CTONG0806 assessed the efficacy of pemetrexed versus gefitinib as second-line treatment in advanced nonsquamous nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor ...(EGFR).
Patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous NSCLC harboring wild-type EGFR, detected by direct sequencing, and previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy were randomized to receive gefitinib (250 mg/day) orally or pemetrexed (500 mg/m2) i.v. on day 1 of a 21-day cycle until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS). The Independent Review Committee (IRC) evaluated all pictorial data.
From February 2009 to August 2012, 161 patients were enrolled, and 157 were assessable (81 in the gefitinib arm, 76 in the pemetrexed arm). Baseline characteristics were balanced between the two arms. The median PFSs were 4.8 versus 1.6 months in the pemetrexed and gefitinib arms, respectively hazard ratio (HR) 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.40–0.75, P < 0.001 as confirmed by IRC evaluation (5.6versus 1.7 months, HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.38–0.75, P < 0.001). The median overall survival (OS) showed a trend of superiority in the pemetrexed arm (12.4 versus 9.6 months, HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.49–1.04, P = 0.077). Quality-of-life assessment showed no marked difference between the arms. No unexpected adverse events were found. Of 108 patients with sufficient DNA samples, EGFR mutation status was re-tested by Scorpion amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS); 32 (29.6%) tested positive (19 in the pemetrexed arm, 13 in the gefitinib arm; median PFS: 8.1 versus 7.0 months, HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.43–2.08, P = 0.877).
CTONG0806 is the first trial to show significant improvement in PFS and an improved OS trend with pemetrexed compared with gefitinib as second-line setting treatment of EGFR wild-type advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. ARMS is superior to direct sequencing in excluding false-negative patients.
NCT00891579.
Abstract
Cancer cell metabolism leads to a uniquely acidic microenvironment in solid tumors, but exploiting the labile extracellular pH differences between cancer and normal tissues for clinical use ...has been challenging. Here we describe the clinical translation of ONM-100, a nanoparticle-based fluorescent imaging agent. This is comprised of an ultra-pH sensitive amphiphilic polymer, conjugated with indocyanine green, which rapidly and irreversibly dissociates to fluoresce in the acidic extracellular tumor microenvironment due to the mechanism of nanoscale macromolecular cooperativity. Primary outcomes were safety, pharmacokinetics and imaging feasilibity of ONM-100. Secondary outcomes were to determine a range of safe doses of ONM-100 for intra-operative imaging using commonly used fluorescence camera systems. In this study (Netherlands National Trial Register #7085), we report that ONM-100 was well tolerated, and four solid tumor types could be visualized both in- and ex vivo in thirty subjects. ONM-100 enables detection of tumor-positive resection margins in 9/9 subjects and four additional otherwise missed occult lesions. Consequently, this pH-activatable optical imaging agent may be clinically beneficial in differentiating previously unexploitable narrow physiologic differences.
High tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) is correlated with enhanced objective response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS) for certain cancers receiving immunotherapy. This study aimed to ...investigate the safety and efficacy of toripalimab, a humanized programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibody, in advanced gastric cancer (AGC), and the predictive survival benefit of TMB and PD-L1.
We reported on the AGC cohort of phase Ib/II trial evaluating the safety and activity of toripalimab in patients with AGC, oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. In cohort 1, 58 chemo-refractory AGC patients received toripalimab (3 mg/kg d1, Q2W) as a monotherapy. In cohort 2, 18 chemotherapy-naive AGC patients received toripalimab (360 mg d1, Q3W) with oxaliplatin 130 mg/m2 qd, d1, capecitabine 1000 mg/m2 b.i.d., d1–d14, Q3W as first-line treatment. Primary end point was ORR. Biomarkers such as PD-L1 and TMB were evaluated for correlation with clinical efficacy.
In cohort 1, the ORR was 12.1% and the disease control rate (DCR) was 39.7%. Median PFS was 1.9 months and median OS was 4.8 months. The TMB-H group showed significant superior OS than the TMB-L group 14.6 versus 4.0 months, HR = 0.48 (96% CI 0.24–0.96), P = 0.038, while PD-L1 overexpression did not correlate with significant survival benefit. A 77.6% of patients experienced at least one treatment-related adverse event (TRAE), and 22.4% of patients experienced a grade 3 or higher TRAE. In cohort 2, the ORR was 66.7% and the DCR was 88.9%. A 94.4% of patients experienced at least one TRAE and 38.9% of patients experienced grade 3 or higher TRAEs.
Toripalimab has demonstrated a manageable safety profile and promising antitumor activity in AGC patients, especially in combination with XELOX. High TMB may be a predictive marker for OS of AGC patients receiving toripalimab as a single agent.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02915432.
Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia/thrombosis (HIT) is a serious immune reaction to heparins, characterized by thrombocytopenia and often severe thrombosis with high morbidity and mortality. HIT is ...mediated by IgG antibodies against heparin/platelet factor 4 antigenic complexes. These complexes are thought to activate platelets leading to thrombocytopenia and thrombosis. Here we show that HIT immune complexes induce NETosis via interaction with FcγRIIa on neutrophils and through neutrophil-platelet association. HIT immune complexes induce formation of thrombi containing neutrophils, extracellular DNA, citrullinated histone H3 and platelets in a microfluidics system and in vivo, while neutrophil depletion abolishes thrombus formation. Absence of PAD4 or PAD4 inhibition with GSK484 abrogates thrombus formation but not thrombocytopenia, suggesting they are induced by separate mechanisms. NETs markers and neutrophils undergoing NETosis are present in HIT patients. Our findings demonstrating the involvement of NETosis in thrombosis will modify the current concept of HIT pathogenesis and may lead to new therapeutic strategies.
Magnesium, the lightest structural metal, is difficult to form at room temperature due to an insufficient number of deformation modes imposed by its hexagonal structure and a strong texture developed ...during thermomechanical processes. Although appropriate alloying additions can weaken the texture, formability improvement is limited because alloying additions do not fundamentally alter deformation modes. Here we show that magnesium can become super-formable at room temperature without alloying. Despite possessing a strong texture, magnesium can be cold rolled to a strain at least eight times that possible in conventional processing. The resultant cold-rolled sheet can be further formed without cracking due to grain size reduction to the order of one micron and inter-granular mechanisms becoming dominant, rather than the usual slip and twinning. These findings provide a pathway for developing highly formable products from magnesium and other hexagonal metals that are traditionally difficult to form at room temperature.Replacing steel or aluminium vehicle parts with magnesium would result in reduced emissions, but shaping magnesium without cracking remains challenging. Here, the authors successfully extrude and roll textured magnesium into ductile foil at low temperatures by activating intra-granular mechanisms.
This study investigated the effects of different acute high ambient temperatures on dysfunction of hepatic mitochondrial respiration, the antioxidative enzyme system, and oxidative injury in broiler ...chickens. One hundred twenty-eight 6-wk-old broiler chickens were assigned randomly to 4 groups and subsequently exposed to 25 (control), 32, 35, and 38°C (RH, 70 ± 5%) for 3 h, respectively. The rectal temperatures, activity of antioxidative enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase), content of malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl, and the activity of mitochondrial respiratory enzymes were determined. The results showed that exposure to high ambient temperature induced a significant elevation of rectal temperature, antioxidative enzyme activity, and formation of malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl, as well as dysfunction of the mitochondrial respiratory chain in comparison with control (P < 0.05). Almost all of the indicators changed in a temperature-dependent manner with the gradual increase of ambient temperature from 32 to 38°C; differences in each parameter (except catalase) among the groups exposed to different high ambient temperatures were also statistically significant (P < 0.05). The results of the present study suggest that, in the broiler chicken model used here, acute exposure to high temperatures may depress the activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. This inactivation results subsequently in overproduction of reactive oxygen species, which ultimately results in oxidative injury. However, this hypothesis needs to be evaluated more rigorously in future studies. It has also been shown that, with the gradual increase in temperature, the oxidative injury induced by heat stress in broiler chickens becomes increasingly severe, and this stress response presents in a temperature-dependent manner in the temperature range of 32 to 38°C.
Inconel 718 samples were fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). The effects of line laser energy densities in the range 0.1–0.3 J/mm on the microstructure, mechanical properties, and ...deformation of these samples were investigated. The fewest pores and best mechanical properties were realized at 0.2 J/mm with a yield strength of 775 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of 1055 MPa, and elongation of 29.5%. Fine dimples were uniformly distributed on the fracture surface under 0.2 J/mm. An Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) test revealed a mixture of fine columnar and equiaxed grains that promote strength while maintaining high plasticity. The prisms cut from these samples bent outwards, indicating great residual stresses in the samples. Their deformation increased with increasing laser energy density. Therefore, stress release treatment is necessary for SLM parts.
•The tensile strength and elongation reached 1055 MPa and 29.5%, respectively.•The best mechanical properties were achieved at 0.2 J/mm, instead of 0.3 J/mm.•Orderly stacking of melt pools without stagger caused tiny pores at the overlapping.•Prisms cut from specimens bent, the bigger energy density, the bigger deformation.
Aggressive fungal pathogens such as Botrytis and Verticillium spp. cause severe crop losses worldwide. We recently discovered that Botrytis cinerea delivers small RNAs (Bc-sRNAs) into plant cells to ...silence host immunity genes. Such sRNA effectors are mostly produced by Botrytis cinerea Dicer-like protein 1 (Bc-DCL1) and Bc-DCL2. Here we show that expressing sRNAs that target Bc-DCL1 and Bc-DCL2 in Arabidopsis and tomato silences Bc-DCL genes and attenuates fungal pathogenicity and growth, exemplifying bidirectional cross-kingdom RNAi and sRNA trafficking between plants and fungi. This strategy can be adapted to simultaneously control multiple fungal diseases. We also show that Botrytis can take up external sRNAs and double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs). Applying sRNAs or dsRNAs that target Botrytis DCL1 and DCL2 genes on the surface of fruits, vegetables and flowers significantly inhibits grey mould disease. Such pathogen gene-targeting RNAs represent a new generation of environmentally friendly fungicides.
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