There are a wide range of therapies for metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) available, but outcomes remain suboptimal. Learning the role of the immune system in cancer development and progression led to advances in the treatment over the last decade. While the field is rapidly evolving, PD-1, and PD-L1 inhibitors have a leading role amongst immunomodulatory agents. They act against pathways involved in adaptive immune suppression resulting in immune checkpoint blockade. Immunotherapy has been slow to impact the management of this patient population due to disappointing results, mainly when used broadly. Nevertheless, some patients with microsatellite-instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair-deficient (dMMR) CRC appear to be susceptible to checkpoint inhibitors with objective and sustained clinical responses, providing a new therapeutic option for patients with advanced disease. This article provides a comprehensive review of the early and late phase trials with the updated data of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors alone or in combination with other therapies (immunotherapy, targeted therapy and chemotherapy). While data is still limited, many ongoing trials are underway, testing the efficacy of these agents in CRC. Current and future challenges of PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors are also discussed.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has been shown to respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). It has been established that achieving pathological complete response (pCR) for certain aggressive subtypes of breast cancer, including HER-2 (over-expressed) and TNBC, provides an important surrogate marker for predicting long-term clinical response and survival outcomes. How to increase the number of patients that achieve pCR remains challenging. Platinum-based NACT seems to be part of the solution and capecitabine, an active drug in metastatic breast cancer, but not a standard one in earlier stages may have found its place in the adjuvant setting.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract