Background: Recently, the endothelial Activation and Stress Index (EASIX) score has been reported to predict overall survival (OS) after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. This study evaluated the prognostic role of EASIX score in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM). Methods: This retrospective study analyzed the records of 1177 patients with newly diagnosed MM between February 2003 and December 2017 from three institutions in the Republic of Korea. Serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinine, and platelet count at diagnosis were measured in all included patients. EASIX scores were calculated using the formula-LDH (U/L) × Creatinine (mg/dL) / platelet count (10⁹/L) and were evaluated based on log2 transformed values. Results: The median age of patients was 63 years (range, 22–92), and 495 patients (42.1%) underwent autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The median log2 EASIX score at diagnosis was 1.1 (IQR 0.3–2.3). Using maximally selected log-rank statistics, the optimal EASIX cutoff value for OS was 1.87 on the log2 scale (95% CI 0.562–0.619, p < 0.001). After median follow-up for 50.0 months (range, 0.3–184.1), the median OS was 58.2 months (95% CI 53.644–62.674). Overall, 372 patients (31.6%) showed high EASIX scores at diagnosis, and had significantly inferior OS compared to those with low EASIX (log2 EASIX ≤1.87) (39.1 months vs. 67.2 months, p < 0.001). In multivariate Cox analysis, high EASIX was significantly associated with poor OS (HR 1.444, 95% CI 1.170–1.780, p = 0.001). In the subgroup analysis of patients who underwent ASCT, patients with high EASIX showed significantly inferior OS compared to those with low EASIX (52.8 months vs. 87.0 months, p < 0.001). In addition, in each group of ISS I, II, and III, high EASIX was associated with significantly inferior OS (ISS 1, 45.2 months vs. 76.0 months, p = 0.001; ISS 2, 42.3 months vs. 66.5 months, p = 0.002; ISS 3, 36.8 months vs. 55.1 months, p = 0.001). Conclusion: EASIX score at diagnosis is a simple and strong predictor for OS in patients with newly diagnosed MM.

Background: There is increasing evidence that the presence of an ongoing systemic inflammatory response is associated with poor prognosis in patients with advanced cancers. We evaluated the relationships between clinical status, laboratory factors and progression free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer receiving first-line palliative chemotherapy. Methods: We reviewed 402 patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma who received first-line palliative chemotherapy from June 2004 and December 2009. Various chemotherapy regimens were used. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS), C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), and clinical factors were recorded immediately prior to first-line chemotherapy. Patients with both an elevated CRP (>1.0 mg/dL) and hypoalbuminemia (<3.5 mg/dL) were assigned a GPS of 2. Patients in whom only one of these biochemical abnormalities was present were assigned a GPS of 1, and patients with a normal CRP and albumin were assigned a score of 0. To evaluate the factors that affected PFS and OS, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Results: According to multivariate analysis, the factors independently associated with PFS were ECOG PS (HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.02-1.84, P = 0.035), bone metastasis (HR 1.74, 95% CI 1.14-2.65, P = 0.009), and CRP elevation (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.28-2.09, P = 0.001). The factors independently associated with OS were ECOG PS (HR 1.33, 95% CI 1.01-1.76, P = 0.037), bone metastasis (HR 1.61, 95% CI 1.08-2.39, P = 0.017), and GPS ≥ 1 (HR 1.76, 95% CI 1.41-2.19, P = 0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the presence of a systemic inflammatory response as evidenced by the CRP, GPS was significantly associated with shorter PFS and OS in patients with recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer receiving first-line palliative chemotherapy. Bone metastasis and GPS were very useful indicator for survival in patients with recurrent or metastatic gastric cancer receiving palliative chemotherapy.

