Optimisation of chemotherapy prescription and preparation in an ambulatory unit: Validation of the OPTIMA program.

Objective: We implemented the two-step OPTIMA program to anticipate chemotherapy prescription which aims to assess the discrepancy rate between anticipated and real prescription and its impact on waiting time and quality of care.

Methods: This prospective study included cancer patients receiving any intravenous chemotherapy. The OPTIMA program consists in a nurse phone call and a blood sample two days before the planned treatment.

Haemoglobin level increase as an efficacy biomarker during axitinib treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a retrospective study.

Background: Axitinib is used after failure of first line treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). A known side effect is the increase of haemoglobin level (HbL) during treatment with a suspected correlation with better outcome. Our objective was to examine whether HbL increase during the first three months of axitinib treatment is associated with better prognosis.

Retrospective evaluation of concomitant cetuximab and radiotherapy tolerance for locoregional advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treatment in patients unfit for platinum-based chemotherapy.

Radiotherapy associated with cetuximab (Cet-RT) is an alternative treatment to platinum-based chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced head and neck carcinoma (LAHNC). Reviews suggest that the use of cetuximab is associated with poorer tolerance in patients unfit for chemotherapy than in pivotal trial. We retrospectively studied patients first treated by Cet-RT for LAHNC presenting contraindications to chemoradiotherapy.

Predictive factors of F-choline PET/CT positivity in patients with prostate cancer recurrence after radiation therapy: is the impact of PSA nadir underestimated?

Background: The objective of this study is to explore the impact of PSA nadirs on detection rates of prostate cancer (PCa) recurrence with F-choline (CH) PET/CT after external beam radiation therapy (EBRT).

Methods: In this retrospective study, data were collected from 54 patients with suspicion of PCa biochemical recurrence after EBRT (28 patients treated initially with EBRT and 26 as salvage therapy in the absence of PSA decrease after initial treatment), who underwent F-CH PET/CT between 2010 and 2015. PSA nadir and trigger PSA were collected from patient files.

BRCA1 allele-specific expression in genetic predisposed breast/ovarian cancer.

Germline allele specific expression (ASE), resulting in a lowered expression of one of the BRCA1 alleles, has been described as a possible predisposition marker in Hereditary Breast or Ovarian Cancer (HBOC), usable for molecular diagnosis in HBOC. The main objective of this prospective case-control study was to compare the proportion of ASE between controls without familial history of breast or ovarian cancer, and HBOC cases without BRCA1 or BRCA2 deleterious mutation. BRCA1 ASE evaluated on three SNPs among controls and HBOC patients without deleterious mutation were assessed by pyrosequencing.

How to Deal with Interval-Censored Data Practically while Assessing the Progression-Free Survival: A Step-by-Step Guide Using SAS and R Software.

We describe how to estimate progression-free survival while dealing with interval-censored data in the setting of clinical trials in oncology. Three procedures with SAS and R statistical software are described: one allowing for a nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation of the survival curve using the EM-ICM (Expectation and Maximization-Iterative Convex Minorant) algorithm as described by Wellner and Zhan in 1997; a sensitivity analysis procedure in which the progression time is assigned (i) at the midpoint, (ii) at the upper limit (reflecting the standard analysis when the progression time is assigned at the first radiologic exam showing progressive disease), or (iii) at the lower limit of the censoring interval; and finally, two multiple imputations are described considering a uniform or the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation (NPMLE) distribution. Clin Cancer Res; 22(23); 5629-35.

Quantifying and correcting for tail vein extravasation in small animal PET scans in cancer research: is there an impact on therapy assessment?

Background: Tail vein injection under short anesthesia is the most commonly used route for administering radiopharmaceuticals. However, the small caliber of the vein in rodents may lead to tracer extravasation and thereby compromise quantitative accuracy of PET. We aimed to evaluate a method for correction of interstitial radiotracer leakage in the context of pre-clinical therapeutic response assessment.

