Background. Worldwide, lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. Nevertheless, new therapeutic agents have been developed to treat lung cancer that could change this mortality-rate. Interestingly, incredible advances have occurred in recent years in the development and application of nanotechnology in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer. Aim. Nanoparticles have the ability to incorporate multiple drugs and targeting agents and therefore lead to an improved bioavailability, sustained delivery, solubility, and intestinal absorption. Relevance for patients. This review briefly summarizes the latest innovations in therapeutic nanomedicine in lung cancer with examples on magnetic, lipid and polymer nanoparticles. Emphasis will be placed on future studies and ongoing clinical trials in this field.

Despite most metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients benefit from abiraterone acetate plus prednisone 5 mg bid (AA + P), resistance eventually occurs. Long-term use of prednisone has been suggested as one of the mechanisms driving resistance, which may be reversed by switching to another steroid. SWITCH was a single-arm, open-label, single-stage phase II study. The primary objective was to evaluate the antitumour activity of abiraterone acetate plus dexamethasone 0.5 mg daily (AA + D) in mCRPC patients progressing to AA + P. Clinically stable mCRPC patients who had prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and/or limited radiographic progression after at least 12 weeks on AA + P, were eligible. The primary endpoint was measured as the proportion of patients achieving a PSA decline of ≥ 30% (PSA30) from baseline after 6 weeks on AA + D. Secondary endpoints included: PSA50 response rate at 12 weeks, time to biochemical and radiological progression, overall survival, safety profile evaluation, benefit from subsequent treatment lines and the identification of biomarkers of response (AR copy number, TMPRSS2-ERG status and PTEN expression). Twenty-six patients were enrolled. PSA30 and PSA50 were 46.2% and 34.6%, respectively. Median time to biochemical and radiological progression were 5.3 and 11.8 months, respectively. Two radiological responses were observed. Median overall survival was 20.9 months. Patients with AR gain detected in plasma circulating tumour DNA did not respond to switch, whereas patients with AR normal status benefited the most. No significant toxicities were observed and PSA50 response rate to subsequent taxane was 50%. In selected clinical stable mCRPC patients with limited disease progression on AA + P, a steroid switch from prednisone to dexamethasone can lead to PSA and radiological responses.

There is clinically relevant molecular heterogeneity in prostate cancer (PCa), but this biological diversity has had only a minimal impact on clinical practice. Treatment outcomes in patients with localised PCa are often highly variable, even among patients stratified to the same risk group or disease state based on standard clinical and pathological parameters. In recent years, the development of gene panels has provided valuable data on the differential expression of genes in patients with PCa. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need to identify and validate prognostic and predictive biomarkers that can be applied across clinical scenarios, ranging from localised disease to metastatic castration-resistant PCa. The availability of such tools would allow for precision medicine to finally reach PCa patients. In this review, we evaluate current data on molecular biomarkers for PCa, with an emphasis on the biomarkers and gene panels with the most robust evidence to support their application in routine clinical practice.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men around the world. Radiotherapy is a standard of care treatment option for men with localized prostate cancer. Over the years, radiation delivery modalities have contributed to increased precision of treatment, employing radiobiological insights to shorten the overall treatment time, improving the control of the disease without increasing toxicities. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) represents an extreme form of hypofractionated radiotherapy in which treatment is usually delivered in 1–5 fractions. This review assesses the main efficacy and toxicity data of SBRT in non-metastatic prostate cancer and discusses the potential to implement this scheme in routine clinical practice.