Immune checkpoint blockade with Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/PD-L1 inhibitors has been effective in various malignancies and is considered as a standard treatment modality for patients with ...non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, emerging evidence show that PD-1/PD-L1 blockade can lead to hyperprogressive disease (HPD), a flair-up of tumor growth linked to dismal prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of HPD and identify the determinants associated with HPD in patients with NSCLC treated with PD-1/PD-L1 blockade.
We enrolled patients with recurrent and/or metastatic NSCLC treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors between April 2014 and November 2018. Clinicopathologic variables, dynamics of tumor growth, and treatment outcomes were analyzed in patients with NSCLC who received PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. HPD was defined according to tumor growth kinetics (TGK), tumor growth rate (TGR), and time to treatment failure (TTF). Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood CD8+ T lymphocytes was conducted to explore the potential predictive biomarkers of HPD.
A total of 263 patients were analyzed. HPD was observed in 55 (20.9%), 54 (20.5%), and 98 (37.3%) patients according to the TGK, TGR, and TTF. HPD meeting both TGK and TGR criteria was associated with worse progression-free survival hazard ratio (HR) 4.619; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.868–7.440 and overall survival (HR, 5.079; 95% CI, 3.136–8.226) than progressive disease without HPD. There were no clinicopathologic variables specific for HPD. In the exploratory biomarker analysis with peripheral blood CD8+ T lymphocytes, a lower frequency of effector/memory subsets (CCR7−CD45RA− T cells among the total CD8+ T cells) and a higher frequency of severely exhausted populations (TIGIT+ T cells among PD-1+CD8+ T cells) were associated with HPD and inferior survival rate.
HPD is common in NSCLC patients treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Biomarkers derived from rationally designed analysis may successfully predict HPD and worse outcomes, meriting further investigation of HPD.
Endocrine treatment is recommended by clinical guidelines as the preferred treatment option for premenopausal as well as postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic ...breast cancer. In real-world clinical practice, however, a substantial number of patients are treated with chemotherapy. We aimed to compare the clinical antitumour activity and safety of palbociclib plus endocrine therapy with that of capecitabine chemotherapy in premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.
This multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 2 study was done in 14 academic institutions in South Korea. Premenopausal women aged 19 years or older with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer that had relapsed or progressed during previous tamoxifen therapy and with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0–2 were included. One line of previous chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer was allowed. Patients were randomly assigned, using a random permuted block design (with a block size of two), to receive palbociclib plus combination endocrine therapy (oral exemestane 25 mg per day for 28 days and oral palbociclib 125 mg per day for 21 days every 4 weeks plus leuprolide 3·75 mg subcutaneously every 4 weeks) or chemotherapy (oral capecitabine 1250 mg/m2 twice daily for 2 weeks every 3 weeks). Randomisation was stratified by previous chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer and visceral metastasis. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival. All analyses were done in a modified intention-to-treat population that excluded patients who did not receive study medication. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02592746, and is ongoing for follow-up of overall survival.
Between June 15, 2016, and Dec 10, 2018, 189 patients were enrolled, of whom 184 were randomly assigned to the palbociclib plus endocrine therapy group (n=92) or the capecitabine group (n=92). Six patients in the capecitabine group withdrew from the study before drug administration; therefore, 92 patients in the palbociclib plus endocrine therapy group and 86 patients in the capecitabine group were included in the modified intention-to-treat analyses. 46 (50%) of 92 patients in the palbociclib plus endocrine therapy group and 45 (51%) of 92 in the capecitabine group were treatment naive for metastatic breast cancer. During a median follow-up of 17 months (IQR 9–22), median progression-free survival was 20·1 months (95% CI 14·2–21·8) in the palbociclib plus endocrine therapy group versus 14·4 months (12·1–17·0) in the capecitabine group (hazard ratio 0·659 95% CI 0·437–0·994, one-sided log-rank p=0·0235). Treatment-related grade 3 or worse neutropenia was more common in the palbociclib plus endocrine therapy group than in the capecitabine group (69 75% of 92 vs 14 16% of 86 patients). 2 (2%) patients in the palbociclib plus endocrine therapy group and 15 (17%) patients in the capecitabine group had treatment-related serious adverse events. No treatment-related deaths occurred.
Exemestane plus palbociclib with ovarian function suppression showed clinical benefit compared with capecitabine in terms of improved progression-free survival in premenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Palbociclib plus exemestane with ovarian suppression is an active treatment option in premenopausal patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have been pretreated with tamoxifen.
Pfizer, Shinpoong, and Daewoong Korea and Takeda.
