Cancer research communications最新文献

{"title":"Defining the Ovarian Cancer Precancerous Landscape through Modeling Fallopian Tube Epithelium Reprogramming Driven by Extracellular Vesicles.","authors":"Jared Sipes, Didi Zha, Sagar Rayamajhi, Leonidas E Bantis, Rashna Madan, Amrita Mitra, Rajni V Puri, Mohammod Mahmudur Rahman, Foyez Ahmmed, Harsh B Pathak, Angela Russo, Mihaela Sardiu, Brett C Isenberg, Brian P Cain, Jonathan Coppeta, Pamoda M Galhenage, Shailja Pathania, Shannon MacLaughlan David, Joanna E Burdette, Andrew K Godwin","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0064","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Serous tubal intraepithelial carcinomas (STIC lesions) in the human fallopian tube epithelium (hFTE) are theorized to give rise to high grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSOC). Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are known to mediate key signaling in both normal and cancerous tissues, but few ex vivo systems exist for studying sEV impact on hFTE tissue. Here, we present a microfluidic tissue culture platform with combined spatial transcriptomic and proteomic readouts that allows us to profile dual responses in tissue exposed to sEV \"messages\"-capturing both short-term transcriptomic shifts in the tissue and long-term changes in protein cargo of secreted EVs (the \"reply\"). Using spatial transcriptomics, we show that the short-term 1-day exposure to ovarian cancer-derived sEVs alters expression of 68 transcripts in secretory cells, the progenitor of HGSOC, notably upregulating immune-related mRNA, including CXCL family chemokines, VCAM1, and pro-inflammatory mediators (NFKB1, IL1B, IFNA7/17). Additionally, we observed the long-term 14-day exposure to sEVs alters the expression of 7 transcripts and 25 EV cargo proteins of fallopian tube derived EVs (\"secondary release EVs\") following stimulus from cancer EVs. Together, tissue transcriptomics and tissue-derived EV proteomics indicate that ovarian cancer derived sEVs rewire target cell signaling to modify the tubal immune landscape. This study provides insights into the early molecular changes associated with the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer in its tissue of origin, providing a platform to study EV-tissue interactions and identify how sEVs drive cell signaling reprogramming in hFTE.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144676709","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In Situ Pro-Inflammatory Effects of Dazostinag Alone or With Chemotherapy Upon the Tumor Microenvironment of Patients With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.","authors":"Richard C Gregory, Neil Lineberry, Alex Parent, Karthik Rajasekaran, Thomas J Ow, Cherie-Ann Nathan, Beryl A Hatton, Wendy Jenkins, Marc Grenley, Connor Burns, Angela Merrell, Jason P Frazier, Jonathan M J Derry, Emily Beirne, Richard A Klinghoffer","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0314","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0314","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The tumor microenvironment (TME) is difficult to model in an in vivo cancer research setting. This study leveraged intratumor microdosing using CIVO with spatial profiling to evaluate the effects of the STING agonist dazostinag alone or with chemotherapy on cellular responses within the native TME of intact human tumors.</p><p><strong>Patients and methods: </strong>This phase 0 study enrolled adult patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) planned for surgical intervention. Intratumoral microdose injections of dazostinag (maximum dose: 1.68 µg in 0.05 mg/mL solution) alone or combined with various chemotherapies were delivered via CIVO to tumors 24-, 48-, 72-, or 96- hours prior to resection. Each tumor sample was prepared for analysis using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Analysis of the microdosed tumors using GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler and CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager was performed in one patient.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Type 1 interferon signaling was induced with dazostinag alone and combined with chemotherapy from multiple cell types within the TME, including immune cells. Dazostinag also shifted polarization of macrophages from an immune-suppressive to a pro-inflammatory phenotype at 24 hours post-injection. Enrichment of cytotoxic T-cells was observed in regions of localized dazostinag exposure, coinciding with increased chemokine (CXCL9) expression. Based on Cleaved Caspase 3, an apoptosis marker, dazostinag plus chemotherapy increased cellular apoptosis relative to either drug alone.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Utilizing CIVO and spatial profiling technology, dazostinag alone and combined with chemotherapy promoted an early pro-inflammatory response and enhanced chemotherapy-mediated cell death in the native TME of intact human HNSCC tumors.