How to improve the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting? The French NAVI study.

Purpose: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) still remain frequent. The procedure for announcing the diagnosis (PAD) was an emblematic measure of the first French Plan Cancer aiming at providing patients with time to listen, information after cancer diagnosis, and discussion on treatments and their side effects. We aimed at assessing the risk factors of CINV, focusing on patients' satisfaction with the PAD.

Unique human orbital morphology compared with that of apes.

Humans' and apes' convergent (front-facing) orbits allow a large overlap of monocular visual fields but are considered to limit the lateral visual field extent. However, humans can greatly expand their lateral visual fields using eye motion. This study aimed to assess whether the human orbital morphology was unique compared with that of apes in avoiding lateral visual field obstruction.

Renal insufficiency is the leading cause of double maintenance (bevacizumab and pemetrexed) discontinuation for toxicity to advanced non-small cell lung cancer in real world setting.

Objectives: In advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), maintenance therapy has emerged as a novel therapeutic reference for patients with non-progressive disease after platinum-based induction chemotherapy. However, the use of double maintenance (DM) with pemetrexed and bevacizumab is still being evaluated in terms of its clinical benefits and safety profile. The objective of this retrospective study was to describe the reasons for DM discontinuation in a real-world setting.

NEMA NU 4-Optimized Reconstructions for Therapy Assessment in Cancer Research with the Inveon Small Animal PET/CT System.

Purpose: We compared conventional filtered back-projection (FBP), two-dimensional-ordered subsets expectation maximization (OSEM) and maximum a posteriori (MAP) NEMA NU 4-optimized reconstructions for therapy assessment.

Procedures: Varying reconstruction settings were used to determine the parameters for optimal image quality with two NEMA NU 4 phantom acquisitions. Subsequently, data from two experiments in which nude rats bearing subcutaneous tumors had received a dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor were reconstructed with the NEMA NU 4-optimized parameters.

Identification of predictive factors of response to the BH3-mimetic molecule ABT-737: an ex vivo experiment in human serous ovarian carcinoma.

Ovarian cancers are addicted to Bcl-xL and Mcl-1, antiapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family. Bcl-xL can be inhibited by the BH3-mimetic ABT-737. In vitro, ABT-737 can induce apoptosis of cancer cells, and its activity is potentiated by Mcl-1 inactivation.

Diagnostic value of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced echocardiography for left ventricular volume and ejection fraction measurement in patients with poor acoustic windows: a comparison of echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Background: Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) is a reliable and reproducible tool for assessing left ventricular (LV) function but remains sensitive to patient echogenicity. Contrast-enhanced 3DE (C3DE) has the potential to improve quantification in challenging patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of temporal resolution, spatial resolution, and image dynamic range on LV function assessed using C3DE compared with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with poor echogenicity.

Staging the axilla in breast cancer patients with ¹⁸F-FDG PET: how small are the metastases that we can detect with new generation clinical PET systems?

Purpose: Point spread function (PSF) reconstruction improves spatial resolution throughout the entire field of view of a PET system and can detect smaller metastatic deposits than conventional algorithms such as OSEM. We assessed the impact of PSF reconstruction on quantitative values and diagnostic accuracy for axillary staging of breast cancer patients, compared with an OSEM reconstruction, with emphasis on the size of nodal metastases.

Methods: This was a prospective study in a single referral centre in which 50 patients underwent an (18)F-FDG PET examination before axillary lymph node dissection.

No evidence for genetic association between glutamate transporter EAAT2 and Devic's neuromyelitis optica in caucasians and afro-caribbeans.

Devic's neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a severe inflammatory and autoimmune disease producing demyelinating lesions. Recent data suggest that a complex genetic component could be involved. While impairment of glutamate homeostasis has emerged as a contributing etiological factor in NMO, a genetic alteration of Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2 (EAAT2/SLC1A2), the major glutamate transporter in the Central Nervous System (CNS), could contribute to glutamate excitotoxicity and then must be considered.

