Artificial intelligence for diagnosis and Gleason grading of prostate cancer

 The Prostate Cancer Grade Assessment (PANDA) Challenge, a global artificial intelligence competition, recently published findings of their "blueprint for evaluating AI [artificial intelligence] algorithms in digital pathology" for prostate cancer patients.  In the PANDA report, prostate tumours were categorized into 5 grade groups, based on the Gleason growth patterns of tumour tissue.  Following the application of AI to grade 10,616 digitized prostate biopsies, "the algorithms achieved agreements of 0.862...[compared with] 0.868 with expert uropathologists." 

To read more about the PANDA Challenge, click here. 

Source mentioned: Bulten W, Kartasalo K, Chen P-HC, et al. Artificial intelligence for diagnosis and Gleason grading of prostate cancer: the PANDA challenge. Nature Medicine; Published online 13 January 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01620-2

Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection following COVID-19 vaccination in patients with cancer

 Research conducted by the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium, the results of which were recently published in the Annals of Oncology maintains that cancer patients who contract COVID-19 despite being vaccinated "remain susceptible to severe outcomes."  Dr. Toni K. Choueri of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, emphasizes that "vaccination of close contacts, masking, boosters, and social distancing are needed to protect patients with cancer", particularly if cancer patients come into contact with members of the public that are unvaccinated. 

Click here to read more about this study, believed to be the first to evaluate clinical characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients being infected by COVID-19 after vaccination.    

Source mentioned: Schmidt AL, Labaki C, Hsu C-Y, et al. COVID-19 vaccination and breakthrough infections in patients with cancer. Annals of Oncology; Published online 24 December 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2021.12.006

Dual inhibition of LAG-3 and PD-1 in patients with previously untreated metastatic or unresectable melanoma

 Findings from a recent phase II/III trial, RELATIVITY-047, evaluating "dual inhibition of LAG-3 and PD-1 using a new combination of LAG-3-blocking antibody relatlimab and PD-1 blocking antibody nivolumab..." were published by the Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in The New England Journal of Medicine.  A cell surface molecule expressed on immune cells, LAG-3 "negatively regulates T-cell proliferation and effector T-cell function."  The RELATIVITY-047 study evaluated relatlimib and nivolumab together as a fixed dose regimen compared to patients receiving only nivolumab alone over a 4 week period in patents with untreated metastatic or unresectable melanoma.  Progression free survival was 10.1 months in patients receiving the relatlimab-nivolumab combination vs 4.6 months for those only being administered nivolumab. 

To read more about this trial, click here. 

Sources mentioned

• Tawbi HA, Schadendorf D, Lipson EJ, et al. Relatlimab and Nivolumab versus Nivolumab in Untreated Advanced Melanoma. N Engl J Med 2022;386:24-34. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2109970
• Frampton AE, Sivakumar S. A New Combination Immunotherapy in Advanced Melanoma. N Engl J Med 2022;386:91-92. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe2116892

Lung cancer leading cause of cancer death in Canada

A recent study conducted by Health Canada as part of the Canadian Health Measures Survey has revealed that lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and leading cause of cancer death in Canada.  While exact figures have not been tabulated, it is estimated that 21,000 Canadians will have died from lung cancer in 2021, more than colorectal, pancreatic and breast cancers combined.  The study further reports that "about half of all lung cancers are diagnosed at stage IV, at which point survival is extremely low: five-year survival is 4%."   

To read more about the findings from this report, click here