Clinical characteristics of patients requiring emergency hospitalization due to immune-related adverse events: a retrospective study.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer treatment, offering hope for various malignancies by enhancing the immune response against tumors. However, ICIs are associated with unique immune-related adverse events (irAEs), which differ significantly from conventional chemotherapy-induced toxicities. These irAEs, which affect more than 70% of patients and often escalate to severe grades, present substantial clinical management challenges and frequently necessitate emergency hospitalization.

Disproportionality Analysis of Osimertinib-related Adverse Events in Elderly Patients Using the Japanese Pharmacovigilance Database.

Background/aim: Osimertinib is a well-tolerated first- or second-line treatment option for elderly patients with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer. However, the safety of osimertinib in elderly patients requires further investigation. Herein, we identified safety signals for various osimertinib-related adverse events (AEs) in elderly patients by disproportionality analysis using the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report (JADER) database.

[Patient Questionnaire Survey of"As-Needed"Medications to Relieve Side Effects and Anxiety for Breast Cancer Chemotherapy].

Patients undergoing outpatient cancer chemotherapy are prescribed"as-needed"medication(antiemetics, laxatives, and antibiotics)as a form of self-care for early response to side effects. We conducted a questionnaire survey to clarify whether prescribed"as-needed"medication contributes to the relief of patients' anxiety about cancer chemotherapy. We obtained responses from 80 breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy from 2019-2021".

Effect of blood pressure control on the risk of proteinuria during bevacizumab treatment in patients with colorectal cancer: a single-center retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Pre-existing hypertension is reportedly a major risk factor for bevacizumab-induced proteinuria. However, few studies have focused on the effects of blood pressure (BP) control on proteinuria during bevacizumab treatment. We report a retrospective study of the association between poor BP control and the risk of developing proteinuria in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Quantitative assessment of skin disorders induced by panitumumab: a prospective observational study.

Purpose: Acneiform rash is frequently observed in patients undergoing cancer treatment with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody drugs and can often necessitate treatment discontinuation. However, the specific changes in skin parameters resulting from anti-EGFR antibody drug administration are poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to longitudinally and quantitatively evaluate the changes in skin parameters (transepidermal water loss [TEWL], hydration level, and sebum level) caused by anti-EGFR antibody drugs and investigate their potential as control markers for skin disorders.

Relationship between Ca and cAMP as second messengers in ACTH-induced cortisol production in bovine adrenal fasciculata cells.

In adrenal fasciculata cells stimulated by ACTH, Ca and cAMP play indispensable roles as second messengers in cortisol production. However, whether their second messengers cooperatively or independently participate in steroid production remains unclear. We focused on the roles of Ca and cAMP in cortisol production in bovine adrenal fasciculata cells stimulated by ACTH for a relatively short period (1 h).

High level of C-reactive protein as a predictive factor for immune-related adverse events of immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer: a retrospective study.

Background: Several risk factors for the immune-related adverse events (irAEs) during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been reported, of which include high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). In this study, we aim to evaluate CRP levels before ICIs treatments as potential predictive biomarkers of irAEs incidence rate and overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Between December 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019, we retrospectively collected all adult patients with NSCLC who received at least one dose of an ICI targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis at the Iwate Medical University Hospital in Japan.

Plasma endothelin-1 may predict bevacizumab-induced proteinuria in patients with colorectal cancer.

Purpose: Proteinuria is one of the most common adverse events leading to the discontinuation of bevacizumab therapy. We analyzed plasma ET-1 levels as an indicator of renal endothelial dysfunction in colorectal cancer patients, to determine the utility of plasma ET-1 for identification of patients at high risk of proteinuria when treated with bevacizumab.

Methods: Patients (n = 40) were recruited from an outpatient chemotherapy center between December 2020 and January 2022.

Identifying risk factors for opioid-induced neurotoxicity in cancer patients receiving oxycodone.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of opioid-induced neurotoxicity (OIN) in cancer patients receiving oral controlled-release oxycodone and to define risk factors for OIN.

Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective study of hospitalized adult cancer patients receiving oral controlled-release oxycodone between April 1, 2013, and April, 30, 2020. The onset of OIN within 30 days after oxycodone initiation in the study patients was investigated.

