aggressive rare diseases. Early diagnosis would also reduce metastatic disease and breakthroughs in treatment are a current challenge.

Early mortality critically impedes improvements in thyroid cancer survival through a half century

OBJECTIVES

We analyze survival in thyroid cancer from Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO), and Sweden (SE) over a 50-year period (1971-2020), and additionally consider concomitant changes in incidence and mortality.

DESIGN

Population-based survival study.

METHODS

Relative 1-, 5/1 (conditional)-, and 5-year survival data were obtained from the NORDCAN database for years 1971-2020. Incidence and mortality rates were also assessed.

RESULTS

A novel consistent observation was that 1-year survival was worse than 5/1-year survival but the difference between these decreased with time. Relative 1-year survival in thyroid cancer (mean for the 4 countries) reached 92.7% for men and 95.6% for women; 5-year survival reached 88.0% for men and 93.7% for women. Survival increased most for DK which started at a low level and reached the best survival at the end. Male and female incidence rates for thyroid cancer increased 3- and 4-fold, respectively. In the same time, mortality halved for men and for women, it decreased by 2/3.

CONCLUSIONS

We documented worse relative survival in the first year than in the 4 subsequent years, most likely because of rare anaplastic cancer. Overall survival in thyroid cancer patients increased in the Nordic countries in the course of 50 years; 5-year survival was close to 90% for men and close to 95% for women. Even though overdiagnosis may explain some of 5-year survival increase, it is unlikely to influence the substantial increase in 1-year survival. The unmet need is to increase 1-year survival by diagnosing and treating aggressive tumors before metastatic spread.

Long-Term Periodic and Conditional Survival Trends in Prostate, Testicular, and Penile Cancers in the Nordic Countries, Marking Timing of Improvements

Survival studies are important tools for cancer control, but long-term survival data on high-quality cancer registries are lacking for all cancers, including prostate (PC), testicular (TC), and penile cancers. Using generalized additive models and data from the NORDCAN database, we analyzed 1- and 5-year relative survival for these cancers in Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO), and Sweden (SE) over a 50-year period (1971-2020). We additionally estimated conditional 5/1-year survival for patients who survived the 1st year after diagnosis. Survival improved early for TC, and 5-year survival reached 90% between 1985 (SE) and 2000 (FI). Towards the end of the follow-up, the TC patients who had survived the 1st year survived the next 4 years with comparable probability to the background population. For PC, the 90% landmark was reached between 2000 (FI) and after 2010 (DK). For penile cancer, 5-year survival never reached the 90% landmark, and the improvements in survival were modest at best. For TC, early mortality requires attention, whereas late mortality should be tackled for PC. For penile cancer, the relatively high early mortality may suggest delays in diagnosis and would require more public awareness and encouragement of patients to seek medical opinion. In FI, TC and penile cancer patients showed roughly double risk of dying compared to the other Nordic countries, which warrants further study and clinical attention.

Conditional Survival in Prostate Cancer in the Nordic Countries Elucidates the Timing of Improvements

BACKGROUND

The incidence of prostate cancer (PC) increased vastly as a result of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. Survival in PC improved in the PSA-testing era, but changes in clinical presentation have hampered the interpretation of the underlying causes.

DESIGN

We analyzed survival trends in PC using data from the NORDCAN database for Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO) and Sweden (SE) by analyzing 1-, 5- and 10-year relative survival and conditional relative survival over the course of 50 years (1971-2020).

RESULTS

In the pre-PSA era, survival improved in FI and SE and improved marginally in NO but not in DK. PSA testing began toward the end of the 1980s; 5-year survival increased by approximately 30%, and 10-year survival improved even more. Conditional survival from years 6 to 10 (5 years) was better than conditional survival from years 2 to 5 (4 years), but by 2010, this difference disappeared in countries other than DK. Survival in the first year after diagnosis approached 100%; by year 5, it was 95%; and by year 10, it was 90% in the best countries, NO and SE.

CONCLUSIONS

In spite of advances in diagnostics and treatment, further attention is required to improve PC survival.

Effective intravenous delivery of adenovirus armed with TNFα and IL-2 improves anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade in non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer remains among the most difficult-to-treat malignancies and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The introduction of targeted therapies and checkpoint inhibitors has improved treatment outcomes; however, most patients with advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) eventually fail these therapies. Therefore, there is a major unmet clinical need for checkpoint refractory/resistant NSCLC. Here, we tested the combination of aPD-1 and adenovirus armed with TNFα and IL-2 (Ad5-CMV-mTNFα/mIL-2) in an immunocompetent murine NSCLC model. Moreover, although local delivery has been standard for virotherapy, treatment was administered intravenously to facilitate clinical translation and putative routine use. We showed that treatment of tumor-bearing animals with aPD-1 in combination with intravenously injected armed adenovirus significantly decreased cancer growth, even in the presence of neutralizing antibodies. We observed an increased frequency of cytotoxic tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, including tumor-specific cells. Combination treatment led to a decreased percentage of immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages and an improvement in dendritic cell maturation. Moreover, we observed expansion of the tumor-specific memory T cell compartment in secondary lymphoid organs in the group that received aPD-1 with the virus. However, although the non-replicative Ad5-CMV-mTNFα/mIL-2 virus allows high transgene expression in the murine model, it does not fully reflect the clinical outcome in humans. Thus, we complemented our findings using NSCLC ex vivo models fully permissive for the TNFα and IL-2- armed oncolytic adenovirus TILT-123. Overall, our data demonstrate the ability of systemically administered adenovirus armed with TNFα and IL-2 to potentiate the anti-tumor efficacy of aPD-1 and warrant further investigation in clinical trials.

Survival, Incidence, and Mortality Trends in Female Cancers in the Nordic Countries

Background

Female cancers cover common breast cancers, relatively common endometrial, ovarian, and cervical cancers and rare vulvar cancer. Survival in these cancers is known to be relatively good compared to all cancers but long-term studies for these cancers are rare, and to fill the gap, here, we generate survival data through 50 years.

Materials and Methods

We applied generalized additive models to data from the NORDCAN database and analyzed 1- and 5-year relative survival for these cancers in Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO), and Sweden (SE) over half a century (1971-2020). Conditional 5/1-year survival for patients who survived the 1st year after diagnosis and annual survival changes was also estimated.

Results

In 2016-20, 5-year survival was best for breast cancer reaching 92.3% (in SE), followed by endometrial cancer at 86.1% (SE) and cervical cancer at 75.6% (NO). Improvement in 5-year survival over the 50 years was the largest for ovarian cancer (20% units), finally reaching 52.9% (SE). For vulvar cancer, the final survival was between 70 and 73%. The best 5-year survival rate in 2016-20 was recorded for SE in breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers; NO showed the highest rate for cervical and DK for vulvar cancers. DK had the lowest survival for breast and ovarian cancers, and FI, for the other cancers.

Conclusions

The overall survival development appeared to consist of continuous improvements, most likely because of novel treatment and imaging techniques as well as overall organization of patient care. The large survival improvement for ovarian cancer was probably achieved by a surgical focus on tumors spread in the peritoneal cavity. For cervical and vulvar cancers, the high early mortality requires attention and could be helped by raising increasing public awareness of early symptoms in these cancers and developing pathways for fast initiation of treatment.

