We investigate effects of armature winding configurations on properties of fully superconducting synchronous motors using REBCO tapes. The effect of the configurations on ac losses in the winding ...tapes due to the changing transvers magnetic fields applied to the tapes in direction of perpendicular to the flat face of the tapes is important. In generally, it is effective to close winding factor to 1 for improvement of properties of motors. For the purpose, the shape of armature windings is better saddle-shaped winding than race-track winding. In this paper, numerical calculations on the properties of fully superconducting synchronous motors using REBCO tapes with 500 kW class were described. Operating temperature was 65 K. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of saddle-shaped winding, test coil with 5 turns were wound with YBCO tapes and then critical current measurements were carried out. The degradation of the properties has not observed.
Interstitial lung diseases induced by anticancer agents (ILD-AA) are rare adverse effects of anticancer therapy. However, prognostic biomarkers for ILD-AA have not been identified in patients with ...advanced lung cancer. Our aim was to analyze the association between serum biomarkers sialylated carbohydrate antigen Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) and surfactant protein D (SP-D), and clinical characteristics in patients diagnosed with ILD-AA.
Between April 2011 and March 2016, 1224 advanced lung cancer patients received cytotoxic agents and epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors at Juntendo University Hospital and Juntendo University Urayasu Hospital. Of these patients, those diagnosed with ILD-AA were enrolled in this case control study. ΔKL-6 and ΔSP-D were defined as the difference between the levels at the onset of ILD-AA and their respective levels prior to development of ILD-AA. We evaluated KL-6 and SP-D at the onset of ILD-AA, ΔKL-6 and ΔSP-D, the risk factors for death related to ILD-AA, the chest high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings, and survival time in patients diagnosed with ILD-AA.
Thirty-six patients diagnosed with ILD-AA were enrolled in this study. Among them, 14 patients died of ILD-AA. ΔSP-D in the patients who died was significantly higher than that in the patients who survived. However, ΔKL-6 did not differ significantly between the two groups. Moreover, ΔSP-D in patients who exhibited diffuse alveolar damage was significantly higher than that in the other patterns on HRCT. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to set the optimal cut off value for ΔSP-D at 398 ng/mL. Survival time for patients with high ΔSP-D (≥ 398 ng/mL) was significantly shorter than that for patients with low ΔSP-D. Multivariate analysis revealed that ΔSP-D was a significant prognostic factor of ILD-AA.
This is the first research to evaluate high ΔSP-D (≥ 398 ng/mL) in patients with ILD-AA and to determine the risk factors for ILD-AA in advanced lung cancer patients. ΔSP-D might be a serum prognostic biomarker of ILD-AA. Clinicians should evaluate serum SP-D during chemotherapy and should carefully monitor the clinical course in patients with high ΔSP-D.
Trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (TROP2) is a transmembrane glycoprotein overexpressed in various cancer types. Although TROP2-targeting therapy is currently attracting attention, little is known ...about TROP2 expression in thymic carcinoma.
TROP2 gene expression in thymic epithelial tumors was analyzed using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data for 122 cases obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining with anti-TROP2 antibody (SP295) was performed in 26 cases of thymic carcinoma tissues surgically resected at Juntendo University.
RNA-seq data analysis from The Cancer Genome Atlas revealed that TACSTD2 (gene encoding TROP2) expression was significantly higher in thymic carcinoma than in thymoma (adjusted p = 6.64e-05). There was also a trend of increasing expression in the order of thymoma type B1, B2, B3, and thymic carcinoma. As for IHC in thymic carcinoma, TROP2 expression was localized to the membrane of cancer cells. Intensity 0, 1, and 2 was observed in six (23.1%), 11 (42.3%), and nine (34.6%) cases, respectively, leading to TROP2 positivity in 20 cases (76.9%). The median proportion of TROP2-positive tumor cells and the median H-score were 25.0% (range: 0%–100%) and 25.0 (range: 0–200), respectively. No relevant factors were identified in the analysis of TROP2 expression and patient background. Although not significant, high TROP2 expression (H-score ≥ 50) tended to be associated with shorter survival.
TROP2 expression in thymic carcinoma was confirmed by both RNA-seq and IHC, with high expression observed in IHC for intensity (76.9%) and proportion. TROP2 could be a potential target in thymic carcinoma.
Purpose
Docetaxel or pemetrexed monotherapy is recommended either as a second-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients without
EGFR
mutation or
ALK
fusion genes or as a ...third-line treatment for patients with
EGFR
mutation or
ALK
fusion. However, efficacy and survival for these two settings have not been compared, leaving it unclear whether these two populations can be included in the same clinical trials. Moreover, prognostic factors for patients who are recommended to receive docetaxel/pemetrexed monotherapy are largely unknown.
Methods
Docetaxel or pemetrexed was administered to 67
EGFR
wild-type patients as a second-line treatment following one platinum-based combination chemotherapy and to 17
EGFR
mutant patients as a third-line treatment following EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors and one platinum-based combination chemotherapy. Docetaxel and pemetrexed were administered at 60 and 500 mg/m
2
, respectively, every 3 weeks until disease progression, intolerable toxicity, or patient refusal. Overall survivals (OSs) between the two groups were compared using the log-rank test, and prognostic factors were evaluated via Cox’s proportional hazards models.