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144651380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Epidemiological features and age-related differences in management among patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors in Japan: A National Cancer Registry Study.","authors":"Hidekazu Hirano, Yoichi Naito, Toshirou Nishida, Takahiro Higashi, Tomoyuki Satake, Chigusa Morizane, Akira Kawai","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0074","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Data on the epidemiology of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and differences in its management according to age group are limited in Japan. We aimed to conduct an epidemiological evaluation and describe age-related differences in management using data from Japan's National Cancer Registry (NCR). We analyzed NCR data of 21,426 patients with GIST between 2016 and 2019. We compared information on demographics, treatment, and prognosis across 3 age groups (pediatric and adolescent young adult [PAYA ≤ 39 years], adult [40-74 years], and geriatric [≥ 75 years]). Crude and age-adjusted annual incidences of GIST were 4.23 and 4.20 per 100,000 population, respectively. Regional variations in average age-adjusted annual incidence were observed among prefectures. The most common primary organs were stomach (72%) followed by the small intestine (21%). Geriatric patients represented 33% of the total population. Relative to PAYA and adult patients, geriatric patients were less likely to undergo surgery in the non-metastatic setting (PAYA, 93%; adult, 93%; geriatric, 87%, p<0.001) or to receive chemotherapy in the metastatic setting (PAYA, 90%; adult, 87%; geriatric, 61%; p<0.001). Geriatric patients showed poorer 2-year overall survival relative to PAYA and adult patients in the non-metastatic (PAYA, 98.5%; adult, 97.2%; geriatric, 89.2%; p<0.001) and metastatic (PAYA, 92.9%; adult, 79.2%; geriatric, 54.7%; p<0.001) settings. Geriatric patients comprised one-third of the study population and were associated with less active treatment and an unfavorable prognosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144651379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing MC1R Variants in Lentigo Maligna Melanoma Within the Utah Population.","authors":"Amanda Jiang, Annabelle Huntsman, Carly Becker, Bing-Jian Feng, Kayla Marks, Jessica Donigan, Keith L Duffy, Alice Frigerio, Douglas Grossman, Deborah W Neklason, Robert L Judson-Torres, Dekker C Deacon","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0263","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lentigo maligna (LM) and lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM) arise from chronically sun-damaged skin. LM/LMM incidence continues to rise, particularly in Utah, where melanoma rates are twice the national average. The melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) has been studied in melanocyte pigmentation and DNA repair but have yet to be thoroughly investigated in LM/LMM. We investigated allele and genotype frequencies of germline MC1R variants among 175 Utah patients diagnosed with LM/LMM and 402 Utah reference individuals. The comparative analysis demonstrated increased frequency of the D294H allele (0.046; p = 0.0042) and decreased frequency of the V60L allele (0.074; p = 0.034) in LM/LMM patients. The LM/LMM group demonstrated a higher OR compared to the Utah reference group associated with R151C homozygosity compared to heterozygous R151C (OR = 5.6, 95%CI = 0.98-32, p = 0.052) and R151C homozygosity compared to wildtype (OR = 5.7, 95%CI = 1.1-30, p = 0.042). D294H heterozygosity was strongly associated with LM/LMM (OR = 3.8, 95%CI = 1.3-11, p = 0.014). Conversely, V60L heterozygosity was less strongly associated with LM/LMM (OR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.26-1.1, p = 0.072). Stratified analyses show no significant differences in age or gender across the key MC1R variants studied. These data highlight significant differences in MC1R allele frequencies in patients with LM/LMM, demonstrating that D294H is associated with increased LM/LMM risk, while the V60L variant is inversely associated with risk. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of specific high-risk MC1R variants in LM/LMM patients in Utah.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144651378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Plasma Cell-Free Human Papillomavirus (HPV) DNA and Oral Gargle HPV DNA in Patients with HPV-related Oropharyngeal Cancer Treated with Radiotherapy.","authors":"Michelle Echevarria, Robin Park, Jimmy J Caudell, Youngchul Kim, George Q Yang, Kedar Kirtane, Ritu Chaudhary, Sunil Kumar, Antonio L Amelio, Anna R Giuliano, Christine H Chung","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0180","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Dynamic biomarkers that guide de-escalation strategies in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) remains an unmet need. Here, we evaluated the kinetics of plasma cell-free HPV (cfHPV) DNA and oral gargle HPV DNA during radiotherapy (RT) in patients with low-risk HPV-related OPSCC.