Development of advanced high energy density lithium ion batteries is important for promoting electromobility. Making electric vehicles attractive and competitive compared to conventional automobiles ...depends on the availability of reliable, safe, high power, and highly energetic batteries whose components are abundant and cost effective. Nickel rich LiNi
x
Co
y
Mn
1−x−y
O
2
layered cathode materials (
x
> 0.5) are of interest because they can provide very high specific capacity without pushing charging potentials to levels that oxidize the electrolyte solutions. However, these cathode materials suffer from stability problems. We discovered that doping these materials with tungsten (1 mol%) remarkably increases their stability due to a partial layered to cubic (rock salt) phase transition. We demonstrate herein highly stable Li ion battery prototypes consisting of tungsten-stabilized Ni rich cathode materials (
x
> 0.9) with specific capacities >220 mA h g
-1
. This development can increase the energy density of Li ion batteries more than 30% above the state of the art without compromising durability.
The most recent version of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) consensus guidelines for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) was published in 2016, ...identifying both a more strategic approach to the administration of the available systemic therapy choices, and a greater emphasis on the use of ablative techniques, including surgery. At the 2016 ESMO Asia Meeting, in December 2016, it was decided by both ESMO and the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO) to convene a special guidelines meeting, endorsed by both ESMO and JSMO, immediately after the JSMO 2017 Annual Meeting. The aim was to adapt the ESMO consensus guidelines to take into account the ethnic differences relating to the toxicity as well as other aspects of certain systemic treatments in patients of Asian ethnicity. These guidelines represent the consensus opinions reached by experts in the treatment of patients with mCRC identified by the Presidents of the oncological societies of Japan (JSMO), China (Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology), Korea (Korean Association for Clinical Oncology), Malaysia (Malaysian Oncological Society), Singapore (Singapore Society of Oncology) and Taiwan (Taiwan Oncology Society). The voting was based on scientific evidence and was independent of both the current treatment practices and the drug availability and reimbursement situations in the individual participating Asian countries.
Summary
Effects of anti-osteoporosis medications such as anti-resorptive and anabolic agents on healing of osteoporotic spinal fracture were retrospectively investigated. The use of anabolic agent ...significantly enhanced fracture healing, reduced progressive collapse, and presented good pain relief. These findings suggest that proper selection of medication could improve initial management of acute osteoporotic spinal fractures (OSFs).
Introduction
Although anti-osteoporosis medications have beneficial effects on prevention of osteoporotic spinal fractures (OSFs), few studies have compared effects of medications on fracture healing following OSFs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the effects of different anti-osteoporosis medications on radiological and clinical outcomes after acute OSFs.
Methods
A total of 132 patients diagnosed with acute OSFs were enrolled and allocated into three groups group I (
n
= 39, no anti-osteoporosis medication), group II (
n
= 66, bisphosphonate), and group III (
n
= 27, parathyroid hormone (PTH). Radiological parameters including magnetic resonance (MR) classification, occurrence of intravertebral cleft (IVC), and clinical outcomes such as numerical rating scale (NRS) and Oswestry disability index were assessed. Risk analyses for IVC and progressive collapse were done along the related factors and medication type.
Results
IVC sign was observed in 30 patients. The rate of IVC sign was lower in group III (7.4%) than that in group I (20.5%) or group II (30.3%), although the difference was not statistically significant. Moreover, the degree of NRS improvement was better in group III than that in group I or group II (5.7 vs. 3.1 vs. 3.5,
p
< 0.001). On multiple regression analysis, mid-portion type fracture in MR classification was a significant risk factor for progressive OSFs. The use of PTH showed significant lower incidences of occurrence of IVC (odds ratio (OR) = 0.160) and increase in height loss (OR = 0.325).
Conclusions
Different anti-osteoporosis medications presented different clinical and radiological results after acute OSFs. The use of anabolic agent significantly enhanced fracture healing, reduced progressive collapse, and presented better clinical outcomes. Proper selection of medication might improve initial management of acute OSFs.
Up to 40% of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations treated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) present with disease ...progression in the central nervous system (CNS), either as brain metastases (BM) or leptomeningeal metastases (LM). Osimertinib (80 mg), a third-generation, irreversible, oral EGFR TKI, has shown efficacy in active CNS metastases. However, efficacy of osimertinib 160 mg in BM or LM is unclear.
This prospective, single-arm, two cohort study evaluated the efficacy of osimertinib 160 mg in T790M-positive BM or LM NSCLC patients who progressed on prior EGFR TKI (NCT03257124) treatment. The primary end points were objective response rate (ORR) (H1 = 30%) for the BM cohort and overall survival (OS) (H1 = 5 months) for the LM cohort.
