non-invasive-ultrasound-assessment-endometrial-cancer-progression

Non-Invasive Ultrasound Assessment of Endometrial Cancer Progression in Pax8-Directed Deletion of the Tumor Suppressors <em>Arid1a</em> and <em>Pten</em> in Mice

Uterine cancers can be studied in mice due to the ease of handling and genetic manipulation in these models. However, these studies are often limited to ...

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a deadly malignancy, due in large part to its resistance to conventional therapies, including radiotherapy (RT). Despite RT exerting a modest antitumor response, it has also been shown to promote an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Previous studies demonstrated that focal adhesion kinase inhibitors (FAKi) in clinical development inhibit the infiltration of suppressive myeloid cells and T regulatory (T regs) cells, and subsequently enhance effector T cell infiltration. FAK inhibitors in clinical development have not been investigated in combination with RT in preclinical murine models or clinical studies. Thus, we investigated the impact of FAK inhibition on RT, its potential as an RT sensitizer and immunomodulator in a murine model of PDAC.

Inhibition of focal adhesion kinase enhances antitumor response of radiation therapy in pancreatic cancer through CD8+ T cells.

With a 5-year survival rate of less than 50%, ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is one of the most highly aggressive gynecological malignancies affecting women today. The high mortality rate of HGSC is largely attributable to delays in diagnosis, as most patients remain undiagnosed until the late stages of -disease. There are currently no recommended screening tests for ovarian cancer and there thus remains an urgent need for new diagnostic methods, particularly those that can detect the disease at early stages when clinical intervention remains effective. While diagnostics for ovarian cancer share many of the same technical hurdles as for other cancer types, the low prevalence of the disease in the general population, coupled with a notable lack of sensitive and specific biomarkers, have made the development of a clinically useful screening strategy particularly challenging. Here, we present a detailed review of the overall landscape of ovarian cancer diagnostics, with emphasis on emerging methods that employ novel protein, genetic, epigenetic and imaging-based biomarkers and/or advanced diagnostic technologies for the noninvasive detection of HGSC, particularly in women at high risk due to germline mutations such as . Lastly, we discuss the translational potential of these approaches for achieving a clinically implementable solution for screening and diagnostics of early-stage ovarian cancer as a means of ultimately improving patient outcomes in both the general and high-risk populations.

Juliane Liberto

Department of Pathology

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Non-Invasive Ultrasound Assessment of Endometrial Cancer Progression in Pax8-Directed Deletion of the Tumor Suppressors Arid1a and Pten in Mice