COVID-19 Sequelae and the Host Proinflammatory Response: An Analysis From the OnCovid Registry.

Background: Fifteen percent of patients with cancer experience symptomatic sequelae, which impair post-COVID-19 outcomes. In this study, we investigated whether a proinflammatory status is associated with the development of COVID-19 sequelae.

Methods: OnCovid recruited 2795 consecutive patients who were diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 infection between February 27, 2020, and February 14, 2021.

Accuracy assessment of total or IgG Immunoglobulin to hepatitis A virus tests around immunity threshold.

Background: Anti-hepatitis A virus (HAV) antibody titers at 20 IU/L are assumed to correlate with protection against HAV challenge.

Methods: We examined the accuracy and precision of currently in use immunoassays for total or anti-HAV IgG determination, by repeated testing of dilutions of the international anti-HAV standard, within a 10-50 IU/mL concentration range.

Results And Conclusion: Eight immunoassays were evaluated.

Evaluation of prognostic scores for respiratory syncytial virus infection in a French multicentre cohort of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients.

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients are at risk for severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Two prognostic scores have been proposed to predict the risk of progression from upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) to lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) and death. This was a multicentre study of allogeneic HSCT recipients diagnosed with an RSV infection between 2010 and 2019 who were retrospectively stratified by the immunodeficiency scoring index (ISI) and the severe immunodeficiency (SID) score.

Cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic: The experience of a comprehensive cancer center performing preoperative screening by RT-PCR and chest CT scan.

Background And Objectives: During the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), oncological procedures considered to be urgent could not be delayed, and a specific procedure was required to continue surgical activity. The objective was to assess the efficacy of our preoperative screening algorithm.

Methods: This observational retrospective study was performed between the 25th of March and the 12th of May 2020 in a comprehensive cancer center in France.

Integrating deep learning CT-scan model, biological and clinical variables to predict severity of COVID-19 patients.

The SARS-COV-2 pandemic has put pressure on intensive care units, so that identifying predictors of disease severity is a priority. We collect 58 clinical and biological variables, and chest CT scan data, from 1003 coronavirus-infected patients from two French hospitals. We train a deep learning model based on CT scans to predict severity.

The immuno-oncological challenge of COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its causative virus, SARS-CoV-2, pose considerable challenges for the management of oncology patients. COVID-19 presents as a particularly severe respiratory and systemic infection in aging and immunosuppressed individuals, including patients with cancer. Moreover, severe COVID-19 is linked to an inflammatory burst and lymphopenia, which may aggravate cancer prognosis.

Corrigendum: Non integrative strategy decreases chromosome instability and improves endogenous pluripotency genes reactivation in porcine induced pluripotent-like stem cells.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep27059.

Non integrative strategy decreases chromosome instability and improves endogenous pluripotency genes reactivation in porcine induced pluripotent-like stem cells.

The pig is an emerging animal model, complementary to rodents for basic research and for biomedical and agronomical purposes. However despite the progress made on mouse and rat models to produce genuine pluripotent cells, it remains impossible to produce porcine pluripotent cell lines with germline transmission. Reprogramming of pig somatic cells using conventional integrative strategies remains also unsatisfactory.

HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas: a comparison between three diagnostic approaches.

Purpose: HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas clearly represent a growing entity in the head and neck with distinct carcinogenesis, clinico-pathological presentation and survival profile. We aimed to compare the HPV prevalence rates and clinico-pathological correlations obtained with three distinct commonly used HPV detection methods.

Materials And Methods: p16-immunohistochemistry (IHC), HPV DNA viral load by real-time PCR (qPCR), and HPV genotyping by a reverse hybridization-based line probe assay (INNO-LiPA) were performed on pretreatment formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 46 patients treated for single primary oropharyngeal carcinomas.

HARPΔ111-136 enhances radiation-induced apoptosis of U87MG glioblastoma by induction of the proapoptotic protein CHOP.

We previously demonstrated, using the glioblastoma cell line U87MG as an experimental model, that the adenoviral mediated overexpression of the truncated protein HARPΔ111-136 inhibits the proliferation of these cells in vitro as well as tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo. This study focused on identifying the underlying mechanisms for the observed antitumoral effect. The present study demonstrated that HARPΔ111-136 induced the ATF4/ATF3/CHOP cascade resulting in a strong expression of the proapoptotic protein CHOP, leading to tumor cell apoptosis as demonstrated by PARP cleavage and FACS analysis.

Quantification of circulating mature endothelial cells using a whole blood four-color flow cytometric assay.

Circulating endothelial cells (CEC) are currently proposed as a potential biomarker for measuring the impact of anti-angiogenic treatments in cancer. However, the lack of consensus on the appropriate method of CEC measurement has led to conflicting data in cancer patients. A validated assay adapted for evaluating the clinical utility of CEC in large cohorts of patients undergoing anti-angiogenic treatments is needed.

Suppression of angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis by adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of human angiotensinogen.

Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and metastatic dissemination. We have previously shown that human angiotensinogen (AGT) can in vitro inhibit endothelial cell proliferation and migration, capillary-like tube formation, and neovascularization. To determine whether AGT can exert an antitumoral effect through its antiangiogenic properties, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus carrying the human angiotensinogen gene under the control of the cytomegalovirus promoter (AdAGT).

Coelectrotransfer to skeletal muscle of three plasmids coding for antiangiogenic factors and regulatory factors of the tetracycline-inducible system: tightly regulated expression, inhibition of transplanted tumor growth, and antimetastatic effect.

We describe an approach employing intramuscular plasmid electrotransfer to deliver secretable forms of K1-5 and K1-3-HSA (a fusion of K1-3 with human serum albumin), which span, respectively, five and three of the five kringle domains of plasminogen. A tetracycline-inducible system (Tet-On) composed of three plasmids coding, respectively, for the transgene, the tetracycline transcriptional activator rtTA, and the silencer tTS was employed. K1-3-HSA and K1-5, produced from C2C12 muscle cells, were found to inhibit endothelial cell (HMEC-1) proliferation by 30 and 51%, respectively.