Frontiers in oncology
-
Frontiers in oncology · Jan 2019
ReviewUnderstanding the Mechanisms of Resistance to CAR T-Cell Therapy in Malignancies.
Taking advantage of the immune system to exert an antitumor effect is currently a novel approach in cancer therapy. Adoptive transfer of T cells engineered to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting a desired antigen has shown extraordinary antitumor activity, especially in refractory and relapsed B-cell malignancies. ⋯ However, with the widespread use of CAR T-cell therapy, problems of resistance and relapse are starting to be considered. This review provides a comprehensive picture of the mechanisms of resistance to CAR T-cell therapy from three aspects, namely, CAR T-cell factors, tumor factors, and tumor microenvironment factors, offering insights for improving CAR T-cell therapy.
-
Frontiers in oncology · Jan 2019
Combination of Intravesical Bacille Calmette-Guérin and Chemotherapy vs. Bacille Calmette-Guérin Alone in Non-muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.
Background: About 75% of newly diagnosed bladder cancer cases suffer from non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), which used to recur and progress despite transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). This meta-analysis was conducted to examine if combined application of intravesical bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) with chemotherapy is associated with better prognosis. Methods: Systematic searches of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concerning NMIBC were performed in PubMed, EMbase, CENTRAL, CNKI, WanFang, VIP, CBM databases, and some specialized websites. ⋯ The rate of fever (RR = 0.50, 95%CI: 0.27-0.91, P = 0.02), irritative bladder symptoms (RR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.52-0.90, P = 0.007) and hematuria (RR = 0.50, 95%CI: 0.28-0.89, P = 0.02) were significantly decreased in patients treated with combination therapy compared to those with BCG alone. There were no statistically significant differences between combination therapy and BCG alone in toxicity (RR = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.34-1.40, P = 0.30), gastrointestinal reaction (RR = 2.54, 95%CI: 0.61-10.60, P = 0.20) or cystitis (RR = 0.67, 95%CI: 0.29-1.54, P = 0.34). Conclusions: Combined application of intravesical BCG and chemotherapy appears to be an effective treatment for patients with intermediate- to high-risk NMIBC, but not for those with tumor in situ alone or recurrent bladder cancer.
-
Frontiers in oncology · Jan 2019
Prognostic Role of Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients With Bladder Cancer: A Meta-Analysis.
Background: Many studies have been reported that platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) may be associated with the prognosis of bladder cancer, but the results are inconsistent. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of pretreatment PLR on the prognosis of bladder cancer. Methods: The databases PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched. ⋯ An elevated PLR was significantly associated with poorer overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.03-1.54, p = 0.026), but not with cancer-specific survival (CSS) (HR = 1.15, 95% CI = 0.95-1.38, p = 0.149), or recurrence-free survival (RFS) (HR = 1.72, 95% CI = 0.79-3.75, p = 0.175). In addition, high PLR was correlated with age ≥ 65 years (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.24-2.67, p = 0.002), whereas was not significantly correlated with sex, tumor grade, tumor stage, distant metastasis, or tumor size. Conclusions: The pretreatment PLR could serve as a predicative biomarker of poor prognosis for patients with bladder cancer.
-
Frontiers in oncology · Jan 2019
The Predictive Value of Tumor Mutation Burden on Efficacy of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Cancers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Background: Despite an increasing understanding about tumor mutation burden (TMB) in cancer immunity and cancer immunotherapy, the comprehensive cognition between TMB and efficiency of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is still lacking. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the predictive value of TMB on efficacy of ICIs. Methods: Systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library up to June 16, 2019. ⋯ Furthermore, TMB and PD-L1 expression were capable to predict improved ORR of ICIs after stratification of each other, with tiny heterogeneity. Conclusions: High tumor mutation burden predicted improved efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancers, and targeted next generation sequencing for estimating tumor mutation burden in clinic should be standardized to eliminate heterogeneity in the future. Moreover, tumor mutation burden and programmed cell death ligand 1 expression were independent factors on predicting efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
-
Frontiers in oncology · Jan 2019
Diagnostic Accuracy of Multi-Parametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Tumor Staging of Bladder Cancer: Meta-Analysis.
Purpose: Evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) for local staging of bladder cancer (BCa). Materials and Methods: The databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Wanfang, and CNKI were searched for related literatures about BCa diagnosed by mp-MRI from January 1, 2000 to April 12, 2019. The strict inclusion and exclusion criteria were set up to extract records. ⋯ The Begg's test (p = 0.497) and the egger's test (p = 0.337) found no publication bias. Conclusion: mp-MRI acts a good diagnostic performance for bladder cancer. It is plausible that mpMRIs can be used as an important method for bladder cancer staging.