</p><p><strong>Patients and methods: </strong>Data were obtained from a trial evaluating an adaptive model optimizing radiation fractionation in patients with low-risk (T0-2N0-1M0) HPV-related OPSCC undergoing RT. The primary objective was to determine whether week 4 plasma cfHPV DNA or oral gargle HPV DNA clearance is associated with reduction of target tumor volume (TTV) at week 4.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 325 plasma and 334 oral gargle samples from 50 patients with available baseline samples were analyzed. Higher baseline plasma cfHPV DNA was associated with higher nodal staging (p=0.002), while oral gargle HPV DNA was detected more frequently in the tonsil or soft palate than occult or base of tongue primary tumors (p=0.039). Week 4 plasma but not oral gargle HPV DNA clearance was associated with higher reduction of TTV at week 4 (p=0.0063). While week 4 plasma and oral gargle HPV DNA clearance was not associated with progression free survival (PFS), a lower baseline plasma cfHPV DNA was associated with superior PFS (p=0.027).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Week 4 plasma cfHPV DNA clearance aligns with reduction in TTV, and future studies are warranted to determine the role of early plasma cfHPV DNA clearance in biomarker-adapted de-escalation strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144610451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chemoimmunotherapy outcomes and prognostic factors in patients with advanced, low PD-L1-expressing non-small cell lung cancer.","authors":"Tae Hata, Tadaaki Yamada, Yasuhiro Goto, Akihiko Amano, Yoshiki Negi, Satoshi Watanabe, Naoki Furuya, Tomohiro Oba, Tatsuki Ikoma, Akira Nakao, Keiko Tanimura, Hirokazu Taniguchi, Akihiro Yoshimura, Tomoya Fukui, Daiki Murata, Kyoichi Kaira, Shinsuke Shiotsu, Makoto Hibino, Asuka Okada, Yusuke Chihara, Hayato Kawachi, Takashi Kijima, Koichi Takayama","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0157","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chemoimmunotherapy is recommended for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with low programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, but the effect of additional immunotherapy is heterogeneous in this population. To identify patients who do not benefit from the addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) to chemotherapy, we conducted a retrospective study at 19 institutions in Japan. We analyzed 851 patients with advanced NSCLC with a PD-L1 tumor proportion score (TPS) of 1-49% who received chemoimmunotherapy (n = 504) or chemotherapy (n = 347) between March 2017 and June 2022. After adjustment by propensity score matching, median overall survival (OS) was 22.3 months in the chemoimmunotherapy group and 17.0 months in the chemotherapy alone group (P = 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that among 12 clinical factors, liver metastases (P = 0.001) and history of antibiotic use (P = 0.02) were independently associated with shorter OS in the chemoimmunotherapy group. Patients with liver metastases (OS, P = 0.4; PFS, P = 0.06) or history of antimicrobial use (OS, P = 0.24; PFS, P = 0.09) did not benefit from the addition of ICI to chemotherapy. Patients with a history of antimicrobial use experienced more severe pneumonitis with chemoimmunotherapy than all patients (P = 0.04). This cohort study showed that liver metastases or prior antimicrobial therapy are the most important clinical factors that attenuate the efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy in patients with low PD-L1 expression.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144602410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling high-risk pediatric cancers in zebrafish to inform precision therapy.","authors":"Nadine Azzam, Jamie I Fletcher, Nicole Melong, Loretta M S Lau, M Emmy M Dolman, Jie Mao, Gabor Tax, Roxanne Cadiz, Lissandra Tuzi, Alvin Kamili, Biljana Dumevska, Jinhan Xie, Jennifer A Chan, Donna L Senger, Stephanie A Grover, David Malkin, Michelle Haber, Jason N Berman","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0080","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite advances in precision medicine, 30% of high-risk pediatric cancers lack an actionable molecular target, hindering effective treatment and impacting survival outcomes. While mouse patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models offer additional insights into clinical drug responses, delivering findings from these models within a clinically actionable