Survival in Kidney and Bladder Cancers in Four Nordic Countries through a Half Century

Kidney and bladder cancers share etiology and relatively good recent survival, but long-term studies are rare. We analyzed survival for these cancers in Denmark, Finland, Norway (NO), and Sweden (SE) over a 50-year period (1971-2020). Relative 1- and 5-year survival data were obtained from the NORDCAN database, and we additionally calculated conditional 5/1-year survival. In 2016-2020, 5-year survivals for male kidney (79.0%) and bladder (81.6%) cancers were best in SE. For female kidney cancer, NO survival reached 80.0%, and for bladder cancer, SE survival reached 76.1%. The magnitude of 5-year survival improvements during the 50-year period in kidney cancer was over 40% units; for bladder cancer, the improvement was over 20% units. Survival in bladder cancer was worse for women than for men, particularly in year 1. In both cancers, deaths in the first year were approximately as many as in the subsequent 4 years. We could document an impressive development for kidney cancer with tripled male and doubled female 5-year survival in 50 years. Additionally, for bladder cancer, a steady improvement was recorded. The current challenges are to curb early mortality and target treatment to reduce long-term mortality.

Long-term survival trends in solid cancers in the Nordic countries marking timing of improvements

Survival studies are an important indicator of the success of cancer control. We analyzed the 5-year relative survival in 23 solid cancers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden over a 50-year period (1970-2019) at the NORDCAN database accessed from the International Agency for Research on Cancer website. We plotted survival curves in 5-year periods and showed 5-year periodic survival. The survival results were summarized in four groups: (1) cancers with historically good survival (>50% in 1970-1974) which include melanoma and breast, endometrial and thyroid cancers; (2) cancers which constantly improved survival at least 20% units over the 50 year period, including cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, kidney, brain and ovary; (3) cancer with increase in survival >20% units with changes taking place in a narrow time window, including oral, oropharyngeal, testicular and prostate cancers; (4) the remaining cancers with <20% unit improvement in survival including lung, esophageal, liver, pancreatic, bladder, soft tissue, penile, cervical and vulvar cancers. For cancers in groups 1 and 2, the constant development implied multiple improvements in therapy, diagnosis and patient care. Cancers in group 3 included testicular cancers with known therapeutic improvements but for the others large incidence changes probably implied that cancer stage (prostate) or etiology (oropharynx) changed into a more tractable form. Group 4 cancers included those with dismal survival 50 years ago but a clear tendency upwards. In 17 cancers 5-year survival reached between 50% and 100% while in only six cancers it remained at below 50%.

SURVIVAL IN MELANOMA IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES INTO THE ERA OF TARGETED AND IMMUNOLOGICAL THERAPIES

OBJECTIVES

Survival in melanoma has been increasing and the most recent interest is to observe the population-level impact of novel targeted therapies and immunotherapy. We analysed survival in melanoma from Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO) and Sweden (SE) over a 50-years period (1971-2020).

METHODS

Relative 1-5/1- and 5-year survival data were obtained from the NORDCAN database for the years 1971-2020. We estimated annual changes in survival rates and determined significant breaking points for trends.

RESULTS

Survival in melanoma has reached the point where 1-year survival is approaching 100% (men 97.5-98.6%, women 98.4-99.3%, depending on the country) and 5-year survival is 93% for men (91.5-95.2%) and 96% for women (95.3-97.2%). The highest survival figures were for DK. Significant increases in both 1- and 5-year survival were observed in most countries even towards the end of the follow-up (from 2006 to 2010-2011-2015 and further to 2016-2020).

CONCLUSIONS

The main increase in melanoma survival took place up to year 1990, which was probably largely achieved through successful population campaigns for sun protection and programmes for early detection of lesions. Survival increased again after year 2000 up to the last period 2016-2020. This late development coincided with the introduction of targeted therapies using BRAF and BRAF/MEK inhibitors, and towards the end of the time period availability of checkpoint inhibitors. The success of melanoma treatment in DK was mostly likely due to the efficient use of modern therapies and to the centralised treatment for metastatic disease.

Survival in gastric and esophageal cancers in the Nordic countries through a half century

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer (GC) and esophageal cancer (EC) are among the most fatal cancers and improving survival in them is a major clinical challenge. Nordic cancer data were recently released up to year 2019. These data are relevant for long-term survival analysis as they originate from high-quality national cancer registries from countries with practically free access to health care, thus documenting 'real-world' experience for entire populations.

PATIENTS/METHODS

Data were obtained for Danish (DK), Finnish (FI), Norwegian (NO), and Swedish (SE) patients from the NORDCAN database from years 1970 through 2019. Relative 1- and 5-year survival were analyzed, and additionally the difference between 1- and 5-year survival was calculated as a measure of trends between years 1 and 5 after diagnosis.

RESULTS

Relative 1-year survival for Nordic men and women in GC was 30% in period 1970-74 and it increased close to 60%. Early 5-year survival ranged between 10 and 15% and the last figures were over 30% for all women and NO men while survival for other men remain below 30%. Survival in EC was below that in GC, and it reached over 50% for 1-year survival only for NO patients; 5-year survival reached over 20% only for NO women. For both cancers, the difference between 1- and 5-year survival increased with time. Survival was worst among old patients.

CONCLUSION

GC and EC survival improved over the 50-year period but the increase in 5-year survival was entirely explained by gains in 1-year survival, which improved at an accelerated pace in EC. The likely reasons for improvements are changes in diagnosis, treatment, and care. The challenges are to push survival past year 1 with attention to old patients. These cancers have a potential for primary prevention through the avoidance of risk factors.

Survival in Lung Cancer in the Nordic Countries Through A Half Century

Objective

Lung cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and survival has been poor, although long-term studies have been rare. We analyzed data on survival in lung cancer from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden over a 50-year period (1971-2020).

Methods

Relative 1- and 5-year survival data were obtained from the NORDCAN database for 1971-2020. We used generalized additive models to estimate survival trends over time and uncertainty of these estimates. We additionally calculated conditional survival from the 1st to 5th year (5/1-year), estimated annual changes in survival rates, and determined significant breaking points.

Results

In 2016-2020, 5-year survival rate for lung cancer was best for Norwegian men (26.6%) and women (33.2%). The sex difference was significant and it was found for each country. Survival improved modestly until the year 2000, after which time survival curves increased steeply and kept the linear shape to the end of follow-up, indicating consistent improvement in survival. Survival curves for 1- and 5/1-year survival were almost superimposable, indicating that deaths in the first year were approximately as many as in the subsequent 4 years, thus marking sustained long-term survival.

Conclusion

We could document a positive development in lung cancer survival with steep upward trends after the year 2000. Intensions for curative treatment have been increasing and the outcomes have been improving with the help of novel imaging methods. Pathways for facile patient access to treatment have been instituted. Close to 90% of the patients are ever smokers. National anti-smoking acts and alerting people who smoke about early symptoms may be beneficial, as metastatic lung cancer remains difficult to cure.

