Hard-copy and soft-copy chest CR images are acceptable and available in place of screen-film images for primary interpretation of subtle interstitial lung diseases.

Thyroid carcinoma (TC) has characteristic genetic alterations, including point mutations in proto-oncogenes and chromosomal rearrangements that vary by histologic subtype. Recent developments in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology enable simultaneous analysis of cancer-associated genes of interest, thus improving diagnostic accuracy and allowing precise personalized treatment for human cancer.

No abstract

Glomangiopericytoma (GPC) is a rare mesenchymal tumor arising from the nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses. GPC was categorized as a borderline and low-malignant-potential tumor by the World Health Organization in 2005 and accounts for less than 0.5% of all sinonasal tumors. We report a case of GPC in a 74-year-old woman with a history of recurrent epistaxis and nasal obstruction. A reddish tumor was seen in the right nasal cavity. Enhanced computed tomography showed a mass lesion occupying the right nasal cavity. The tumor, which originated from the nasal septum in the olfactory fissure area, was resected with 5-mm mucosal margins by endoscopic sinus surgery. Histologic examination revealed a uniform proliferation of oval-to-short spindle-shaped cells beneath the epithelium. Immunohistologic analysis demonstrated the tumor cells were positive for α-smooth muscle actin, β-catenin and Vimentin, and negative for AE1/AE3, Bcl-2, CD34, CD117, Factor VIIIR Ag, S-100 protein, or STAT6. The percentage of Ki-67-positive cells was approximately 5%. Genetic analysis using next-generation sequencing revealed a missense mutation in the CTNNB1 gene (c.110C > G, p.S37C). While other CTNNB1 mutations have been described in GPC; this is the first report of this specific mutation. The mutation was confirmed using Sanger sequencing.

No abstract

The success of the immune checkpoint blockade has provided a proof of concept that immune cells are capable of attacking tumors in the clinic. However, clinical benefit is only observed in less than 20% of the patients due to the non-specific activation of immune cells by the immune checkpoint blockade. Developing tumor-specific immune responses is a challenging task that can be achieved by targeting tumor antigens to generate tumor-specific T-cell responses. The recent advancements in peptide-based immunotherapy have encouraged clinicians and patients who are struggling with cancer that is otherwise non-treatable with current therapeutics. By selecting appropriate epitopes from tumor antigens with suitable adjuvants, peptides can elicit robust antitumor responses in both mice and humans. Although recent experimental data and clinical trials suggest the potency of tumor reduction by peptide-based vaccines, earlier clinical trials based on the inadequate hypothesis have misled that peptide vaccines are not efficient in eliminating tumor cells. In this review, we highlighted the recent evidence that supports the rationale of peptide-based antitumor vaccines. We also discussed the strategies to select the optimal epitope for vaccines and the mechanism of how adjuvants increase the efficacy of this promising approach to treat cancer.

No abstract

Placenta-specific 1 (PLAC1) is expressed primarily in placental trophoblasts but not in normal tissues and is a targetable candidate for cancer immunotherapy because it is a cancer testis antigen known to be upregulated in various tumors. Although peptide epitopes capable of stimulating CD8 T cells have been previously described, there have been no reports of PLAC1 CD4 helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes and the expression of this antigen in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Here, we show that PLAC1 is highly expressed in 74.5% of oropharyngeal and 51.9% of oral cavity tumors from HNSCC patients and in several HNSCC established cell lines. We also identified an HTL peptide epitope (PLAC1 31-50 ) capable of eliciting effective antigen-specific and tumor-reactive T cell responses. Notably, this peptide behaves as a promiscuous epitope capable of stimulating T cells in the context of more than one human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR allele and induces PLAC1-specific CD4 T cells that kill PLAC1positive HNSCC cell lines in an HLA-DR-restricted manner. Furthermore, T-cells reactive to PLAC1 31-50 peptide were detected in the peripheral blood of HNSCC patients. These findings suggest that PLAC1 represents a potential target antigen for HTL based immunotherapy in HNSCC.