SB1518 has encouraging activity in relapsed lymphoma, providing the first proof-of-principle of the potential therapeutic value of targeting the JAK/STAT pathway in lymphoma in the clinical setting.

Background:Hyaluronan accumulation in tumour stroma is associated with reduced survival in preclinical cancer models. PEGPH20 degrades hyaluronan to facilitate tumour access for cancer therapies. Our objective was to assess safety and antitumour activity of PEGPH20 in patients with advanced solid tumours.Methods:In HALO-109-101 (N=14), PEGPH20 was administered intravenously once or twice weekly (0.5 or 50 μg kg−1) or once every 3 weeks (0.5–1.5 μg kg−1). In HALO-109-102 (N=27), PEGPH20 was administered once or twice weekly (0.5–5.0 μg kg−1), with dexamethasone predose and postdose.Results:Dose-limiting toxicities included grade ⩾3 myalgia, arthralgia, and muscle spasms; the maximum tolerated dose was 3.0 μg kg−1 twice weekly. Plasma hyaluronan increased in a dose-dependent manner, achieving steady state by Day 8 in multidose studies. A decrease in tumour hyaluronan level was observed in 5 of the 6 patients with pretreatment and posttreatment tumour biopsies. Exploratory imaging showed changes in tumour perfusion and decreased tumour metabolic activity, consistent with observations in animal models.Conclusions:The tumour stroma has emerging importance in the development of cancer therapeutics. PEGPH20 3.0 μg kg−1 administered twice weekly is feasible in patients with advanced cancers; exploratory analyses indicate antitumour activity supporting further evaluation of PEGPH20 in solid tumours.

Key Points Pacritinib reduced myelofibrosis-related splenomegaly and patient symptoms without causing clinically significant myelosuppression. Pacritinib had activity and was well tolerated in patients with preexisting anemia and thrombocytopenia.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is still one of the most important neoplasias causing human death. Multidisciplinary therapy has won consensus in the management of CRC, of which, radiotherapy occupies an important position. However, radioresistance is still a major obstacle in local control of CRC. Overexpression of long non-coding RNA HOTAIR has been found to correlate with tumorigenesis and poor prognosis in several types of cancer. In the present study, we analyzed HOTAIR expression levels of 53 CRC patients in tumor and adjacent normal tissue by real-time quantitative PCR. Knockdown of HOTAIR by RNA interference was performed to explore its roles in cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis and radiosensitivity. Results showed that CRC patients had higher HOTAIR expression in tumor tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. In vitro, downregulation of HOTAIR reduced proliferation, migration and invasiveness while enhanced apoptosis and radio-sensitivity of CRC cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that long non-coding RNA HOTAIR expression is closely associated with tumor invasion and radiosensitivity, indicating the potential role in diagnostics and therapeutics of CRC.

SB939 can be safely administered at the recommended dose and reaches plasma levels that strongly inhibit HDAC in PBMCs. These data support further efficacy studies of SB939.