Background To the authors' knowledge, race‐based differences in efficacy for the treatment of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have not been studied to date due to the underrepresentation of patients of minority backgrounds in pivotal trials. In the current study, the authors examined real‐world differences in outcome in a diverse patient population. Methods The authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes of patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with single‐agent immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) between 2013 and July 2018 at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Primary efficacy comparison between Black patients and White patients was performed using bivariate and multivariate analyses for overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS). Results Data from 257 patients were analyzed. The median age of the patients was 69 years; 50.6% of the patients were female, 63.4% were White, 29.5% were Black, and 7.1% of the patients were of “other” race. ICB was the first‐line treatment in 51 patients (19.9%), the second‐line treatment in 161 patients (62.6%), and the third‐line treatment in 33 patients (12.9%). The most commonly used agents were nivolumab (49.0%), pembrolizumab (25.2%), and atezolizumab (21.3%). No differences with regard to OS (P = .839) and PFS (P = .235) were noted between Black and White patients. The sample overall response rate was 20.6% (15.2% in Black patients and 23.1% in White patients). No differences with regard to OS (P = .081) and PFS (P = .176) were observed between female and male patients. The rate of immune‐related adverse events was found to be similar in Black and White patients (20.0% vs 29.9%; P = .148). On multivariate analysis, race was not found to be significantly associated with OS or PFS. Conclusions Real‐world analysis of the authors' institutional experience demonstrated similar efficacy and tolerability of ICB in Black versus White patients with advanced NSCLC. Larger multi‐institutional studies including other US minority populations would make the findings of the current study more generalizable.

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While the current role of taxane use in SCCHN remains to be established, ongoing and future studies involving taxanes will hopefully solidify their role in the treatment of SCCHN. The future role of taxanes will also be influenced by the introduction of novel taxanes, as well as immunotherapy in the treatment of SCCHN.

The prognosis of esophageal cancers is poor and novel approaches are urgently needed. Despite improvements in outcomes with transtuzumab and ramucirumab, these improvements added an average of only 2 to 3 months with a median overall survival reported to be around 1 year. Comprehensive genomic sequencing has defined some molecular alterations with potential targets, but the majority of patients still do not benefit from druggable targets. Breakthroughs in immune checkpoint blockade have provided new therapeutic options in many cancers. Programmed death ligand 1 (PDL1) overexpression, a possible biomarker predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors, approaches forty percent in esophageal and gastric cancers. Translational and molecular studies have shown that esophageal cancers are possible candidate malignancies for immune checkpoint inhibition. In this review, we plan to highlight the mechanisms, preclinical, and early clinical data that provide insight on the role of immune therapeutics in esophageal cancers.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a myeloid disorder with several established treatment regimens depending on patient and leukemic factors. Cisplatin is known to have strong leukemogenic potential and is rarely used even as salvage therapy in relapsed or refractory AML. We present a patient simultaneously diagnosed with AML and squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, who was found to be in complete remission from AML following treatment with cisplatin based chemoradiotherapy for his laryngeal cancer.