Exploring immune status in peripheral blood and tumor tissue in association with survival in patients with multi-organ metastatic colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) raises considerable clinical challenges, including a high mortality rate once the tumor spreads to distant sites. At this advanced stage, more accurate prediction of prognosis and treatment outcome is urgently needed. The role of cancer immunity in metastatic CRC (mCRC) is poorly understood. Here, we explore cellular immune cell status in patients with multi-organ mCRC. We analyzed T cell infiltration in primary tumor sections, surveyed the lymphocytic landscape of liver metastases, and assessed circulating mononuclear immune cells. Besides asking whether immune cells are associated with survival at this stage of the disease, we investigated correlations between the different tissue types; as this could indicate a dominant immune phenotype. Taken together, our analyses corroborate previous observations that higher levels of CD8+ T lymphocytes link to better survival outcomes. Our findings therefore extend evidence from earlier stages of CRC to indicate an important role for cancer immunity in disease control even after metastatic spreading to multiple organs. This finding may help to improve predicting outcome of patients with mCRC and suggests a future role for immunotherapeutic strategies.

Multiparametric MRI and 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT for the Detection of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer.

Background Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) is effective for detecting prostate cancer (PCa); however, there is a high rate of equivocal Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) 3 lesions and false-positive findings. Purpose To investigate whether fluorine 18 (18F) prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) 1007 PET/CT after mpMRI can help detect localized clinically significant PCa (csPCa), particularly for equivocal PI-RADS 3 lesions. Materials and Methods This prospective study included participants with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels referred for prostate mpMRI between September 2020 and February 2022. 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT was performed within 30 days of mpMRI and before biopsy. PI-RADS category and level of suspicion (LOS) were assessed. PI-RADS 3 or higher lesions at mpMRI and/or LOS 3 or higher lesions at 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT underwent targeted biopsies. PI-RADS 2 or lower and LOS 2 or lower lesions were considered nonsuspicious and were monitored during a 1-year follow-up by means of PSA testing. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed, with histologic examination serving as the reference standard. International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) grade 2 or higher was considered csPCa. Results Seventy-five participants (median age, 67 years [range, 52-77 years]) were assessed, with PI-RADS 1 or 2, PI-RADS 3, and PI-RADS 4 or 5 groups each including 25 participants. A total of 102 lesions were identified, of which 80 were PI-RADS 3 or higher and/or LOS 3 or higher and therefore underwent targeted biopsy. The per-participant sensitivity for the detection of csPCa was 95% and 91% for mpMRI and 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT, respectively, with respective specificities of 45% and 62%. 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT was used to correctly differentiate 17 of 26 PI-RADS 3 lesions (65%), with a negative and positive predictive value of 93% and 27%, respectively, for ruling out or detecting csPCa. One additional significant and one insignificant PCa lesion (PI-RADS 1 or 2) were found at 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT that otherwise would have remained undetected. Two participants had ISUP 2 tumors without PSMA uptake that were missed at PET/CT. Conclusion 18F-PSMA-1007 PET/CT showed good sensitivity and moderate specificity for the detection of csPCa and ruled this out in 93% of participants with PI-RADS 3 lesions. Clinical trial registration no. NCT04487847 © RSNA, 2024 Supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Turkbey in this issue.

Bayesian federated inference for estimating statistical models based on non-shared multicenter data sets.

Identifying predictive factors for an outcome of interest via a multivariable analysis is often difficult when the data set is small. Combining data from different medical centers into a single (larger) database would alleviate this problem, but is in practice challenging due to regulatory and logistic problems. Federated learning (FL) is a machine learning approach that aims to construct from local inferences in separate data centers what would have been inferred had the data sets been merged. It seeks to harvest the statistical power of larger data sets without actually creating them. The FL strategy is not always efficient and precise. Therefore, in this paper we refine and implement an alternative Bayesian federated inference (BFI) framework for multicenter data with the same aim as FL. The BFI framework is designed to cope with small data sets by inferring locally not only the optimal parameter values, but also additional features of the posterior parameter distribution, capturing information beyond what is used in FL. BFI has the additional benefit that a single inference cycle across the centers is sufficient, whereas FL needs multiple cycles. We quantify the performance of the proposed methodology on simulated and real life data.

Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte carriage in longitudinally monitored incident infections is associated with duration of infection and human host factors.