Scar extent as a predictive factor of ventricular tachycardia cycle length after myocardial infarction: implications for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator programming optimization.

Aims: After an old myocardial infarction (MI), patients are at risk for reentrant ventricular tachycardia (VT) due to scar tissue that can be accurately identified by late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR). Although the ability of LGE-CMR to predict sustained VT in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) recipients has been well established, its use to predict monomorphic VT (sustained or not) cycle length (CL) and so, optimize ICD programming has never been investigated.

Methods And Results: We included retrospectively 49 consecutive patients with an old MI who had undergone LGE-CMR before ICD implantation over a 4-year period (2006-09).

Sunglasses with thick temples and frame constrict temporal visual field.

Purpose: Our aim was to compare the impact of two types of sunglasses on visual field and glare: one ("thick sunglasses") with a thick plastic frame and wide temples and one ("thin sunglasses") with a thin metal frame and thin temples.

Methods: Using the Goldmann perimeter, visual field surface areas (cm²) were calculated as projections on a 30-cm virtual cupola. A V4 test object was used, from seen to unseen, in 15 healthy volunteers in the primary position of gaze ("base visual field"), then allowing eye motion ("eye motion visual field") without glasses, then with "thin sunglasses," followed by "thick sunglasses.

Fatigue is associated with metabolic and density alterations of cortical and deep gray matter in Relapsing-Remitting-Multiple Sclerosis patients at the earlier stage of the disease: A PET/MR study.

Background: Fatigue is a common but complex symptom of multiple sclerosis. A central origin is now suggested as a key feature of its pathophysiology and gray matter (GM) structure seems to be (particularly) involved in the neurobiological basis of fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Methods: We investigated, in a cohort of 17 Relapsing-Remitting-MS patients recruited within three years of disease diagnosis, the link between fatigue severity evaluated by the EMIF-SEP (a validated self-report questionnaire in French), and metabolic and density alterations of GM using positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging using SPM5 (statistical parametric morphometry) analysis and voxel-based-morphometry.

Rotational atherectomy for left main coronary artery disease in octogenarians: transradial approach in a tertiary center and literature review.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to appreciate the safety and effectiveness of transradial percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with rotational atherectomy for highly calcified left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease in octogenarians.

Background: Conventional surgery is still considered the preferred management for LMCA disease; but, when the lesion is severely calcified, and the patient is unsuitable for surgery, the interventional cardiologist faces a complex PCI traditionally approached by femoral access.

Methods: Between June 2004 and December 2010, octogenarians with calcified LMCA disease who were primary denied for surgical revascularization were enrolled.

Scar extent evaluated by late gadolinium enhancement CMR: a powerful predictor of long term appropriate ICD therapy in patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) patients are at risk for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias (VA) related to scar tissue. Late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance (LGE-CMR) can accurately identify myocardial scar extent. It has been shown that scar extent, particularly scar transmurality, percent scar and scar mass, are associated with the occurrence of appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy.

Alterations of left ventricular myocardial strain in obese children.

Aims: Obesity may have implications in the myocardial structural change, which may contribute to mechanical consequences. Using 2D speckle echocardiography, we looked for myocardial changes and investigated their relation to obesity, inflammation, insulin resistance and physical capacity in children with isolated obesity.

Methods And Results: Standard echocardiography and 2D strain were prospectively performed in obese children and compared them with age- and sex-matched controls.

O(6) -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation and low MGMT-encoded protein expression as prognostic markers in glioblastoma patients treated with biodegradable carmustine wafer implants after initial surgery followed by radiotherapy with concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide.

Background: O(6) -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation status was proposed as a prognostic biomarker for patients with glioblastoma. However, the prognostic impact of MGMT in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma who receive carmustine-releasing wafers (Gliadel) along with temozolomide (TMZ) is still unknown.

Methods: MGMT promoter methylation status and protein expression were analyzed in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor specimens obtained from 111 French patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.