Local delivery of interleukin 7 with an oncolytic adenovirus activates tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and causes tumor regression

Cytokines have proven to be effective for cancer therapy, however whilst low-dose monotherapy with cytokines provides limited therapeutic benefit, high-dose treatment can lead to a number of adverse events. Interleukin 7 has shown promising results in clinical trials, but anti-cancer effect was limited, in part due to a low concentration of the cytokine within the tumor. We hypothesized that arming an oncolytic adenovirus with Interleukin 7, enabling high expression localized to the tumor microenvironment, would overcome systemic delivery issues and improve therapeutic efficacy. We evaluated the effects of Ad5/3-E2F-d24-hIL7 (TILT-517) on tumor growth, immune cell activation and cytokine profiles in the tumor microenvironment using three clinically relevant animal models and ex vivo tumor cultures. Our data showed that local treatment of tumor bearing animals with Ad5/3- E2F-d24-hIL7 significantly decreased cancer growth and increased frequency of tumor-infiltrating cells. Ad5/3-E2F-d24-hIL7 promoted notable upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and concomitant activation and migration of CD4+ and CD8 + T cells. Interleukin 7 expression within the tumor was positively correlated with increased number of cytotoxic CD4+ cells and IFNg-producing CD4+ and CD8+ cells. These findings offer an approach to overcome the current limitations of conventional IL7 therapy and could therefore be translated to the clinic.

Incidence and survival in laryngeal and lung cancers in Finland and Sweden through a half century

Global survival studies have shown favorable development in most cancers but few studies have considered laryngeal cancer, particularly over extended periods or in populations for which medical care is essentially free of charge. We analyzed laryngeal and lung cancer incidence and survival in Finland (FI) and Sweden (SE) over a 50-year period (1970–2019) using data and statistical tools from the Nordcan database. Laryngeal cancer reached an incidence maximum in FI men in 1965, which in SE men occurred over 10 years later and peaking at 42% of the FI maximum. The FI incidence halved in 20 years while halving of the SE rate took almost twice as long. At maximum the male rate exceeded the female rate 20 times in FI and 10 times in SE. Incidence rates for lung cancer were approximately 10 times higher than those for laryngeal cancer, and they peaked 5 to 10 years after laryngeal cancer in both countries. The female lung cancer rates increased through the follow-up time but laryngeal cancer rates were relatively stable. Relative 1-year survival data for laryngeal cancer remained at around 85% through 50 years, and 5-year survival lagged constantly around 65%. For lung cancer 1-year survival improved and reached about 50% by 2019. Even 5-year survival improved reaching 20 to 30%, except for FI men. Incidence rates for laryngeal and lung cancers have drastically decreased in FI and SE men parallel to reduced smoking prevalence. In females, rates have clearly increased in lung but not in FI laryngeal cancer. This finding warrants further investigations into possible contributing factors, other than smoking. Survival in laryngeal cancer has not improved compared to the positive development in lung cancer. Historical smoking prevalence was unrelated of survival trends. As long-term survival in these cancers remains discouraging, the most efficient way to fight them is to target the main cause and promote non-smoking.

Case – Intra-abdominal metastases following ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion for primary intracranial germ cell tumor

N/A

Incidence and survival in oral and pharyngeal cancers in Finland and Sweden through half century

Background

Cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx encompass a heterogeneous group of cancers for which known risk factors include smoking, alcohol consumption and human papilloma virus (HPV) infection but their influence is site-specific with HPV mainly influencing oropharyngeal cancer. Their incidence and survival rates are not well known over extended periods of time.

Patients/methods

Data were obtained for Finnish (FI) and Swedish (SE) patients from the Nordcan database recently updated through 2019. Age-adjusted incidence trends (FI from 1953, SE from 1960) and relative survival rates for years 1970 through 2019 were calculated.

Results

We observed a prominent increase in oral and oropharyngeal cancers in FI and SE men and women but the trend for oral cancer was interrupted for SE men in 1985 and possibly also for FI and SE women in 2015. The trend changes in male and female oral cancer was confirmed in data for Denmark and Norway. Relative survival for these cancers has improved overall but they differed for one cluster of oral, oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal cancers with 60–70% 5-year survival in the last period and hypopharyngeal cancer with 25% male survival. In all these cancers, survival for old patients was unfavorable.

Discussion/conclusion

We hypothesize that reduction in smoking prevalence helped to stop the increase in oral cancer especially in men. As the prevalence of smoking is decreasing, HPV is becoming a dominant risk factor, particularly for the increasing oropharyngeal cancer. Prevention needs to emphasize sexual hygiene and HPV vaccination.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09337-2.

Long-term incidence and survival trends in cancer of the gallbladder and extrahepatic bile ducts in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden with etiological implications related to Thorotrast

Cancers of the gallbladder and extrahepatic bile ducts (called here 'GBC' because gallbladder cancer is the main component) are rare in Europe, including the Nordic countries. Their incidence has varied for unknown reasons and we hypothesize that Thorotrast, a previously used carcinogenic radiographic contrast medium, has contributed to the incidence trends. We obtained incidence and survival data from the NORDCAN database, which includes cancer registry data from Denmark (DK), Finland (FI), Norway (NO) and Sweden (SE), which are globally the oldest national cancer databases, starting from 1943 in DK, 1953 in FI and NO and 1960 in SE, and extending to 2016. The incidence trend for GBC showed a broad maximum around 1980 in men (close to 3/100,000) and women (4/100,000), except for NO, where this phenomenon was not seen. In 1955, FI and NO incidence rates were equal but FI rates peaked and later declined similar to DK and SE rates. By 2010, the incidence was similar in all Nordic countries, for both men and women, at close to 2.0/100,000. Birth cohort analysis showed strong effects for countries other than NO. Relative 1-year survival increased for men from 20% to about 50% and similarly for women although at a 5 percentage points lower level. Survival in NO was better than in other countries in the 1980s. Thorotrast, causing a high risk of GBC, was extensively used in the Nordic countries between 1930 and end of 1940s, with the exception of NO, where these was no documented use. These data suggest that Thorotrast influenced GBC epidemiology and probably worsened survival in certain periods. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Survival in bladder and upper urinary tract cancers in Finland and Sweden through 50 years

Survival has improved in bladder cancer but few studies have considered extended periods or covered populations for which medical care is essentially free of charge. We analyzed survival in urothelial cancer (UC, of which vast majority are bladder cancers) in Finland and Sweden over a 50-year period (1967–2016) using data from the NORDCAN database. Finland and Sweden are neighboring countries with largely similar health care systems but higher economic resources and health care expenditure in Sweden. We present results on 1- and 5-year relative survival rates, and additionally provide a novel measure, the difference between 1- and 5-year relative survival, indicating how well survival was maintained between these two periods. Over the 50-year period the median diagnostic age has increased by several years and the incidence in the very old patients has increased vastly. Relative 1- year survival rates increased until early 1990s in both countries, and with minor gains later reaching about 90% in men and 85% in women. Although 5-year survival also developed favorably until early 1990s, subsequent gains were small. Over time, age specific differences in male 1-year survival narrowed but remained wide in 5-year survival. For women, age differences were larger than for men. The limitations of the study were lack of information on treatment and stage. In conclusion, challenges are to improve 5-year survival, to reduce the gender gap and to target specific care to the most common patient group, those of 70 years at diagnosis. The most effective methods to achieve survival gains are to target control of tobacco use, emphasis on early diagnosis with prompt action at hematuria, upfront curative treatment and awareness of high relapse requiring regular cystoscopy follow up.

