Immunotherapy Commons^™

Enhancing Chemosensitivity Of Lung Cancers By Manipulating The Tumor Microenvironment: Local Lung Delivery And Nanocarrier-Based Therapies, Hanming Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in United States causing an estimated six hundred thousand death in 2019. Among different types of cancer, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death in both male and female. While targeted therapy and immunotherapy have shown promising clinical outcomes, currently there remain a significant proportion of patients who do not benefit from these strategies or who cannot tolerate them, making Pt based doublet chemotherapy still an indispensable component in almost all stages of treatment. However, partially due to the poor tumor distribution of small molecule drug, the development of …

The Impact Of Aging And Mechanical Injury On Alveolar Epithelial And Macrophage Responses In Acute Lung Injury And Inflammation, Michael S. Valentine

Theses and Dissertations

Patients with severe lung pathologies, such as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), often require mechanical ventilation as a clinical intervention; however, this procedure frequently exacerbates the original pulmonary issue and produces an exaggerated inflammatory response that potentially leads to sepsis, multisystem organ failure, and mortality. This acute lung injury (ALI) condition has been termed Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury (VILI). Alveolar overdistension, cyclic atelectasis, and biotrauma are the primary injury mechanisms in VILI that lead to the loss of alveolar barrier integrity and pulmonary inflammation. Stress and strains during mechanical ventilation are believed to initiate alveolar epithelial mechanotransduction signaling mechanisms that contribute …

Eftilagimod Alpha, A Soluble Lymphocyte Activation Gene-3 (Lag-3) Protein Plus Pembrolizumab In Patients With Metastatic Melanoma, Victoria Atkinson, Adnan Khattak, Andrew Haydon, Melissa Eastgate, Amitesh Roy, Prashanth Prithviraj, Christian Mueller, Chrystelle Brignone, Frederic Triebel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. BACKGROUND: To evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of eftilagimod alpha (efti), a soluble lymphocyte activation gene-3 protein, in combination with the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) antagonist pembrolizumab. METHODS: The study was divided into two parts; parts A and B, where part A was the dose escalation part and part B was an extension part of the study. Patients with metastatic melanoma were treated with efti plus the standard dose of pembrolizumab. Blood samples were assayed to determine …

The Prognostic Impact Of Circulating Tumour Dna In Melanoma Patients Treated With Systemic Therapies—Beyond Braf Mutant Detection, Gabriela Marsavela, Peter A. Johansson, Michelle R. Pereira, Ashleigh C. Mcevoy, Anna L. Reid, Cleo Robinson, Lydia Warburton, Muhammad A. Khattak, Tarek M. Meniawy, Benhur Amanuel, Michael Millward, Nicholas K. Hayward, Melanie R. Ziman, Elin S. Gray, Leslie Calapre

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. In this study, we evaluated the predictive value of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) to inform therapeutic outcomes in metastatic melanoma patients receiving systemic therapies. We analysed 142 plasma samples from metastatic melanoma patients prior to commencement of systemic therapy: 70 were treated with BRAF/MEK inhibitors and 72 with immunotherapies. Patient-specific droplet digital polymerase chain reaction assays were designed for ctDNA detection. Plasma ctDNA was detected in 56% of patients prior to first-line anti-PD1 and/or anti-CTLA-4 treatment. The detection rate in the immunotherapy cohort was comparably lower than those with BRAF inhibitors …

Comments On The Preliminary Framework For Equitable Allocation Of Covid-19 Vaccine, Ana Santos Rutschman, Julia Barnes-Weise, Robert Gatter, Timothy L. Wiemken

All Faculty Scholarship

On September 1, 2020 the National Academies released a draft framework for Equitable Allocation of a COVID-19 Vaccine. In this response, we analyze the proposed framework and highlight several areas.

Among the proposed changes, we highlight the need for the following interventions. The final framework for distribution of COVID-19 vaccines should give a higher priority to populations made most vulnerable by the social determinants of health. It should incorporate more geography-based approaches in at least some of the four proposed phases of vaccine distribution. It should address the possibility of a vaccine being made available through an emergency use authorization …

The Case For Face Shields: Improving The Covid-19 Public Health Policy Toolkit, Timothy L. Wiemken, Ana Santos Rutschman, Robert Gatter

All Faculty Scholarship

As the United States battles the later stages of the first wave of COVID-19 and faces the prospect of future waves, it is time to consider the practical utility of face shields as an alternative or complement to face masks in the policy guidance. Without face shields specifically noted in national guidance, many areas may be reluctant to allow their use as an alternative to cloth face masks, even with sufficient modification.

In this piece, we discuss the benefits of face shields as a substitute to face masks in the context of public health policy. We further discuss the implications …