Development of brain metastases in non-small-cell lung cancer: high-risk features.

Brain metastases (BM) are a common site of disease progression and treatment failure in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and can be identified in up to 30-50% of patients. Although they are common, there is no standardized screening protocol for development of BM in NSCLC. Multiple clinical variables predict increased BM occurrence, and, when present, should be used to initiate screening MRI.

Limits to evolutionary rescue by conjugative plasmids.

Plasmids may carry genes coding for beneficial traits and thus contribute to adaptation of bacterial populations to environmental stress. Conjugative plasmids can horizontally transfer between cells, which a priori facilitates the spread of adaptive alleles. However, if the potential recipient cell is already colonized by another incompatible plasmid, successful transfer may be prevented.

Immunostimulating Effect of Inactivated Parapoxvirus Ovis on the Serological Response to Equine Influenza Booster Vaccination.

Equine influenza virus (EIV) is responsible for recurring outbreaks that are detrimental to the equine industry. Vaccination is key for prevention, but the effectiveness and duration of protection provided by existing vaccines is often insufficient. In order to improve vaccine efficacy, we evaluated the benefit of immune stimulation with inactivated Parapoxvirus ovis (iPPVO) on the antibody response induced by a vaccine boost against EIV.

Association of Autologous Tumor Lysate-Loaded Dendritic Cell Vaccination With Extension of Survival Among Patients With Newly Diagnosed and Recurrent Glioblastoma: A Phase 3 Prospective Externally Controlled Cohort Trial.

Importance: Glioblastoma is the most lethal primary brain cancer. Clinical outcomes for glioblastoma remain poor, and new treatments are needed.

Objective: To investigate whether adding autologous tumor lysate-loaded dendritic cell vaccine (DCVax-L) to standard of care (SOC) extends survival among patients with glioblastoma.

The pedagogical value of near-peer feedback in online OSCEs.

Purpose Of The Article: During the Covid-19 pandemic, formative OSCE were transformed into online OSCE, and senior students (near peers) substituted experienced clinical teachers. The aims of the study were to evaluate quality of the feedbacks given by near peers during online OSCEs and explore the experience of near-peer feedback from both learner's and near peer's perspectives.

Materials And Methods: All 2nd year medical students (n = 158) attended an online OSCE under the supervision of twelve senior medical students.

Vaccination strategies when vaccines are scarce: on conflicts between reducing the burden and avoiding the evolution of escape mutants.

When vaccine supply is limited but population immunization urgent, the allocation of the available doses needs to be carefully considered. One aspect of dose allocation is the time interval between the first and the second injections in two-dose vaccines. By stretching this interval, more individuals can be vaccinated with the first dose more quickly, which can be beneficial in reducing case numbers, provided a single dose is sufficiently effective.

Oral Kaposi Sarcoma in two patients living with HIV despite sustained viral suppression: New clues.

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) etiologically linked to Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the most common HIV associated cancer despite the generalization of antiretroviral therapy. Head, neck, and especially oral cavity are common and specific sites for lesions. Those oral lesions contain a high viral load of KSHV virus and are one of the signs of disease severity.

The emergence of cooperation by evolutionary generalization.

In principle, any cooperative behaviour can be evolutionarily stable as long as it is incentivized by a reward from the beneficiary, a mechanism that has been called reciprocal cooperation. However, what makes this mechanism so powerful also has an evolutionary downside. Reciprocal cooperation faces a chicken-and-egg problem of the same kind as communication: it requires two functions to evolve at the same time-cooperation and response to cooperation.

Why cooperation is not running away.

A growing number of experimental and theoretical studies show the importance of partner choice as a mechanism to promote the evolution of cooperation, especially in humans. In this paper, we focus on the question of the precise quantitative level of cooperation that should evolve under this mechanism. When individuals compete to be chosen by others, their level of investment in cooperation evolves towards higher values, a process called competitive altruism, or runaway cooperation.

Correction to: First results on survival from a large Phase 3 clinical trial of an autologous dendritic cell vaccine in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported an error in the spelling of one of the author names. In this Correction the incorrect and correct author names are indicated and the author name has been updated in the original publication. The authors also reported an error in the Methods section of the original article.

First results on survival from a large Phase 3 clinical trial of an autologous dendritic cell vaccine in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Background: Standard therapy for glioblastoma includes surgery, radiotherapy, and temozolomide. This Phase 3 trial evaluates the addition of an autologous tumor lysate-pulsed dendritic cell vaccine (DCVax-L) to standard therapy for newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Methods: After surgery and chemoradiotherapy, patients were randomized (2:1) to receive temozolomide plus DCVax-L (n = 232) or temozolomide and placebo (n = 99).

Olfactory stimulation or inhibition of sexual behavior of stallions in non-breeding season.

Stallions show decreased sexual responses and activities during short days in winter. To evaluate the importance of sexual olfactory communication in horses, we tested whether sexual responses could be stimulated through various sexual olfactory stimulations in winter. To this end, we presented stallions with various olfactory stimulations (urine from mares at different stages of the reproductive cycle, urine from stallions or geldings, or chemically defined synthetic odorant) during the non-breeding season and measured their behavioral responses through (1) a test of olfactory investigation (olfactory investigation and flehmen behavior) and (2) a test of sexual activity in the context of semen collection for artificial insemination.

Isolated CNS Hodgkin's lymphoma: implications for tissue diagnosis.

CNS involvement in the setting of lymphoid neoplasia is a clinical situation that requires specific diagnosis due to the disparate treatment regimens recommended for neoplasms of specific lymphoid cell types. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling may provide sufficient information to determine the presence of abnormal lymphoid cells but may not be able to further specify the malignant cellular population. In cases where abnormal clinical or radiographic features are present, accurate tissue diagnosis is essential.

A randomized phase 2 study of temozolomide and bevacizumab or nab-paclitaxel, carboplatin, and bevacizumab in patients with unresectable stage IV melanoma : a North Central Cancer Treatment Group study, N0775.

Background: Increasing evidence shows chemotherapy in combination with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibition is a clinically active therapy for patients with metastatic melanoma (MM).

Methods: A phase 2 trial was conducted in chemotherapy-naive patients with unresectable stage IV MM who were randomized to temozolomide (200 mg/m(2) on days 1 through 5) and bevacizumab (10 mg/kg intravenously on days 1 and 15) every 28 days (Regimen TB) or nab-paclitaxel (100 mg/m(2) , or 80 mg/m(2) post-addendum 5 secondary to toxicity, on days 1, 8, and 15), bevacizumab (10 mg/kg on days 1 and 15), and carboplatin (area under the curve [AUC] 6 on day 1, or AUC 5 post-addendum 5) every 28 days (Regimen ABC). Accrual goal was 41 patients per regimen.

Phase II trial of vorinostat in combination with bortezomib in recurrent glioblastoma: a north central cancer treatment group study.

Vorinostat, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has shown evidence of single-agent activity in glioblastoma (GBM), and in preclinical studies, we have demonstrated significant synergistic cytotoxicity between HDAC inhibitors and proteasome inhibitors in GBM cell lines. We therefore conducted a phase II trial to evaluate the efficacy of vorinostat in combination with the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib in patients with recurrent GBM. Vorinostat was administered at a dose of 400 mg daily for 14 days of a 21-day cycle, and bortezomib was administered at a dose of 1.

Phase I/II trial of erlotinib and temozolomide with radiation therapy in the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme: North Central Cancer Treatment Group Study N0177.

Purpose: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) amplification in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a common occurrence and is associated with treatment resistance. Erlotinib, a selective EGFR inhibitor, was combined with temozolomide (TMZ) and radiotherapy (RT) in a phase I/II trial.

Patients And Methods: Adults not taking enzyme-inducing anticonvulsants after resection or biopsy of GBM were treated with erlotinib (150 mg daily) until progression.

Phase I trial of erlotinib with radiation therapy in patients with glioblastoma multiforme: results of North Central Cancer Treatment Group protocol N0177.

Purpose: To evaluate the toxicity and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of erlotinib plus radiation therapy (RT) in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in a multicenter phase I trial.

Methods And Materials: Patients were stratified on the basis of the use of enzyme-inducing anticonvulsants (EIACs). After resection or biopsy, patients were treated with erlotinib for 1 week before concurrent erlotinib and 6 weeks (60 Gy) of RT and maintained on erlotinib until progression.

Long-term results of a phase III trial comparing once-daily radiotherapy with twice-daily radiotherapy in limited-stage small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: This Phase III study was performed to determine whether twice-daily (b.i.d.

Phase II study of oral etoposide and intravenous paclitaxel in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.

Background: This study evaluated the activity and tolerance for the combination of oral etoposide and paclitaxel as first-line therapy for patients with extensive SCLC.

Methods: A total of 57 patients were enrolled in this study. A cycle of chemotherapy consisted of oral etoposide administered as 50 mg BID on days 1 through 10 and paclitaxel administered as 150 mg/m(2) IV (3 h infusion) along with the first dose of etoposide on day 10.

A phase II trial of weekly intravenous gemcitabine and cisplatin with continuous infusion fluorouracil in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Background: We reported previously that the combination of gemcitabine and continuous infusion fluorouracil (5-FU) has activity in renal cell carcinoma. Based upon in vitro synergy of gemcitabine/cisplatin and 5-FU/cisplatin, we hypothesized that the addition of cisplatin could improve the objective response rate of gemcitabine and 5-FU with manageable toxicity.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-one patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and a Cancer and Leukemia Group B performance status of 0 to 2 were enrolled.

Sequence-dependent antagonism between fluorouracil and paclitaxel in human breast cancer cells.

The effects of 24-hr exposures to 5-fluorouracil (FUra) and paclitaxel in various sequences were studied in MCF-7 breast cancer cells to determine an optimal schedule for possible clinical use. In clonogenic assays, pre-exposure to FUra followed by paclitaxel resulted in marked antagonism, while sequential paclitaxel followed by FUra was optimal. Concurrent or pre-exposure to paclitaxel did not affect [3H]FUra metabolism, [3H]FUra-RNA incorporation, or the extent of FUra-mediated thymidylate synthase inhibition.

Relative frequencies and sites of presentation of lymphoid neoplasms in a community hospital according to the revised European-American classification.

Relative frequencies for common subtypes in the revised European-American classification of lymphoid neoplasms (REAL classification) have been reported. We determined the relative frequencies and sites of presentation of REAL subtypes at a 700-bed community hospital in central Illinois. A database was used to identify and prospectively catalogue all newly diagnosed lymphoid neoplasms from July 1, 1995 to March 1, 1998.

Modulation of fluorouracil cytotoxicity by interferon-alpha and -gamma.

Because interferons (IFN)-alpha and -gamma individually have increased fluorouracil (FUra) cytotoxicity in several in vitro models, we studied the effects of FUra combined with IFN-alpha + gamma in HT29 colon cancer cells. A 96-hr exposure to IFN-alpha (500 units/ml) plus IFN-gamma (10 units/ml) and a 72-hr exposure to 0. 25-1 microM FUra (hr 24-96) inhibited cell growth and colony formation in an additive or more-than-additive fashion.