The median follow-up duration was 10.1 months and 9.6 months for the BM and LM cohorts, respectively. In the BM cohort, intracranial ORR and disease control rate were 55.0% and 77.5%, respectively. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 7.6 months 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.0–16.6; the median OS was 16.9 months 95% CI 7.9–not reached (NR). In the LM cohort, intracranial disease control rate was 92.5% and complete response rate was 12.5%. The median OS was 13.3 months (95% CI 9.1–NR); the median PFS was 8.0 months (95% CI 7.2–NR). Subgroup analyses based on previous exposure to T790M-targeting agents, including osimertinib 80 mg or other third-generation EGFR TKIs, showed no difference in PFS in both the BM (n = 18, P = 0.39) and LM (n = 17, P = 0.85) cohorts. Previous radiotherapy favored PFS in the BM cohort (hazard ratio 0.42, P = 0.04). The most common adverse events were decreased appetite, diarrhea, and skin rash; however, most were grade 1–2.
Thus, osimertinib 160 mg demonstrated promising ORR and survival benefit with a tolerable safety profile in EGFR T790M-positive NSCLC patients with CNS metastasis who progressed on prior EGFR TKIs.
•Osimertinib 160 mg exhibited promising ORR and survival benefit in EGFR T790M-positive NSCLC patients with CNS metastasis.•As it caused only grade 1–2 adverse events, osimertinib 160 mg also showed a tolerable safety profile.•It is suitable for BM or LM patients after EGFR TKI treatment and those treated with EGFR T790M-targeting agents or radiotherapy.
Abstract
Effective models focused on pertinent low-energy degrees of freedom have substantially contributed to our qualitative understanding of quantum materials. An iconic example, the Kondo model, ...was key to demonstrating that the rich phase diagrams of correlated metals originate from the interplay of localized and itinerant electrons. Modern electronic structure calculations suggest that to achieve quantitative material-specific models, accurate consideration of the crystal field and spin-orbit interactions is imperative. This poses the question of how local high-energy degrees of freedom become incorporated into a collective electronic state. Here, we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) on CePd
3
to clarify the fate of all relevant energy scales. We find that even spin-orbit excited states acquire pronounced momentum-dependence at low temperature—the telltale sign of hybridization with the underlying metallic state. Our results demonstrate how localized electronic degrees of freedom endow correlated metals with new properties, which is critical for a microscopic understanding of superconducting, electronic nematic, and topological states.
AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Bifidobacterium lactis HY8101 on insulin resistance induced using tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) in rat L6 skeletal muscle cells and on ...the KK‐AY mouse noninsulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) model. METHODS AND RESULTS: The treatment using HY8101 improved the insulin‐stimulated glucose uptake and translocation of GLUT4 via the insulin signalling pathways AKT and IRS‐1(Tyr) in TNF‐α‐treated L6 cells. HY8101 increased the mRNA levels of GLUT4 and several insulin sensitivity‐related genes (PPAR‐γ) in TNF‐α‐treated L6 cells. In KK‐AY mice, HY8101 decreased fasting insulin and blood glucose and significantly improved insulin tolerance. HY8101 improved diabetes‐induced plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) levels and increased the muscle glycogen content. We observed concurrent transcriptional changes in the skeletal muscle tissue and the liver. In the skeletal muscle tissue, the glycogen synthesis‐related gene pp‐1 and GLUT4 were up‐regulated in mice receiving HY8101 treatment. In the liver, the hepatic gluconeogenesis‐regulated genes (PCK1 and G6PC) were down‐regulated in mice receiving HY8101 treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Bifidobacterium lactis HY8101 can be used to moderate glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity in mice and in cells. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Bifidobacterium lactis HY8101 might have potential as a probiotic candidate for alleviating metabolic syndromes such as diabetes.
ABO incompatibility is no longer considered a contraindication for adult living donor liver transplantation (ALDLT) due to various strategies to overcome the ABO blood group barrier. We report the ...largest single‐center experience of ABO‐incompatible (ABOi) ALDLT in 235 adult patients. The desensitization protocol included a single dose of rituximab and total plasma exchange. In addition, local graft infusion therapy, cyclophosphamide, or splenectomy was used for a certain time period, but these treatments were eventually discontinued due to adverse events. There were three cases (1.3%) of in‐hospital mortality. The cumulative 3‐year graft and patient survival rates were 89.2% and 92.3%, respectively, and were comparable to those of the ABO‐compatible group (n = 1301). Despite promising survival outcomes, 17 patients (7.2%) experienced antibody‐mediated rejection that manifested as diffuse intrahepatic biliary stricture; six cases required retransplantation, and three patients died. ABOi ALDLT is a feasible method for expanding a living liver donor pool, but the efficacy of the desensitization protocol in targeting B cell immunity should be optimized.
This article presents the clinical results of ABO‐incompatible adult living donor liver transplantation in a single institution.