SEOM clinical guidelines for the treatment of head and neck cancer (2020).

Head and neck cancers (HNC) are defined as malignant tumours located in the upper aerodigestive tract and represents 5% of oncologic cases in adults in Spain. More than 90% of these tumours have squamous histology. In an effort to incorporate evidence obtained since 2017 publication, the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) presents an update of the squamous cell HNC diagnosis and treatment guideline. Most relevant diagnostic and therapeutic changes from the last guideline have been updated: introduction of sentinel node biopsy in early oral/oropharyngeal cancer treated with surgery, concomitant radiotherapy with weekly cisplatin 40 mg/m2 in the adjuvant setting, new approaches for HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer and new treatments with immune-checkpoint inhibitors in recurrent/metastatic disease.

Gold glyconanoparticles coupled to listeriolysin O 91-99 peptide serve as adjuvant therapy against melanoma.

Dendritic cell-based (DC-based) vaccines are promising immunotherapies for cancer. However, several factors, such as the lack of efficient targeted delivery and the sources and types of DCs, have limited the efficacy of DCs and their clinical potential. We propose an alternative nanotechnology-based vaccine platform with antibacterial prophylactic abilities that uses gold glyconanoparticles coupled to listeriolysin O 91-99 peptide (GNP-LLO91-99), which acts as a novel adjuvant for cancer therapy. GNP-LLO91-99, when used to vaccinate mice, exhibited dual antitumour activities, namely, the inhibition of tumour migration and growth and adjuvant activity for recruiting and activating DCs, including those from melanoma patients. GNP-LLO91-99 nanoparticles caused tumour apoptosis and induced antigen- and melanoma-specific cytotoxic Th1 responses (P ≤ 0.5). We propose this adjuvant nanotherapy for preventing the progression of the first stages of melanoma.

[Capecitabine: an oral chemotherapeutic agent against metastatic breast and colorectal cancer]. / Capecitabina: un quimioterápico oral en la lucha contra el cáncer de mama y colorrectal metastásico.

Capecitabine is the first drug in a new fluoropyrimidine class that offers distinct characteristics. On one hand its oral administration mimics continuous fluorouracil infusion while remaining convenient with higher patient acceptance and compliance rates and avoiding intravenous administration-associated complications and financial costs. On other hand it provides intra-tumour selective activation, thus potentially facilitating local management and therefore improved anti-tumour activity as well as reduced systemic toxicity. The concentration of thymidine phosphorylase an enzyme essential for capecitabine activation in tumour cells increases after exposure to cytotoxics such as taxanes, cyclophosphamide, gemcitabine or vinorelbine, which results in synergistic activity. It has been tried both as monotherapy and in combination with other chemotherapy agentsâboth in first-line regimes and in previously treated patients against metastatic colorectal and breast cancer, results being very good in terms of efficacy and tolerability.