Malaria transmission depends on the presence of Plasmodium gametocytes that are the only parasite life stage that can infect mosquitoes. Gametocyte production varies between infections and over the course of infections. Infection duration is highly important for gametocyte production but poorly quantified. Between 2017 and 2019 an all-age cohort of individuals from Tororo, eastern Uganda was followed by continuous passive and routine assessments. We longitudinally monitored 104 incident infections from 98 individuals who were sampled once every 28 days and on any day of symptoms. Among infections that lasted ≥ 3 months, gametocyte appearance was near-universal with 96% of infections having detectable gametocytes prior to clearance. However, most infections were of much shorter duration; 55.7% of asymptomatic infections were detected only once. When considering all asymptomatic infections, regardless of their duration, only 36.3% had detectable gametocytes on at least one time-point prior to parasite clearance. Infections in individuals with sickle-cell trait (HbAS) were more likely to have gametocytes detected (Hazard Rate (HR) = 2.68, 95% CI 1.12, 6.38; p = 0.0231) and had gametocytes detected at higher densities (Density Ratio (DR) = 9.19, 95% CI 2.79, 30.23; p = 0.0002) compared to infections in wildtype (HbAA) individuals. Our findings suggest that a large proportion of incident infections is too short in duration and of too low density to contribute to onward transmission.

A powerful global test for spliceQTL effects.

Statistical methods to test for effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on exon inclusion exist but often rely on testing of associations between multiple exon-SNP pairs, with sometimes subsequent summarization of results at the gene level. Such approaches require heavy multiple testing corrections and detect mostly events with large effect sizes. We propose here a test to find spliceQTL (splicing quantitative trait loci) effects that takes all exons and all SNPs into account simultaneously. For any chosen gene, this score-based test looks for an association between the set of exon expressions and the set of SNPs, via a random-effects model framework. It is efficient to compute and can be used if the number of SNPs is larger than the number of samples. In addition, the test is powerful in detecting effects that are relatively small for individual exon-SNP pairs but are observed for many pairs. Furthermore, test results are more often replicated across datasets than pairwise testing results. This makes our test more robust to exon-SNP pair-specific effects, which do not extend to multiple pairs within the same gene. We conclude that the test we propose here offers more power and better replicability in the search for spliceQTL effects.

Estimation and expected sample size in Simon's two-stage designs that stop as early as possible.

In early phase clinical studies in oncology, Simon's two-stage designs are widely used. The trial design could be made more efficient by stopping early in the second stage when the required number of responses is reached, or when it has become clear that this target can no longer be met (a form of non-stochastic curtailment). Early stopping, however, will affect proper estimation of the response rate. We propose a uniformly minimum-variance unbiased estimator (UMVUE) for the response rate in this setting. The estimator is proven to be UMVUE using the Rao-Blackwell theorem. We evaluate the estimator's properties in terms of bias and mean squared error, both analytically and via simulations. We derive confidence intervals based on sample space orderings, and assess the coverage. For various design options, we evaluate the reduction in expected sample size as a function of the true response rate. Our method provides a solution for estimating response rates in case of a non-stochastic curtailment Simon's two-stage design.

Excessive toxicity of cabozantinib in a phase II study in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic salivary gland cancer.

AIM: Because the tyrosine kinases c-MET and vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR) are often overexpressed in salivary gland cancer (SGC), this study evaluated the efficacy and safety of cabozantinib in patients with recurrent/metastatic (R/M) SGC. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A single-centre phase II study was conducted. Patients with immunohistochemical c-MET-positive R/M SGC were included in three cohorts: adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC); salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) and other miscellaneous SGCs. No prior systemic treatments were required. Patients started cabozantinib 60 mg once daily. The primary outcome was the objective response rate (ORR). Secondary outcomes included survival, safety and quality of life. Per Simon-two-stage design, depending on efficacy, a maximum of 43 patients would be included. RESULTS: In total, 25 patients were included until premature closure owing to severe toxicity. Six patients (24%) had grade 3-5 wound complications, occurring at a median of 7.1 months on cabozantinib treatment (range 2.1-12.6). Remarkably, four of these six patients developed this complication in the area prior exposed to high-dose radiotherapy. Other grade ≥3 adverse events in >1 patient were hypertension (20%), diarrhoea (8%) and dehydration (8%). Twenty-one patients were evaluable for response; 1/15 ACC (ORR: 7%); 1/4 SDC and 0/2 patients with other miscellaneous SGC responded. Median progression-free survival was 9.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.4-11.4 months), 7.2 months (95%CI 0.0-15.1) and 6.9 months (95%CI 0.0-15.1), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study showed too many severe cabozantinib-associated wound complications in patients with SGC, especially in prior irradiated areas. Therefore, the study closed prematurely. The efficacy in the limited number of evaluable patients was low to moderate. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03729297.

