The availability of tyrosine kinase inhibitors has extended therapeutic options for chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients. Monitoring recommendations and clinical response goals have recently been updated. The objective of this study was to describe the profile of CML patients in chronic phase currently receiving first-line therapy, including treatment, monitoring and response kinetics. A multicentre, cross-sectional, epidemiological survey in unselected chronic phase CML patients in France attending consultations during a one-month period was performed. 438 of 697 (62·8%) reported patients were currently receiving first-line treatment and were analysed. Imatinib was the most frequently received treatment (72·4% of patients). Retrospective cytogenetic and molecular assessments at 3, 6, 12 or 18 months were available in 88·4% of patients. At the 12-month assessment, 32·2% were not in major molecular response (MMR). At last assessment, among 355 patients with duration of treatment ≥ 12 months, 91·5% had achieved MMR and 66·5% were in deep molecular response. This study, performed in everyday practice population of CML patients, suggests that monitoring of molecular responses in real-life practice is aligned with European LeukaemiaNet recommendations. The majority of patients still receiving first-line treatment are in optimal response, with a few being classified as in the warning area or responding to failure.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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Evaluation of patient characteristics and mitotane use in the treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) over a 4-year period in Belgium.
This was a multicentre retrospective review of the outcome of 34 patients treated with mitotane for ACC during the period [01/2008-12/2011] (12 diagnosed before and 22 diagnosed during the study period) and evaluated up to 06/2013.
Patient and tumour characteristics were consistent with those generally described for ACC. Mean age at diagnosis was 46.5 years, most patients were female (62%), had functioning ACC (65%) and advanced tumours (ENSAT stages III or IV: 82%). Therapeutic mitotane plasma levels (14-20 mg/L) were achieved at least once in 70% of the cohort, after a median of 4 months, and were maintained for more than 2 months in 61% of evaluable patients. Mitotane-related adverse effects were observed in 66% of patients, were never serious, and included gastrointestinal, neurological, neuropsychological, hormonal, dermatologic and metabolic effects. Most patients (88%) discontinued mitotane, mainly due to tumour progression. Multivariate analysis showed that ENSAT stage was a prognostic factor for overall (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS); OS was also influenced independently by achievement of therapeutic mitotane plasma levels for at least two consecutive months.
Patient and tumour characteristics were consistent with previously published data. OS and DFS were mostly influenced by ENSAT stage at diagnosis. Achieving therapeutic levels of mitotane for at least two consecutive months seemed to positively influence OS, but such levels were not reached or sustained in some patients.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

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Many chemotherapeutic drugs kill only a fraction of cancer cells, limiting their efficacy. We used live-cell imaging to investigate the role of p53 dynamics in fractional killing of colon cancer cells in response to chemotherapy. We found that both surviving and dying cells reach similar levels of p53, indicating that cell death is not determined by a fixed p53 threshold. Instead, a cell’s probability of death depends on the time and levels of p53. Cells must reach a threshold level of p53 to execute apoptosis, and this threshold increases with time. The increase in p53 apoptotic threshold is due to drug-dependent induction of anti-apoptotic genes, predominantly in the inhibitors of apoptosis (IAP) family. Our study underlines the importance of measuring the dynamics of key players in response to chemotherapy to determine mechanisms of resistance and optimize the timing of combination therapy.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Colorectal cancer is a surgicaly curable disease. It requires multimodality of treatment in Localy advanced and metastatic disease. Molecular markers like RAS mutation has brought in change in the mangement of metastatic disease. Nearly 15 to 20 % presents with peritonieal surface metastasis. The debate continues with systomic vs Cyutoreductive surgery with are without HIPEC. This article highlights management of peritoneal metastasis with special reference to prevention and treatment.

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On April 12, 2016 Heat Biologics, Inc. ("Heat") (Nasdaq:HTBX), an immuno-oncology company developing novel therapies that activate a patient’s immune system against cancer, reported three poster presentations at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting, including initial preclinical results from Heat’s collaboration with OncoSec Medical Incorporated, a biotechnology company developing DNA-based intra-tumoral cancer immunotherapies (Press release, Heat Biologics, APR 12, 2016, View Source [SID:1234510679]). The AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting is being held on April 16-20, 2016 in New Orleans, LA.

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The details for the poster presentations at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting are as follows:

Title: In vivo intra-tumoral electroporation of Gp96-Ig/Fc-OX40L stimulates CD8+ T cell cross-priming to tumor specific neoantigens
Date and Time: April 17, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. CT
Location: Section 26
Session Title: Immune Modulating Agents 1
Abstract ID: 567

Title: Vesigenurtacel-L stimulates tumor infiltration of unique polyclonal T cell clones in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients
Date and Time: April 18, 2016 at 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CT
Location: Section 22
Session Title: Immune Response Monitoring: Clinical
Abstract ID: 1405

Title: Combination immunotherapy: T cell costimulation (OX40L, TL1A, 4-1BBL and ICOSL) secreted locally by Gp96-Ig vaccines, elicits robust antigen-specific, memory T cell responses and tumor elimination
Date and Time: April 18, 2016 at 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. CT
Location: Section 27
Session Title: Therapeutic Antibodies and Vaccines
Abstract ID: 2353

Copies of the abstracts are available and can be viewed online through the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) website at www.aacr.org. Posters will be uploaded to the Publications section of Heat’s corporate website upon completion of the sessions to abide by the conference’s embargo policy.