touchREVIEWS in Oncology & Haematology – Volume 18, Issue 1 – 2022

Welcome to the latest edition of touchREVIEWS in Oncology & Haematology. Despite the success of the human papillomavirus vaccination programme, cervical cancer remains one of the most common cancers in women, and advanced disease carries a poor prognosis. Lebreton et al. review data from the KEYNOTE-826 Phase III trial, which showed the benefits of adding pembrolizumab […]

Cervical cancer (CC) remains one of the most frequent cancers in women, representing the fourth cause of neoplasia in women in terms of incidence, and has a high lethality rate.1 Indeed, worldwide 341,831 women die each year because of this disease, with a mortality rate that varies across different countries, with, for example, less than two […]

Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) are a heterogenous group of cancers arising from the biliary epithelium. While they account for around 3% of all gastrointestinal malignancies, they are the second most common primary liver cancer.1 CCAs tend to metastasize and have early lymph node involvement. As a result, only a small proportion of patients are considered for surgical management, […]

Gastro-oesophageal cancers (GEC), which include both gastric (GC) and oesophageal cancers (EC), are among the most common cancers globally.1 In the USA, the American Cancer Society estimated 20,640 new diagnoses of EC and 26,380 new diagnoses of GC, each contributing to 16,410 and 11,090 deaths, respectively, in 2022 alone.2,3 GEC is divided based on the histology of squamous […]

To date, the cornerstone of curative treatment in early-stage gastrointestinal (GI) cancers includes surgery and sometimes radiation therapy. Depending on the stage and tumour type, these approaches are often combined with systemic neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapies. After all definitive therapy has been administered, physicians and patients rely on imaging and non-specific blood tests to monitor […]

Marginal zone lymphoma subtypes Marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) is an indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that accounts for 5.0%–10.0% of NHLs.1 There are three subtypes of MZL: extranodal (including mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue [MALT]), splenic and nodal.1 Extranodal MZL (EMZL) is the most common type of MZL and accounts for about 70% of all cases of MZLs, occuring in […]

B-cell signalling pathways are critical regulators of B-cell development, expansion, and survival and function via various mediators, including Src family kinases (SFKs), spleen tyrosine kinase, Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) and phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) (Figure 1).1,2 BTK, a member of the Tec protein tyrosine kinase (TEC) family, is overexpressed in many B-cell leukaemias and lymphomas, and […]

Multiple myeloma (MM) remains largely an incurable disease with only a small percentage of patients achieving long-term remission.1 Here, we highlight some of the major studies on MM presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in December 2021. Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and smouldering myeloma The Iceland Screens, Treats, or Prevents Multiple Myeloma (iStopMM) […]

Background on anti-BCMA CAR-T therapy Despite notable advances in the development of new drugs and the improvement of survival rates over the last 20 years, multiple myeloma (MM) persists as an incurable disease and nearly 35,000 new cases are expected in the USA each year.1,2 The emergence of novel immunotherapies treatments has changed the therapeutic landscape […]

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) comprise a heterogenous group of malignancies with diverse clinical behaviour determined by tumour characteristics such as grade, differentiation and primary tumour origin.1 While neuroendocrine carcinomas are poorly differentiated aggressive malignancies, well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) tend to be slow growing.2 Despite this, more than 50% of patients with NETs are diagnosed with metastatic disease. […]

Sarcomas are a diverse group of rare muscle, bone and connective tissue tumours. Within soft-tissue sarcoma alone, there are over 70 subtypes, which demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in biology, genetics and clinical behaviour.1 Further complicating their management is the range of treatment responsiveness, with some subtypes wholly refractory to traditional chemotherapy, while others are quite responsive to […]

In December 2019, an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown aetiology was observed in the Chinese city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. By January 2020, this outbreak was attributed to a novel virus classified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the latest member of the coronaviridae family responsible for major infectious outbreaks, including […]

Treatment for prostate cancer impacts the health-related quality of life of men. Patient-reported outcome (PRO) data from prospective, investigator-initiated clinical trials have shown that effects are seen on the urinary, bowel, and sexual function domains and, to a lesser extent, on the general quality of life (QoL) of men.1–5 In these clinical studies, patients reported […]