Update to a randomized controlled trial of lutetium-177-PSMA in Oligo-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer: the BULLSEYE trial.

BACKGROUND: The BULLSEYE trial is a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial to test the hypothesis if 177Lu-PSMA is an effective treatment in oligometastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (oHSPC) to prolong the progression-free survival (PFS) and postpone the need for androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The original study protocol was published in 2020. Here, we report amendments that have been made to the study protocol since the commencement of the trial. CHANGES IN METHODS AND MATERIALS: Two important changes were made to the original protocol: (1) the study will now use 177Lu-PSMA-617 instead of 177Lu-PSMA-I&T and (2) responding patients with residual disease on 18F-PSMA PET after the first two cycles are eligible to receive additional two cycles of 7.4 GBq 177Lu-PSMA in weeks 12 and 18, summing up to a maximum of 4 cycles if indicated. Therefore, patients receiving 177Lu-PSMA-617 will also receive an interim 18F-PSMA PET scan in week 4 after cycle 2. The title of this study was modified to; "Lutetium-177-PSMA in Oligo-metastatic Hormone Sensitive Prostate Cancer" and is now partly supported by Advanced Accelerator Applications, a Novartis Company. CONCLUSIONS: We present an update of the original study protocol prior to the completion of the study. Treatment arm patients that were included and received 177Lu-PSMA-I&T under the previous protocol will be replaced. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04443062 . First posted: June 23, 2020.

Differences in the number of de novo mutations between individuals are due to small family-specific effects and stochasticity.

The number of de novo mutations (DNMs) in the human germline is correlated with parental age at conception, but this explains only part of the observed variation. We investigated whether there is a family-specific contribution to the number of DNMs in offspring. The analysis of DNMs in 111 dizygotic twin pairs did not identify a substantial family-specific contribution. This result was corroborated by comparing DNMs of 1669 siblings to those of age-matched unrelated offspring following correction for parental age. In addition, by modeling DNM data from 1714 multi-offspring families, we estimated that the family-specific contribution explains ∼5.2% of the variation in DNM number. Furthermore, we found no substantial difference between the observed number of DNMs and those predicted by a stochastic Poisson process. We conclude that there is a small family-specific contribution to DNM number and that stochasticity explains a large proportion of variation in DNM counts.

Predictive and Prognostic Biomarker Identification in a Large Cohort of Androgen Receptor-Positive Salivary Duct Carcinoma Patients Scheduled for Combined Androgen Blockade.

Patients suffering from recurrent or metastatic (R/M) salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) are often treated with combined androgen blockade (CAB). However, CAB frequently fails, resulting in a worse prognosis. Therefore, biomarkers that can predict treatment failure are urgently needed. mRNA from 76 R/M androgen receptor (AR)-positive SDC patients treated with leuprorelin acetate combined with bicalutamide was extracted from pre-treatment tumor specimens. AR, Notch, MAPK, TGFß, estrogen receptor (ER), Hedgehog (HH), and PI3K signaling pathway activity scores (PAS) were determined based on the expression levels of target genes. Additionally, 5-alpha reductase type 1 (SRD5A1) expression was determined. These markers were related to clinical benefit (complete/partial response or stable disease ≥6 months) and progression-free and overall survival (PFS/OS). SRD5A1 expression had the highest general predictive value for clinical benefit and positive predictive value (PPV: 85.7%). AR PAS had the highest negative predictive value (NPV: 93.3%). The fitting of a multivariable model led to the identification of SRD5A1, TGFß, and Notch PAS as the most predictive combination. High AR, high Notch, high ER, low HH PAS, and high SRD5A1 expression were also of prognostic importance regarding PFS and SRD5A1 expression levels for OS. AR, Notch PAS, and SRD5A1 expression have the potential to predict the clinical benefit of CAB treatment in SDC patients. SRD5A1 expression can identify patients that will and AR PAS patients that will not experience clinical benefit (85.7% and 93.3% for PPV and NPV, respectively). The predictive potential of SRD5A1 expression forms a rational basis for including SRD5A1-inhibitors in SDC patients' treatment.

Two-Stage Testing for Epistasis: Screening and Verification.