Oncolytic adenovirus decreases the proportion of TIM-3+ subset of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells with correlation to improved survival in patients with cancer

BACKGROUND

Oncolytic viruses are a potent form of active immunotherapy, capable of invoking antitumor T-cell responses. Meanwhile, less is known about their effects on immune checkpoints, the main targets for passive immunotherapy of cancer. T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-3 (TIM-3) is a coinhibitory checkpoint driving T-cell exhaustion in cancer. Here we investigated the effects of oncolytic adenovirus on the TIM-3 checkpoint on tumor-infiltrating immune cells and clinical impact in patients with cancer receiving oncolytic immunotherapy.

METHODS

Modulation of TIM-3 expression on tumor-infiltrating immune cells was studied preclinically in B16 melanoma following intratumoral treatment with Ad5/3∆24-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor oncolytic adenovirus. We conducted a retrospective longitudinal analysis of 15 patients with advanced-stage cancer with tumor-site biopsies before and after oncolytic immunotherapy, treated in the Advanced Therapy Access Program (ISRCTN10141600, April 5, 2011). Following patient stratification with regard to TIM-3 (increase vs decrease in tumors), overall survival and imaging/marker responses were evaluated by log-rank and Fisher's test, while coinhibitory receptors/ligands, transcriptomic changes and tumor-reactive and tumor-infltrating immune cells in biopsies and blood samples were studied by microarray rank-based statistics and immunoassays.

RESULTS

Preclinically, TIM-3+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in B16 melanoma showed an exhausted phenotype, whereas oncolytic adenovirus treatment significantly reduced the proportion of TIM-3+ TIL subset through recruitment of less-exhausted CD8+ TIL. Decrease of TIM-3 was observed in 60% of patients, which was associated with improved overall survival over TIM-3 increase patients (p=0.004), together with evidence of clinical benefit by imaging and blood analyses. Coinhibitory T-cell receptors and ligands were consistently associated with TIM-3 changes in gene expression data, while core transcriptional exhaustion programs and T-cell dysfunction were enriched in patients with TIM-3 increase, thus identifying patients potentially benefiting from checkpoint blockade. In striking contrast, patients with TIM-3 decrease displayed an acute inflammatory signature, redistribution of tumor-reactive CD8+ lymphocytes and higher influx of CD8+ TIL into tumors, which were associated with the longest overall survival, suggesting benefit from active immunotherapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate a key role for the TIM-3 immune checkpoint in oncolytic adenoviral immunotherapy. Moreover, our results identify TIM-3 as a potential biomarker for oncolytic adenoviruses and create rationale for combination with passive immunotherapy for a subset of patients.

Family History of Head and Neck Cancers

Simple Summary

Head and neck cancers are cancers that arise between the mouth and larynx. Risk factors for these include smoking, alcohol, human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and family history. Because families can be identified for the whole Swedish population, we wanted to analyzed familial risks for HNC with same and different cancers among first-degree relatives. When a parent or sibling was diagnosed with HNC, other family members had a two-fold risk of being diagnosed with HNC, but the risk was higher when specific types of HNC, such as oral or nasopharyngeal cancers, were analyzed. Husbands of wives with cervical cancer had an increased risk of oropharyngeal cancer which may be related to shared HPV infection. In the Swedish population with low smoking levels, HPV is becoming a dominant risk factor, emphasizing the need for sexual hygiene and HPV vaccination.

Abstract

Background: Head and neck cancers (HNCs) encompass a heterogeneous group of cancers between the mouth and larynx. Familial clustering in HNCs has been described, but how it influences individual sites and to which extent known risk factors, such as human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, may contribute is not well established. Patients/methods: We employed standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) to estimate familial risks for HNC with same (concordant) and different (discordant) cancers among first-degree relatives using data from the Swedish Cancer Registry from 1958 to 2018. Results: Incidence for male and female oropharyngeal cancer increased close to four-fold in the past 39 years. Familial HNC was found in 3.4% of the study population, with an overall familial SIR of 1.78. Patients with concordant nasopharyngeal cancer showed a high risk of 23.97, followed by hypopharyngeal cancer (5.43). The husbands of wives with cervical cancer had an increased risk of oropharyngeal cancer. Discussion/Conclusion: Nasopharyngeal cancers lacked associations with lifestyle or HPV associated cancers, suggesting a role for germline genetics, which was also true for the high-risk families of three HNC patients. In the Swedish population with low smoking levels, HPV is becoming a dominant risk factor, emphasizing the need for sexual hygiene and HPV vaccination.

Progress in survival in renal cell carcinoma through 50 years evaluated in Finland and Sweden

Global survival studies have shown favorable development in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment but few studies have considered extended periods or covered populations for which medical care is essentially free of charge. We analyzed RCC survival in Finland and Sweden over a 50-year period (1967-2016) using data from the NORDCAN database provided by the local cancer registries. While the health care systems are largely similar in the two countries, the economic resources have been stronger in Sweden. In addition to the standard 1- and 5-year relative survival rates, we calculated the difference between these as a measure of how well survival was maintained between years 1 and 5. Relative 1- year survival rates increased almost linearly in both countries and reached 90% in Sweden and 80% in Finland. Although 5-year survival also developed favorably the difference between 1- and 5-year survival rates did not improve in Sweden suggesting that the gains in 5-year survival were entirely due to gains in 1-year survival. In Finland there was a gain in survival between years 1 and 5, but the gain in 1-years survival was the main contributor to the favorable 5-year survival. Age group specific analysis showed large survival differences, particularly among women. Towards the end of the follow-up period the differences narrowed but the disadvantage of the old patients remained in 5-year survival. The limitations of the study were lack of information on performed treatment and clinical stage in the NORDCAN database. In conclusion, the available data suggest that earlier diagnosis and surgical treatment of RCC have been the main driver of the favorable change in survival during the past 50 years. The main challenges are to reduce the age-specific survival gaps, particularly among women, and push survival gains past year 1.

Bladder and upper urinary tract cancers as first and second primary cancers

Background

Previous population‐based studies on second primary cancers (SPCs) in urothelial cancers have focused on known risk factors in bladder cancer patients without data on other urothelial sites of the renal pelvis or ureter.

Aims

To estimate sex‐specific risks for any SPCs after urothelial cancers, and in reverse order, for urothelial cancers as SPCs after any cancer. Such two‐way analysis may help interpret the results.

Methods

We employed standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) to estimate bidirectional relative risks of subsequent cancer associated with urothelial cancers. Patient data were obtained from the Swedish Cancer Registry from years 1990 through 2015.

Results

We identified 46 234 urinary bladder cancers (75% male), 940 ureteral cancers (60% male), and 2410 renal pelvic cancers (57% male). After male bladder cancer, SIRs significantly increased for 9 SPCs, most for ureteral (SIR 41.9) and renal pelvic (17.2) cancers. In the reversed order (bladder cancer as SPC), 10 individual FPCs were associated with an increased risk; highest associations were noted after renal pelvic (21.0) and ureteral (20.9) cancers. After female bladder cancer, SIRs of four SPCs were significantly increased, most for ureteral (87.8) and pelvic (35.7) cancers. Female bladder, ureteral, and pelvic cancers associated are with endometrial cancer.

