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© 2017 Japanese Dermatological Association Azathioprine (AZP) is used as a corticosteroid (CS)-sparing medication to treat autoimmune blistering diseases. In this study, we examined the efficacy of AZP and the feasibility of using AZP monotherapy (without CS) to treat pemphigus and pemphigoid. We performed a retrospective study of 10 Japanese patients (seven with pemphigus and three with pemphigoid) with mild to moderate disease activity who had been treated using AZP. The treatment efficacy was evaluated based on decreases in the disease activity scores and autoantibody titers. The results demonstrate that seven out of 10 cases (70%) were treated successfully using AZP monotherapy with no severe adverse effects. The disease activity scores of the successfully-treated patients decreased to zero after 1–37.5 months (average, 11.9) and the average disease activity scores in these cases decreased significantly at 2 months (38.2 ± 36.6%) compared with the scores of the three patients who required additional systemic CS therapy (77.5 ± 3.5%) (P < 0.05). Additionally, the autoantibody titers of five cases treated successfully using AZP decreased by half at 6 months. In conc

© 2019 Fujimura, Sato, Tanita, Lyu, Kambayashi, Amagai, Otsuka, Fujisawa, Yoshino, Matsushita, Uchi, Yamamoto, Hata, Funakoshi, Nonomura, Tanaka, Okuhira, Wada, Hashimoto and Aiba. Anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD1) antibodies are in wide use for the treatment of various cancers. PD1 antibody-based immunotherapy, co-administration of nivolumab and ipilimumab, is one of the optimal immunotherapies, especially in advanced melanoma with high tumor mutation burden. Since this combined therapy leads to a high frequency of serious immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients with advanced melanoma, biomarkers are needed to evaluate nivolumab efficacy to avoid serious irAEs caused by ipilimumab. This study analyzed baseline serum levels of CXCL5, CXCL10, and CCL22 in 46 cases of advanced cutaneous melanoma treated with nivolumab. Baseline serum levels of CXCL5 were significantly increased in responders compared to non-responders. In contrast, there were no significant differences of baseline serum levels of CXCL10 and CCL22 between responders and non-responders. These results suggest that baseline serum levels of CXCL5 may be useful as a biomarker for screening patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma most likely to benefit from anti-melanoma immunotherapy.

INTRODUCTION: Malignant cutaneous epithelial tumors comprise various skin malignancies originating from the cutaneous epithelium, including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and malignant cutaneous adnexal tumors. Treatment options are limited, as the rarity of these tumors, especially among Asians, renders well-controlled clinical trials extremely challenging to conduct. Thus, we designed a clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody nivolumab in patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas and other rare metastatic cutaneous epithelial tumors. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This is an open-label, single-arm, multicenter, phase 2 clinical trial involving patients with metastatic malignant cutaneous epithelial tumors. Nivolumab (480 mg) will be administered intravenously every 4 weeks for a maximum of 26 doses. The primary outcome of the study will be the response rate based on response evaluation criteria in solid tumors, version 1.1. Assuming a null hypothesis of a response rate ≤5% and an alternative hypothesis of a 25% response rate, a minimum of 26 patients are required to achieve a 5% two-sided type I error and 80% power based on the exact binomial distribution. Finally, a target cohort size of 30 patients was determined as some patient dropout will be expected. DISCUSSION: This is the first phase 2 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab in Asian patients with metastatic malignant cutaneous epithelial tumors. The findings of the study will contribute to the development of novel treatment approaches for patients with rare cutaneous malignancies, which remains an unmet clinical need. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registry number: jRCT 2031190048.