Undiscovered gene-to-gene interaction (epistasis) is a possible explanation for the "missing heritability" of complex traits and diseases. On a genome-wide scale, screening for epistatic effects among all possible pairs of genetic markers faces two main complications. Firstly, the classical statistical methods for modeling epistasis are computationally very expensive, which makes them impractical on such large scale. Secondly, straightforward corrections for multiple testing using the classical methods tend to be too coarse and inefficient at discovering the epistatic effects in such a large scale application. In this chapter, we describe both the underlying framework and practical examples of two-stage statistical testing methods that alleviate both of the aforementioned complications.

Flexible modelling of risk factors on the incidence of pneumonia in young children in South Africa using piece-wise exponential additive mixed modelling.

INTRODUCTION: Recurrent episodes of pneumonia are frequently modeled using extensions of the Cox proportional hazards model with the underlying assumption of time-constant relative risks measured by the hazard ratio. We aim to relax this assumption in a study on the effect of factors on the evolution of pneumonia incidence over time based on data from a South African birth cohort study, the Drakenstein child health study. METHODS: We describe and apply two models: a time-constant and a time-varying relative effects model in a piece-wise exponential additive mixed model's framework for recurrent events. A more complex model that fits in the same framework is applied to study the continuously measured seasonal effects. RESULTS: We find that several risk factors (male sex, preterm birth, low birthweight, lower socioeconomic status, lower maternal education and maternal cigarette smoking) have strong relative effects that are persistent across time. When time-varying effects are allowed in the model, HIV exposure status (HIV exposed & uninfected versus HIV unexposed) shows a strong relative effect for younger children, but this effect weakens as children grow older, with a null effect reached from about 15 months. Weight-for-length at birth shows a time increasing relative effect. We also find that children born in the summer have a much higher risk of pneumonia in the 3-to-8-month age period compared with children born in winter. CONCLUSION: This work highlights the usefulness of flexible modelling tools in recurrent events models. It avoids stringent assumptions and allows estimation and visualization of absolute and relative risks over time of key factors associated with incidence of pneumonia in young children, providing new perspectives on the role of risk factors such HIV exposure.

Prognostic value of PSMA, c-MET and E-cadherin in salivary duct carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is a rare and aggressive subtype of salivary gland cancer. Androgen receptor (AR) (96%) and HER2 (29-46%) expression, and a high propensity for regional lymph node metastases are hallmarks of the disease. We hypothesized that c-MET, E-cadherin, PSMA tumor and PSMA neovascular expression may be prognostic factors in SDC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Expression levels of these proteins were established on tissue microarrays containing 165 primary SDC tumor specimens. Association with survival was studied with Kaplan-Meier curves, and univariable and multivariable Cox regression models. Furthermore, association with lymph node status, AR and HER2 expression, and gender was studied. RESULTS: We found that patients with high PSMA tumor expression showed a significantly longer overall survival (OS) (median 83 vs. 43 months, P = 0.022), a trend towards a longer DFS (median 51 vs. 22 months, P = 0.094), and significantly reduced hazard ratio for death in the univariable Cox regression model (HR 0.46, P = 0.034). In the multivariable model only a high number of tumor-positive lymph nodes and high age (>80) at diagnosis were prognostic for poor OS. High PSMA tumor expression was also significantly associated with low N-stage (P = 0.001) and expression was higher in women versus men (P = 0.029). High PSMA tumor expression and E-cadherin loss were significantly associated with strong and weak AR-expression, respectively (P = 0.033 and P = 0.007). None of the factors were significantly associated with HER2 expression. CONCLUSION: c-MET, E-cadherin, and tumor and neovascular PSMA expression are no independent prognostic factors in SDC.

Lutetium-177-PSMA-I&T as metastases directed therapy in oligometastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer, a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, there is increasing evidence showing a beneficial outcome (e.g. progression free survival; PFS) after metastases-directed therapy (MDT) with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) or targeted surgery for oligometastatic hormone sensitive prostate cancer (oHSPC). However, many patients do not qualify for these treatments due to prior interventions or tumor location. Such oligometastatic patients could benefit from radioligand therapy (RLT) with 177Lu-PSMA; a novel tumor targeting therapy for end-stage metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Especially because RLT could be more effective in low volume disease, such as the oligometastatic status, due to high uptake of radioligands in smaller lesions. To test the hypothesis that 177Lu-PSMA is an effective treatment in oHSPC to prolong PFS and postpone the need for androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), we initiated a multicenter randomized clinical trial. This is globally, the first prospective study using 177Lu-PSMA-I&T in a randomized multicenter setting. METHODS & DESIGN: This study compares 177Lu-PSMA-I&T MDT to the current standard of care (SOC); deferred ADT. Fifty-eight patients with oHSPC (≤5 metastases on PSMA PET) and high PSMA uptake (SUVmax > 15, partial volume corrected) on 18F-PSMA PET after prior surgery and/or EBRT and a PSA doubling time of < 6 months, will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio. The patients randomized to the interventional arm will be eligible for two cycles of 7.4GBq 177Lu-PSMA-I&T at a 6-week interval. After both cycles, patients are monitored every 3 weeks (including adverse events, QoL- and xerostomia questionnaires and laboratory testing) at the outpatient clinic. Twenty-four weeks after cycle two an end of study evaluation is planned together with another 18F-PSMA PET and (whole body) MRI. Patients in the SOC arm are eligible to receive 177Lu-PSMA-I&T after meeting the primary study objective, which is the fraction of patients who show disease progression during the study follow up. A second primary objective is the time to disease progression. Disease progression is defined as a 100% increase in PSA from baseline or clinical progression. DISCUSSION: This is the first prospective randomized clinical study assessing the therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of 177Lu-PSMA-I&T for patients with oHSPC. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04443062 .

Mutational spectrum and dynamics of clonal hematopoiesis in anemia of older individuals.

Anemia is a major and currently poorly understood clinical manifestation of hematopoietic aging. Upon aging, hematopoietic clones harboring acquired leukemia-associated mutations expand and become detectable, now referred to as clonal hematopoiesis (CH). To investigate the relationship between CH and anemia of the elderly, we explored the landscape and dynamics of CH in older individuals with anemia. From the prospective, population-based Lifelines cohort (n = 167 729), we selected all individuals at least 60 years old who have anemia according to World Health Organization criteria (n = 676) and 1:1 matched control participants. Peripheral blood of 1298 individuals was analyzed for acquired mutations at a variant allele frequency (VAF) of 1% or higher in 27 driver genes. To track clonal evolution over time, we included all available follow-up samples (n = 943). CH was more frequently detected in individuals with anemia (46.6%) compared with control individuals (39.1%; P = .007). Although no differences were observed regarding commonly detected DTA mutations (DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1) in individuals with anemia compared with control individuals, other mutations were enriched in the anemia cohort, including TP53 and SF3B1. Unlike individuals with nutrient deficiency (P = .84), individuals with anemia of chronic inflammation and unexplained anemia revealed a higher prevalence of CH (P = .035 and P = .017, respectively) compared with their matched control individuals. Follow-up analyses revealed that clones may expand and decline, generally showing only a subtle increase in VAF (mean, 0.56%) over the course of 44 months, irrespective of the presence of anemia. Specific mutations were associated with different growth rates and propensities to acquire an additional hit. In contrast to smaller clones (<5% VAF), which did not affect overall survival, larger clones were associated with increased risk for death.

Reliability and Responsiveness of the Observable Movement Quality Scale for Children with Mild to Moderate Motor Impairments.

AIM: The Observable Movement Quality (OMQ) scale measures generic movement quality and is used alongside standardized age-adequate motor performance tests. The scale consists of 15 items, each focusing on a different aspect; together, the entire construct of movement quality is assessed. This study aimed to determine interrater and intrarater reliability, and responsiveness of the OMQ scale. METHODS: A prospective intervention study with pre-post design in pediatric physical therapy practices. For interrater reliability, 3 physical therapists observed video-recorded motor assessments of 30 children with mild to moderate motor impairments -aged 4 to 12 years-using the OMQ scale. One therapist scored baseline assessment a second time for intrarater reliability, and to calculate smallest detectable change (SDC). Responsiveness (n = 28) was tested by comparing outcomes before and after intervention. RESULTS: Interrater reliability was moderate to good (ICC2,1: 0.79); intrarater reliability was high (ICC2,1: 0.97). Responsiveness results revealed an SDC of 2.4 and a minimal important change of 2.5; indicating sufficient validity in differentiating groups of children showing improved versus unchanged movement quality. CONCLUSION: The OMQ scale is reliable and responsive to change when used to assess movement quality in clinical practice for children with mild to moderate motor impairments, aged 4-12 year.

68Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC PET/CT imaging for adenoid cystic carcinoma and salivary duct carcinoma: a phase 2 imaging study.

