{"title":"Polyamine metabolism in prostate cancer.","authors":"Laura A Sena","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/CCO.0000000000001134","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Normal and malignant prostate engage in high rates of de novo polyamine synthesis. This review considers how polyamine metabolism regulates prostate cancer initiation and progression.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>The androgen receptor (AR) establishes a metabolic program to drive robust polyamine synthesis in the normal prostate. Upon malignant transformation, this AR-driven metabolic program persists and is optimized for oncogenesis by the proto-oncogene MYC and/or alterations to PI3K signaling. A deeper understanding of the function of polyamines in prostate cancer may be obtained by considering their function in the normal prostate.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Recent findings support ongoing research into the role of polyamines in driving prostate cancer initiation and progression and suggest targeting polyamine metabolism remains a promising therapeutic strategy for prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Douglas E Peterson, Noam Yarom, Charlotte Duch Lynggaard, Nofisat Ismaila, Deborah Saunders
{"title":"2024 ASCO guidelines for the prevention and management of osteoradionecrosis in patients with head & neck cancer treated with radiation therapy.","authors":"Douglas E Peterson, Noam Yarom, Charlotte Duch Lynggaard, Nofisat Ismaila, Deborah Saunders","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001130","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/CCO.0000000000001130","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Osteoradionecrosis may often be prevented in context of interprofessional healthcare that includes dental specialists prior to and following completion of the patient's head and neck radiation therapy. Important factors, however, compromise delivery of guideline-concordant management of osteoradionecrosis (ORN), including patient access to this interprofessional care. This review is directed to these and related issues, in order to foster enhanced approaches for ORN management.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>The review is centered in the 2024 Journal of Clinical Oncology publication 'Prevention and Management of Osteoradionecrosis in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer Treated With Radiation Therapy: ISOO-MASCC-ASCO Guideline', and the companion 2024 JCO Oncology Practice publication in which clinical insights for the guideline are addressed. Key recent literature is cited in order to provide contemporary context to clinical decision-making for prevention and early diagnosis and treatment of ORN. Although a relatively infrequent complication in head and neck radiation patients, ORN can have profound clinical and financial impact when it occurs.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Interprofessional oncology care is essential for ORN management. Future research is needed in order to enhance this management, including studies directed to predicting risk of development of ORN based on patient-centered risk factors.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Novel therapeutics in refractory germ cell tumors.","authors":"Noah H Richardson, Nabil Adra","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/CCO.0000000000001129","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Refractory germ cell tumors (GCT), those progressing after known effective salvage therapies, carry a dismal prognosis with minimal treatment options of limited efficacy. This review aims to highlight the advances in understanding refractory GCT and review upcoming and active clinical trials with novel therapeutics in development.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Patients with refractory disease after optimal salvage chemotherapy are rarely cured and should be referred to centers with expertise in GCT. While prior investigational agents have not overcome current limitations of salvage therapy, current and upcoming trials of novel agents including tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, bispecific T-cell engagers (BiTE), and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) are promising avenues of therapy.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Outcomes in refractory GCT remain poor. Patients should preferably be evaluated at tertiary care centers with expertise in the management of these patients and access to clinical trials of novel therapeutics. Active research in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of resistance and targeting of uniquely expressed antigens has broadened the potential therapies in development.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143596550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nadine El Hoyek, Xiaolei Shi, Jason Jenkins, Wengen Chen
{"title":"Role of PSMA PET/CT in imaging and management of prostate cancer.","authors":"Nadine El Hoyek, Xiaolei Shi, Jason Jenkins, Wengen Chen","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/CCO.0000000000001131","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>In the era of precision medicine, the introduction of FDA-approved prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeting tracers has revolutionized prostate cancer imaging. These tracers enable functional positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, allowing for precise identification of the location and extent of prostate cancer spread. This review serves as a practical guide for multidisciplinary teams caring for prostate cancer patients, outlining the current approved uses of PET imaging with PSMA tracers and exploring its future applications.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>PSMA PET/CT has become a reliable modality for initial staging in patients with intermediate-to-high risk prostate cancer, restaging in cases of biochemical recurrence and further clarifying disease status among patients with conventional imaging based nonmetastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer and metastatic prostate cancer. Additionally, it has promising roles in selecting patients for radioligand therapy, monitoring treatment response, and guiding therapeutic decision-making.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>PSMA PET/CT is currently a crucial imaging tool used at key stages of prostate cancer management, with ongoing research exploring its potential for additional clinical applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143596552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Burnout among health professionals working in oncology: current evidence and challenges for future research.","authors":"Javier Martinez-Calderon, Cristina García-Muñoz","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/CCO.0000000000001132","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>This review aims to show the current evidence and the challenges that remain to guide future research on the prevalence, incidence, prognosis, and factors associated with burnout, and current interventions for its prevention and reduction.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>An overview of systematic reviews with meta-analyses found that burnout is highly prevalent among oncologists and oncology nurses, mainly emotional exhaustion. However, these meta-analyses showed a lack of original research from continents such as Africa or Oceania, and no studies were meta-analyzed evaluating physical therapists or psycho-oncologists. To our knowledge, the incidence of occupational burnout has not been meta-analyzed on this topic, and the number of prospective cohort studies and randomized clinical trials is probably limited. On the other hand, some cross-sectional studies and nonrandomized clinical trials have been recently published. These studies have highlighted the association between burnout with psychological (e.g. anxiety) and occupational factors (e.g. job demands) and the reduction of burnout using different psychological interventions.