Long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for patients with cancer.

Introduction: Long COVID is defined as the continuation of symptoms, unexplainable by alternative diagnosis, longer than four weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection. These symptoms might hinder daily activities and overall well-being, ultimately impacting quality of life (QoL). Several studies have reported fatigue as the most common symptom, followed by dyspnoea, headache and myalgia.

A real-world analysis on the efficacy and tolerability of liposomal irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in Belgium.

Background: Currently, nanoliposomal irinotecan (nal-IRI) + 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (5-FU/LV) is the only approved second-line treatment for patients suffering from metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC). However, also other chemotherapeutic regimens are used in this setting and due to the lack of clear real-world data on the efficacy of the different regimens, there is no consensus on the optimal treatment sequence for mPDAC patients.

Objectives: To provide information on the safe and efficacious use of nal-IRI + 5-FU/LV in clinical practice in Belgium, which is needed for healthcare professionals to estimate the risk-benefit ratio of the intervention.

NPY Methylated ctDNA is a Promising Biomarker for Treatment Response Monitoring in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: Analysis of methylation markers in liquid biopsies is a promising technique for the follow-up of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), because they can be used in all patients, regardless of their mutational status. Therefore, we studied the value of NPY methylation analysis in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for accurate response monitoring in patients with mCRC in the PANIB trial.

Experimental Design: The PANIB trial was a randomized phase II trial designed to compare FOLFOX plus panitumumab and FOLFOX plus bevacizumab in patients with RAS wild-type unresectable mCRC.

Predictive model for BNT162b2 vaccine response in cancer patients based on blood cytokines and growth factors.

Background: Patients with cancer, especially hematological cancer, are at increased risk for breakthrough COVID-19 infection. So far, a predictive biomarker that can assess compromised vaccine-induced anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunity in cancer patients has not been proposed.

Methods: We employed machine learning approaches to identify a biomarker signature based on blood cytokines, chemokines, and immune- and non-immune-related growth factors linked to vaccine immunogenicity in 199 cancer patients receiving the BNT162b2 vaccine.

Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses against SARS-CoV-2 after Third Dose BNT162b2 following Double-Dose Vaccination with BNT162b2 versus ChAdOx1 in Patients with Cancer.

Purpose: Patients with cancer display reduced humoral responses after double-dose COVID-19 vaccination, whereas their cellular response is more comparable with that in healthy individuals. Recent studies demonstrated that a third vaccination dose boosts these immune responses, both in healthy people and patients with cancer. Because of the availability of many different COVID-19 vaccines, many people have been boosted with a different vaccine from the one used for double-dose vaccination.

Reduced humoral immune response after BNT162b2 coronavirus disease 2019 messenger RNA vaccination in cancer patients under antineoplastic treatment.

Background: Cancer patients are at a higher risk of developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in cancer patients undergoing treatment remain unclear.

Patients And Methods: In this interventional prospective multicohort study, priming and booster doses of the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine were administered 21 days apart to solid tumor patients receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted or hormonal therapy, and patients with a hematologic malignancy receiving rituximab or after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

EVALUATION OF A SUPERVISED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PROGRAMME FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: FROM TREATMENT TO TRIATHLON.

Objective: It is recommended that cancer survivors incorporate physical activity into their daily lives after in-hospital rehabilitation. However, there is a lack of training programmes focusing on the specific needs of cancer survivors. TriaGO! - an 8-month intervention study of aerobic endurance training for cancer survivors - was therefore examined.

Fluorine-functionalized ionic liquids with high oxygen solubility.

Eight fluorine-functionalized ionic liquids were synthesized and the oxygen solubility was compared to commercial ionic liquids without the extra fluorinated chain. The concentration of dissolved oxygen increased with the fluorine content of the alkyl chain, which can be attached either to the cation or the anion. This approach maintains the freedom to design an ionic liquid for a specific application, while at the same time the oxygen solubility is increased.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in the management of lung cancer: A systematic review.

Lung cancer is often associated with a poor quality of life, as reflected by patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). The aim of this paper is to describe and compare the PROMs that are available. In this manuscript, we review the impact of PROMs on the management of lung cancer.

Diffusion kurtosis imaging probes cortical alterations and white matter pathology following cuprizone induced demyelination and spontaneous remyelination.

Although MRI is the gold standard for the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS), current conventional MRI techniques often fail to detect cortical alterations and provide little information about gliosis, axonal damage and myelin status of lesioned areas. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) provide sensitive and complementary measures of the neural tissue microstructure. Additionally, specific white matter tract integrity (WMTI) metrics modelling the diffusion in white matter were recently derived.

A QCM study of ORR-OER and an in situ study of a redox mediator in DMSO for Li-O2 batteries.

The oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction (ORR-OER) in DMSO were investigated by cyclic voltammetry and potentiostatic methods. A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was used to detect which products are formed during reduction and to evaluate the reversibility of the reactions. The studied parameters include the scan rate and the applied cathodic potential.

Electrodeposition of germanium at elevated temperatures and pressures from ionic liquids.

The electrodeposition of germanium at elevated temperatures up to 180 °C and pressures was studied from the ionic liquids 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium dicyanamide and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide containing [GeCl4(BuIm)2] (where BuIm = 1-butylimidazole) or GeCl4. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) were used to investigate the electrochemical behavior and the properties of the electrodeposited germanium. Electrodeposition at elevated temperatures leads to higher deposition rates due to: (1) increase in the diffusion rate of the electroactive germanium compounds; (2) faster electrochemical kinetics in the electrolyte; and (3) higher electrical conductivity of the electrodeposited germanium film.