Conclusions

The risks of recurrent urothelial cancers were very high, and, at most sites, female risks were twice over the male risks. Risks persisted often to follow‐up periods of >5 years, motivating an extended patient follow‐up. Lynch syndrome‐related cancers were associated with particularly female urothelial cancers, calling for clinical vigilance.

Incidence trends in bladder and lung cancers between Denmark, Finland and Sweden may implicate oral tobacco (snuff/snus) as a possible risk factor

Background

The dominant risk factor for urinary bladder cancer has been cigarette smoking, but, as smoking prevalence is decreasing in many populations, other risk factors may become uncovered. Such new risk factors could be responsible for halting the declining incidence of bladder cancer. We hypothesize that snuff use by Swedish men may increase the rate for bladder cancer, as snuff contains carcinogenic nitrosamines.

Methods

We carried out an ecological study by comparing incidence trends in lung and bladder cancers between Danish, Finnish and Swedish men in order to test if the Swedish bladder cancer rate deviates from the Danish and Finnish ones. We used the NORDCAN database for cancer data from 1960 through 2016 to test the hypothesis.

Results

In the three countries, the incidence of lung cancer started to decrease after a peak incidence, and this was later followed by declining incidence in bladder cancer in Denmark from 1990 to 2016 by 14.3%, in Finland by 8.3% but not in Sweden (the decline of 1.4% was not significant). The difference in trends can be partly explained by the increasing incidence in Swedish men aged 70 or more years. Sweden differs from the two other countries by low male smoking prevalence but increasing use of snuff recorded by various surveys.

Conclusion

The stable bladder cancer trend for Swedish men was opposite to the declining trends in Denmark, Finland and globally. We suggest that this unusual finding may be related to the increasing use of snuff by Swedish men. Average users of snuff are exposed to at least 3 times higher levels of carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines than a smoker of one daily pack of cigarettes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-021-08371-w.

Oncolytic Adenovirus Type 3 Coding for CD40L Facilitates Dendritic Cell Therapy of Prostate Cancer in Humanized Mice and Patient Samples

Dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines have shown some degree of success for the treatment of prostate cancer (PC). However, the highly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment leads to DC dysfunction, which has limited the effectiveness of these vaccines. We hypothesized that use of a fully serotype 3 oncolytic adenovirus (Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L; TILT-234) could stimulate DCs in the prostate tumor microenvironment by expressing CD40L. Activated DCs would then activate cytotoxic T cells against the tumor, resulting in therapeutic immune responses. Oncolytic cell killing due to cancer cell-specific virus replication adds to antitumor effects but also enhances the immunological effect by releasing tumor epitopes for sampling by DC, in the presence of danger signals. In this study, we evaluated the companion effect of Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L and DC-therapy in a humanized mouse model and PC histocultures. Treatment with Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L and DC resulted in enhanced antitumor responses in vivo. Treatment of established histocultures with Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L induced DC maturation and notable increase in proinflammatory cytokines. In conclusion, Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L is able to modulate an immunosuppressive prostate tumor microenvironment and improve the effectiveness of DC vaccination in PC models and patient histocultures, setting the stage for clinical translation.

Second Primary Cancers After Kidney Cancers, and Kidney Cancers as Second Primary Cancers

Background

Second primary cancers (SPCs) are increasing due to improving survival in first primary cancers. Previous studies on SPCs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have focused on treatment and other risk factors, but data of RCC as an SPC are scarce.

Objective

In this study, we want to elucidate the risk for any SPC after RCC, and in reverse order, for RCC as an SPC after any cancer. We additionally consider how family histories influence the risks.

Design, setting, and participants

Patient data were obtained from the Swedish Cancer Registry from years 1990 through 2015, and family data were obtained from the Multigeneration Register.

Outcome measurements and statistical analysis

We employed standardized incidence ratios to estimate bidirectional relative risks of subsequent cancer associated with RCC.

Results and limitations

We identified 17 587 RCCs (60% in male patients). The highest increases for SPCs were observed for nervous system hemangioblastoma (HB; 26.8), adrenal (12.09) tumors, and renal pelvic cancer (6.32). In the reverse order, RCC as an SPC, nervous system HB (17.01), and adrenal tumors (15.34) were associated with the highest risks. Risks for many other sites (12 sites and subsites) were increased bidirectionally. For women, a total of seven sites and subsites were increased bidirectionally, and many were shared with men. The only significant sex difference in SPCs was the higher lung cancer risk in women (2.41) than in men (1.28). Patients with a family history of HBs or of prostate, colorectal and lung cancers showed high risks of these cancers as SPCs after RCC. Family history accounted for 30% of prostate cancers after RCC.

Conclusions

The bidirectional study design was able to suggest risk factors for SPCs and offered a clinical take-home message urging to consider strategies for early detection and prevention of SPCs. Readily available information on lifestyle (eg, smoking) and family history (eg, prostate cancer) may reveal targets for risk reduction with prognostic benefits.

Patient summary

Close to 10% of kidney cancer patients develop another cancer. The cause for these other cancers may not depend on kidney cancer.

Treatment of Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma: Immunotherapies Have Demonstrated Overall Survival Benefits While Targeted Therapies Have Not

Context

Current guidelines suggest several targeted therapies (TTs) and immunotherapies (ITs) in the treatment of advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Ideal sequencing of these treatments is unclear.

Objective

The primary objective was to evaluate the overall survival (OS) data of the treatments approved for mRCC. Secondary objectives included evaluating other signs of efficacy and adverse events.

Evidence acquisition

We reviewed the current Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for mRCC. Trials associated with approval were reviewed. We also included pre- and postapproval publications when appropriate.

Evidence synthesis

There is minimal evidence supporting OS benefit for the nine approved TTs. They result in adverse events and are a considerable economic burden. For these reasons, their future role in mRCC treatment should be re-evaluated, given the emergence of IT that have demonstrated OS benefits. Accumulating long-term survival data with high-dose interleukin-2 treatment suggests that this older treatment could still be considered for eligible patients. Checkpoint inhibitors have shown promising OS and durable responses; as such, the high cost of treatment might be justified. However, the available evidence does not suggest that adding TT to IT would increase efficacy over IT alone, but would add toxicity.

Conclusions

Trial data supporting OS benefit are much stronger for ITs than for TTs. Combining checkpoint inhibitors with TTs has not been shown to produce better OS than checkpoint inhibitors alone, while more adverse events are present. Granting drug approvals based on efficacy without demonstrated OS benefit should be revisited.

Patient summary

Approved treatments for metastatic kidney cancer include targeted and immune-based therapies. The former commonly produces temporary tumour shrinkage, but survival benefits are unclear. All approved immunotherapies have increased survival, and a proportion of patients appear cured.

