It is becoming increasingly clear that the tumour microenvironment (TME) adopts a changing and increasingly complex landscape as tumours evolve. Central to the TME, and alongside malignant cells, are tissue resident and recruited macrophages, other immune cells, and endothelial cells, with the latter critical for angiogenesis and tumour development. Tumour vessels provide oxygen and nutrients and are portals for immune cells. Tumour cells, immune cells and endothelial cells engage in multi-directional crosstalk that untimately influence tumour progression and treatment responses. Adding to complexity, the TME often consists of oxygenated, and oxygen deprived or hypoxic regions, with the latter significantly contributing to disease progression and treatment resistance. However, the function of immune cells and endothelial cells change with ageing, and this underexplored area likely influences the aged TME and disease outcomes in the elderly. Solid cancers such as mesothelioma with known carcinogen exposure (asbestos) take decades to reach a diagnosable size, often emerging in people aged 60 years or more. Here, we discuss the influence of ageing on the function of tumour-associated immune cells, focussing on macrophages, and their possible interactions with endothelial cells, and how this might impact the evolving mesothelioma TME in elderly people.

Aims: The combination of CDK4/6 inhibitors and endocrine therapy (ET) is a standard first-line therapy for hormone receptor positive (HR+)/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Preliminary data suggest that CDK4/6 inhibitors can alter the host immune function and stimulate tumor cell-directed immunity. However, clinical data are scarce, and no data exist about the impact of age and frailty on this phenomenon.

Materials and Methods: This biomarker substudy of the RibOB trial evaluated the impact of ribociclib and letrozole on circulating immune cell subsets and protein markers in older (≥70 years) patients with HR+/HER2-mBC. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell subtyping and analysis of plasma immune response and checkpoint markers were performed using flow cytometry at baseline and after three months of ribociclib + ET. Frailty status was assessed at baseline using G8 score.

Results: 20 patients (median age: 76 years, range: 70 - 87 years), 8 considered fit (G8 > 14), and 12 frail (G8 ≤ 14), were included. After three months of treatment, the immune subset composition showed significant increases in naïve B-, T-regulatory (Tregs), and CD4+ T-cells, while memory B-cells and Tregs were significantly decreased. In addition, consistent upregulation was seen in costimulatory receptors CD27 and CD28. Plasma immune checkpoint markers B7.2 (CD86) and PD-1 were significantly decreased. The immune subset profiles of fit versus frail persons showed no statistically significant difference.

Conclusions: The study shows that the combination of ribociclib and ET modulates the immune system in older patients, potentially reversing the age-related immunosenescence process by increasing naïve T-cell and B-cell populations and decreasing memory populations.

(Clinical registration number: NCT03956654.)

The global aging population is expected to experience a nofigure increase in cancer incidence, particularly among individuals aged 70 and older. At the same time, the extensive use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in cancer treatment raises questions about the influence of immunosenescence, the age-related decline in immune function, on treatment efficacy in older patients. Despite promising outcomes, resistance to immunotherapies and the occurrence of severe immune-related adverse events (irAEs) remain challenges. Limited research has explored the correlation between immunosenescence markers in peripheral blood and the tumour microenvironment (TME), frailty, and ICI response, and irAEs in older patients. This commentary explores the interrelationship between immunosenescence and immunotherapy in older and frail patients with cancer undergoing ICI therapy. Understanding the impact of immunosenescence on treatment response and irAEs, and identifying reliable biomarkers, is crucial for future research in geriatric oncology, as this will possibly facilitate patient stratification and personalized treatment approaches, ultimately improving patient outcomes while minimizing irAE-related risks.

Over the past 50 years, the world has experienced a progressive demographic shift resulting in a higher proportion of older adults in the general population. Aging itself is a complex biological phenomenon, characterized in part by changes in the immune system, known as “immunosenescence”, that make older adults more susceptible to infections, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, and cancer. Several strategies have been proposed to reverse immunosenescence. These include the use of hormones, cytokines, and thymic factors. Biomodulina T (BT) is a polypeptide fraction derived from bovine thymus. Intervention with BT expands naïve CD4+ T cells while decreasing the frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing PD1 in older adults and patients diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. This brief review aims to present the most recent evidence on the effect of BT on the immune system in older adults and patients diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.

