Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have become the new reference standard in first-line HCC treatment, replacing tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as sorafenib. Many clinical trials with different combinations are already in development to validate novel immunotherapies for the treatment of patients with HCC. Adoptive cell therapy (ACT), also known as cellular immunotherapy, with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) or gene-modified T cells expressing novel T cell receptors (TCR) may represent a promising alternative approach to modify the immune system to recognize tumor cells with better clinical outcomes. In this review, we briefly discuss the overview of ACT as a promising treatment modality in HCC, along with recent updates of ongoing clinical trials.

Pazopanib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is generally used for the treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer and advanced soft tissue sarcoma. It can cause various degrees of hepatotoxicity. Our study aimed to investigate the effect of taxifolin on pazopanib-induced liver toxicity. A total of 18 rats were divided into three groups: the pazopanib (PP), pazopanib plus taxifolin (TPP), and control (C) group. Taxifolin was administered to the TPP (n=6) group with a dose of 50 mg/kg. Distilled water was orally admnistered to the C (n=6) and PP (n=6) groups as a solvent. Subsequently, pazopanib 200 mg/kg was administered to the TPP and PP groups via the stomach. This procedure was repeated once a day for four weeks. Then, all rats were sacrificed, and their livers were removed. Malondialdehyde (MDA), total glutathione (tGSH), total oxidant status (TOS), and total antioxidant status (TAS) levels were evaluated. MDA and TOS levels were higher in the PP group compared with the levels of the other parameters (p<0.001). tGSH and TAS levels were lower in the PP group than in the TPP and C groups (p<0.001), and the AST, ALT, and LDH levels were higher. Furthermore, liver tissue damage, including hemorrhage, hydropic degeneration, and necrosis was observed in the PP group. Administration of taxifolin before pazopanib significantly improved degenerative changes. Our study demonstrated that the administration of taxifolin is significantly effective in preventing pazopanib-induced hepatotoxicity in rats.

The rate of pathological complete response (pCR) with both chemotherapy alone (CT) and endocrine therapy (ET) in the neoadjuvant (Na) treatment of hormone receptor (HR)-positive/HER2-negative breas...

Objectives The incidence and mortality of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies increase exponentially with age. Malnutrition is a documented poor prognostic factor in older patients with cancer. There is insufficient data about the prevalence of malnutrition and associated factors in older patients with GI cancer. Thus, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of malnutrition and related factors among older patients with GI cancer. Methods A total of 121 patients aged over 70 years diagnosed with various types of GI cancers applied to the medical oncology clinic included in this cross-sectional study. We evaluated the nutrition status with a mini-nutritional assessment (MNA) score. Results The prevalence of malnutrition was 76 (62.8%) in our study population. The mean age was 76.5 (range 70 to 90 years), and 71 (58.6%) were male. In the multivariate logistic regression model, lower BMI (OR: 3.379, 95% CI: 1.465-7.812, p = 0.005), having gastroesophageal cancer (OR: 5.797, 95% CI: 2.387-14.091, p<0.001), treating with palliative chemotherapy (OR: 4.597, 95% CI: 1.799-11.772, p = 0.002), and frailty according to G8 score (OR: 10.798, 95% CI: 4.495-25.924, p<0.001) were associated with malnutrition. Conclusions Our study revealed that palliative chemotherapy, low BMI, frailty, and gastroesophageal cancer are risk factors for malnutrition in older patients with GI cancer. Physicians need to be aware of patients who may be at risk for malnutrition. Patients at risk of malnutrition may benefit from interventions to enhance their nutrition. Further studies consisting of larger cohorts are needed to determine malnutrition and related factors in older patients with cancer.