Towards Flexible and Low-Power Wireless Smart Sensors: Reconfigurable Analog-to-Feature Conversion for Healthcare Applications.

Analog-to-feature (A2F) conversion based on non-uniform wavelet sampling (NUWS) has demonstrated the ability to reduce energy consumption in wireless sensors while employed for electrocardiogram (ECG) anomaly detection. The technique involves extracting only relevant features for a given task directly from analog signals and conducting classification in the digital domain. Building on this approach, we extended the application of the proposed generic A2F converter to address a human activity recognition (HAR) task.

Multicenter randomized phase II study comparing docetaxel plus curcumin versus docetaxel plus placebo in first-line treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Background: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients have a poor prognosis, and curcumin is known to have antineoplastic properties. On the basis of previous phase I and phase II studies, we investigated whether the association of curcumin with docetaxel could improve prognosis among mCRPC patients.

Methods: A total of 50 mCRPC patients (included from June 2014 to July 2016) treated with docetaxel in association with oral curcumin (6 g/d for 7 days every 3 weeks) versus placebo were included in this double-blind, randomized, phase II study.

Efficacy and safety of chronomodulated irinotecan, oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin combination as first- or second-line treatment against metastatic colorectal cancer: Results from the International EORTC 05011 Trial.

The triplet combination of irinotecan, oxaliplatin and fluorouracil is an active frontline regimen in metastatic colorectal cancer, but scarce data exist on its use as salvage treatment. We aimed at assessing its safety and efficacy profiles with its circadian-based administration (chronoIFLO5) as either first- or second-line treatment, within the time-finding EORTC 05011 trial. Five-day chronoIFLO5 was administered every 3 weeks in patients with PS 0, 1 or 2.

Sex-dependent least toxic timing of irinotecan combined with chronomodulated chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer: Randomized multicenter EORTC 05011 trial.

The least toxic time (LTT) of irinotecan varied by up to 8 hours according to sex and genetic background in mice. The translational relevance was investigated within a randomized trial dataset, where no LTT stood out significantly in the whole population. 130 male and 63 female eligible patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were randomized to receive chronomodulated Irinotecan with peak delivery rate at 1 of 6 clock hours staggered by 4 hours on day 1, then fixed-time chronomodulated Fluorouracil-Leucovorin-Oxaliplatin for 4 days, q3 weeks.

Improvement in adherence to Capecitabine and Lapatinib by way of a therapeutic education program.

Purpose: A patient non-adherence with oral anticancer agents is a well-recognized barrier to effective treatment. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy of a therapeutic education program among non-adherent patients treated with Capecitabine alone or associated with Lapatinib.

Methods: Sixty-five cancer patients were enrolled.

A sub-nJ CMOS ECG classifier for wireless smart sensor.

Body area sensor networks hold the promise of more efficient and cheaper medical care services through the constant monitoring of physiological markers such as heart beats. Continuously transmitting the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal requires most of the wireless ECG sensor energy budget. This paper presents the analog implantation of a classifier for ECG signals that can be embedded onto a sensor.

Short-term moderate diet restriction in adulthood can reverse oxidative, cardiovascular and metabolic alterations induced by postnatal overfeeding in mice.

We aimed to determine whether moderate diet restriction could restore cardiac, oxidative and metabolic alterations induced by postnatal overfeeding (PNOF). Litters of C57BL/6 male mice were either maintained at 9 (normal litter, NL), or reduced to 3 (small litter, SL) in order to induce PNOF. At 6 months, half of the NL and SL mice were subjected to 20% calorie-restriction (CR: NLCR, SLCR) for one month, while the other half continued to eat ad libitum (AL: NLAL, SLAL).

The New Combination Docetaxel, Prednisone and Curcumin in Patients with Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: A Pilot Phase II Study.

Objectives: Favorable phase I results justified this pilot phase II study to assess the efficacy of docetaxel/curcumin in patients with chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).

Methods: Thirty patients with progressing CRPC and a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) received docetaxel/prednisone in standard conditions for 6 cycles in combination with per os curcumin, 6,000 mg/day (day -4 to day +2 of docetaxel). The co-primary endpoint was the overall response rate determined by PSA and target assessments.