Background: Acral melanoma (AM) is an epidemiologically and molecularly distinct entity that is underrepresented in clinical trials on immunotherapy in melanoma. We aimed to analyze the efficacy of anti-programmed cell death 1 (anti-PD-1) antibodies in advanced AM. Patients and methods: We retrospectively evaluated unresectable stage III or stage IV AM patients treated with an anti-PD-1 antibody in any line at 21 Japanese institutions between 2014 and 2018. The clinicobiologic characteristics, objective response rate (ORR, RECIST), survival estimated using Kaplan–Meier analysis, and toxicity (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events 4.0.) were analyzed to estimate the efficacy of the anti-PD-1 antibodies. Results: In total, 193 patients (nail apparatus, 70; palm and sole, 123) were included in the study. Anti-PD-1 antibody was used as first-line therapy in 143 patients (74.1%). Baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was within the normal concentration in 102 patients (52.8%). The ORR of all patients was 16.6% (complete response, 3.1%; partial response, 13.5%), and the median overall survival (OS) was 18.1 months. Normal LDH concentrations showed a significantly stronger association with better OS than abnormal concentrations (median OS 24.9 versus 10.7 months; P < 0.001). Although baseline characteristics were similar between the nail apparatus and the palm and sole groups, ORR was significantly lower in the nail apparatus group [6/70 patients (8.6%) versus 26/123 patients (21.1%); P = 0.026]. Moreover, the median OS in this group was significantly poorer (12.8 versus 22.3 months; P = 0.03). Conclusions: Anti-PD-1 antibodies have limited efficacy in AM patients. Notably, patients with nail apparatus melanoma had poorer response and survival, making nail apparatus melanoma a strong candidate for further research on the efficacy of novel combination therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Copyright: © 2019 Iga et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Cancer immunotherapy has highlighted the clinical relevance of enhancing anti-tumor response of CD8+ T cells in several cancer types. Little is known, however, about the involvement of the immune system in extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD). We examined the cytotoxicity and the effector functions of CD8+ T cells using paired samples of peripheral blood and tumors by flow cytometry. Expression levels of perforin, granzyme B, IFN-g, TNF-a, and IL-2 in CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were significantly lower than those in CD8+ T cells of peripheral blood. Significantly higher expression of PD-1 was found in CD8+TILs than in CD8+ T cells of peripheral blood. A high number of CD8+ cells was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) adjusted with age, sex, and clinical stage (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.03, P = 0.045, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03-24.4). On the other hand, the number of PD-1+ cells was

This study investigated, using cycle threshold (Ct) qPCR values, the association between symptoms and viral clearance in 57 patients with asymptomatic/mild SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with olfactory/taste disorders (OTDs) exhibited lower qPCR Ct values and longer time to negative qPCR than those without OTDs, suggesting an association between OTDs and high viral burden.

To evaluate the feasibility of adoptive cell therapy (ACT) using ex vivo-expanded tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in Japanese patients with melanoma who failed immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapy, an open-label, single-arm, pilot study was conducted. We investigated the immunological and genetic factors of the pretreatment tumor and expanded TILs that may be associated with the clinical response. The treatment protocol comprised preparation of TIL culture, lympho-depleting non-myeloablative preconditioning with cyclophosphamide and fludarabine, TIL infusion, and intravenous administration of low-dose IL-2. Three patients of clinical subtypes mucosal, superficial spreading, and acral melanoma underwent TIL-ACT. Most severe adverse events, including fever and leukopenia, were manageable with the supportive regimen specified in the protocol, suggesting that the TIL-ACT regimen is suitable for Japanese patients with melanoma. One patient showed a short-term partial response, one relatively long-stable disease, and one experienced disease progression. Whole-exome and transcriptional sequencing of isolated tumor cells and immunohistochemical analyses before TIL-ACT revealed various immunostimulatory factors, including a high tumor mutation burden and immune cell-recruiting chemokines, as well as various immunosuppressive factors including TGF-β, VEGF, Wnt/β-catenin, and MAPK signaling and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which might influence the efficacy of TIL-ACT. Our results imply mechanisms for the antitumor effect of and resistance to TIL-ACT. Further studies of immune-resistant mechanisms of TIL-ACT are warranted. This study is registered with the UMIN Clinical Trial Registry (UMIN 000011431).

＜文献概要＞61歳,男性.初診3ヵ月前より発熱,咽頭痛を自覚し,四肢に紅斑が生じた.前医で好酸球数増加を指摘され,持続する発熱と紅斑を主訴に当科を紹介され受診した.紅斑からの病理組織では真皮から脂肪織の血管周囲に好酸球とリンパ球が浸潤していた.経過中,多発性単神経炎と紫斑が生じ,好酸球性多発血管炎性肉芽腫症が疑われた.その後,項部に丘疹が新生し,同部位からの病理組織で真皮全層に異型なCD4陽性T細胞が増生しており,T細胞受容体β鎖の遺伝子再構成を認めた.FDG-PETでは全身のリンパ節,肝実質,両側肺野への集積亢進を認めた.末梢性T細胞リンパ腫,非特定型と診断した.好酸球数増加をきたす疾患としてリンパ増殖性疾患は鑑別に挙がるが,多彩な臨床症状を呈し,診断が困難なことがあり,異なる皮疹が出現した場合は繰り返し生検を施行する必要がある.