Fibrillin-1 impairment enhances blood-brain barrier permeability and xanthoma formation in brains of apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

We recently reported that apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-deficient mice with a mutation in the fibrillin-1 gene (ApoE(-/-)Fbn1(C1039G+/-)) develop accelerated atherosclerosis with enhanced inflammation, atherosclerotic plaque rupture, myocardial infarction and sudden death. In the brain, fibrillin-1 functions as an attachment protein in the basement membrane, providing structural support to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here, we investigated whether fibrillin-1 impairment affects the permeability of the BBB proper and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB), and whether this leads to the accelerated accumulation of lipids (xanthomas) in the brain.

Resting state FMRI reveals diminished functional connectivity in a mouse model of amyloidosis.

Introduction: Functional connectivity (FC) studies have gained immense popularity in the evaluation of several neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is a complex disorder, characterised by several pathological features. The problem with FC studies in patients is that it is not straightforward to focus on a specific aspect of pathology.

Magnetization transfer contrast imaging reveals amyloid pathology in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice.

The presence of amyloid plaques in the brain is one of the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, which might already be present in the early stage of the disease. Therefore it is important to track amyloid plaques as early as possible. In this paper, we report magnetization transfer contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MTC MRI) as a novel approach to detect amyloid plaques in vivo.

Diffusion kurtosis imaging to detect amyloidosis in an APP/PS1 mouse model for Alzheimer's disease.

Purpose: Amyloid deposition in the brain is considered an initial event in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. We hypothesized that the presence of amyloid plaques in the brain of APP/presenilin 1 mice leads to higher diffusion kurtosis measures due to increased microstructural complexity. As such, our purpose was to provide an in vivo proof of principle for detection of amyloidosis by diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI).

Neuroanatomical targets of reboxetine and bupropion as revealed by pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging.

Rationale: One of the key targets of psychopharmacology research is to determine the potential sites of action of antidepressants in order to characterise their underlying mechanism of action.

Objective: Using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging (phMRI), the neuroanatomical target-sites of reboxetine (a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor) and bupropion (an antidepressant with stimulatory effects on dopamine and potentially on noradrenaline) were mapped.

Methods: Separate groups of rats were challenged acutely or chronically (daily injections for 14 days) with saline or psychoactive compounds and scanned.

Labeling of Luciferase/eGFP-expressing bone marrow-derived stromal cells with fluorescent micron-sized iron oxide particles improves quantitative and qualitative multimodal imaging of cellular grafts in vivo.

Purpose: Development of multimodal imaging strategies is currently of utmost importance for the validation of preclinical stem cell therapy studies.

Procedures: We performed a combined labeling strategy for bone marrow-derived stromal cells (BMSC) based on genetic modification with the reporter genes Luciferase and eGFP (BMSC-Luc/eGFP) and physical labeling with blue fluorescent micron-sized iron oxide particles (MPIO) in order to unambiguously identify BMSC localization, survival, and differentiation following engraftment in the central nervous system of mice by in vivo bioluminescence (BLI) and magnetic resonance imaging and postmortem histological analysis.

Results: Using this combination, a significant increase of in vivo BLI signal was observed for MPIO-labeled BMSC-Luc/eGFP.

Neuroadaptive responses to citalopram in rats using pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging.

Rationale: The majority of psychoactive compounds, including antidepressants in clinical practice, were discovered largely by serendipity. The underlying neuropharmacological mechanisms of action of these compounds leading to resolution of depressive symptomatology are targets of the current research. Pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging (phMRI), a rapidly developing advancement of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast offers the potential to localize the regional sites of action in the CNS.

Clinical potential of intravenous neural stem cell delivery for treatment of neuroinflammatory disease in mice?

While neural stem cells (NSCs) are widely expected to become a therapeutic agent for treatment of severe injuries to the central nervous system (CNS), currently there are only few detailed preclinical studies linking cell fate with experimental outcome. In this study, we aimed to validate whether IV administration of allogeneic NSC can improve experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a well-established animal model for human multiple sclerosis (MS). For this, we cultured adherently growing luciferase-expressing NSCs (NSC-Luc), which displayed a uniform morphology and expression profile of membrane and intracellular markers, and which displayed an in vitro differentiation potential into neurons and astrocytes.

Impaired autonomic regulation of resistance arteries in mice with low vascular endothelial growth factor or upon vascular endothelial growth factor trap delivery.

Background: Control of peripheral resistance arteries by autonomic nerves is essential for the regulation of blood flow. The signals responsible for the maintenance of vascular neuroeffector mechanisms in the adult, however, remain largely unknown.

Methods And Results: Here, we report that VEGF( partial differential/ partial differential) mice with low vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels suffer defects in the regulation of resistance arteries.

In vivo morphological changes in animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer's-like disease: MRI approach.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the only noninvasive technique that provides structural information on both cell loss and metabolic changes. After reviewing all the results obtained in clinical studies, reliable biomarkers in neurological diseases are still lacking. Diffusional MRI, MR spectroscopy, and the assessment of regional atrophy are promising approaches, but they cannot be simultaneously used on a single patient.