J Transl Med
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The sixth "Melanoma Bridge Meeting" took place in Naples, Italy, December 1st-4th, 2015. The four sessions at this meeting were focused on: (1) molecular and immune advances; (2) combination therapies; (3) news in immunotherapy; and 4) tumor microenvironment and biomarkers. Recent advances in tumor biology and immunology has led to the development of new targeted and immunotherapeutic agents that prolong progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of cancer patients. ⋯ Translation of the knowledge gained from the biology of tumor microenvironment across different tumors represents a bridge to impact on prognosis and response to therapy in melanoma. We also discussed the requirements for pre-analytical and analytical as well as clinical validation process as applied to biomarkers for cancer immunotherapy. The concept of the fit-for-purpose marker validation has been introduced to address the challenges and strategies for analytical and clinical validation design for specific assays.
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Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains a common organ dysfunction in the critically ill patient. Mechanisms for its development have focused on immune mediated causes, aspects of our understanding are not complete, and we lack biomarkers. ⋯ This suggests sPD-1 is elevated in critical illness and may represent a potential biomarker for ARDS. In addition, sPD-1 has an anti-inflammatory mechanism in conditions of marked stress and aids in the resolution of severe inflammation. sPD-1 could be used to not only diagnose ARDS, but may be a potential therapy.