Multicentric neoadjuvant pilot Phase II study of cetuximab combined with docetaxel in operable triple negative breast cancer.

Systemic therapy for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is mostly based upon chemotherapy. Epithelial Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in around 50% of TNBC and may play a role in its pathogenesis. Consequently, we performed a multicentric pilot Phase II neoadjuvant trial of cetuximab (anti-EGFR antibody) combined with docetaxel for patients with operable, Stage II-III TNBC.

Everolimus in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Clinical Experience as a Late Treatment Line.

Background: Everolimus (Afinitor®) plus exemestane are indicated for hormone receptor-positive, HER2/neu-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC), in menopausal women without symptomatic visceral disease after recurrence or progression following aromatase inhibitors. But everolimus efficacy as late treatment has not been explored.

Methods: Sixty-three MBC patients progressing under hormonotherapy (HT; n = 30) or after chemotherapy (CT; n = 32) received everolimus plus HT (EHT) and were analyzed for safety, efficacy and overall survival (OS).

Can pathologic complete response (pCR) be used as a surrogate marker of survival after neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer?

Breast cancer is heterogeneous in clinical, morphological, immunohistochemical and biological features, as reflected by several different prognostic subgroups. Neoadjuvant approaches are currently used for the "in vivo" efficacy assessment of treatments. Pathological complete response (pCR) has been reported as a reliable predictive factor of survival in that setting.

Is it important to adapt neoadjuvant chemotherapy to the visible clinical response? An open randomized phase II study comparing response-guided and standard treatments in HER2-negative operable breast cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant treatment provides a unique opportunity to evaluate individual tumor sensitivity. This study evaluated whether a response-guided strategy could improve clinical outcome compared with a standard treatment.

Methods: Overall, 264 previously untreated stage II-III operable breast cancer patients were randomized to receive either standard treatment (arm A, n = 131), consisting of fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC100: 500, 100, and 500 mg/m(2), respectively, for 3 cycles) followed by docetaxel (100 mg/m(2) for 3 cycles), or adapted treatment (arm B, n = 133), beginning with 2 cycles of FEC100 and switching to docetaxel if tumor size decreased by <30% after 2 cycles or <50% after 4 cycles of FEC100 (ultrasound assessments according to World Health Organization criteria).

Neurotoxicity as a prognostic factor in patients with metastatic breast cancer treated with ixabepilone as a first-line therapy.

Objective: This study is a longitudinal follow-up of metastatic breast cancer patients treated with ixabepilone as first-line chemotherapy, with the aim to evaluate the association between a mechanism-based neurotoxicity and the efficacy of ixabepilone.

Patients And Methods: At the 2 main investigational sites of a phase II clinical trial, 50 patients previously treated with anthracycline received ixabepilone. A chart review was performed to evaluate overall survival (OS) and time to progression (TTP) and to describe the subsequent treatments.

Drimane-Type Sesquiterpene Coumarins from Ferula gummosa Fruits Enhance Doxorubicin Uptake in Doxorubicin-Resistant Human Breast Cancer Cell Line.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is the main cause of failure in the chemotherapy of cancer patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of sesquiterpene coumarins of Ferula gummosa fruits on P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated MDR. Drimane-type sesquiterpene coumarins from the fruits of F.

Multicentric neoadjuvant phase II study of panitumumab combined with an anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy in operable triple-negative breast cancer: identification of biologically defined signatures predicting treatment impact.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous group of tumors for some of which the epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway may play an important role. We investigated the efficacy and toxicity of an anti-EGFR antibody (panitumumab) combined with a standard neoadjuvant anthracycline-taxane-based chemotherapy in patients with operable, stage II-III, TNBC.

Patients And Methods: Treatment in this multicentric neoadjuvant pilot study consisted of panitumumab (9 mg/kg) for eight cycles q.

Adherence with oral oncologic treatment in cancer patients: interest of an adherence score of all dosing errors.