Results
The median OS was 345.5 days in the
EGFR
wild-type second-line group and 616 days in the
EGFR
mutant third-line group. Multivariate analyses revealed that the stage before first-line treatment, performance status, and
EGFR
status were significant prognostic factors.
Conclusions
When planning clinical studies of NSCLC patients recommended to receive docetaxel or pemetrexed as single-agent chemotherapy, the
EGFR
status and stage before first-line treatment should be considered as stratification factors of randomized clinical studies.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive neuroendocrine tumor characterized by rapid progression. The mechanisms that lead to a shift from initial therapeutic sensitivity to ultimate ...therapeutic resistance are poorly understood. Although the SCLC genomic landscape led to the discovery of promising agents targeting genetic alterations that were already under investigation, results have been disappointing. Achievements in targeted therapeutics have not been observed for over 30 years. Therefore, the underlying disease biology and novel targets urgently require a better understanding. Epigenetic regulation is deeply involved in the cellular plasticity that could shift tumor cells to the malignant phenotype. We have focused on a histone modifier, LSD1, that is overexpressed in SCLC and is a potent therapeutic target. Interestingly, the LSD1 splice variant LSD1+8a, the expression of which has been reported to be restricted to neural tissue, was detected and was involved in the expression of neuroendocrine marker genes in SCLC cell lines. Cells with high expression of LSD1+8a were resistant to CDDP and LSD1 inhibitor. Moreover, suppression of LSD1+8a inhibited cell proliferation, indicating that LSD1+8a could play a critical role in SCLC. These findings suggest that LSD1+8a should be considered a novel therapeutic target in SCLC.
•Classical TKIs and ICIs are less effective in NSCLC patients with Exon20ins.•A possibility that the location of Exon20ins has an impact on effectiveness of TKIs.•Amivantamab may be a promising ...targeted therapy in NSCLC patients with Exon20ins.
In this study, we explored the clinical outcomes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with EGFR Exon20 in-frame insertions (Exon20ins), and the impact of the location of Exon20ins on these clinical outcomes.
The efficacies of current systemic therapies in NSCLC patients harboring Exon20ins were investigated using a large-scale clinico-genomic database of LC-SCRUM-Asia, and compared with that of amivantamab in the CHRYSALIS trial.
Of the 11,397 patients enrolled in LC-SCRUM-Asia, Exon20ins were detected in 189 patients (1.7 %). Treatment with classical EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (classical TKIs) was associated with a significantly shorter progression-free survival (PFS) in NSCLC patients with Exon20ins as compared with Exon19 deletions and L858R. Post platinum-based chemotherapy, classical TKIs and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) were associated with a shorter PFS than with docetaxel in patients with Exon20ins (HR 95 % CI; TKIs vs docetaxel, 2.16 1.35–3.46; ICIs vs docetaxel, 1.49 1.21–1.84). Patients treated with amivantamab in the CHRYSALIS trial showed a risk reduction in PFS and overall survival as compared with LC-SCRUM-Asia patients treated with docetaxel, classical TKIs, or ICIs. Among the 189 patients, Exon20ins were classified as near-loop or far-loop insertions in 115 (61 %) and 56 (30 %) patients, respectively. Treatment with osimertinib was associated with a longer PFS in patients with Exon20ins in near-loop as compared with far-loop (median, 5.6 vs. 2.0 months; HR 95 % CI, 0.22 0.07–0.64).
After platinum-based chemotherapy, classical TKIs and ICIs are less effective in NSCLC patients with Exon20ins, and amivantamab may be a promising targeted therapy. There is a possibility that the location of Exon20ins has an impact on the efficacy of TKIs.
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) need to be approached carefully given the high incidence of pulmonary toxicity. Pemetrexed (PEM) is the key drug for ...the treatment of NSCLC. However, its safety, especially with respect to the exacerbation of ILD, and efficacy in NSCLC patients with ILD have yet to be established.
We investigated the safety and efficacy of PEM monotherapy in NSCLC patients with or without idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIPs). The medical charts of these patients were retrospectively reviewed.
Twenty-five patients diagnosed as having IIPs (IIPs group) and 88 patients without ILD (non-ILD group) were treated with PEM monotherapy at Juntendo University Hospital between 2009 and 2013. In the IIPs group, 12 patients were found to have usual interstitial pneumonitis (UIP) on chest computed tomography (CT) (UIP group) and the other 13 patients showed a non-UIP pattern on chest CT (non-UIP IIPs group). Three patients in the IIPs group (2 in the UIP group and 1 in the non-UIP IIPs group) and 1 in the non-ILD group developed pulmonary toxicity during treatment (3.5% overall, 12.0% in the IIPs group versus 1.1% in the non-ILD group). Moreover, all 3 patients in the IIPs group died of pulmonary toxicity. Overall survival tended to be longer in the non-ILD group than in the IIPs group (p = 0.08). Multivariate analyses demonstrated that IIPs was the only significant independent risk factor for PEM-related pulmonary toxicity.
We found that the incidence of PEM-related pulmonary toxicity was significantly higher amongst NSCLC patients with IIPs than among those without IIPs. Particular care must be taken when administering PEM to treat NSCLC patients with IIPs.
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