＜文献概要＞41歳,女性.初診1年前から左季肋部に結節を自覚した.妊娠15週頃から急速に増大し,妊娠17週時に当科を受診した.初診時,表面に紫斑を伴う4cm大の弾性軟の腫瘤を認めた.超音波検査で血管に富む境界明瞭な腫瘤であり,血管腫を疑い局所麻酔下で全摘術を行った.病理組織学的に,真皮から皮下に境界明瞭で血管に富む腫瘍を認めた.構成する細胞は紡錘形の細胞で,花むしろ状配列をなしてびまん性に増殖していた.核の大小不同や分裂像は目立たなかった.免疫組織化学染色ではCD34陽性,FISH法で第17染色体COL1A1遺伝子座と第22染色体PDGFB遺伝子座の転座が示唆された.隆起性皮膚線維肉腫と診断し,妊娠24週時に全身麻酔で筋膜を含め追加切除した.この腫瘍は以前にも妊娠中に急激に増大する腫瘍として報告されている.経過観察中に増大すると手術の侵襲が大きくなることや,転移の可能性もあるため,妊婦に生じた腫瘤における重要な鑑別疾患と考えられた.

© 2019 British Association of Dermatologists Background: A subset of patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP) show deposition of IgE in the basement membrane zone (BMZ), yet the relationship between BMZ IgE and the clinical presentation of BP remains unclear. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between IgE deposition, IgE levels in serum, and disease severity in patients with BP. Methods: We investigated IgE autoantibodies in 53 patients with BP by direct immunofluorescence (DIF), indirect immunofluorescence and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Of 53 patients with BP, 23 (43%) had IgE deposition, 10 (19%) of whom were IgE+ and 13 (25%) IgE± according to DIF analyses. Erosion/blister (E/B) Bullous Pemphigoid Disease Area Index (BPDAI) scores were significantly higher in IgE+ patients than in IgE− patients (n = 15), while no significant differences were found for urticaria/erythema BPDAI scores. IgE+ and IgE± patients took longer to reduce their E/B BPDAI score by 75% after systemic corticosteroid treatment. BP180-IgE levels were significantly higher among IgE+ patients than IgE± or IgE− patients (n = 10). Total IgE levels in the serum and blood eosinophil counts did not differ between IgE+, IgE± and IgE− patients. A significant correlation was detected between BP180-IgG and BP180-IgE, but not between BPDAI scores and any of BP180-IgG, BP180-IgE or blood eosinophil count. Conclusions: IgE deposition in the BMZ is associated with higher E/B BPDAI scores and longer treatment periods. We conclude that IgE binding in the BMZ may contribute to BP pathogenesis by promoting blister formation. What's already known about this topic?. BP180-IgE autoantibodies have an important role in the pathogenesis of bullous pemphigoid (BP). A subset of patients with BP display deposition of IgE within the basement membrane zone (BMZ) of skin tissue. What does this study add?. Patients with in vivo IgE deposition in the BMZ displayed higher erosion/blister Bullous Pemphigoid Disease Area Index (BPDAI) scores, while urticaria/erythema BPDAI scores were not significantly different. Patients with in vivo IgE deposition in the BMZ took longer to reduce their erosion/blister BPDAI score by 75% after systemic corticosteroid treatment. BP180-specific IgE levels in serum were higher among patients with linear IgE deposition in the BMZ than in those with granular or no IgE deposition.

© 2019 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology Primary malignant melanomas (MM) originating from the gynecological tract are rare. They respond poorly to immunotherapy when compared with cutaneous MM. This study reports two cases. The first is of a 54-year-old woman with a cervical amelanotic polypoid mass who was diagnosed as having stage IB1 cervical melanoma according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics system. At 17 months post-surgery, a computed tomography examination revealed recurrence of a 68 mm pelvic tumor. The second case is of a 37-year-old woman with a 7 cm hemorrhagic mass on the vaginal wall. The patient was diagnosed as having stage IV vaginal melanoma according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer definition. Both patients received nivolumab therapy, programmed cell death receptor 1 monoclonal antibodies, and the tumors almost disappeared. These cases may add the possibility of using colposcopy with narrow-band imaging and positron-emission tomography to diagnose and evaluate primary MM.

