Background: We sought to compare patterns of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) with respect to clinical and genomic features in a retrospective cohort of patients with recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods: One hundred seventeen patients with R/M HNSCC treated with ICI were included in this study. Tumor growth kinetics (TGK) prior to and TGK upon immunotherapy (IO) was available for 49 patients. The TGK ratio (TGKR, the ratio of tumor growth velocity before and upon treatment) was calculated. Hyperprogression (HPD) was defined as TGKR ≥ 2. Results: HPD was documented in 18 patients (15.4% of the whole cohort). Patients with HPD had statistically significant shorter progression free survival (PFS) (median PFS 1.8 months (95% CI, 1.03–2.69) vs. 6.1 months for patients with non-HPD (95% CI, 4.78–7.47), p = 0.0001) and overall survival (OS) (median OS 6.53 months (95% CI, 0–13.39) vs. 15 months in patients with non HPD (95% CI, 7.1–22.8), p = 0.0018). In a multivariate Cox analysis, the presence of HPD remained an independent prognostic factor (p = 0.049). Primary site in the oral cavity and administration of ICI in the second/third setting were significant predictors of HPD in multivariate analysis (p = 0.028 and p = 0.012, respectively). Genomic profiling revealed that gene amplification was more common in HPD patients. EGFR gene amplification was only observed in HPD patients, but the number of events was inadequate for the analysis to reach statistical significance. The previously described MDM2 amplification was not identified. Conclusions: HPD was observed in 15.4 % of patients with R/M HNSCC treated with IO and was associated with worse PFS and OS. EGFR amplification was identified in patients with HPD.

The outcomes of patients with genitourinary (GU) cancers have been steadily improving in recent years. Novel therapies have entered our armamentarium, while several other regimens are currently being studied in clinical trials. This recent explosion of new agents has improved patient survival and the quality of life for patients, but has also significantly increased the frequency of several side effects. The current review will focus on the potential ocular adverse reactions of GU neoplastic treatments. The broad spectrum of manifestations of ocular toxicity underscores the uniqueness and complexity of the anatomic, physiologic, and metabolic features of the human eye. Most side effects are mild in severity and transient, but some can be severe, disabling, and irreversible. Clinicians should be aware of complications that might be vision threatening and impact the patient's quality of life. In this review, we focused on the ocular toxicity of the antineoplastic regimens that are currently used for the treatment of GU, including prostate cancer, bladder cancer, renal cell carcinoma, testicular cancer, pheochromocytoma, adrenocortical carcinoma, and penile cancer.

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) contribute to breast cancer (BC) prognosis. We investigated the prognostic impact of CD8+ TILs in patients with early breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy in a large observational clinical trial. Along with a 10 year follow-up, considering the efficacy and safety, we report the results of the translational part of our study. We examined the patients’ tumors for total (t), stromal (s), and intratumoral (i) CD8 lymphocyte density (counts/mm²) on tissue-microarray cores. The impact of CD8+ TILs counts on DFS and OS, and its correlation with breast cancer subtypes and standard clinicopathological parameters, were investigated, along with efficacy and safety data. Among the 928 eligible patients, 627 had available CD8+ data. Of which, 24.9% had a high expression of sCD8, iCD8, and total CD8, which were correlated with higher Ki67, TILs density, ER/PgR negativity, and higher histological grade. The 5year DFS and OS rates were 86.1% and 91.4%, respectively. Patients with high iCD8 and tCD8 had longer DFS and OS compared to those with low counts/mm² (DFS: HR = 0.58, p = 0.011 and HR = 0.65, p = 0.034 and OS: HR = 0.63, p = 0.043 and HR = 0.58, p = 0.020, respectively). Upon adjustment for clinicopathological parameters, iCD8 and tCD8 retained their favorable prognostic significance for DFS and OS, whereas high sCD8 was only prognostic for DFS. Menopausal status, tumor size, and nodal status retained their prognostic significance in all examined multivariate models. CD8+ TILs, and especially their intratumoral subset, represent a potential favorable prognostic factor in early BC.

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to assess real-world toxicity and efficacy data of patients with early and advanced breast cancer (BC) who received treatment with abemaciclib. Methods: This was a prospective/retrospective multi-institutional collection of clinicopathological, toxicity, and outcome data from patients with early or metastatic hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative BC who received treatment with abemaciclib in combination with endocrine therapy in departments of oncology in Greece. Treatment combinations of abemaciclib with any endocrine therapy were accepted. The primary end point was toxicity rate in all patients of the study. Results: From June/2021 to May/2024, 245 women received abemaciclib/endocrine combination therapy; the median age was 57 years. Of these, 169 (69%) received abemaciclib as adjuvant therapy for early-stage disease, while 76 (31%) were treated for advanced BC. At the time of the data cutoff, 133 (84.7%) patients remained in the 2-year treatment period. The most common adverse event (AE) was diarrhea (51%), primarily Grade ≤ 2. Dose modifications due to AEs were required in 19.2% of cases, while treatment discontinuation occurred in 5.1%. There was no difference in dose modification/discontinuation rates between older patients (>65 years) and the remaining patients. For early-stage BC patients, the 2-year DFS and OS rates were 90.8% and 100%, respectively. In patients with advanced cancer (70, 30.8%), 1-year PFS and OS rates were 78% and 96.3%, respectively. Conclusions: This study confirms the safety and effectiveness of abemaciclib in alignment with registrational trials offering valuable insights into toxicity management and clinical outcomes in routine practice without identifying new safety concerns. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04985058.