Oncolytic viruses for cancer immunotherapy

In this review, we discuss the use of oncolytic viruses in cancer immunotherapy treatments in general, with a particular focus on adenoviruses. These serve as a model to elucidate how versatile viruses are, and how they can be used to complement other cancer therapies to gain optimal patient benefits. Historical reports from over a hundred years suggest treatment efficacy and safety with adenovirus and other oncolytic viruses. This is confirmed in more contemporary patient series and multiple clinical trials. Yet, while the first viruses have already been granted approval from several regulatory authorities, room for improvement remains.

As good safety and tolerability have been seen, the oncolytic virus field has now moved on to increase efficacy in a wide array of approaches. Adding different immunomodulatory transgenes to the viruses is one strategy gaining momentum. Immunostimulatory molecules can thus be produced at the tumor with reduced systemic side effects. On the other hand, preclinical work suggests additive or synergistic effects with conventional treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In addition, the newly introduced checkpoint inhibitors and other immunomodulatory drugs could make perfect companions to oncolytic viruses. Especially tumors that seem not to be recognized by the immune system can be made immunogenic by oncolytic viruses. Logically, the combination with checkpoint inhibitors is being evaluated in ongoing trials. Another promising avenue is modulating the tumor microenvironment with oncolytic viruses to allow T cell therapies to work in solid tumors.

Oncolytic viruses could be the next remarkable wave in cancer immunotherapy.

Tumor microenvironment remodeling by an engineered oncolytic adenovirus results in improved outcome from PD-L1 inhibition

Checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized cancer therapy and validated immunotherapy as an approach. Unfortunately, responses are seen in a minority of patients. Our objective is to use engineered adenoviruses designed to increase lymphocyte trafficking and cytokine production at the tumor, to assess if they increase the response rate to checkpoint inhibition, as these features have been regarded as predictive for the responses. When Ad5/3-E2F-d24-hTNFa-IRES-hIL2 (an oncolytic adenovirus coding for TNFa and IL-2, also known as TILT-123) and checkpoint inhibitors were used together in fresh urological tumor histocultures, a significant shift toward immune activity (not only tumor necrosis alpha and interleukin-2 but also interferon gamma and granzyme B) and increased T-cell trafficking signals (CXCL10) was observed. In vivo, our viruses enabled an anti-PD-L1 (a checkpoint inhibitor) delivering complete responses in all the treated animals (hazard ratios versus anti-PD-L1 alone 0.057 [0.007; 0.451] or virotherapy alone 0.067 [0.011; 0.415]). To conclude, when an engineered oncolytic adenovirus was utilized to modify the tumor microenvironment towards what meta-analyses have pointed as predictive markers for checkpoint inhibitory therapy, the response to them increased synergistically. Of note, key findings were confirmed in fresh patient-derived tumor explants.

Abstract B07: Oncolytic adenovirus 3 coding for CD40L as an enhancer of dendritic cell therapy

Dendritic cell (DC) therapy is considered a promising immunotherapeutic approach for treatment of advanced cancer. However, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment leads to DC dysfunction. Therefore, in clinical trials DC therapy has generally failed to fulfill its expectations. Oncolytic adenoviruses are well tolerated and have shown to activate antitumor immune responses. Importantly, they can convert immunosuppression locally into a proinflammatory state. To improve the proper activation of transferred DCs, we armed oncolytic adenovirus with CD40 ligand (CD40L). CD40L is known to play an important role in the regulation of immune cells through its capacity to stimulate dendritic cells that leads to the activation of cytotoxic T cells. Therefore, we generated a novel virus Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L, which is fully serotype 3 adenovirus (Ad3) for intravenous delivery. It features a human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) promoter for tumor specific replication and expresses human CD40L (hCD40L) under a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter for induction of antitumor efficacy. Of note, human and animal data have shown the ability of Ad3 to successfully reach tumors through the intravenous route. In syngeneic studies in an immunocompetent model, DC therapy with our murine CD40L-armed adenovirus showed significant antitumor immune response. This enhanced therapeutic effect is associated with increased tumor specific T cells and induction of T-helper type 1 immune response. This synergistic effect was further evaluated in mice humanized with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Treatment with hCD40L-armed adenovirus and human DCs showed 100% survival in conjunction with tumor control. To conclude, CD40L armed oncolytic adenovirus 3 improves DC therapy by favorable alteration of tumor microenvironment. These findings support clinical trials where DC therapy is enhanced with oncolytic adenovirus.

Citation Format: João Manuel Santos, Akseli Hemminki, Mikko Siurala, Otto Hemminki, Riikka Havunen, Victor Cervera-Carrascon, Suvi Sorsa, Hongjie Wang, Andre Lieber, Tanja de Gruijl, Anna Kanerva, Sadia Zafar. Oncolytic adenovirus 3 coding for CD40L as an enhancer of dendritic cell therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2018 Nov 27-30; Miami Beach, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2020;8(4 Suppl):Abstract nr B07.

Impact noise of prostate biopsy devices

Objective: To analyse the impact noise generated by prostate biopsy devices.Materials and methods: In a laboratory setting, repeated impact noise was recorded at distances of 50 cm and 100 cm using five brands of device on chicken meat, an apple and an empty target. In a clinical setting, the impact noise levels of prostate biopsy devices were recorded in 40 real patient cases using three brands of device.Results: In the laboratory setting, the average SPL (sound pressure level) peak level ranged from 104.3 to 121.3 dB. The highest impact noise levels were measured with the Monopty device, ranging from 114.8 to 122.4 dB. In the clinical setting, there were no statistical differences between repeated SPL values for each specific target. Also, the noise levels were equal when the same device brand was used at 50 cm and 100 cm. The highest SPLs were recorded with the Monopty device, which ranged from 110 to 127 dB. The corresponding values for the Max-Core and Multicore were from 106 to 122.5 dB and from 108 to 116.5 dB, respectively.Conclusions: Biopsy devices generate high peak levels of impact noise. Personnel performing biopsies are advised to consider using hearing protection, even though the impact noise may not induce permanent hearing loss.

Comparison of Familial Clustering of Anogenital and Skin Cancers Between In Situ and Invasive Types

Literature on familial risk of carcinomas in situ (CISs) is limited because many cancer registries do not collect information on CIS. In Sweden CISs are collected, and we used these data to analyze familial relative risks (RRs) for concordant (CIS-CIS) types of anogenital (cervical, other female and male genital and anal) and skin squamous cell CIS; additionally RRs were assessed between CIS types and between CIS and invasive forms. RRs were calculated for the offspring generations when family members were diagnosed CIS. Case numbers for CIS ranged from 330 in anal to 177,285 in cervical CIS. Significant concordant CIS-CIS RRs were 2.74 for female genital, 1.77 for cervical and 2.29 for SCC skin CISs. The CIS forms associated also with each other, except for cervical and skin CIS types. RRs for concordant CIS-invasive cancer associations were lower than CIS-CIS associations. Cervical CIS associated with non-Hodgkin CIS which may suggest immune dysfunction as a contributing factors. The results for anogenital CIS types suggest that life style related human papilloma virus infections contributed to the observed familial associations. Lower risks for CIS-invasive cancer than CIS-CIS suggest that CIS and invasive cancers share only partially risk factors that underlie familial clustering.

