Background An improvement in overall survival among patients with metastatic melanoma has been an elusive goal. In this phase 3 study, ipilimumab — which blocks cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 to potentiate an antitumor T-cell response — administered with or without a glycoprotein 100 (gp100) peptide vaccine was compared with gp100 alone in patients with previously treated metastatic melanoma. Methods A total of 676 HLA-A*0201–positive patients with unresectable stage III or IV melanoma, whose disease had progressed while they were receiving therapy for metastatic disease, were randomly assigned, in a 3:1:1 ratio, to receive ipilimumab plus gp100 (403 patients), ipilimumab alone (137), or gp100 alone (136). Ipilimumab, at a dose of 3 mg per kilogram of body weight, was administered with or without gp100 every 3 weeks for up to four treatments (induction). Eligible patients could receive reinduction therapy. The primary end point was overall survival. Results The median overall survival was 10.0 months among patients receiving ipilimumab plus gp100, as compared with 6.4 months among patients receiving gp100 alone (hazard ratio for death, 0.68; P<0.001). The median overall survival with ipilimumab alone was 10.1 months (hazard ratio for death in the comparison with gp100 alone, 0.66; P = 0.003). No difference in overall survival was detected between the ipilimumab groups (hazard ratio with ipilimumab plus gp100, 1.04; P = 0.76). Grade 3 or 4 immune-related adverse events occurred in 10 to 15% of patients treated with ipilimumab and in 3% treated with gp100 alone. There were 14 deaths related to the study drugs (2.1%), and 7 were associated with immune-related adverse events. Conclusions Ipilimumab, with or without a gp100 peptide vaccine, as compared with gp100 alone, improved overall survival in patients with previously treated metastatic melanoma. Adverse events can be severe, long-lasting, or both, but most are reversible with appropriate treatment. (Funded by Medarex and Bristol-Myers Squibb; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00094653.)

/pdf/improved-survival-with-ipilimumab-in-patients-with-52aamyxks0.pdf

Improved Survival with Ipilimumab in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma.

Background Blockade of programmed death 1 (PD-1), an inhibitory receptor expressed by T cells, can overcome immune resistance. We assessed the antitumor activity and safety of BMS-936558, an antibody that specifically blocks PD-1. Methods We enrolled patients with advanced melanoma, non–small-cell lung cancer, castrationresistant prostate cancer, or renal-cell or colorectal cancer to receive anti–PD-1 antibody at a dose of 0.1 to 10.0 mg per kilogram of body weight every 2 weeks. Response was assessed after each 8-week treatment cycle. Patients received up to 12 cycles until disease progression or a complete response occurred. Results A total of 296 patients received treatment through February 24, 2012. Grade 3 or 4 drugrelated adverse events occurred in 14% of patients; there were three deaths from pulmonary toxicity. No maximum tolerated dose was defined. Adverse events consistent with immune-related causes were observed. Among 236 patients in whom response could be evaluated, objective responses (complete or partial responses) were observed in those with non–small-cell lung cancer, melanoma, or renal-cell cancer. Cumulative response rates (all doses) were 18% among patients with non–small-cell lung cancer (14 of 76 patients), 28% among patients with melanoma (26 of 94 patients), and 27% among patients with renal-cell cancer (9 of 33 patients). Responses were durable; 20 of 31 responses lasted 1 year or more in patients with 1 year or more of follow-up. To assess the role of intratumoral PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) expression in the modulation of the PD-1–PD-L1 pathway, immunohistochemical analysis was performed on pretreatment tumor specimens obtained from 42 patients. Of 17 patients with PD-L1–negative tumors, none had an objective response; 9 of 25 patients (36%) with PD-L1–positive tumors had an objective response (P = 0.006). Conclusions Anti–PD-1 antibody produced objective responses in approximately one in four to one in five patients with non–small-cell lung cancer, melanoma, or renal-cell cancer; the adverse-event profile does not appear to preclude its use. Preliminary data suggest a relationship between PD-L1 expression on tumor cells and objective response. (Funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00730639.)

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1200690

Safety, activity, and immune correlates of anti-PD-1 antibody in cancer.

Immune checkpoints refer to the plethora of inhibitory pathways that are crucial to maintaining self-tolerance. Tumour cells induce immune checkpoints to evade immunosurveillance. This Review discusses the progress in targeting immune checkpoints, the considerations for combinatorial therapy and the potential for additional immune-checkpoint targets.