Effect of risk factors for acneiform rash induced by anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody drugs on survival: a retrospective observational study.

Background: We previously reported that high body weight was a risk factor affecting the onset of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody drug-induced acneiform rash. The current study investigated the relationship between risk factors for anti-EGFR antibody drug-induced acneiform rash and survival probability in colorectal cancer patients, as well as effects of drug withdrawal, dose reduction, or treatment discontinuation on treatment continuation.

Methods: This retrospective study included 67 patients with unresectable advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer treated with anti-EGFR antibody drugs for the first time.

Renin-angiotensin system inhibitors may have an advantage over calcium channel blockers in reducing proteinuria in gastric cancer patients receiving ramucirumab.

This study aimed to investigate whether renin-angiotensin system inhibitors (RAS-I) have an advantage over calcium channel blockers (CCB) for suppression of proteinuria in hypertensive patients with gastric cancer receiving ramucirumab (RAM) treatment. Adult Japanese patients with gastric cancer who were outpatients at Asahikawa Medical University Hospital, National Hospital Organization Hokkaido Cancer Center, and Iwate Medical University Hospital between July 1, 2015, and March 31, 2021, were included in this study. Of these patients, those who had received first-time RAM treatment, and those treated with antihypertensive agents including RAS-I or a CCB at initial RAM administration were included.

Bevacizumab Increases Endothelin-1 Production via Forkhead Box Protein O1 in Human Glomerular Microvascular Endothelial Cells In Vitro.

Molecular mechanisms underlying the nephrotoxicity associated with bevacizumab are unclear. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is involved in podocyte injury and proteinuria, and its level increases in most cases of kidney disorders. Forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1), a transcription factor, is a major determinant of ET-1 promoter activation and is regulated by protein kinase B (Akt) phosphorylation-dependent nuclear exclusion.

Effect of antipsychotics on serum lithium levels and white blood cell counts.

Lithium carbonate is used to increase white blood cell counts as a means of counteracting leukopenia caused by the administration of antipsychotic drugs. To evaluate the effect of antipsychotics on the leukocyte-enhancing effect of lithium, we compared white blood cell counts, serum lithium levels, and lithium dosage in patients receiving antipsychotics and lithium in combination and patients receiving lithium alone. Chlorpromazine equivalent values were used as an indicator of the antipsychotic dose.

Analysis of risk factors for skin disorders caused by anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody drugs and examination of methods for their avoidance.

What Is Known And Objective: Cancer drug treatment is often discontinued because of skin disorder aggravation. However, information on risk factors for skin disorders caused by anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody drugs is limited. The aim of this study was to analyse the factors associated with skin disorders caused by anti-EGFR antibody drugs and establish a method to minimize such aggravations.

Disproportionality Analysis of Safety Signals for a Wide Variety of Opioid-Related Adverse Events in Elderly Patients Using the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report (JADER) Database.

Opioids are widely used for the treatment of moderate/severe pain in cancer and noncancer patients. In this study, we searched for safety signals for a wide variety of opioid-related adverse events (AEs) in elderly patients by disproportionality analysis using the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report (JADER) database. Data from the JADER database from April 2004 to May 2018 were obtained from the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency website.

Switching from Intravenous to Oral Tacrolimus Reduces its Blood Concentration in Paediatric Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: Tacrolimus is an essential immunosuppressant for successful allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT). This study aimed to examine the change in the blood concentration of tacrolimus during switching from intravenous to oral administration in allo-HSCT for paediatric cancer to predict the optimal dosage.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively examined the medical records of 63 patients who received allo-HSCT and were administered tacrolimus.

Appropriate usage of food thickening agents to prevent non-disintegration of magnesium oxide tablets.

Food thickening agents are used to aid the administration of medicine to elderly patients with dysphagia. Magnesium oxide tablets are sometimes administered with food thickening agents. Non-disintegration and disintegration delay of these tablets in the body are problems associated with food thickening agent use.

Physiologic changes in serotonin concentrations in breast milk during lactation.