© 2019 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have improved the prognosis of advanced melanoma. Although anti–programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) is a well-studied biomarker for response to anti–programmed death-1 PD-1 therapy in melanoma, its clinical relevance remains unclear. It has been established that the high expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is correlated to a response to anti–CTLA-4 treatment in melanoma. However, it is still unknown whether the IDO expression is associated with response to anti–PD-1 therapy in advanced melanoma. In addition, acral and mucosal melanomas, which comprise a great proportion of all melanomas in Asians, are genetically different subtypes from cutaneous melanomas; however, they have not been independently analyzed due to their low frequency in Western countries. To evaluate the association of IDO and PD-L1 expression with response to anti–PD-1 antibody in acral and mucosal melanoma patients, we analyzed 32 Japanese patients with acral and mucosal melanomas treated with anti–PD-1 antibody from the perspective of IDO and PD-L1 expression levels by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Multivariate Cox regression models showed that the low expression of IDO in tumors was associated with poor progression-free survival (HR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.13-0.81, P = 0.016), whereas PD-L1 expression on tumors was not associated with progression-free survival. Significantly lower expression of IDO in tumors was found in non–responders compared to responders. Assessment of the IDO expression could be useful for the identification of suitable candidates for anti–PD-1 therapy among acral and mucosal melanomas patients. Further validation study is needed to estimate the clinical utility of our findings.

© 2019 British Association of Dermatologists Background: Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) is a rare intraepithelial adenocarcinoma affecting the genitals and axillary regions. As metastasis of these tumours is itself rare, solid disease management strategies have not been established. Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokeratin 19 fragment 21-1 (CYFRA 21-1) levels have been identified as candidate biomarkers for tumour progression in EMPD. Objectives: To determine the accuracy of and the correlation between these markers in patients with EMPD. Methods: Serum CEA and CYFRA 21-1 levels were examined in 30 patients with EMPD treated at Keio University Hospital, and compared against clinical information. Both assays were performed at the time of diagnosis, during the postoperative observation period, and following systemic treatment in those with confirmed metastasis. Serum levels were then correlated with tumour progression status and treatment responses. Results: Normal levels for both assays were observed in all 11 patients with primary localized disease (100%). In patients with metastatic disease the CEA positivity rate was 79% (15 of 19 patients), with a rate of 63% (12 of 19 patients) for CYFRA 21-1. Changes in CEA and CYFRA 21-1 levels were statistically independent; however, using a combined view, elevated levels of either marker improved the positivity rate to 95% (18 of 19 patients). Use of both markers also correlated well with treatment responses. Conclusions: The combination of CEA and CYFRA 21-1 is useful for predicting metastasis and treatment response in patients with EMPD, especially in those who only have elevation of a single marker. What's already known about this topic?. Serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokine 19 fragment 21-1 (CYFRA 21-1) have been shown to be elevated in patients with extramammary Paget disease (EMPD). Elevation of serum CEA levels is associated with tumour progression of EMPD. A single small study reported that serum CYFRA 21-1 levels are elevated in patients with EMPD with lymph node metastasis. What does this study add?. Serum CEA and CYFRA 21-1 were present in 79% and 63% of 19 cases of metastatic EMPD, respectively. Elevations of CEA and CYFRA 21-1 were statistically independent. CEA and CYFRA 21-1 combination assays were positive in 95% of cases of metastatic EMPD. What is the translational message?. Combination assays with CEA and CYFRA 21-1 are useful for monitoring treatment response in patients with metastatic EMPD, particularly in those with elevation of either marker.

