https://www.selleckchem.com/JAK.html Aim To assess the patterns of genetic testing for homologous recombination repair mutations in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) pre-PARP inhibitors approval. Patients & methods mCRPC patients were selected in an oncology electronic medical records database. Patterns and predictors of testing for ATM, BRCA1/2, CDK12, PALB2 and FANCA gene alterations were assessed. Results Of 5213 mCRPC patients, 674 (13%) had a documented genetic test. The number of tested patients increased from 1 in 2013 to 313 in 2018 (out of 3161 and 3010 clinically active patients, respectively). Receiving care in an academic oncology center (versus a community-based center) strongly predicted genetic testing (hazard ratio = 2.41). Conclusion The use of and access to genetic testing pre-PARP inhibitor approval was suboptimal.Background The poor outcome of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) necessitates new treatments. Cobimetinib is a MEK inhibitor and approved for the treatment of melanoma. This work investigated the efficacy of cobimetinib alone and in combination with anti-RCC drugs. Methods Proliferation and apoptosis assays were performed, and combination index was analyzed on RCC cell lines (CaKi-2, 786-O, A-704, ACHN and A489) and xenograft models. Immunoblotting analysis was conducted to investigate the MAPK pathway. Results Cobimetinib was active against RCC cells, with IC50 at 0.006-0.8μM, and acted synergistically with standard-of-care therapy. Cobimetinib at nontoxic doses prevented tumor formation, inhibited tumor growth and enhanced efficacy of 5-fluorouracil, sorafenib and sunitinib via suppressing Raf/MEK/ERK, leading to MAPK pathway inhibition. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate the potent anti-RCC activity of cobimetinib and its synergism with RCC standard-of-care drugs, and confirm the underlying mechanism of the action of cobimetinib. Immigrants from areas of high endemicity for hepatitis C represent