Familial Clustering, Second Primary Cancers and Causes of Death in Penile, Vulvar and Vaginal Cancers

Data on familial risks in penile and vulvar/vaginal cancers and in second primary cancers (SPCs) following these cancers are limited. We used the Swedish Family-Cancer Database from years 1958 through 2015 to identify 3641 penile and 8856 vulvar/vaginal cancers and to calculate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for these cancers according to site-specific cancer in family members; additionally risk for SPCs was calculated. The familial RR for concordant (same) penile cancer was 3.22 (1.34-7.74), and it was 2.72 (1.69-4.39) for vulvar/vaginal cancer; RRs were increased for vulvar/vaginal cancer in families of anal cancer patients. RR for second penile cancer after penile cancers was 11.68 (7.95-17.18), while that for concordant vulvar/vaginal cancer was 9.03 (7.31-11.15). SPCs were diagnosed in 16.8% of penile cancer patients and in them 45.9% of deaths were caused by SPC (other than penile cancer). In vulvar/vaginal cancer patients with SPC, 36.4% of deaths were due to SPC. The results showed that these genital cancers might run in families and as SPCs are associated with human papilloma virus and smoking related cancers. Risk for these genital and anal SPCs are high and a follow-up plan should be agreed at diagnosis of these cancers.

Cancer-Targeted Oncolytic Adenoviruses for Modulation of the Immune System

Adenovirus is one of the most commonly used vectors for gene therapy and it is the first approved virus-derived drug for treatment of cancer. As an oncolytic agent, it can induce lysis of infected cells, but it can also engage the immune system, promoting activation and maturation of antigen- presenting cells (APCs). In essence, oncolysis combined with the associated immunostimulatory actions result in a "personalized in situ vaccine" for each patient. In order to take full advantage of these features, we should try to understand how adenovirus interacts with the immune system, what are the receptors involved in triggering subsequent signals and which kind of responses they elicit. Tackling these questions will give us further insight in how to manipulate adenovirus-mediated immune responses for enhancement of anti-tumor efficacy. In this review, we first highlight how oncolytic adenovirus interacts with the innate immune system and its receptors such as Toll-like receptors, nucleotide-binding and oligomerization domain (NOD)- like receptors and other immune sensors. Then we describe the effect of these interactions on the adaptive immune system and its cells, especially B and T lymphocytes. Finally, we summarize the most significant preclinical and clinical results in the field of gene therapy where researchers have engineered adenovirus to manipulate the host immune system by expressing cytokines and signalingmediators.

Effect of Genetic Modifications on Physical and Functional Titers of Adenoviral Cancer Gene Therapy Constructs

After the discovery and characterization of the adenovirus in the 1950s, this prevalent cause of the common cold and other usually mild diseases has been modified and utilized in biomedicine in several ways. To date, adenoviruses are the most frequently used vectors and therapeutic (e.g., oncolytic) agents with a number of beneficial features. They infect both dividing and nondividing cells, enable high-level, transient protein expression, and are easy to amplify to high concentrations. As an important and versatile research tool, it is of essence to understand the limits and advantages that genetic modification of adenovirus vectors may entail. Therefore, a retrospective analysis was performed of adenoviral gene therapy constructs produced in the same laboratory with similar methods. The aim was to assess the impact of various modifications on the physical and functional titer of the virus. It was found that genome size (designed within "the 105% golden rule") did not significantly affect the physical titer of the adenovirus preparations, regardless of the type of transgene (e.g., immunostimulatory vs. other), number of engineered changes, and size of the mutated virus genome. One statistically significant exception was noted, however. Chimeric adenoviruses (5/3) had a slightly lower physical titer compared to Ad5-based viruses, although a trend for the opposite was true for functional titers. Thus, 5/3 chimeric viruses may in fact be appealing from a safety versus efficacy viewpoint. Armed viruses had lower functional and physical titers than unarmed viruses, while five genomic modifications started to decrease functional titer. Importantly, even highly modified armed viruses generally had good titers compatible with clinical testing. In summary, this paper shows the plasticity of adenovirus for various vector, oncolytic, and armed oncolytic uses. These results inform future generations of adenovirus-based drugs for human use. This information is directly transferable to academic laboratories and the biomedical industry involved in vector design and production optimization.

Prostate cancer survivors: Risk and mortality in second primary cancers

To assess etiological and clinical consequences of second primary cancers (SPCs) in prostate cancer (PC) patients, we followed newly diagnosed patients to identify men who were diagnosed with a SPC and recorded their causes of death. We used the Swedish Family‐Cancer Database to assess relative risks (RRs) and causes of death in SPCs until the year 2015 in patients with a PC diagnosis between 2001 and 2010. Among a total of 4.26 million men, 76 614 were diagnosed with PC at the median age of 71 years. Among them, 8659 (11.3%) received a subsequent diagnosis of SPC after a median follow‐up of 4 years. The most common SPCs were colorectal, skin, bladder, and lung cancers, melanoma, and non‐Hodgkin lymphoma. The ranking was almost identical with first cancers among elderly men in Sweden. The RR for SPCs in prostate‐specific antigen—detected PC was approximately equal to RR in other PC. Mortality patterns of PC patients were distinct depending on the presence or absence of SPC. Among patients with SPC, 47.8% died as a result of the corresponding SPC, followed by other causes (22.2%) and PC (18.1%). For patients without SPC, PC and non‐neoplastic causes almost matched each other as the main causes of death (48.5% and 47.8%). The results suggest that SPCs appear autonomous from primary PC and reflect incidence and mortality of first cancers in general. SPC was the most common cause of death in patients with SPC; close to half of the patients died due to SPC. For improved survival in PC patients, prevention and early detection of SPCs would be important, and the present results suggest that risk factors for SPC in PC are the same as those for first cancer in general.

CD40L coding oncolytic adenovirus allows long-term survival of humanized mice receiving dendritic cell therapy

Dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial players in promoting immune responses. Logically, adoptive DC therapy is a promising approach in cancer immunotherapy. One of the major obstacles in cancer immunotherapy in general is the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which hampers the maturation and activation of DCs. Therefore, human clinical outcomes with DC therapy alone have been disappointing. In this study, we use fully serotype 3 oncolytic adenovirus Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L, expressing human CD40L, to modulate the tumor microenvironment with subsequently improved function of DCs. We evaluated the synergistic effects of Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L and DCs in the presence of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells ex vivo and in vivo. Tumors treated with Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L and DCs featured greater antitumor effect compared with unarmed virus or either treatment alone. 100% of humanized mice survived to the end of the experiment, while mice in all other groups died by day 88. Moreover, adenovirally-delivered CD40L induced activation of DCs, leading to induction of Th1 immune responses. These results support clinical trials with Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L in patients receiving DC therapy.

Familial Associations in Testicular Cancer with Other Cancers

Familial risks for testicular cancer (TC) are among the highest of all cancers. However, data are limited for histological types of TC and for possible familial associations of TC with other cancers. We used the nationwide Swedish Family-Cancer Database for years 1958 to 2015 to analyse familial relative risks (RR) for 11,138 TC patients when first-degree relatives were diagnosed with TC or other cancer in reference to those without a family history. A total of 191 familial TCs were found, which accounted for 2.0% of all TC. The RR was 5.06 when one family member was diagnosed with TC with no significant difference between seminoma and nonseminoma. However, the risk for nonseminoma was 33.59 when two family members were affected. Internally consistent familial associations of TC, particularly of seminoma, were found with breast and nervous system cancers and melanoma. Individual significant associations were found for a number of sites, including ovarian, endometrial and prostate cancers. Our results suggest that nonseminoma may have a stronger genetic background than seminoma but seminoma shares more familial associations with discordant cancers. Clustering of TC with hormone-dependent cancers of the breast, ovary, endometrium and prostate may suggest mechanistic links and possibly gene-environment interactions.

