Browsing by Author "Tsai, Kenneth Y."

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    Cetuximab for Immunotherapy-Refractory/Ineligible Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma
    (MDPI, 2023-06-14) Marin-Acevedo, Julian A.; Withycombe, Bethany M.; Kim, Youngchul; Brohl, Andrew S.; Eroglu, Zeynep; Markowitz, Joseph; Tarhini, Ahmad A.; Tsai, Kenneth Y.; Khushalani, Nikhil I.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Anti-PD1 therapy demonstrated impressive, prolonged responses in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Therapy for ICI-refractory/ineligible disease remains unclear. We performed a retrospective analysis in locally-advanced/metastatic CSCC using cetuximab across three cohorts: immediately after ICI failure (A), not immediately following ICI failure (B), or without prior ICI (C). The primary endpoint was the overall response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included disease-control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), time-to-response (TTR) and toxicity. Twenty-three patients were included. In cohort A (n = 11), the ORR was 64% and DCR was 91%, with six ongoing responses at data cutoff. In cohort B (n = 2), all patients had progression as the best response. At a median follow-up of 21 months for A and B, TTR and PFS were 2.0 and 17.3 months, respectively. The median OS was not reached. In cohort C (n = 10), the ORR and DCR were 80%, including five ongoing responses at the data cutoff. At a median follow-up of 22.4 months, the TTR, PFS and OS were 2.5, 7.3 and 23.1 months, respectively. Cetuximab was well tolerated in all cohorts. In summary, cetuximab is effective in patients with failure/contraindications to ICI. Cetuximab immediately after ICI failure yielded particularly fast, durable responses. If confirmed, this could be the preferred therapy following ICI failure.
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    Randomized controlled trial of fractionated laser resurfacing on aged skin as prophylaxis against actinic neoplasia
    (The American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2021) Spandau, Dan F.; Chen, Roy; Wargo, Jeffrey J.; Rohan, Craig A.; Southern, David; Zhang, Angela; Loesch, Mathew; Weyerbacher, Jonathan; Tholpady, Sunil S.; Lewis, Davina A.; Kuhar, Matthew; Tsai, Kenneth Y.; Castellanos, Amber J.; Kemp, Michael G.; Markey, Michael; Cates, Elizabeth; Williams, Amy R.; Knisely, Christina; Bashir, Sabina; Gabbard, Ryan; Hoopes, Robert; Travers, Jeffrey B.; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: The loss of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) expression in senescent dermal fibroblasts during aging is associated with an increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). We tested how IGF-1 signaling can influence photocarcinogenesis during chronic UVB exposure to determine if fractionated laser resurfacing (FLR) of aged skin, which upregulates dermal IGF-1 levels, can prevent the occurrence of actinic keratosis (AK) and NMSC. METHODS: A human skin/immunodeficient mouse xenografting model was used to test the effects of a small molecule inhibitor of the IGF-1 receptor on chronic UVB radiation. Subsequently, the durability of FLR treatment was tested on a cohort of human participants aged 65 years and older. Finally, 48 individuals aged 60 years and older with considerable actinic damage were enrolled in a prospective randomized clinical trial in which they underwent a single unilateral FLR treatment of one lower arm. Numbers of AKs/NMSCs were recorded on both extremities for up to 36 months in blinded fashion. RESULTS: Xenografting studies revealed that chronic UVB treatment with a topical IGF-1R inhibitor resulted in a procarcinogenic response. A single FLR treatment was durable in restoring appropriate UVB response in geriatric skin for at least 2 years. FLR resulted in sustained reduction in numbers of AKs and decreased numbers of NMSCs in the treated arm (2 NMSCs) versus the untreated arm (24 NMSCs). CONCLUSION: The elimination of senescent fibroblasts via FLR reduced the procarcinogenic UVB response of aged skin. Thus, wounding therapies are a potentially effective prophylaxis for managing high-risk populations.