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The inaugural "Microbiome for Mars" virtual workshop took place on July 13, 2020. This event assembled leaders in microbiome research and development to discuss their work and how it may relate to long-duration human space travel. The conference focused on surveying current microbiome research, future endeavors, and how this growing field could broadly impact human health and space exploration. This report summarizes each speaker's presentation in the order presented at the workshop.

Purpose We examined the concordance of genetic mutations between pretreatment tumor tissue and posttreatment circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in patients with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCCA) and assessed the impact of therapy on this concordance. Methods We analyzed next-generation sequencing reports from pretreatment tumor tissue and posttreatment ctDNA in 11 patients with metastatic SCCA treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center between 2017 and 2021. Results Among the mutations identified in posttreatment ctDNA, 34.5% were also found in pretreatment tumor tissue, while 47.6% of pretreatment tumor tissue mutations were found in posttreatment ctDNA. Four patients had preservation of potentially actionable mutations in both pretreatment tissue and posttreatment ctDNA, while 7 patients had newly identified mutations in posttreatment ctDNA that were not present in pretreatment tumor tissue. Conclusion Patients with SCCA demonstrate a high degree of temporal mutational heterogeneity. This supports the hypothesis that ctDNA can serve as a real-time tracking mechanism for solid tumors' molecular evolution in response to therapy. Our findings highlight the potential of ctDNA in identifying emerging actionable mutations, supplementing information from tissue-based genomic assessments. Further research, ideally with larger and multi-institutional cohorts, is needed to validate our findings in this relatively rare tumor type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the number of Spanish-speaking patients with cancer in the USA grows, it is vital that reliable online breast cancer information is available in Spanish. The main objective of our study was to determine the quality and reliability of online videos in Spanish regarding breast cancer. We conducted a YouTube search using the phrase "cancer de mama" (breast cancer) and graded their quality and reliability using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Criteria, Global Quality Score (GQS), and the Modified DISCERN Questionnaire. Videos were characterized by descriptive variables. Videos were primarily from Spain (36.4%) and Mexico (17.9%). 'professional' videos had the highest JAMA mean rank (99.53), the highest GQS mean rank (102.86) and the and second-highest DISCERN (101.10) mean rank. 'Personal' videos, by contrast, had the lowest mean rank values for GQS (72.28) and DISCERN (68.83) scores. A significant majority of online breast cancer videos in Spanish were of poor quality and reliability. 'Professional' videos are of higher quality and reliability than videos of other typologies; however, they have a limited range of content. In addition, a small percentage of videos were uploaded from the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oesophageal and oesophagogastric junction cancers represent a significant burden to public health. Clinical practice guidelines recommend treatment based on cellular and molecular targets from tissue obtained before initiating therapy, including human epidermal growth factor receptor, microsatellite instability, mismatch repair, programmed death-ligand 1 and neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase gene fusions. The expression of these markers and the detection of circulating tumour cells and DNA in oesophageal and oesophagogastric junction cancers are temporally variable following treatment. Together, these findings may help individualize treatment and stratify patients at high risk of disease progression and recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), agents that stimulate T-cell function, have become the standard first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, they may also cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which are rare and have not been extensively reported. Here, we describe a case of severe febrile neutropenia and pancytopenia after atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (atezo/bev) therapy and its treatment course., Case Description: The combination of atezo/bev was initiated as the first-line treatment for a man in his early 50s, who was diagnosed with unresectable HCC. The first treatment cycle was administered in the outpatient setting, and the patient developed a fever of 39.0 ℃ 10 days after therapy initiation. He presented 5 days later with persistent fever as well as a headache, vomiting, chills, generalized pain, fatigue, mild abdominal discomfort, and a burning rash present on his neck and face. Complete blood counts showed severe neutropenia [absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of 90 cells/µL], leukopenia [white blood cell (WBC) count 500 cells/µL], thrombocytopenia [platelet count (PC) 18,000 cells/µL], and mild anemia (hemoglobin level 12.6 gm/dL). Imaging findings showed colitis on computed tomography (CT). Atezo/bev therapy was discontinued. Treatment plan constituted of cefepime and filgrastim, a recombinant form of the naturally occurring granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) for febrile neutropenia, metronidazole for colitis, and intravenous methylprednisolone for immune-related toxicities. The patient fully recovered after 4 days of admission., Conclusions: In conclusion, we observed temporary severe febrile neutropenia and pancytopenia during systemic immunotherapy in a patient with unresectable HCC. Healthcare providers should consider hematological irAEs (hem-irAEs) in patients after the administration of ICIs., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jgo.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jgo-24-290/coif). A.O.K. reports that he received the NCI SPORE grant (No. NCI R01, CA260872-01). The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology. All rights reserved.)