/pdf/the-blockade-of-immune-checkpoints-in-cancer-immunotherapy-j2cp4ba5s9.pdf

The blockade of immune checkpoints in cancer immunotherapy

Context. We present the second Gaia data release, Gaia DR2, consisting of astrometry, photometry, radial velocities, and information on astrophysical parameters and variability, for sources brighter than magnitude 21. In addition epoch astrometry and photometry are provided for a modest sample of minor planets in the solar system. Aims: A summary of the contents of Gaia DR2 is presented, accompanied by a discussion on the differences with respect to Gaia DR1 and an overview of the main limitations which are still present in the survey. Recommendations are made on the responsible use of Gaia DR2 results. Methods: The raw data collected with the Gaia instruments during the first 22 months of the mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) and turned into this second data release, which represents a major advance with respect to Gaia DR1 in terms of completeness, performance, and richness of the data products. Results: Gaia DR2 contains celestial positions and the apparent brightness in G for approximately 1.7 billion sources. For 1.3 billion of those sources, parallaxes and proper motions are in addition available. The sample of sources for which variability information is provided is expanded to 0.5 million stars. This data release contains four new elements: broad-band colour information in the form of the apparent brightness in the GBP (330-680 nm) and GRP (630-1050 nm) bands is available for 1.4 billion sources; median radial velocities for some 7 million sources are presented; for between 77 and 161 million sources estimates are provided of the stellar effective temperature, extinction, reddening, and radius and luminosity; and for a pre-selected list of 14 000 minor planets in the solar system epoch astrometry and photometry are presented. Finally, Gaia DR2 also represents a new materialisation of the celestial reference frame in the optical, the Gaia-CRF2, which is the first optical reference frame based solely on extragalactic sources. There are notable changes in the photometric system and the catalogue source list with respect to Gaia DR1, and we stress the need to consider the two data releases as independent. Conclusions: Gaia DR2 represents a major achievement for the Gaia mission, delivering on the long standing promise to provide parallaxes and proper motions for over 1 billion stars, and representing a first step in the availability of complementary radial velocity and source astrophysical information for a sample of stars in the Gaia survey which covers a very substantial fraction of the volume of our galaxy.

/pdf/gaia-data-release-2-summary-of-the-contents-and-survey-539viwt72y.pdf

Gaia Data Release 2. Summary of the contents and survey properties

Array programming provides a powerful, compact and expressive syntax for accessing, manipulating and operating on data in vectors, matrices and higher-dimensional arrays. NumPy is the primary array programming library for the Python language. It has an essential role in research analysis pipelines in fields as diverse as physics, chemistry, astronomy, geoscience, biology, psychology, materials science, engineering, finance and economics. For example, in astronomy, NumPy was an important part of the software stack used in the discovery of gravitational waves1 and in the first imaging of a black hole2. Here we review how a few fundamental array concepts lead to a simple and powerful programming paradigm for organizing, exploring and analysing scientific data. NumPy is the foundation upon which the scientific Python ecosystem is constructed. It is so pervasive that several projects, targeting audiences with specialized needs, have developed their own NumPy-like interfaces and array objects. Owing to its central position in the ecosystem, NumPy increasingly acts as an interoperability layer between such array computation libraries and, together with its application programming interface (API), provides a flexible framework to support the next decade of scientific and industrial analysis. NumPy is the primary array programming library for Python; here its fundamental concepts are reviewed and its evolution into a flexible interoperability layer between increasingly specialized computational libraries is discussed.

/pdf/array-programming-with-numpy-31s3jl24ra.pdf

Array programming with NumPy

The invention relates to the identification of the SUFU (supressor of fused) gene as a tumor suppressor gene and the identification of mutations of the SUFU gene that are associated with the development of cancer, particularly medulloblastoma. The invention provides methods for determining a diagnosis, prognosis or risk of a tumor pathology in a subject involving a SUFU gene mutation, where the method comprises detecting a SUFU gene mutation in DNA from a subject. The SUFU gene comprises exons 1 through 12 and the mutation is associated with the tumor pathology.

Diagnostic and therapeutic uses of SUFU gene

Astrometry.net: Astrometric calibration of images

4565 Background: Surveillance is a standard management option for clinical stage I testicular cancer. Serial CT imaging of the abdomen and pelvis (CTA/P) is a key component of all surveillance prot...

Evaluation of low-dose CT scans for surveillance in stage I testicular cancer.

9073 Background: Radiological assessment of patterns of response (R) to checkpoint inhibitors remain imperfect. irRC accounts for pseudoprogression but does not evaluate change in density. We aimed...

Patterns of response to anti-PD1 treatment: Comparison of three radiological response criteria and effect on overall survival (OS) in metastatic melanoma patients (MM).

LBA4 The full, final text of this abstract will be available in Part II of the 2011 Annual Meeting Proceedings, distributed onsite at the Meeting on June 4, 2011, and as a supplement to the June 20...

Phase III randomized, open-label, multicenter trial (BRIM3) comparing BRAF inhibitor RG7204 with dacarbazine in patients with V600E BRAF-mutated melanomas.

David W. Hogg

Papers

Diagnostic and therapeutic uses of SUFU gene

Astrometry.net: Astrometric calibration of images

Evaluation of low-dose CT scans for surveillance in stage I testicular cancer.

Patterns of response to anti-PD1 treatment: Comparison of three radiological response criteria and effect on overall survival (OS) in metastatic melanoma patients (MM).

Phase III randomized, open-label, multicenter trial (BRIM3) comparing BRAF inhibitor RG7204 with dacarbazine in patients with V600E BRAF-mutated melanomas.