Familial risks in and between stone diseases: sialolithiasis, urolithiasis and cholelithiasis in the population of Sweden

BACKGROUND

According to the literature the three stone diseases, sialolithiasis (SL), urolithiasis (UL) and cholelithiasis (CL) share comorbidities. We assess familial and spouse risks between these stone disease and compare them to familial risks for concordant (same) stone disease.

METHODS

Study population including familiar relationships was obtained from the Swedish Multigeneration Register and stone disease patients were identified from nation-wide medical records. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for 0-83 year old offspring when their first-degree relatives were diagnosed with stone disease and the rates were compared to individuals without a family history of stone disease. Numbers of offspring with SL were 7906, for UL they were 170,757 and for CL they were 204,369.

RESULTS

SIRs for concordant familial risks were 2.06 for SL, 1.94 for UL and 1.82 for CL. SIRs for SL and UL were slightly higher for women than for men. Familial risks between stone diseases were modest. The highest risk of 1.17 was for UL when family members were diagnosed with CL, or vice versa. The SIR for UL was 1.15 when family members were diagnosed with SL. Familial risks among spouses were increased only for UL-CL pairs (1.10).

CONCLUSIONS

Familial risks for concordant SL were 2.06 and marginally lower for the other diseases. Familial risks between stone diseases were low but higher than risks between spouses. The data show that familial clustering is unique to each individual stone disease which would imply distinct disease mechanisms. The results cast doubt on the reported comorbidities between these diseases.

Oncograms Visualize Factors Influencing Long-Term Survival of Cancer Patients Treated with Adenoviral Oncolytic Immunotherapy

The first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- and EMA-approved oncolytic virus has been available since 2015. However, there are no markers available that would predict benefit for the individual patient. During 2007–2012, we treated 290 patients with advanced chemotherapy-refractory cancers, using 10 different oncolytic adenoviruses. Treatments were given in a Finnish Medicines Agency (FIMEA)-regulated individualized patient treatment program (the Advanced Therapy Access Program [ATAP]), which required long-term follow-up of patients, which is presented here. Focusing on the longest surviving patients, some key clinical and biological features are presented as “oncograms.” Some key attributes that could be captured in the oncogram are suggested to predict treatment response and survival after oncolytic adenovirus treatment. The oncogram includes immunological laboratory parameters assessed in peripheral blood (leukocytes, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, interleukin-8 [IL-8], HMGB1, anti-viral neutralizing antibody status), features of the patient (gender, performance status), tumor features (histological tumor type, tumor load, region of metastases), and oncolytic virus-specific features (arming of the virus). The retrospective approach used here facilitates verification in a prospective controlled trial setting. To our knowledge, the oncogram is the first holistic attempt to identify the patients most likely to benefit from adenoviral oncolytic virotherapy.

Familial risks in urolithiasis in the population of Sweden

OBJECTIVE

To assess detailed familial risks for medically diagnosed urolithiasis (UL, urinary tract stone disease) based on nationwide hospital and population records.

PATIENTS/SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Subjects were identified from the Swedish Multigeneration Register in which there were 211 718 patients with UL. Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated by comparison to individuals without a family history of UL.

RESULTS

The highest familial SIRs were invariably found for the same (concordant) type of UL: 2.18 for kidney, 2.20 for ureter, and 1.93 for bladder. SIRs increased from 1.84, when one parent was affected, to 3.54 when both parents were affected, which was a multiplicative interaction. The SIR was 1.79 when one sibling was affected but it increased to 24.91 when two siblings were affected. Such excessive risks (5.2% of familial cases) are probably explained by high-penetrant genes. A low SIR of 1.29 between spouses suggested a minor contribution by shared environmental factors on the familial risk.

CONCLUSIONS

The results point to underlying genetic causes for the observed familial clustering and establish the genetic landscape of UL. Family histories should be taken in UL diagnostics and prevention could follow guidelines recommended for recurrent UL.

Familial risks for gallstones in the population of Sweden

Objectives

Gallstone disease (cholelithiasis) has a familial component, but detailed data on the modification of familial risk are lacking. Using nationwide hospital and population records, we aimed to determine detailed familial risks for medically diagnosed gallstone disease.

Design

Subjects were obtained from the Multigeneration Register, which contains family data on the Swedish population, and patients with gallstone disease were identified from the Hospital Discharge Register (1964-2015) and the Outpatient Register (2001-2015). Standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated as the ratio of observed to expected number of cases.

Results

Gallstone disease was diagnosed in 660 732 patients, with an overall incidence of 131 per 100 000 person-years. Familial cases accounted for 36.0% of all patients with gallstone disease. Of these, 50.9% had a parental family history (SIR 1.62), 35.1% had a sibling history (SIR 1.75) and 14.0% had a parental+sibling history (SIR 2.58). Among a total of 54 630 affected siblings, 84.4% were sibling pairs (SIR 1.55). However, the remaining 15.6% of the affected siblings constituted the high-risk group of multiple affected siblings and an SIR >10; these persons accounted for 7.7% of all familial cases. The spousal risk was only slightly increased to 1.18.

Conclusions

Overall, the results point to the underlying genetic causes for the observed familial clustering, which may involve polygenic gene-environmental interactions for most familial cases but high-risk genes in close to 10% of cases. Family histories should be taken into account in the medical setting and used for counselling of at-risk individuals.

Intravenously usable fully serotype 3 oncolytic adenovirus coding for CD40L as an enabler of dendritic cell therapy

Vaccination with dendritic cells (DCs), the most potent professional antigen-presenting cells in the body, is a promising approach in cancer immunotherapy. However, tumors induce immunosuppression in their microenvironment that suppresses and impairs the function of DCs. Therefore, human clinical trials with DC therapy have often been disappointing. To improve the therapeutic efficacy and to overcome the major obstacles of DC therapy, we generated a novel adenovirus, Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L, which is fully serotype 3 and expresses hCD40L for induction of antitumor immune response. The specific aim is to enhance DCs function. Data from a human cancer patient indicated that this capsid allows effective transduction of distant tumors through the intravenous route. Moreover, patient data suggested that virally produced hCD40L can activate DCs in situ. The virus was efficient in vitro and had potent antitumor activity in vivo. In a syngeneic model, tumors treated with Ad5/3-CMV-mCD40L virus plus DCs elicited greater antitumor effect as compared with either treatment alone. Moreover, virally coded CD40L induced activation of DCs, which in turn, lead to the induction of a Th1 immune response and increased tumor-specific T cells. In conclusion, Ad3-hTERT-CMV-hCD40L is promising for translation into human trials. In particular, this virus could enable successful dendritic cell therapy in cancer patients.