timeframe remains challenging. This international collaboration between two national precision medicine programs demonstrates proof-of-principle that individualized larval zebrafish PDXs can robustly and rapidly assess clinical responses of high-risk child cancer patients. Retrospective zebrafish PDX testing was performed on tumor samples from ten pediatric patients with high-risk cancers. Drug responses in zebrafish models were correlated with clinical responses for each patient and directly compared with responses in cognate mouse PDX models. Responses to conventional and targeted therapies, administered as single agents or in combinations, were assessed. Zebrafish PDXs were successfully established from all ten patients and provided robust drug response data in every case, including from 3 patients whose tumor samples could not be engrafted in mice. Remarkably, zebrafish models accurately recapitulated patient responses for 11 of 12 treatment regimens. These findings highlight the potential of larval zebrafish PDX models to provide real-time, clinically relevant drug response data, supporting their potential use in prospective precision medicine studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144602421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic Ancestry, Intrinsic Tumor Subtypes, and Breast Cancer Survival in Latin American Women.","authors":"Daniela Alves da Quinta, Darío Rocha, Cristian Yáñez, Renata Binato, Sheila Coelho Soares-Lima, Xiaosong Huang, Daiana Ganiewich, Valentina A Zavala, Monica Sans, Alejandra Lopez-Vazquez, Jael Quintero, Olivia Valenzuela, Antonio Quintero-Ramos, Alicia Del Toro-Arreola, Mauricio Cerda, Katherine Marcelain, Susanne Crocamo, Maria Aparecida Nagai, Dirce M Carraro, Marcia Maria Chiquitelli Marques, Jorge Gómez, Nora Artagaveytia, Adrian Daneri-Navarro, Bettina G Müller, Javier Retamales, Carlos Velazquez, Elmer A Fernández, Osvaldo L Podhajcer, Eliana Abdelhay, Ricardo A Verdugo, Andrea S Llera, Laura Fejerman","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0014","DOIUrl":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigates the relationship between genetic ancestry, breast cancer subtypes, and survival outcomes among 951 locally advanced breast cancer cases from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay, participating in the Molecular Profile of Breast Cancer Study. Array-based genotyping and ADMIXTURE analysis were used for genetic ancestry evaluation. Breast cancer subtypes were defined by IHC and the gene expression-based PAM50 algorithm. The distribution of genetic ancestry, including European, Indigenous American (IA), African (AFR), and East Asian components, revealed a heterogeneous genetic admixture across countries, with the highest IA ancestry observed in Chile (30.9%) and Mexico (30.8%). Testing the relationship between genetic ancestry and breast cancer subtypes demonstrated that a 10% increase in European ancestry was significantly associated with a 14% decrease in the odds of developing HER2-enriched breast cancer, after adjustment by age, nodal status, and the AFR component (adj. P = 0.021, luminal A as reference). Accordingly, a 10% increase in IA ancestry was associated with a 21% increase in the probability of having HER2-enriched breast cancer (adj. P = 0.022). IA ancestry also significantly increased overall survival after adjustment by age, nodal status, and AFR ancestry, although this result is controversial and may be affected by the size and heterogeneity of the Molecular Profile Breast Cancer Study cohort. Our research confirms previous findings of a high prevalence of HER2-dependent breast tumors among Hispanic/Latina women and strengthens the hypotheses of the existence of either population-specific genetic variant(s) or of other ancestry-correlated factors that impact HER2 expression in breast cancer consistently across different Latin American regions.</p><p><strong>Significance: </strong>The evidence in this work supports the idea that factors linked to genetic ancestry influence the prevalence of breast cancer subtypes in Latin America, potentially affecting treatment needs in the region.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":"1070-1081"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12223717/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144236014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Racial Disparities in Analgesic and Psychiatric Medication Use During End-Of-Life Care in Advanced-Stage Colorectal Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study.","authors":"John M Allen, Olga M Trejos Kweyete, Yi Guo, Jiang Bian, Xiwei Lou, Sherise C Rogers, Lisa Scarton, David L DeRemer, Diana J Wilkie","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0164","DOIUrl":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-25-0164","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examined racial and ethnic disparities in the use of analgesic and psychiatric medications during end-of-life care among Medicare beneficiaries with advanced-stage colorectal cancer. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare-linked database from 2005 to 2017, we identified 28,212 patients with stage IV colorectal cancer who died within 1 year of diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess differences in medication use by race and ethnicity. Compared with non-Hispanic White patients, Black patients had significantly lower odds of opioid use [adjusted OR (aOR) = 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.80-0.93] and overall analgesic use, whereas Hispanic patients had higher use of opioids (aOR = 1.12; 95% CI, 1.03-1.22) and non-opioid analgesics (aOR = 1.22; 95% CI, 1.06-1.40). Asian patients had increased non-opioid use (aOR = 1.71; 95% CI, 1.44-2.03) and decreased skeletal muscle relaxant use (aOR = 0.59; 95% CI, 0.43-0.82). Across all minority groups, psychiatric medication use was consistently lower than in non-Hispanic White patients. These disparities persisted after adjusting for demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic factors. Findings highlight the urgent need for equitable, culturally responsive symptom management strategies to improve the quality of end-of-life care in this population.</p><p><strong>Significance: </strong>We identified significant disparities in the use of analgesic and psychiatric medications among patients with advanced-stage colorectal cancer. Our findings are significant given the emerging importance of symptom management on health-related quality of life and survival. Future research is needed to understand causal factors, their influence on patient-reported outcomes such as symptom relief, and the development of strategies to close these medication use gaps.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":"1095-1101"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12234946/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144327895","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Uncovering Novel lncRNAs Linked to Melanoma Growth and Migration with CRISPR Inhibition Screening.","authors":"Stavroula Petroulia, Kathryn Hockemeyer, Shashank Tiwari, Pietro Berico, Sama Shamloo, Seyedeh Elnaz Banijamali, Eleazar Vega-Saenz de Miera, Yixiao Gong, Palaniraja Thandapani, Eric Wang, Jeffrey L Schloßhauer, Aristotelis Tsirigos, Iman Osman, Ioannis Aifantis, Jochen Imig","doi":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-24-0416","DOIUrl":"10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-24-0416","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Melanoma being one of the most common and deadliest skin cancers has been increasing since the past decade. Patients at advanced stages of the disease have very poor prognoses, as opposed to at the earlier stages. Nowadays, the standard of care of advanced melanoma is resection, followed by immune checkpoint inhibition-based immunotherapy. However, a substantial proportion of patients either do not respond or develop resistance. This underscores a need for novel approaches and therapeutic targets as well as a better understanding of the mechanisms of melanoma pathogenesis. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) comprise a poorly characterized class of functional players and promising targets in promoting malignancy. Certain lncRNAs have been identified to play integral roles in melanoma progression and drug resistance; however, systematic screens to uncover novel functional lncRNAs are scarce. In this study, we profile differentially expressed lncRNAs in patient-derived short-term metastatic cultures and BRAF-MEK inhibition-resistant cells. We conduct a focused growth-related CRISPR inhibition screen of overexpressed lncRNAs, validate, and functionally characterize lncRNA hits with respect to cellular growth, invasive capacities, and apoptosis in vitro as well as the transcriptomic impact of our lead candidate the novel lncRNA XLOC_030781. In sum, we extend the current knowledge of ncRNAs and their potential relevance in melanoma.</p><p><strong>Significance: </strong>LncRNAs have emerged as novel players in regulating many cellular aspects also in melanoma. The number of functional significances of most lncRNAs remains elusive. We provide a comprehensive strategy to identify functionally relevant lncRNAs in melanoma by combining expression profiling with CRISPR inhibition growths screens. Our results broaden the characterized lncRNAs as potential targets for future therapeutic applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":72516,"journal":{"name":"Cancer research communications","volume":" ","pages":"1102-1118"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12238846/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144478042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}