Best Overall Response-Associated Signature to Doxorubicin in Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Transcriptomic Analysis from ANNOUNCE.

PURPOSE: This exploratory analysis evaluated the tumor samples of the patients treated with doxorubicin (with or without olaratumab) in a negative phase III ANNOUNCE trial to better understand the complexity of advanced soft tissue sarcomas (STS) and to potentially identify its predictive markers. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: RNA sequencing was performed on pretreatment tumor samples (n = 273) from the ANNOUNCE trial to evaluate response patterns and identify potential predictive treatment markers for doxorubicin. A BOR-associated signature to doxorubicin (REDSARC) was created by evaluating tumors with radiographic response versus progression. An external cohort of doxorubicin-treated patients from the Spanish Group for Research on Sarcomas (GEIS) was used for refinement and validation. RESULTS: A total of 259 samples from the trial were considered for analysis. Comparative analyses by the treatment arm did not explain the negative trial. However, there was an association between the BOR signature and histologic subtype (χ2P = 2.0e-7) and grade (P = 0.002). There were no associations between the BOR signature and gender, age, ethnicity, or stage. Applied to survival outcomes, REDSARC was also predictive for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Using the GEIS cohort, a refined 25-gene signature was identified and applied to the ANNOUNCE cohort, where it was predictive of PFS and OS in leiomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, and other sarcoma subtypes, but not in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. CONCLUSIONS: The refined REDSARC signature provides a potential tool to direct the application of doxorubicin in sarcomas and other malignancies. Validation and further refinement of the signature in other potentially subtype specific prospective cohorts is recommended.

Incidental detection of rare vascular variation during pyeloplasty and its clinical implication - A case report.

ABSTRACT: Crossing vessels is one of the important causes of pelviureteric junction obstruction (PUJO). Accessory lower polar vessels are commonly seen with congenital PUJO, but they are not always the cause of obstruction. We incidentally encountered a variation in the lower polar crossing vessel while doing laparoscopic pyeloplasty in a patient with congenital PUJO. We encountered a right accessory lower polar artery and vein along with a right gonadal artery arising from the accessory right renal artery and right gonadal vein draining into the right lower polar crossing accessory renal vein. Knowledge of variations in genitourinary vasculature is important in the current era to prevent inadvertent complications.

World Health Organization MPOWER for tobacco control in India: a 6-year retrospective analysis.

Background: Prevalence and practices of tobacco usage in India are diverse and incongruent and Government of India has enacted various laws to overcome this burden. To make tobacco control measures effective and powerful, WHO introduced MPOWER in 2004 and India was one of the first countries that implemented the MPOWER. Objective: This study is aimed to quantify the implementation of MPOWER tobacco control policies in India. Material and Methods: In this retrospective analysis, data was gathered from the WHO MPOWER of India from 2015 to 2021. This analysis was based on the checklist which was designed previously by Iranian and international tobacco control specialists in their study on tobacco control. Results: In the present comparative analysis, India was categorized by scores and these were acquired from each indicator for each activity and 2021 year got the highest scores as compared to the previous year scores i.e. 27 in 2015. In context to individual indicators, noticeable increase in scores has been seen in both health warning on cigarette packages and adult daily smoking prevalence, whereas no progress was observed in smoking related policies. Conclusion: Although MPOWER programmes are widely accepted by the Indian government, but still substantial improvement in fewer sections is required.

Pleomorphic adenoma of minor salivary gland: a case report

Introduction : World literature suggests salivary gland tumors account for less than 3% of the head and neck tumors and benign pleomorphic adenoma of minor salivary glands arising de novo is very rare.Objective,case report and Conclusion: A case of pleomorphic adenoma of minor salivary glands in the buccal mucosa in a 55 year-old female is discussed. It includes review of literature, clinical features, histopathology, radiological findings and treatment of the tumor, with emphasis on diagnosis. The salivary glands may present with a diverse range of lesions presenting a challenge to even the most experienced clinician and pathologist. Resection with surrounding dispensable normal tissues is the key to successful treatment of such tumors.