Western and third world countries alike are experiencing population ageing with people living longer. The World Health Organization website states that ‘between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22% reaching 2.1 billion’, and that ‘the number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million’. However, the elderly (i.e., those aged over 65 years) are 11 times more likely to develop cancer than younger people; this is illustrated by GLOBOCAN 2020 data showing that greater than 50% of people who had cancer were 65 or older in 2018. This age-related cancer emergence may in part be due to increasing dysregulation of the immune system or “immunosenescence”. Macrophages are pivotal immune cells in maintaining homeostasis and in regulating inflammatory responses during immunological insults, such as cancer, where they can perform anti-tumourigenic functions. Yet, tumour-associated macrophages are well known for their ability to promote tumour growth, with numbers often correlating to cancer progression and poorer outcomes. Macrophages contribute to this by secreting growth and angiogenic factors, and they closely interact with endothelial cells and cancer cells to help shape the tumour microenvironment. During ageing, macrophage response to environmental stimuli becomes dysregulated including impaired anti-tumour functions. Furthermore, increased number of macrophages and precursor cells are observed in lymphoid organs that can supply to tumours with ageing. Such age-related changes, including those to endothelial cells, may promote cancer development and lead to poorer cancer outcomes in elderly people. In this review, we discuss recent findings concerning how macrophages are modulated during healthy ageing and in cancer, with a focus on macrophage and endothelial cell interactions.

Aims: To assess the influence of age, cancer type, and diverse risk factors on the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary infection (PPI) in patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

Aims: To assess the influence of age, cancer type, and diverse risk factors on the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary infection (PPI) in patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

Methods: The study encompassed a cohort of 231 patients who underwent thoracic surgery. These patients were randomly divided into two groups: a modeling population comprising 185 patients and a validation population comprising 46 patients, using a random number method at a ratio of 4:1. Bivariate logistic regression models were utilized to discern variables independently predictive of postoperative complications, utilizing SPSS 26.0 (SPSS Institute, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

Results: The analysis unveiled that male patients, individuals aged 65 years or older, and those with a history of smoking or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were significantly more predisposed to the development of postoperative pneumonia. Conversely, diabetes and hypertension were not identified as risk factors. Patients with extended intubation times, higher peri-operative bleeding, prolonged hospitalization, and longer operating times displayed an increased likelihood of developing postoperative pneumonia. Intriguingly, preoperative treatments like antibiotic administration and aerosol inhalation did not demonstrate a significant reduction in postoperative pneumonia incidence. Hematological assessments revealed that low preoperative albumin (pre-ALB) levels and other specific markers served as potential indicators of postoperative pneumonia. Binary logistic regression analysis identified pulmonary function, intubation duration, intraoperative bleeding, pre-ALB levels post-operation, and the duration of preoperative hospital stay as significant risk factors. A risk model formula was formulated and validated, successfully demonstrating model construction.

Conclusion: These findings underscore the pivotal importance of taking patient age, cancer type, and various risk factors into account when predicting and managing postoperative pneumonia in thoracic surgery patients.

Immune cell aging is associated with compromised cancer immunosurveillance and reduced efficacy of some cancer immunotherapies. The ability to reverse immune cell aging to obtain more efficient anti-tumour reactive T cells would provide obvious benefits in clinical treatment. This could be achieved by acting on key fundamental cellular processes including metabolism and autophagy, which may subsequently influence T cell differentiation and effector functions. Polyamines, which can induce autophagy, have been shown both to enhance mitochondrial activity and have a direct effect on T cells. First by improving effector functions in CD8 T cells and, second, by regulating CD4 T cell differentiation. However, the exact interconnections between autophagy, mitochondrial activity and T-cell function remain to be elucidated. Most of the data on these fundamental processes have been collected from non-human systems, but fewer clinical data are available. We herein discuss the main evidence and speculate on the eventual benefit of affecting metabolism in an aged immune system to improve immunotherapy outcome.

Background: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) refers to the presence of a hematopoietic clone with a common leukemia driver mutation without diagnosis of an underlying hematopoietic disease. The prevalence of CHIP is increasing with age and is associated with pro-inflammatory states, higher risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and therapy-induced leukemia. However, these CHIP-associated risks overlap with treatment-related toxicities of breast cancer therapy, which potentially supports the integration of CHIP into treatment- and survivorship plans. However, so far no data on the feasibility and acceptance of a CHIP-based aftercare are available. The aim of this pilot trial is to evaluate the feasibility to integrate pre-treatment CHIP diagnostics into the routine care of older breast cancer patients.

Materials and Methods: 80-100 patients with limited stage breast cancer aged ≥ 60 years without known hematological disease will be included. CHIP is assessed by targeted next generation sequencing from peripheral blood samples. The primary outcome measures the estimation of willingness to participate. Secondary outcome measures include evaluation of patient acceptance of the study process, potential fears in relation to CHIP-positivity, and cardiovascular risk profile of CHIP-positive versus CHIP-negative patients.