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Occupational burnout is a topic of interest in oncology. However, important gaps in knowledge remain and need to be filled before establishing firm conclusions on this topic.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143596643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Novel immunotherapy combinations in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.","authors":"Shyam Kankotia, Soyun Park, Jacob Thomas","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/CCO.0000000000001127","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Relapsed or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) is a deadly disease that historically was treated with palliative chemotherapy-based regimens. Since 2019, immunotherapy-based regimens have become the standard of care for 1st line treatment in this disease. Over the last several years, there have been numerous studies conducted with novel combination therapies for R/M HNSCC but there has not yet been a new standard of care.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Novel treatment combinations with chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, vaccines, and intratumoral drugs have been evaluated in the treatment of R/M HNSCC. Favorable efficacy has been seen with many of these combinations, although some large studies have failed to improve upon the current standard.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Many promising combination regimens are being tested which could lead to a new standard of care in the treatment of R/M HNSCC in the coming years.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143596645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The role of biomarkers in the management of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer.","authors":"Benjamin D Hopkins, James E Bates","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/CCO.0000000000001126","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer have very good survival outcomes but a high burden of toxicity. This has led to significant efforts to attempt to use a variety of biomarkers to select patients who are candidates for de-escalated treatment.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Initially, the field used HPV status alone as a biomarker to select patients with oropharyngeal cancer for de-escalation, however, the recently presented results of NRG Oncology HN005 showed that this is an insufficient strategy to select patients for potential de-escalation as patients in that study who received 60 Gy rather than the standard 70 Gy of radiation had diminished progression-free survival. This has led to a myriad of other strategies to potentially identify patients who may be able to receive less intense treatment but maintain a high rate of cure.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Many biomarker options exist to try and select patients for potential treatment de-escalation. We anxiously await the results of multiple ongoing phase II studies regarding many of these biomarkers and believe that the future of treatment for oropharyngeal cancer will be significantly more personalized.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143536775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Veronika Pozonec, Maria Dorothea Pozonec, Clemens Aigner, Joachim Widder, Kristiina Boettiger, Zsolt Megyesfalvi, Balazs Dome
{"title":"Prophylactic cranial irradiation for small cell lung cancer in the era of immunotherapy and molecular subtypes.","authors":"Veronika Pozonec, Maria Dorothea Pozonec, Clemens Aigner, Joachim Widder, Kristiina Boettiger, Zsolt Megyesfalvi, Balazs Dome","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001111","DOIUrl":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001111","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive disease with a poor prognosis, whereas its metastatic capacity carries a predilection for the brain. Although prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) has been used to address this problem, upcoming alternatives might necessitate reflection of its application in SCLC treatment.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>The addition of immunotherapy to treatment guidelines has provided a new strategy for the management of brain metastases. Complementation of immunotherapy with active MRI surveillance could potentially replace PCI and avoid irradiation-related cognitive side effects. SCLC's molecular profile is heterogeneous, with differential response to treatment modalities between subgroups. Investigation of these variances might be essential to improve therapeutic outcomes in SCLC patients.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>The role of PCI in SCLC treatment must be examined in light of immunotherapy. We summarize recent results, bearing SCLC subtypes and therapeutic vulnerabilities in mind, to derive tailored treatment strategies for SCLC patients in future settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":"37 1","pages":"27-34"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11623382/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142767123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Pregnancy-related hormonal changes and thyroid growth: do they have an impact on the higher incidence of differentiated thyroid cancer in women?","authors":"Kris G Poppe, Aglaia Kyrilli, Giuseppe Costante","doi":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001103","DOIUrl":"10.1097/CCO.0000000000001103","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>To analyze whether pregnancy could play a role in the higher prevalence of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) in women. Estrogens strongly modify thyroid economy by increasing iodine clearance, thyroid hormone requirement and production. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) contributes to the increased thyroid hormone synthesis. Both estrogens and hCG can interfere with the regulation of thyroid volume and with thyroid nodule development and progression. The potential effect of hCG is exclusively related to its weak agonistic activity on TSH receptor. Estrogen implication on normal and nodule-derived thyrocyte growth has been demonstrated in vitro and in animal models. Furthermore, there is solid clinical evidence showing a promoting effect of pregnancy on thyroid volume and nodule development. Two metaanalyses, one including retrospective and another prospective observational studies, failed to show an association between pregnancy and DTC.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>A large pooled prospective analysis using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models did not demonstrate an association between DTC and parity. Similarly, no association between PTC occurrence and parity was observed in a prospective cohort analysis by linkage to the statewide Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER).</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>The presently available evidence does not support an involvement of pregnancy in DTC etiology.</p>","PeriodicalId":10893,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Oncology","volume":" ","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142460029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}