Purpose: Patient nonadherence to oral antineoplastic therapy is a well-recognized barrier to effective treatment. In order to identify patients who may need additional support to become adherent, it is important to have a useful tool that takes into account all the parameters of adherence to prescription. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate adherence of oral antineoplastic agents and to investigate two calculation methods of adherence score.

Prognostic value of initial tumor parameters after metastatic relapse.

Classical prognostic factors of breast cancer are correlated to disease-free survival and overall survival (OS); their precise role is less known on metastatic disease. A total of 511 breast cancer patients without initial metastasis were treated. OS was divided in time to distant recurrence and metastatic survival (MS).

Late lines of treatment benefit survival in metastatic breast cancer in current practice?

Metastatic breast cancer is mostly incurable. Progressively overall survival (OS) has improved but few authors have studied treatment globally versus for each line and demonstrated the interest of chemotherapy (CT) after the third line. We selected recent patients treated during the "taxane/anti-aromatase era" for each line given.

Mastectomy with immediate breast reconstruction after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. A new option for patients with operable invasive breast cancer. Results of a 20 years single institution study.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasability of immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) following mastectomy after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and radiation therapy (RT) for operable invasive breast cancer (OIBC), in terms of incidence of local complications, locoregional control and survival.

Patients And Methods: From 1990 to 2008, 210 patients were treated by NACT, RT and mastectomy with IBR for OIBC. One hundred and seven patients underwent a latissimus dorsi flap with implant (LDI), 56 patients a transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap, 25 an autologous latissimus dorsi flap (ALD) and 22, a retropectoral implant (RI) reconstruction.

Eribulin monotherapy versus treatment of physician's choice in patients with metastatic breast cancer (EMBRACE): a phase 3 open-label randomised study.

Background: Treatments with survival benefit are greatly needed for women with heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancer. Eribulin mesilate is a non-taxane microtubule dynamics inhibitor with a novel mode of action. We aimed to compare overall survival of heavily pretreated patients receiving eribulin versus currently available treatments.

[Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 surveillance on Mayotte island: the challenge of setting up a new system facing the pandemic].

In response to the threat of the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus in Mayotte Island, influenza surveillance needed to be set up in a matter of weeks, to detect the introduction of the pandemic virus and monitor its spread and impact on public health. Surveillance was based on different systems, including a sentinel practitioner network for influenza-like illness, surveillance of the activity at the hospital emergency departments, virological surveillance, surveillance of severe and fatal cases, and data collection on sale of antipyretic and anti-viral drugs. Despite some weaknesses of the surveillance, results showed a good correlation between all systems, describing an epidemic period of approximately 8-9 weeks, with a peak between weeks 37 and 40, followed by a rapid decrease.

Weight change during chemotherapy changes the prognosis in non metastatic breast cancer for the worse.

Background: Weight change during chemotherapy is reported to be associated with a worse prognosis in breast cancer patients, both with weight gain and weight loss. However, most studies were conducted prior to the common use of anthracycline-base chemotherapy and on North American populations with a mean BMI classified as overweight. Our study was aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of weight change during anthracycline-based chemotherapy on non metastatic breast cancer (European population) with a long term follow-up.

Dietary methionine restriction with FOLFOX regimen as first line therapy of metastatic colorectal cancer: a feasibility study.

Unlabelled: The methionine (MET) dependency of tumor cells opens interesting perspectives for targeting tumor cells and potentiating chemotherapy treatment, like 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and platinum compound. Since MET deprivation can individually potentiate the different chemotherapeutic agents used in the 48-hour combined regimen of 5-FU, leucovorin and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) regimen, we initiated a feasibility study associating dietary MET restriction with the FOLFOX regimen in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Objectives: (i) To evaluate the depletion in the plasma MET concentration, and (ii) to assess the feasibility of this combination.

Possible benefits of curcumin regimen in combination with taxane chemotherapy for hormone-refractory prostate cancer treatment.

Complementary and alternative therapies for neoplastic diseases treatment and prevention receive increasing attention from the medical community. Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and the second major cause of male death in industrialized countries. The chemopreventive properties and clinical safety of curcumin, a polyphenolic derivative, have already been established.