Pancreatic cancer is the most lethal common solid malignancy. Systemic therapies are often ineffective, and predictive biomarkers to guide treatment are urgently needed. We generated a pancreatic cancer patient-derived organoid (PDO) library that recapitulates the mutational spectrum and transcriptional subtypes of primary pancreatic cancer. New driver oncogenes were nominated and transcriptomic analyses revealed unique clusters. PDOs exhibited heterogeneous responses to standard-of-care chemotherapeutics and investigational agents. In a case study manner, we found that PDO therapeutic profiles paralleled patient outcomes and that PDOs enabled longitudinal assessment of chemosensitivity and evaluation of synchronous metastases. We derived organoid-based gene expression signatures of chemosensitivity that predicted improved responses for many patients to chemotherapy in both the adjuvant and advanced disease settings. Finally, we nominated alternative treatment strategies for chemorefractory PDOs using targeted agent therapeutic profiling. We propose that combined molecular and therapeutic profiling of PDOs may predict clinical response and enable prospective therapeutic selection. New approaches to prioritize treatment strategies are urgently needed to improve survival and quality of life for patients with pancreatic cancer. Combined genomic, transcriptomic, and therapeutic profiling of PDOs can identify molecular and functional subtypes of pancreatic cancer, predict therapeutic responses, and facilitate precision medicine for patients with pancreatic cancer. .

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Cutaneous melanoma have been significantly revised over the past few years in response to emerging data on immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies and BRAF-targeted therapy. This article summarizes the data and rationale supporting extensive changes to the recommendations for systemic therapy as adjuvant treatment of resected disease and as treatment of unresectable or distant metastatic disease.

Over the past few years, the NCCN Guidelines for Melanoma: Cutaneous have been expanded to include pathways for treatment of microscopic satellitosis (added in v2.2020), and the following Principles sections: Molecular Testing (added in v2.2019), Systemic Therapy Considerations (added in v2.2020), and Brain Metastases Management (added in v3.2020). The v1.2021 update included additional modifications of these sections and notable revisions to Principles of: Pathology, Surgical Margins for Wide Excision of Primary Melanoma, Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy, Completion/Therapeutic Lymph Node Dissection, and Radiation Therapy. These NCCN Guidelines Insights discuss the important changes to pathology and surgery recommendations, as well as additions to systemic therapy options for patients with advanced disease.

OverviewIn 2016, an estimated 76,380 patients will be diagnosed with and approximately 10,130 patients will die of melanoma in the United States.1 However, these figures for new cases may represent a substantial underestimate, as many superficial and in situ melanomas treated in the outpatient setting are not reported. The incidence of melanoma continues to increase dramatically, at an overall rate of 33% for men and 23% women from 2002 to 2006.2 Melanoma is increasing in men more rapidly than any other malignancy, and in women more rapidly than any other malignancy except lung cancer. AbstractThis selection from the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Melanoma focuses on adjuvant therapy and treatment of in-transit disease, because substantial changes were made to the recommendations for the 2016 update. Depending on the stage of the disease, options for adjuvant therapy now include biochemotherapy and highdose ipilimumab. Treatment options for in-transit disease now include intralesional injection with talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), a new immunotherapy. These additions prompted reassessment of the data supporting older recommended treatment options for adjuvant therapy and in-transit disease, resulting in extensive revisions to the supporting discussion sections. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 2016;14(4):450-473 NCCN Categories of Evidence and ConsensusCategory 1: Based upon high-level evidence, there is uniform NCCN consensus that the intervention is appropriate. Category 2A: Based upon lower-level evidence, there is uniform NCCN consensus that the intervention is appropriate. Category 2B: Based upon lower-level evidence, there is NCCN consensus that the intervention is appropriate. Category 3: Based upon any level of evidence, there is major NCCN disagreement that the intervention is appropriate.All recommendations are category 2A unless otherwise noted.Clinical trials: NCCN believes that the best management for any cancer patient is in a clinical trial. Participation in clinical trials is especially encouraged. Please NoteThe NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines ® ) are a statement of consensus of the authors regarding their views of currently accepted approaches to treatment. Any clinician seeking to apply or consult the NCCN Guidelines ® is expected to use independent medical judgment in the context of individual clinical circumstances to determine any patient's care or treatment. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network ® (NCCN ® ) makes no representation or warranties of any kind regarding their content, use, or application and disclaims any responsibility for their applications or use in any way. The full NCCN Guidelines for Melanoma are not printed in this issue of JNCCN but can be accessed online at NCCN.org.© National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Inc. 2016, All rights reserved. The NCCN Guidelines and the illustrations herein may not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of NCCN. Disclosures for the NCCN Melanoma ...

Purpose Mucin expression is a common feature of most adenocarcinomas and features prominently in current attempts to improve diagnosis and therapy of pancreatic cancer and other adenocarcinomas. We investigated the expression of a number of mucin core proteins and associated O-linked glycans expressed in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) – sialyl Tn (STn), Tn, T antigen, sialyl Lewis A (CA19-9), sialyl Lewis C (SLeC), Lewis X (LeX) and sialyl Lewis X (SLeX) – during the progression of pancreatic cancer from early stages to metastatic disease. Experimental Design Immunohistochemical analyses of mucin and associated glycan expression on primary tumor and liver metastatic tumor samples were performed with matched sets of tissues from 40 autopsy patients diagnosed with PA, 14 surgically resected tissue samples, and 8 normal pancreata. Results There were significant changes in mucin expression patterns throughout disease progression. MUC1 and MUC4 were differentially glycosylated as the disease progressed from early PanINs to metastatic disease. De novo expression of several mucins correlated with increased metastasis indicating a potentially more invasive phenotype, and we demonstrate the expression of MUC6 in acinar cells undergoing acinar to ductal metaplasia. A “cancer field-effect” that included changes in mucin protein expression and glycosylation in the adjacent normal pancreas was also seen. Conclusions There are significant alterations in mucin expression and post-translational processing during progression of pancreatic cancer from early lesions to metastasis. The results are presented in the context of how mucins influence the biology of tumor cells and their microenvironment during progression of pancreatic cancer.