RhoVac AB’s RV001 (onilcamotide) was granted Fast Track designation by FDA based on positive performance in its phase I/II trial. Unfortunately, in the follow-on Phase IIb BRaVac trial, the drug failed to demonstrate superiority over the placebo.

This editorial comments on Tilki and colleagues’ “Adjuvant Versus Early Salvage Radiation Therapy After Radical Prostatectomy for pN1 Prostate Cancer and the Risk of Death.” Those researchers found that adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) was associated with a lower all-cause mortality risk compared with early salvage RT. Yet in today’s practice environment, early salvage radiotherapy (sRT) is being broadly embraced over aRT despite a continuous lack of randomized data for certain high-risk groups. The editorialist recommends that “all patients with pN1 prostate cancer—and particularly those with increasing node positivity— should be counseled on the potential survival benefits of upfront adjuvant RT demonstrated in this study and the risk that early salvage RT may not be early enough.”

The studies described in Acta Neurologica Belgica assess eight patients who developed a new-onset neuromuscular disorder following COVID-19 vaccination. “These various presentations strengthen the association between COVID-19 vaccination and particular GBS phenotypes,” the researchers noted.

In patients with NETs with distant metastasis, 90Y radioembolization (90Y RE) might be an important treatment option; however, data to support clinical benefits are scarce. The authors purposed to analyze the use of 90Y RE in NET patients with hepatic metastases in an international, multicenter retrospective analysis. In reviewing response data, they conclude that 90Y RE could be an important alternative to peptide receptor radionuclide therapy as second-line treatment in patients with progressive liver-dominant disease pretreated with somatostatin analogs.

Following treatment of the 40 study patients with bevacizumab and atezolizumab, OS was observed in 4 patients with pNETs (20%) and 3 patients with epNETs (15%). The PFS was 14.9 months and 14.2 months in these cohorts, respectively. The findings suggest that clinical responses in patients with NET may follow treatment with the combination of bevacizumab and atezolizumab, with a PFS consistent with effective therapies.

The authors investigated expression of PD-L1 and V-domain Ig-containing suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA) in ACC and their associations with clinicopathological features and survival outcomes. They report that a higher VISTA expression intensity, a larger area, and a higher immunoscore were associated with increased risks of disease progression and overall mortality. However, PD-L1 expression in tumor cells or tumor-infiltrating immune cells was not associated with OS or DFS. The study points to the potential value of VISTA, in addition to PD-L1, as an immunotherapeutic target in ACC.