© 2019 Tanese, Nakamura, Hirai and Funakoshi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs), which represent a diverse group of cutaneous malignancies, are the most common forms of human neoplasia. The incidence of these diseases is increasing due to a number of factors, including that of increasing human lifespans. The majority of NMSCs are basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCC), with the remainder being various rare skin cancers, including extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD), Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), and several skin adnexal carcinomas. Of these, MCC usually shows aggressive behavior with a high mortality rate. On the other hand, BCC, cSCC, EMPD, and skin adnexal tumors usually show an indolent clinical course and metastasize only rarely. Nevertheless, the metastatic forms of these tumors commonly lead to poor patient outcome. A definitive management strategy for the treatment of advanced NMSC has not been established, mainly due to their rarity and lack of reliable information based on well-controlled randomized trials. Chemotherapeutic regimens for treatment of these diseases have been mainly based on the observations of isolated, small case series or clinical trials with a limited numbers of patients. However, accumulating evidence regarding their pathobiological backgrounds as well as recent advances in molecular biotechnology have facilitated the development of novel drugs for treatment of these diseases. Over the past decade, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved several molecular targeting therapies, including Hedgehog inhibitors for BCC, monoclonal antibodies targeting anti-programmed death ligand-1 and anti- programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) for MCC, and anti-PD-1 for cSCC. Here, we review their clinical utility and discuss updated systemic treatment strategies for advanced NMSC.

生後3ヵ月,女児.出生時より頭頂部に脱毛斑があり,徐々に隆起し弾性軟の紫紅色腫瘤を呈した.良性腫瘍を疑い2歳時に切除した.術中,腫瘤下部から索状構造物が頭蓋骨の小欠損孔を通して頭蓋内へ連続していた.病理組織像は膠原線維を分け入るような脈管様構造が主体で,免疫染色のEMA,NSE,D2-40が陽性で髄膜組織由来と考えられた.臨床像と病理組織所見から閉鎖性脳瘤(atretic cephalocele)と診断した.閉鎖性脳瘤は髄膜組織を皮下に認める稀な疾患で,発生過程の異常に起因すると考えられている.皮膚髄膜腫,異所性髄膜腫など複数の名称で報告がある.臨床像は出生時から認める頭頂部や後頭部正中の5〜20mm大の脱毛斑・結節で,色調はさまざまである.病理組織像は脈管様構造や膠原線維で構成され,免疫染色のEMA,NSEとD2-40が陽性となる.閉鎖性脳瘤は脳奇形を合併することがあり,頭部MRIでの評価が重要である.(著者抄録)

78歳,女性.関節リウマチに対して24年間メトトレキサート(MTX)の内服をしていた.入院4ヵ月前より認めていた両下腿浮腫,びらんが増悪をきたし入院した.その際に汎血球減少を認め,入院5日目に鼠径リンパ節腫脹と腹部膨満を,6日目に呼吸困難が出現し,血液検査所見では白血球・LDH・可溶性IL-2受容体が上昇し,CTでは大量の胸腹水の貯留・両鼠径リンパ節腫脹を認めた.右鼠径リンパ節の病理組織像では異型細胞が密に増殖し,免疫染色ではEBERが陽性であった.MTX関連リンパ増殖性疾患(methotrexate-related lymphoproliferative disorders:MTX-LPD)と診断し,汎血球減少のため休薬したMTXの中止に加えて利尿剤投与,酸素投与を行った.約14日で胸腹水は改善傾向となり,鼠径リンパ節が縮小し,末梢血は正常化した.胸腹水を合併し重篤化するMTX-LPDは稀であるが,MTXの中止のみで改善することから,追加治療の要否に関する見極めが難しい.改善しない場合や初期から重度の症状がある場合は,全身管理や化学療法を要する場合がある.(著者抄録)

水溶性軟膏でヨウ素を含有するカデックス軟膏を滲出液,感染のコントロールを要する褥瘡患者に使用し,その有効性と安全性を検討した.対象患者は8例で,褥瘡の発生部位は仙骨部6例,右背部1例,左大転子部1例であった.「極めて有用」2例,「かなり有用」3例,「やや有用」1例,「どちらともいえない」2例であった.DESIGN(褥瘡経過評価用)における平均点数はカデックス軟膏の使用に伴い,肉芽組織(G):4.13→3.5,および炎症(I):1.5→0.88であきらかな低下がみられた.また,総合点(DESIGN):14.25→12.5と平均点が2週間の使用で1.75点低下した.カデックス軟膏は滲出液が多く,炎症や感染を伴うと考えられる褥瘡患者に有効性を有し,また副作用は軽度であり,有用な外用剤であることが示唆された