Conclusions: In case this study meets its primary endpoint, the results are used to design a larger cohort study that integrates an intensified CHIP-tailored survivorship program, in order to minimize late treatment-related toxicities and improve long-term outcomes of older breast-cancer patients.

(German Trial registration number: Deutsches Register für klinische Studien, DRKS00031021)

Worldwide the cancer population is ageing - within a decade almost two-thirds of newly diagnosed patients will be aged 65 years and older. Despite this, the majority of oncology clinical trials continue to recruit patients who are younger and fitter than those typically encountered in clinical practice. As such, there is a lack of clinical data to guide management, particularly in those patients living with frailty and/or comorbidity. Importantly, the lack of older adults in trials also means that the subsequent translational work that underpins biomarker and therapeutic discovery may not be relevant to those we see in clinic. In this commentary, we discuss this challenge and the ways we as an Oncology community can look to address this pressing issue.

Aims: Aged individuals are significantly underrepresented in immunotherapy clinical trials for cancer. Little is known regarding the immunological and molecular dynamics that might regulate their responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This study aims to investigate the mechanisms affecting the response of elderly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients to anti-PD-1 therapy.

Methods: We performed a single-cell analysis on public data from 419,107 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) across 11 elderly (≥ 65 years) and 5 non-elderly NSCLC patients treated with neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 therapy. The dataset, originally focused on mutation-associated neoantigen-specific T cells, was reprocessed to compare gene expression and molecular patterns associated with positive outcomes and tumor clearance between age groups.

Results: The analysis revealed that ICI responsiveness was not impaired by age, and T cell immunosenescence was observed in aged (≥ 65 years) and younger NSCLC individuals. Both elderly and young individuals produced responses with a heterogeneous molecular program associated with tumor-reactive CD8+ TILs. Specifically, T cells from elderly patients showed an enhanced expression of PDCD1 and CXCL13 (P < 0.001) in comparison to younger subjects.

Conclusion: Altogether, our findings demonstrate favorable molecular signatures in aged NSCLC individuals following anti-PD-1 treatment and suggest that the recruitment of older adults in immunotherapy clinical trials should not be dismissed solely on the grounds of age.

The outcomes of older adults with cancer are still dismal despite some progress within the last years. This is mainly due to comorbidities, overall frailty, and differences in disease biology. The better understanding of tumor biology and immunology has enabled the use of targeted therapies and immunotherapies that are potentially better tolerated than traditional chemotherapies. Several randomized trials were recently published that demonstrated a benefit of integrated onco-geriatric care including geriatric interventions on treatment-related toxicities and quality of life during cancer treatment of older adults. Furthermore, other pivotal trials adapted treatment intensities based on frailty. Despite these efforts, older and frail adults are still underrepresented in clinical trials. This leads to a major lack of an evidence-based standard of care in geriatric oncology. In this narrative review, we discuss pivotal trials, practical implications, under- and overtreatment, altered pharmacokinetics at older age, and future perspectives for geriatric oncology.

Increasing life expectancy globally results in predictions that one in six people will be > 65 years of age by 2050. Because the occurrence of most cancers is strongly associated with older age, a significant increase in the number of older adults with cancer is to be expected. It is likely that increased cancer in older adults can be explained both by the greater duration of exposure to external factors such as ultraviolet radiation, alcohol, smoking and pollution (hence modifiable by non-medical means) as well as intrinsic factors (such as metabolic stress and reactive oxygen species). These insults contribute to DNA damage and mutation that can lead to carcinogenesis if not counteracted by the appropriate repair mechanisms, or other protective strategies. Tissues from cancer-free individuals frequently contain mutations commonly observed in cancer, but these cells remain dormant until some endogenous or exogenous events promote carcinogenesis. In ageing individuals, less efficient surveillance and immune responses against cancer may represent one such event, as well as the chronic low level inflammation commonly accompanying ageing. Additionally, because of comorbidities, older patients are less robust and it is more likely that polypharmacy interferes with cancer treatment. Despite all this awareness of the impact of ageing, most cancer research, both clinical and preclinical, fails to fully consider age-associated differences in cancer occurrence and treatment, and there are very few journals specifically dedicated to publishing explorations of these issues in either the basic research or clinical context. Hence, the time has come to establish a new journal dedicated to taking a holistic approach to all aspects of cancer in older individuals. We are therefore now welcoming papers that may shed light on these increasingly important issues.