Applications of Proteomics in Ovarian Cancer: Dawn of a New Era

The ability to identify ovarian cancer (OC) at its earliest stages remains a challenge. The patients present an advanced stage at diagnosis. This heterogeneous disease has distinguishable etiology and molecular biology. Next-generation sequencing changed clinical diagnostic testing, allowing assessment of multiple genes, simultaneously, in a faster and cheaper manner than sequential single gene analysis. Technologies of proteomics, such as mass spectrometry (MS) and protein array analysis, have advanced the dissection of the underlying molecular signaling events and the proteomic characterization of OC. Proteomics analysis of OC, as well as their adaptive responses to therapy, can uncover new therapeutic choices, which can reduce the emergence of drug resistance and potentially improve patient outcomes. There is an urgent need to better understand how the genomic and epigenomic heterogeneity intrinsic to OC is reflected at the protein level, and how this information could potentially lead to prolonged survival

Antibiotic-exposed patients with non-small-cell lung cancer preserve efficacy outcomes following first-line chemo-immunotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Prior antibiotic therapy (pATB) is known to impair efficacy of single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), potentially through the induction of gut dysbiosis. Whether ATB also affects outcomes to chemo-immunotherapy combinations is still unknown. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this international multicentre study, we evaluated the association between pATB, concurrent ATB (cATB) and overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with first-line chemo-immunotherapy at eight referral institutions. RESULTS: Among 302 patients with stage IV NSCLC, 216 (71.5%) and 61 (20.2%) patients were former and current smokers, respectively. Programmed death-ligand 1 tumour expression in assessable patients (274, 90.7%) was ≥50% in 76 (25.2%), 1%-49% in 84 (27.9%) and <1% in 113 (37.5%). Multivariable analysis showed pATB-exposed patients to have similar OS {hazard ratio (HR) = 1.42 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.91-2.22]; P = 0.1207} and PFS [HR = 1.12 (95% CI: 0.76-1.63); P = 0.5552], compared to unexposed patients, regardless of performance status. Similarly, no difference with respect to ORR was found across pATB exposure groups (42.6% versus 57.4%, P = 0.1794). No differential effect was found depending on pATB exposure duration (≥7 versus <7 days) and route of administration (intravenous versus oral). Similarly, cATB was not associated with OS [HR = 1.29 (95% CI: 0.91-1.84); P = 0.149] and PFS [HR = 1.20 (95% CI: 0.89-1.63); P = 0.222] when evaluated as time-varying covariate in multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to what has been reported in patients receiving single-agent ICIs, pATB does not impair clinical outcomes to first-line chemo-immunotherapy of patients with NSCLC. pATB status should integrate currently available clinico-pathologic factors for guiding first-line treatment decisions, whilst there should be no concern in offering cATB during chemo-immunotherapy when needed

Students' participation in collaborative research should be recognised

Letter to the editor