An open-label randomized phase II study demonstrated a potential clinical benefit of low dose cyclophosphamide in advanced biliary tract cancer patients treated with personalized peptide vaccination, possibly through inhibition of IL-6 elevation.

ICG accumulation in the SiLN and PALN parallels the changes in luciferase activity due to tumor growth.

High PD-L1 expression on tumor cells was significantly associated with a poor prognosis, whereas high PD-L1 expression on tumor-infiltrating mononuclear cells positively affected the prognosis of patients with stage III colorectal cancer.

TUG1 was a target of miR-335-5p in osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines. TUG1 could increase ROCK1 expresion and promote ROCK1 mediated migration/invasion by working as a ceRNA of miR-335-5p.

our findings demonstrate that PVT1-derived miR-1207-5p promotes the proliferation of breast cancer cells by targeting STAT6, which in turn controls CDKN1A and CDKN1B expression. These findings suggest miR-1207-5p might be a potential target for breast cancer therapy.

lmiR-135a-3p serum expression is significantly involved in ovarian cancer prognosis. lmiR-135a-3p blocks ovarian cancer progression by suppressing oncogenic molecules. lmiR-135a-3p is useful both for ovarian cancer companion diagnostics and therapy.

In this work, we evaluated the main source of CCN2 in TSCC cells and MSCs co-cultured medium and investigated the effect of MSC-derived CCN2 on TSCC cells growth. Taken with our results, we first found that MSC-derived CCN2 promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of TSCC cells.

We investigated the role of nardilysin (NRDC) in the promotion of HCC, and showed that (i) NRDC is up-regulated in HCC tissue; (ii) high serum NRDC is associated with increased tumor size and poor prognosis among patients with hepatitis C; (iii) diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocarcinogenesis is suppressed in NRDC-deficient mice; and (iv) NRDC promotes the growth of HCC spheroids via activation of STAT3. These results indicate that NRDC is a promising prognostic marker for HCC in patients with hepatitis C, and that NRDC could be a therapeutic target for HCC.

Estrogen increases the cancer stem cell population in ER-positive breast cancer cells. A non-canonical hedgehog inhibitor significantly reduces the proportion of cancer stem cell population in these cells.

Pyruvate kinase type M2 is involved in the carcinogenesis and the development of human gastric cancer through regulating cancer related metabolism. We also found that PKM2 expression was upregulated by CagA via Erk pathway.

Phosphoinositides have distinct roles in basal breast cancer phenotypes. In MDA-MB-231 cells, which have high PTEN expression, PTEN predominantly regulates PIP3 levels, and is related to PI3-kinase signaling. In contrast, SHIP2 plays a role in the generation of PI(3,4)P2, which in turn leads to Lpd signaling and lamellipodia formation.

ESE1 and Ets1, whose expressions are reciprocally regulated by MEK-ERK pathway, define the EMT phenotype through controlling expression of ZEBs in each subtype of breast cancer cells.

To identify the metabolic characterization specific in the invaded PANC-1 cells, metabolome analysis of the invaded PANC-1 compared with the whole cultured PANC-1 was performed using CE-TOFMS. We proposed that invaded cells have unique metabolic profiles, especially higher consumption of ATP and GTP, with assumed activation of ATP- or GTP-generating pathways, and higher oxidative stress but with resistance to that stress.

This study is the first to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of proton beam therapy for bone sarcomas of the skull base and spine on a nationwide multicenter basis in Japan. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that performance status is a significant factor for overall survival and progression-free survival, and sex is a significant factor for local control.

Peritoneal lavage cytology findings that include ≥1 signet ring cells, ≥5 cell clusters, or ≥50 isolated cancer cells were associated with worse prognosis in gastric cancer, and could indicate patients who would benefit from gastrectomies.

We conducted a multicenter, randomized, open-label phase II study to compare the efficacy and safety of weekly nab-paclitaxel and docetaxel in Japanese patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative metastatic breast cancer. In this study, although PFS, primary endpoint, did not show superiority in weekly nab-paclitaxel 150 mg/m², compared with docetaxel, efficacy outcomes were similar in patients treated with weekly nab-paclitaxel and docetaxel. Safety was as expected for nab-paclitaxel and docetaxel; no new profiles were observed, and the frequency of febrile neutropenia was higher in the docetaxel arm. A better understanding of the safety and efficacy profiles of each drug will allow personalized treatments to be proposed based on the individual patient's characteristics.