Objectives: Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) plays an important role in milk volume homeostasis in the mammary glands during lactation, and 5-HT in milk also may affect infant development. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in 5-HT concentration in breast milk according to the duration of lactation and evaluate whether the 5-HT concentration varied before and after nursing.

Methods: Healthy nursing Japanese women who had a natural delivery or underwent a cesarean delivery at Iwate Medical University Hospital were included in this study.

Cancer Cachexia May Hinder Pain Control When Using Fentanyl Patch.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of cancer cachexia on pain control in cancer patients receiving a transdermal fentanyl patch (FP) and to investigate whether dry skin was a factor related to cancer cachexia and uncontrolled pain. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 77 patients receiving FP treatment for the first time, who were classified into cancer cachexia and non-cancer-cachexia groups, according to European Palliative Care Research Collaborative criteria. On day 7 after FP administration, the mean FP dose and morphine equivalent dose (MED) in the cancer cachexia group were significantly higher than in the non-cancer-cachexia group.

Effect of food thickener and jelly wafer on the pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets.

This study was designed to determine the effects of a food thickener and deglutition aid jelly for oral administration, jelly wafer, on the pharmacokinetics of levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets. With an increase in immersion time, the disintegration time of levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets immersed in food thickener was prolonged, whereas that of the tablets immersed in jelly wafer was shortened. The dissolution behavior of non-immersed levofloxacin orally disintegrating tablets was not similar to that of tablets immersed in food thickener, but was similar to that of tablets immersed in jelly wafer.

Stress-Induced Suppression of Milk Protein Is Involved in a Noradrenergic Mechanism in the Mammary Gland.

Stress decreases milk components such as milk protein and milk yield. The objective of this study was to investigate whether noradrenaline (NA) in milk constituted a factor associated with stress-induced changes in milk proteins such as β-casein. Breast milk obtained from eight healthy, nursing women contained NA at concentrations ranging from 12.

Effect of deglutition aids on the inhibitory effect of orally disintegrating tablets of voglibose on the postprandial elevation of blood glucose levels: a case investigating the interaction between xanthan gum and voglibose.

In this study, we first performed a disintegration test of the voglibose orally disintegrating (V-OD) tablet immersed in jelly-wafer (JW, V-ODims/jw) for 10 min and compared it with the disintegration time of V-OD that was not immersed in JW. We then orally administered the V-ODims/jw tablet to 7 healthy adults and compared the shift in blood glucose levels (BGLs), after loading with a sucrose solution (Suc-sol, 100 g/150 mL), with that after administration of the non-immersed V-OD tablet. The disintegration time of V-ODims/jw tablet was shorter than that of V-OD.

Deterioration of Glycemic Control Contributes to the Prevalence of Proteinuria among Bevacizumab-Treated Cancer Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether improving glycemic control reduces the prevalence and progression of proteinuria among bevacizumab (BEV)-treated cancer patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 55 patients with type 2 DM who were treated with BEV between July 1 2011 and May 31 2018 at Iwate Medical University Hospital. The patients were classified based on changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level during the 3 months following BEV administration into the "HbA1c elevated" group (+0.

The efficacy of sodium azulene sulfonate L-glutamine for managing chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis in cancer patients: a prospective comparative study.

Background: The efficacy of sodium azulene sulfonate L-glutamine (GA) in treating oral mucositis caused by the administration of anticancer agents has not been previously elucidated. Therefore, this prospective comparative study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of GA in treating oral mucositis caused by chemotherapy regimens involving fluorinated pyrimidine anticancer drugs.

Methods: The subjects of this study were patients with oral mucositis of grade 2 or higher while on outpatient chemotherapy regimens involving fluorinated pyrimidine anticancer drugs for colorectal or breast cancer.

[Endogenous Serotonin and Milk Production Regulation in the Mammary Gland].

　Intrinsic serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) synthesized within the mammary epithelium has an important physiological role in milk volume homeostasis in many species including mice, cows, and humans. During lactation, mammary epithelial cells activate 5-HT synthesis by tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1). TPH1 catalyzes the rate-limiting step in 5-HT biosynthesis within mammary glands.