The escalating incidence of breast cancer (BC) in women underscores its grave health threat. Current molecular insights into BC's post-adjuvant therapy cure remain elusive, necessitating active treatment explorations. Immunotherapy, notably chemotherapy-induced immunogenic cell death (ICD), has emerged as a promising BC therapy. ICD harnesses chemotherapeutics to activate anti-tumor immunity via DAMPs, fostering long-term T-cell memory and primary BC cure. Besides chemotherapy drugs, Nanodrugs, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and ICIs also induce ICD, boosting immune response. ICIs, like PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, revolutionize cancer treatment but face limited success in cold tumors. Thus, ICD induction combined with ICIs is studied extensively for BC immunotherapy. This article reviews the mechanism of ICD related drugs in BC and provides reference for the research and development of BC treatment, in order to explore more effective clinical treatment of BC, we hope to explore more ICD inducers and make ICIs more effective vaccines. Graphical abstract

Doxorubicin (Dox) is a first-line chemotherapeutic agent applied in cancer treatment. Its long-term anticancer efficacy is restricted mainly due to its subsequent cardiotoxicity for patients. Platycodon grandiflorum (PG), an important traditional Chinese herb, has been reported to eliminate phlegm, relieve cough, and reduce inflammatory diseases. Previous clinical studies found that PG has cardioprotective effects for early breast cancer patients who received Dox-based chemotherapy. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying PG-mediated cardiotoxic rescue remain elusive. This study aimed to explore the protective role and potential molecular mechanisms of PG on Dox-induced cardiac dysfunction in a mouse model of breast cancer. PG significantly alleviated myocardial damage and prevented cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by Dox. The expression levels of cytochrome C and cleaved caspase-3 significantly decreased, and the levels of Bcl-XL and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)/Bcl-2-associated X protein increased following PG treatment. Furthermore, PG remarkably enhanced the antimetastatic efficacy (versus the Dox group) by regulating the balance of matrix metalloproteinases/tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases.

Background: This study evaluates the risk of dermatologic adverse events (AEs) associated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) through an analysis of data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).Methods: FAERS data from Q1 2004 to Q2 2024 were analyzed for dermatologic AEs related to AIs. A disproportionality analysis using reporting odds ratio (ROR) assessed AE risk, and the time to onset of these AEs was examined.Results: Out of 21,035,995 AE reports, 2,237 involved skin impairment. Sixty-one preferred terms (PTs) presented positive signals, including nail disorders, onychoclasis, and abnormal hair growth in patients on anastrozole, exemestane, or letrozole. The highest associations were with pseudo cellulitis (ROR = 57.73), anhidrosis (ROR = 48.68), and nail toxicity (ROR = 38.40). Strong associations were observed for anastrozole (ROR = 1.07, 95% confidence interval: 1.03–1.11) and exemestane (ROR = 1.1, 95% CI: 1.04–1.16), but not for letrozole. Eleven dermatologic PTs had onset times under 50 days, with the earliest at 2 days; the latest, skin ulcer, appeared at 241.5 days with exemestane.Conclusion: The findings provide substantial evidence of dermatologic AEs associated with AIs, particularly anastrozole and exemestane, emphasizing the importance of dermatologic monitoring during AI therapy and the need for further research into AI-induced dermatologic AEs.

Long-term exposure to air pollutants and diabetes are both linked to cancer development. However, their combined effect remains unclear. This study examined the relationship between air pollutants and cancer incidence, with diabetes as a potential mediator. Data from 10,590 participants in the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were analyzed. Participants were grouped based on cancer diagnosis, and air pollutant exposure levels were estimated using satellite-based spatiotemporal models. Generalized linear regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis were used to assess the impact of air pollutants and diabetes in covariates-adjusted models. Further analyses, including conditional independence test, mediation effect and sensitivity analysis based on Bayesian networks, were performed to further analyze specific air pollutants. After adjusting for covariates, particulate matter (PM) (PM ≤ 1 μm in aerodynamic diameter [PM₁], PM_2.5, ammonium (NH₄), nitrate (NO₃) and diabetes showed significant associations with cancer incidence. RCS analysis confirmed significant direct effects of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ on cancer and the mediated effects of diabetes. The interaction between diabetes and both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ was further supported by conditional independence tests, highlighting diabetes as a significant mediator in the PM_2.5-cancer relationship. This study offers a novel perspective by identifying diabetes as a key intermediary in the association between PM_2.5 exposure and cancer risk, providing evidence that diabetes plays a significant mediating role in air pollutant-related cancer development.

Background: Olaparib has been proven for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). This meta-analysis aims to comprehensively evaluate the efficacy and safety of the combination of olaparib and abiraterone in patients with mCRPC.Methods: The literature in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library up until April 27, 2023, was systematically searched. In the studies included in this meta-analysis, olaparib combined with abiraterone was compared with abiraterone combined with placebo.Results: Two randomized controlled trials involving a total of 938 patients were included. Analysis indicated that olaparib combined with abiraterone significantly prolonged radiographic progression-free survival (rPFS: relative risk [RR] 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55–0.79), time to secondary progression or death (PFS2: hazard ratio [HR] 0.72, 95% CI 0.56–0.93), time to first subsequent therapy or death (TFST: HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.63–0.89), time to second subsequent therapy or death (TSST: HR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58–0.93), and confirmed prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.05–1.24). However, no statistically significant differences were found in the overall survival (OS: HR 0.87 95% CI 0.70–1.09), objective response rate (ORR: RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.70–1.33), and incidence of total adverse events (RR 1.07, 95% CI 0.94–1.22). A notable detail that the combination of olaparib and abiraterone was associated with an increased incidence of high-grade anemia (RR 7.47, 95% CI 1.36–40.88).Conclusion: Olaparib combined with abiraterone is effective for patients with mCRPC. However, combination therapy has treatment-related adverse events compared with monotherapy, and this could be improved in future treatment management.Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42023432287.