Investigator-initiated trials (IITs) are important aspects of medical research in an academic institution, and have contributed substantially to modern oncology. The quality of a clinical trial is evaluated by several factors, including registration to a trial database, publication rate, time to publication of trial results, funding source-related reporting, reporting of trial results, trials conducted by a secure cooperative group, and accomplishment of trial enrolment. Multiple IITs using approved cancer drugs have been performed; however, the quality of clinical trials was not high-grade in terms of publication rate, time to publication for trial results, and accrual achievement.

In this multicentre phase II study, the efficacy and safety of nivolumab was evaluated in 35 Japanese patients with advanced or recurrent squamous non-small cell lung cancer. Treatment consisted of 3mg/kg intravenouos injections every two weeks in six weeks cycles until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. The centrally-assessed overall response rate was 25.7% (95% confidence interval 14.2, 42.1). The median OS, median time to response and median PFS were 16.3 (95% CI 12.4–25.4), 2.7 (range 1.2–5.5) and 4.2 (95% CI 1.4–7.1) months, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events were reported in 24 patients (68.6%). Most resolved with appropriate treatment.

We examined the efficacy and safety of nivolumab, a programmed death-1 (PD-1)-blocking antibody, in a phase 1 trial in 17 Japanese patients with refractory/relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma previously treated with brentuximab vedotin. The results indicate that nivolumab is a potentially effective treatment option that achieved relevant decreases in tumor size. Nivolumab was also tolerable in this cohort of patients.

OCV-C02 is a peptide vaccine consisting of two peptide epitopes derived from ring finger protein 43 (RNF43) and translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 34 (TOMM34). This Phase 1 study was conducted to evaluate safety and tolerability, preliminary efficacy and immunological responses following OCV-C02 administration in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Overall, results showed that OCV-C02 at doses of 0.3, 1, 3, and 6 mg/body was safe and well tolerated, with clinically meaningful superiority in terms of median OS over that observed in studies of recent drugs.

Repeated intravenous administration of nivolumab had potent and durable anti-tumor effects and a manageable safety profile in advanced melanoma patients in Japan. Pre-treatment serum cytokine profiles were suggested as correlates for predicting treatment efficacy.

We previously developed a hybrid small molecule SNIPER (Specific and Nongenetic IAP-dependent Protein ERaser) against transforming acidic coiled-coil-3 (TACC3), SNIPER(TACC3), that induces proteasomal degradation of TACC3 protein. In this study, we found that SNIPER(TACC3) induces cytoplasmic vacuolization derived from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and paraptosis-like cell death selectively in cancer cells. We also found that SNIPER(TACC3) sensitizes cancer cells to bortezomib and suggest that SNIPER(TACC3) could be applied to treat cancer cells resistant to undergo apoptosis.

YPC-21661 and YPC-22026 may be the first ZNF143 inhibitors that exhibited anti-cancer activities in vitro and in vivo. These results indicate that YPC-21661 and 22026 are promising first-in-class drug seeds.

CDCP1 is involved in tumor metastasis through forming complex with PKCdelta. We discovered Pd-Oqn, a small molecule, that disrupts the interaction of CDCP1 with PKCdelta by chemical screening. Pd-Oqn attenuated anchorage-independent growth of tumor cells and metastasis in mouse model.

The present study demonstrated that soft palatal melanosis was positively associated with upper aerodigestive tract (UAT) neoplasia, and distinct melanosis showed a stronger association. In addition, soft palatal melanosis combined with other simple risk assessments provides a simple new strategy for identifying heavy drinkers with a high risk for UAT neoplasia. Our new risk assessment strategy using the detection of soft palatal melanosis might be helpful for persuading high-risk patients to perform endoscopic screening and for detecting early neoplasms in the UAT.

Evidence regarding meat consumption and colorectal cancer is limited in the Japanese population. A prospective study in Japan demonstrated the increased risk of colorectal or colon cancer among men with high intake of red and processed meat. Reduced meat consumption might protect against colorectal cancer.

BACH2 expression was downregulated in the majority of EBV-positive DLBCL cases, and indicated it contributes to constitutive activation of the NFkB pathway in an EBV-positive B-cell lymphoma cells.

Mural cells are essential in the promotion of vascular integrity, but whether the regulation of death signaling is involved was hitherto unknown. We show in vitro and in vivo that mural cells promote vascular integrity in tumors via down-regulation of the death receptor Fas in endothelial cells.