Background: Class III β-tubulin (TUBB3) is a prognostic marker in various tumors, but the role of TUBB3 in advanced gastric cancer is not clearly defined. We analyzed the significance of TUBB3 expression, along with that of excision repair cross-complementation group 1 (ERCC1) in recurrent and metastatic gastric cancer patients receiving taxane-based first-line palliative chemotherapy. Methods: We reviewed the cases of 146 patients with advanced gastric adenocarcinoma who received taxane-based first-line palliative chemotherapy between 2004 and 2010 at Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital (Gwangju, Korea). Immunohistochemical staining for TUBB3 and ERCC1 was performed using paraffin wax-embedded tumor tissues. We evaluated the patients’ response to chemotherapy, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Results: In total, 146 patients with advanced gastric cancer received docetaxel and cisplatin (n = 15) or paclitaxel and cisplatin (n = 131). The median PFS was significantly shorter for patients with high-level TUBB3 expression than for patients with low-level TUBB3 expression (3.63 vs. 6.67 months, P = 0.001). OS was not associated with TUBB3 expression (13.1 vs. 13.1 months, P = 0.769). By multivariate analysis, only TUBB3 was related to a shorter PFS (HR 2.74, 95% CI 1.91-3.91, P = 0.001). Patients with high-level ERCC1 expression showed a lower response rate than patients with low-level ERCC1 expression (24 vs. 63.2%, P = 0.001); however, ERCC1 had no clinical effect on PFS or OS. Conclusions: TUBB3 was a strong predictive marker in recurrent and metastatic gastric cancer patients receiving taxane-based first-line palliative chemotherapy. No clinical impact of ERCC1 was evident in this setting.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy has revolutionized the treatment of hematologic malignancies, offering a highly personalized and potent immunotherapeutic approach. To date, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved seven CAR-T therapies targeting CD19 and B-cell maturation antigen; each demonstrated remarkable clinical efficacy across various hematologic malignancies. Despite significant advancements in preclinical studies and clinical trials, no CAR-T therapy has been approved for solid tumors, which account for the majority of cancer cases worldwide. These key challenges include the lack of distinct and accessible target antigens, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) that impairs immune cell efficacy, the heterogeneity of solid tumors that complicates treatment uniformity, and the potential risks of off-tumor toxicity. These obstacles represent a complex array of biological and clinical obstacles, distinct from the more favorable immune environment of hematologic cancers that has been pivotal to the success of CAR-T therapy. Preclinical studies in multiple myeloma emphasize memory T-cell optimization and combinatorial strategies to enhance CAR-T efficacy in solid tumors. Our review emphasizes innovative strategies to address these key challenges in CAR-T therapy for solid tumors, including advanced multi-antigen targeting approaches, reprogramming of the TME, and the development of next-generation safety measures to mitigate toxicity risks. By addressing both scientific and clinical obstacles, this review envisions a future in which CAR-T therapy’s full potential extends beyond hematologic malignancies, transforming the landscape of oncology and improving outcomes for patients with solid tumors.

The prognostic relevance of epigenetic modifying genes (DNMT3A, TET2, and IDH1/2) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been investigated extensively. However, the prognostic implications of these mutations after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) have not been evaluated comprehensively in patients with normal-karyotype (NK)-AML. A total of 115 patients who received allogeneic HCT for NK-AML were retrospectively evaluated for the FLT3-ITD, NPM1, CEBPA, DNMT3A, TET2, IDH1/2, WT1, NRAS, ASXL2, FAT1, DNAH11, and GATA2 mutations in diagnostic samples and analyzed for long-term outcomes after allogeneic HCT. The prevalence rates for the mutations were as follows: FLT3-ITD positivity (FLT3-ITD(pos)) (32.2%), NPM1 mutation (43.5%), CEBPA mutation (double) (24.6%), DNMT3A mutation (DNMT3A(mut)) (31.3%), DNMT3A R882(mut) (18.3%), TET2 mutation (8.7%), and IDH1/2 mutation (16.5%). The 5-year overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates were 57.3% and 58.1%, respectively. A multivariate analysis revealed that FLT3-ITD(pos) (hazard ratio, [HR], 2.23; P = .006) and DNMT3A R882(mut) (HR, 2.74; P = .002) were unfavorable prognostic factors for OS. In addition, both mutations were significant risk factors for EFS and relapse. People with DNMT3A R882(mut) accompanied by FLT3-ITD(pos) had worse OS and EFS, and higher relapse rates than those with the other mutations, which were confirmed in a propensity score 1:2 matching analysis. These results suggest that DNMT3A R882(mut), particularly when accompanied by FLT3-ITD(pos), is a significant prognostic factor for inferior transplantation survival outcome by increasing relapse risk, even after allogeneic HCT.