Future Science OA最新文献

Background: Locally advanced unresectable or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma carries a poor prognosis with limited palliative systemic treatment options. We sought to evaluate clinic-pathological characteristics associated with favorable responses to palliative-intent immunotherapy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of adult patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous (rmHNSCC) cell carcinoma at the Juravinski Cancer Center from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2022. Baseline demographic and disease characteristics, treatment delivered, and outcome data were collected.

Results: A total of 96 patients were identified. Median age was 61 years (75.9% male). The most common primary was oropharyngeal. The majority of patients were platinum-ineligible or refractory (61.5%). The median overall survival was 12.6 months (95% CI 6.3-15.4), and median PFS was 5.3 months (95% CI 3.8-7.8). After univariate and multivariate analyses, the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), albumin, and BMI were identified as independently significant prognostic factors for survival.

Conclusion: SII, albumin, and BMI were the strongest independent prognostic factors of overall survival in rmHNSCC patients treated with palliative immunotherapy. Future validation studies would be important, given these are inexpensive, noninvasive tests and may be potentially modifiable patient factors.

Chylothorax is an uncommon cause of pleural effusion, most often associated with malignancy, trauma, or thoracic duct obstruction. Its occurrence following SARS-CoV-2 infection is exceptional. The present case report describes a 53-year-old woman who was admitted to the pneumology department complaining of chronic dry cough with a medical history of type II diabetes and SARS-CoV-2 infection one month ago. Physical examination revealed decreased vesicular breath sounds at the left lung base. A chest X-ray revealed a left pleural effusion and thoracentesis confirmed chylothorax. This case highlights chylothorax as a rare but possible complication of COVID-19, potentially caused by inflammation and thoracic duct disruption in the absence of thrombosis. It emphasizes the importance of considering chylothorax in the differential diagnosis of unexplained pleural effusions following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The prevalences of malnutrition and sarcopenia are high already at the time of cancer diagnosis and significantly impact on treatment outcomes. Here, we present the protocol of a multicenter, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of personalized, combined nutrition and physical exercise interventions in parallel to first-line cancer treatment. A total of 472 patients will be included and randomized into one of the two study arms. In the intervention arm (A) patients will receive an individualized, needs-adapted preventive and supervised nutritional and exercise program over at least four and up to six months in parallel to cancer treatment. In the control arm (B), patients receive recommendations for physical activity, prescriptions and nutrition counseling in a non-supervised manner. The physical and nutritional status, as well as quality of life will be analyzed in all patients by a multi-dimensional assessment program, termed resource-oriented needs assessment (RONA), before and at distinct time points during and after the intervention period. The primary combined endpoint will be the reduction of needs for supportive care defined by the RONA score at the end of the first-line cancer treatment or after six months of study intervention whichever comes first.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic condition characterized by immune mediated inflammation and primarily includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Objective: There is an increase rate of incidence of the disease in Kazakhstan. Therefore, it is important to determine the prevalence of the condition in to improve diagnosis and the treatment for the local population.

Method: They current manuscript is a systematic review of the literature that focuses on IBD from Kazakhstan with a focus on prevalence, risk factors including genetic predisposition, disease mechanism, diagnosis and treatment.

Results: The prevalence of IBD is higher in urban regions, and more prevalent in individuals under the age of 40 years. Genetic studies reported that familial IBD is quite rare in Kazakhstan, suggesting an environmental cause rather than a genetic reason that is driving the increase of prevalence.

Conclusion: There are IBD-associated variants linked to immune function and inflammation pathways that may serve as noninvasive biomarkers for disease diagnosis and severity. However, the mechanisms of disease development and drug response may differ across different populations, therefore, there might be a need implement genetic testing to improve therapy and disease management in Kazakhstan.

Aim: To assess the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) combined with chemoradiotherapy and evaluate the prognostic value of peripheral inflammatory markers in elderly patients with inoperable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: A retrospective study of 124 elderly ESCC patients treated between 2021 and 2024. Patients were divided into immunotherapy and non-immunotherapy groups. Progression-free survival (PFS) was compared, and inflammatory markers were analyzed using Cox regression and ROC curves.

Results: Median PFS was significantly longer in the ICI group (13.7 vs. 10.9 months, P = 0.043). Immunotherapy was an independent protective factor for PFS. Post-treatment NLR and PNI were predictive of outcomes in the ICI group.

Conclusion: Combining ICIs with chemoradiotherapy improves survival in elderly inoperable ESCC patients. NLR and PNI may serve as accessible biomarkers to guide immunotherapy.

Objective: This study aims to access the feasibility of using Virtual Reality during bone marrow biopsy, as well as patient-reported acceptability and satisfaction in reducing pain and anxiety for patients with hematologic malignancies.

