Endometrial cancer (EC) accounts for 90% of uterine cancer cases. It is considered not only one of the most common gynecological malignancies but also one of the most frequent cancers among women overall. Nowadays, the differentiation of EC subtypes is based on immunohistochemistry and molecular techniques. It is considered that patients’ prognosis and the implementation of the appropriate treatment depend on the cancer subtype. Patients with pathogenic variants in POLE have the most favorable outcome, while those with abnormal p53 protein have the poorest. Therefore, in patients with POLE mutation, the de-escalation of postoperative treatment may be considered, and patients with abnormal p53 protein should be subjected to intensive adjuvant therapy. Patients with a DNA mismatch repair (dMMR) deficiency are classified in the intermediate prognosis group as EC patients without a specific molecular profile. Immunotherapy has been recognized as an effective treatment method in patients with advanced or recurrent EC with a mismatch deficiency. Thus, different adjuvant therapy approaches, including targeted therapy and immunotherapy, are being proposed depending on the EC subtype, and international guidelines, such as those published by ESMO and ESGO/ESTRO/ESP, include recommendations for performing the molecular classification of all EC cases. The decision about adjuvant therapy selection has to be based not only on clinical data and histological type and stage of cancer, but, following international recommendations, has to include EC molecular subtyping. This review describes how molecular classification could support more optimal therapeutic management in endometrial cancer patients.

Currently, the cosmetic industry is a very intensively growing part of the economy. Consumer demands are adapted to the current lifestyle, which is based on technological innovations and awareness of the impact of various factors on human health and fitness. There is growing interest in cosmetics based on environmentally friendly natural compounds exerting health-promoting effects. Chemicals with antimicrobial properties used as ingredients in cosmetics ensure their durability and safety. Polyphenolic compounds, peptides, essential oils, and plant extracts characterized by these properties are natural ingredients that can replace synthetic components of cosmetics. The advantage of these compounds is that they exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and soothing properties, enhancing the product value in addition to their antimicrobial properties. This review article describes the antimicrobial properties of natural compounds that can protect cosmetics and can replace previously used preservative agents. Various studies indicate that the use of these compounds increases consumer interest in these products and has a positive impact on the environment.

The C. perfringens species is associated with various environments, such as soils, sewage, and food. However, it is also a component of the gastrointestinal (GI) microflora (i.e., microbiota) of sick and healthy humans and animals. C. perfringens is linked with different systemic and enteric diseases in livestock and humans, such as gas gangrene, food poisoning, non-foodborne diarrhoea, and enterocolitis. The strains of this opportunistic pathogen are known to secrete over 20 identified toxins that are considered its principal virulence factors. C. perfringens belongs to the anaerobic bacteria community but can also survive in the presence of oxygen. The short time between generations, the multi-production capability of toxins and heat-resistant spores, the location of many virulence genes on mobile genetic elements, and the inhabitance of this opportunistic pathogen in different ecological niches make C. perfringens a very important microorganism for public health protection. The epidemiological evidence for the association of these strains with C. perfringens–meditated food poisoning and some cases of non-foodborne diseases is very clear and well-documented. However, the genetic diversity and physiology of C. perfringens should still be studied in order to confirm the importance of suspected novel virulence traits. A very significant problem is the growing antibiotic resistance of C. perfringens strains. The aim of this review is to show the current basic information about the toxins, epidemiology, and genetic and molecular diversity of this opportunistic pathogen.

Clostridium spp. is a large genus of obligate anaerobes and is an extremely heterogeneous group of bacteria that can be classified into 19 clusters. Genetic analyses based on the next-generation sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and metagenome analyses conducted on human feces, mucosal biopsies, and luminal content have shown that the three main groups of strict extremophile anaerobes present in the intestines are Clostridium cluster IV (also known as the Clostridium leptum group), Clostridium cluster XIVa (also known as the Clostridium coccoides group) and Bacteroides. In addition to the mentioned clusters, some C. butyricum strains are also considered beneficial for human health. Moreover, this bacterium has been widely used as a probiotic in Asia (particularly in Japan, Korea, and China). The mentioned commensal Clostridia are involved in the regulation and maintenance of all intestinal functions. In the literature, the development processes of new therapies are described based on commensal Clostridia activity. In addition, some Clostridia are associated with pathogenic processes. Some C. butyricum strains detected in stool samples are involved in botulism cases and have also been implicated in severe diseases such as infant botulism and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates. The aim of this study is to review reports on the possibility of using Clostridium strains as probiotics, consider their positive impact on human health, and identify the risks associated with the expression of their pathogenic properties.

Immunotherapy using immune checkpoints inhibitors has become the standard treatment for first and second line therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, proper predictive factors allowing precise qualification of NSCLC patients for immunotherapy have not been developed so far. Expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells and tumor mutation burden are used in qualification of patients to first line therapy with pembrolizumab and atezolizumab in combination with ipilimumab in prospective clinical trials. Nevertheless, not all patients with these predictive factors benefit from immunotherapy. Major methodological difficulties in testing of these factors and in the interpretation of test results still exist. Therefore, other predictive factors are sought. Intensive research on the recognition of tumor immunophenotype and gut microbiome in NSCLC patients are underway. The first correlations between the effectiveness of immunotherapy and the intensity of inflammatory response in the tumor, microbiome diversity, and the occurrence of certain bacterial species in gut have been described. The purpose of our manuscript is to draw attention to factors affecting the efficacy of immunotherapy with anti-PD-L1 antibodies in NSCLC patients. Additional markers, for example TMB (tumor mutations burden) or microbiome profile, are needed to more accurately determine which patients will benefit from immunotherapy treatment.

The significance of Akkermansia bacteria presence in gut micobiome, mainly Akkermansia mucinifila, is currently being investigated in the context of supporting therapy and marker for response to immunotherapy in cancer patients. It is indicated that patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) respond better to treatment if this bacterium is present in the intestine.We performed next-generation sequencing of the gut microbiome from patients treated in the first or second line therapy with anti-PD-1 (anti-programmed death 1) or anti-PD-L1 (anti-programmed death ligand 1) monoclonal antibodies. In our study group of 47 NSCLC patients, the percentage of Akkermansiaceae was higher in patients with disease stabilization and with partial response to immunotherapy compared to patients with disease progression. Moreover, we found that a higher percentage of Akkermansiaceae was present in patients with squamous cell carcinoma compared to adenocarcinoma. Our study showed that Akkermansiaceae could be supporting marker for response to immunotherapies in NSCLC patients, nonetheless further in-depth studies should be conducted in the role of Akkermansiaceae in cancer immunotherapy.