The development of biological therapeutic agents has provided new opportunities for treating neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) using humanized monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). The emergence of biosimilars of anti-VEGF agents can significantly improve treatment accessibility and its effectiveness by increasing patient adherence. The development of biosimilars involves comparative studies with the original drug to establish equivalence in physicochemical and biological properties, efficacy, and safety. Biosimilar development programs include extensive analytical and preclinical studies to compare structural and functional components with the original bioproduct, and clinical trials are conducted to prove bioequivalence and therapeutic equivalence. The process of development and registration of the biosimilars is strictly regulated and has no significant differences in Russia, the EU and the US. Currently, more than 10 biosimilars of ranibizumab have been approved worldwide, in Russia it is the drug Laxolan (AO GENERIUM). The introduction of a domestic biosimilar of ranibizumab into clinical practice allows reduction of the costs of retinal disease treatment while maintaining the efficacy and safety of antiangiogenic therapy.

Treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) complications, such as vitreous haemorrhage and tractional retinal detachment, as well as macular involvement, remains a complex multifactorial challenge. The use of angiogenesis inhibitors (AIs) at different stages of patient management is being investigated. In particular, intraoperative use of AIs appears to be pathogenetically justified.

Enhanced cancer treatment efficacy has resulted in a significant increase in the number of cancer survivors after the cure of malignant tumors. However, cardiovascular morbidity, including chronic heart failure, has become the leading cause of death and decreased life expectancy among cancer survivors. This is due, in particular, to the cardiotoxic effects of anticancer drugs and associated factors. Cardioprotective approaches aim to reduce the incidence and severity of cardiotoxicity through the use of cardioprotective agents (e.g., dexrazoxane), liposomal drug delivery systems (e.g., liposomal doxorubicin), and optimization of drug administration schedules. Reducing the cardiotoxicity of cancer treatments is a clinically important goal. Phosphocreatine-based therapy represents a potentially valuable new strategy in this area. In this regard, the study "Multicenter prospective observational study to investigate the experience of using phosphocreatine in combination therapy for heart failure caused by cancer treatment" was initiated. This publication presents the protocol of the observational non-interventional NEOCARD study.

This study investigates the clinical features and outcome dimensions of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

It is known that the advances in cancer treatment leading to increased survival in malignant neoplasms, entail a variety of adverse cardiovascular toxic effects that can be quite serious and even potentially fatal. An important component that influences the degree of cardiotoxicity risk is the patient's clinical and functional state and the cardiovascular history at the time of cancer diagnosis. This information can be used in practice for the cardiovascular screening and clinical and functional evaluation of a patient with a neoplasm before the start of antitumor therapy. After completion of the cardiotoxic therapy, as well as during subsequent follow-up, it is advisable to re-evaluate the risk of long-term cardiotoxicity to determine the frequency and intensity of cardiovascular monitoring. For convenience of calculating the risk of cardiotoxicity in cancer patients undergoing the antitumor treatment, the authors of this article have developed two computer programs that can be used as PC applications (https://disk.yandex.ru/d/NuhzYnicWo9FSw) and on mobile devices (https://disk.yandex.ru/d/uXAriKZ6qhkULA.). These programs facilitate the selection of the correct strategy for the management of cancer patients that is aimed at reducing the likelihood of cardiotoxic complications of the antitumor treatment.

The introduction of faricimab, a drug targeting both vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and angiopoietin-2, has enabled the implementation of the highly effective dual inhibition strategy in real clinical practice for patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME), both previously treated with intravitreal injections and newly diagnosed. This article presents a series of 11 clinical cases involving patients with nAMD and DME who received loading doses of faricimab and continued ophthalmological observation. Among them, three patients with nAMD and two with DME were treatment-naïve, while the others were switched from alternative therapies to faricimab. The duration of follow-up after the loading phase ranged from 4 to 24 weeks at the time of this writing. All patients showed a pronounced anatomical improvement, and seven of the 11 experienced an increase in visual acuity. All reported subjective vision improvement, and no adverse events. These results confirm the high efficacy and safety of faricimab for nAMD and DME, both in treatment-naïve patients and those switched from other therapies.

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness among diabetic patients, its prevalence is continuing to increase worldwide. Faricimab, a bispecific antibody, represents a new generation of treatments for DME.

This study evaluates the efficacy of intravitreal injections (IVI) of faricimab in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and retinal pigment epithelium detachment (RPED) resistant to other anti-VEGF agents.

This study evaluated the impact of phacoemulsification cataract surgery (PE) on anatomical and functional parameters, as well as the regimen and frequency of anti-VEGF injections in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) over a long-term period (up to 3 years).

The bony fish Danio rerio (zebrafish) has become one of the important vertebrate model organisms in biomedical cancer research and is used, among other things, for the development of anticancer drugs using xenotransplantation approaches. The ex utero development of zebrafish, optically transparent tissues in the first month of growth, and the immature adaptive immune system during this period greatly facilitate the manipulation of embryos. For highly aggressive cancers where patient survival may be expected to be only a few months, a zebrafish xenograft assay may be the only appropriate method as it requires only four to seven days. Thousands of embryos can be implanted with biopsy tissue from a patient to produce zebrafish xenografts and to use them to screen a large number of drugs and compounds automatically to develop an effective treatment regimen for a specific patient. This review examines the advantages and disadvantages of the zebrafish model in oncology research. The main focus is on the use of zebrafish xenografts to study metastasis and to create avatars in personalized medicine.