Methods and analysis: In this is pilot study, fifteen patients were required from hematological department of Hedi Chaker university hospital, Tunisia. Only descriptive statistical analyses were performed. The primary outcomes were technique's feasibility, participants' acceptability and satisfaction through passive health care observation during intervention and by participant's comments about their experience.The secondary outcomes were anxiety assessed through the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and measured before and after the procedure and procedural pain through the Numerical Pain Rating Scale.

Results: Our findings showed a mean anxiety's score before procedure was 50 (IQR = 32, range: 28-76) and after procedure 20 (IQR = 1, range: 20- 39). Mean procedural pain score was 4 (IQR = 3, range: 0-6). 66.7% were no pain reaction. All participants were satisfied with the intervention.

Conclusion: This study supports patients' satisfaction, acceptability, and the feasibility of virtual reality as a non-pharmacological intervention for managing pain and anxiety during bone marrow biopsy. While initial findings are promising, further large-scale studies required to validate these results and explore clinical applications of virtual reality.

Background: The clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of T-cell lymphoma invasion and metastasis 2 (TIAM2) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear.

Methods: TIAM2 expression was detected immunohistochemically in matched HCC and adjacent liver (AL) specimens from 168 patients with radical resection. The correlations between TIAM2 and clinicopathologic parameters, overall and disease-free survival were evaluated. The expression, prognostic value and genomic alterations of TIAM2 gene were explored in the online publicly available databases.

Results: TIAM2 was significantly overexpressed in HCC tissues, compared with AL tissues (P < 0.001). Its expression in multiple tumors was also statistically higher than that in solitary ones (P = 0.017). Moreover, TIAM2 overexpression was univariately associated with poor overall and disease-free survival (P = 0.0066 and 0.0060). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, TIAM2 overexpression was one of significant determinants of both overall and disease-free survival. In the Ualcan and Kaplan-Meier Plotter databases, overexpression and prognostic power of TIAM2 gene in HCC was confirmed, while its genetic alterations included mutation, amplification and deep deletion in the cBioPortal database. Some known tumor-related genes, such as FGD6, FGFR2 and FZD1, were strongly related to TIAM2 gene.

Conclusions: TIAM2 overexpression closely correlated with tumor multiplicity and poor prognosis in resected HCC, thus being a potential therapeutic target.

Aim: The primary objective of this study is to investigate the impact of tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) and its functional receptor, fibroblast growth factor-inducible 14 (Fn14), on the process of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) senescence.

Methods: Rat arterial VSMCs were cultured with angiotensin II to establish a model of premature senescence. The effects of TWEAK and Fn14 on senescent VSMCs were evaluated. Additionally, the role of p38 phosphorylation pathway in the effect of TWEAK on VSMCs senescence was assessed.

Results: Expressions of TWEAK and Fn14 were significantly elevated in senescent VSMCs. TWEAK activated the p38 phosphorylation pathway and promoted the SA-β-gal staining and P53 expression.

Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that the TWEAK/Fn14 axis may play a crucial role in promoting VSMC senescence.

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease is a developing public health concern in aging communities that affects a sizable section of the global population. The risk of Alzheimer's disease increases with age; it affects one-third of males and two-thirds of women^. This research attempts to assess the effect of nano-selenium and thymoquinone on Nrf2 gene expression levels in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: There were five identical groups of 50 albino male rats: a control group that was healthy; an AD positive control group; an AD group that received nano-selenium (5 mg/kg); an AD group that received thymoquinone (2 mg/kg); and an AD group that received both. The duration of treatment was 4 weeks. The levels of Nrf2 in brain tissues were evaluated using real-time PCR.

Results: Nrf2 mean expression levels in the nano-selenium-treated rats, the thymoquinone-treated rats, and the rats that were given both treatments all increased significantly compared to AD rats with no treatment.

Conclusions: This study showed that nano-selenium and thymoquinone elevated Nrf2 gene expression levels in AD.

Background: Including racial and ethnic minorities in clinical trials is essential for advancing health equity. Despite progress, trials often do not mirror patient population demographics.

Methods: The National Library of Medicine's Clinical Trials database was queried for phase III trials of lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers. A reference population was identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database, covering 48% of the US population.

Results: Among 181 trials, race and ethnicity data were included in 86.7% and 60.2% of trials, respectively, with improving reporting over time. Participants were predominantly White (76.3%), followed by Asian/Pacific Islander (14.1%), Black/African American (4.5%), and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.6%). Hispanic/Latino constituted 6.4% of participants. The proportion of non-White groups increased from 19.4% in trials started before 2011 to 26.2% after 2015. Compared with SEER data, the percentages were lower for Asian/Pacific Islander across all cancers, Black/African American in breast and prostate cancers, American Indian or Alaska Native in colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers in US solely trials.

Conclusions: Reporting and enrollment of racial and ethnic minorities in trials remain inadequate but improving. To enhance diversity, real-world data are warranted to identify recruitment goals by better assessing the geographic distribution within the patient population.