Glioblastoma (GB) is the most aggressive malignant brain tumor. To date, there is no optimal treatment approach for this disease. Antidepressants with antitumor effects are one of the new therapeutic directions. A distinctive feature of these drugs is their approval for clinical practice in the treatment of depressive disorders.

Brolucizumab, an angiogenesis inhibitor, is a single-chain fragment of a humanized antibody used to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME). Although registration studies are the primary source of information on the new drug, post-marketing studies allow for further exploration and expansion of previous knowledge about its effectiveness, safety, and dosing regimens. This study summarizes the experience with brolucizumab from real-world clinical practice studies. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify articles published up to April 2024 that investigated the use of brolucizumab in the treatment of retinal vasogenic diseases, revealing the high effectiveness of brolucizumab compared to other angiogenesis inhibitors in the treatment of patients with nAMD and DME, including those who were treatment-naïve and those resistant to ongoing therapy, as well as patients with changes in the vitreoretinal interface. A significant advantage of brolucizumab is its ability to reduce the number of injections and extend the intervals between them up to 16 weeks. Study results demonstrate substantial improvements in anatomical and functional outcomes compared to previously existing and newly emerging angiogenesis inhibitors. Its ability to stabilize disease progression, achieve better disease control, and reduce injection frequency makes brolucizumab an attractive option for both first-line therapy and as a switching drug, highlighting its potential for expanded indications.

To present the four-year experience and the accomplishments of the Scientific and Practical Cardio-Oncology Center of the Sechenov University.

We have previously shown that 5-arylaminouracil derivatives can inhibit HIV-1, herpesviruses, mycobacteria, and other pathogens through various mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of 5-arylaminouracils and their derivatives against leukemia, neuroblastoma, and glial brain tumors. 5-Aminouracils with various substituents and their 5'-norcabocyclic and ribo derivatives were screened for cytotoxicity against two neuroblastoma cell lines (SH-SY5Y and IMR-32), K-562 lymphoblastic cells, HL-60 promyeoloblastic cells, and low-passage variants of well-differentiated glioblastoma multiforme (GBM5522 and GBM6138). Cytotoxicity assessment by the standard MTT test showed that most of the compounds lack significant toxicity towards the above cells. However, 5-(4-isopropylphenylamine)uracil and 5-(4-tert-butylphenylamine)uracil exhibited a dose-dependent toxic effect towards the GBM6138 cell line with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 9 and 2.3 μМ, respectively. Antitumor activity was for the first time demonstrated for compounds of this type and can serve as a starting point for further research.

The most important component of cardio-oncology is the assessment of the risk of development and diagnosis of cardiovascular toxicity of the antitumor therapy, the detection of which is largely based on visualization of the cardiovascular system. The article addresses up-to-date methods of non-invasive visualization of the heart and blood vessels, according to the 2022 European Society of Cardiology Clinical Guidelines on cardio-oncology. Also, the article discusses promising cardiovascular imaging techniques that are not yet included in the guidelines: assessment of coronary calcium using multislice computed tomography and positron emission computed tomography with 18F-labeled 2-deoxy-2-fluoro-d-glucose.

This study analyzes the effectiveness and safety of brolucizumab in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) in real clinical practice.

A literature search was conducted to review papers on the results of studies of clear cell renal cancer (CCRC) vascularization. Numerous data on the relationship between tumor pathogenesis and its vascularization have been revealed, which indicates the multifactorial nature of CCRC development and the significant role of angiogenesis in this process. It should be taken into account that patients with CCRC may have impaired vessel formation even before tumor development. To evaluate normal and pathologic angiogenesis, a pathohistologic study using immunohistochemistry is certainly necessary. Due to the significant role of angiogenesis in the development and course of CCRC, the use of drugs that suppress the formation of the vascular network in the tumor is relevant and advisable. To date, many drugs have been developed and introduced into clinical practice to inhibit angiogenesis. However, such drugs have not lived up to the expectations placed due to the frequent and rapidly developing drug resistance. Timely detection of pre-tumor and tumor processes, as well as effective treatment of cancer, including CCRC, is possible only with close cooperation between pathomorphologists and oncologists.

Leptomeningeal metastases are lesions of brain and/or spinal cord sheaths by tumor cells. They occur in 5% of patients with solid tumors, although autopsies reveal these lesions much more often (10-20% of cases). Leptomengeal metastases are an unfavorable prognostic factor. Despite the modern NCCN treatment standards, including intrathecal therapy (ITT), such patients receive only irradiation of the entire brain and/or spinal cord in most cases.

Significant advances in timely diagnosis and modern antitumor therapy have led to a considerable increase in the survival rate of cancer patients. On the other hand, the incidence of cardiovascular (CV) diseases and their complications is increasingly growing, including due to side effects of anticancer drugs. CV complications are the most common cause of non-oncological death of cancer patients. The development of polychemotherapy-induced arterial hypertension (AH) is closely associated with the use of certain groups of drugs, for example, inhibitors of vascular endothelial growth factor (iVEGF). Such AH is generally dose-dependent and reversible after interruption or termination of treatment. However, systemic AH, regardless of its genesis, is one of the key risk factors for many CV events (myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, arrhythmias) and kidney disease. Therefore, thorough blood pressure monitoring and its timely and adequate correction if needed are indicated when using certain groups of chemotherapy drugs. This article describes a clinical follow-up of a patient with induced AH associated with the iVEGF antitumor therapy for advanced uterine cancer with a rapid development of left ventricular myocardial dysfunction.

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a degenerative disease of the macular area in diabetes mellitus and can lead to vision loss, disability, and significantly reduced quality of life. Faricimab is the only bispecific antibody for DME therapy that targets two pathogenic pathways (Ang-2 and VEGF-A).