Rationale: Treatment options for recurrent and/or metastatic (R/M) adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and salivary duct carcinoma (SDC), major subtypes of salivary gland cancer, are limited. Both tumors often show overexpression of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA). In prostate cancer, PSMA-ligands labeled with 68Ga or 177Lu are used for imaging and therapy, respectively. Primary aim of this study in R/M ACC and SDC patients was to systematically investigate 68Ga-PSMA-uptake by PET/CT imaging to determine if PSMA radionuclide therapy could be a treatment option. Methods: In a prospective phase II study, PET/CT imaging was performed 1 h post injection of 68Ga-PSMA-HBED-CC in 15 ACC patients and 10 SDC patients. Maximum standardized uptake values (SUV) were determined in tumor lesions. Immunohistochemical PSMA expression was scored in primary tumors and metastatic tissue. Standard imaging (MRI or CT) was performed for comparison. Results: In ACC patients, SUVmax ranged from 1.1 to 30.2 with a tumor/liver-ratio >1 in 13 out of 14 evaluable patients (93%). In SDC patients, SUVmax ranged from 0.3 to 25.9 with a tumor/liver-ratio >1 in 4 out of 10 patients (40%). We found a large intra-patient inter-metastatic variation in uptake of 68Ga-PSMA, and immunohistochemistry did not predict ligand uptake in ACC and SDC. Finally, PSMA-PET detected additional bone metastases compared to CT in 2 ACC patients with unexplained pain. Conclusion: In 93% of ACC patients and 40% of SDC patients we detected relevant PSMA-ligand uptake, which warrants to study PSMA radionuclide therapy in these patients. Additionally, our data provide arguments for patient selection and treatment timing. Finally, PSMA-PET imaging has added diagnostic value compared to CT in selected patients.

Thermal distribution, physiological effects and toxicities of extracorporeally induced whole-body hyperthermia in a pig model.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeally induced whole-body hyperthermia (eWBH) might be a beneficial treatment in cancer patients. Objectives of this pig study were to assess thermal distribution, (patho-)physiological effects, and safety of eWBH with a new WBH device. METHODS: Fourteen healthy adult pigs were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and cannulated; 12 were included in the analysis. Blood was heated in 11 pigs (one pig served as control) using a WBH device (Vithèr Hyperthermia B.V.) containing two separate fluidic circuits and a heat exchanger. Temperature was monitored on nine different sites, including the brain. Core temperature (average of 4 deep probes) was elevated to 42°C for 2 hr. RESULTS: Elevation of core body temperature to 42°C took on average (± standard deviation) 38 ± 8 min. Initially observed temperature spikes diminished after lowering maximal blood temperature to 45°C. Hereafter, brain temperature spikes never exceeded 42.5°C, mean brain temperature was at highest 41.9°C during maintenance. WBH resulted in increased heart rates and decreased mean arterial pressures. The vast amounts of fluids required to counter hypotension tended to be smaller after corticosteroid administration. Hemodialysis was started in three animals (potassium increase prevention in two and hyperkalemia treatment in one). Severe rhabdomyolysis was observed in all pigs (including the control). All animals survived the procedure until planned euthanasia 1, 6, or 24 hr post procedure. CONCLUSION: Fast induction of eWBH with homogenous thermal distribution is feasible in pigs using the Vithèr WBH device. Severe hemodynamic disturbances, rhabdomyolysis, and hyperkalemia were observed.

Methotrexate plus or minus cetuximab as first-line treatment in a recurrent or metastatic (R/M) squamous cell carcinoma population of the head and neck (SCCHN), unfit for cisplatin combination treatment, a phase Ib-randomized phase II study Commence.

BACKGROUND: Methotrexate in recurrent or metastatic (R/M) squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) has limited progression-free survival (PFS) benefit. We hypothesized that adding cetuximab to methotrexate improves PFS. METHODS: In the phase-Ib-study, patients with R/M SCCHN received methotrexate and cetuximab as first-line treatment. The primary objective was feasibility. In the phase-II-study patients were randomized to this combination or methotrexate alone (2:1). The primary endpoint was PFS. Secondary endpoints were overall survival (OS), toxicity, and quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: In six patients in the phase-Ib-study, no dose limiting toxicities were observed. In the phase II study, 30 patients received the combination and 15 patients methotrexate. In the phase-II-study median PFS was 4.5 months in the combination group vs 2.0 months in the methotrexate group (HR 0.37; P = .002). OS, toxicity, and QoL were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Cetuximab with methotrexate improved PFS without increased toxicity in R/M SCCHN-patients.

Estimating the age at onset distribution of the asymptomatic stage of a genetic disease based on pedigree data.

Information on the age at onset distribution of the asymptomatic stage of a disease can be of paramount importance in early detection and timely management of that disease. However, accurately estimating this distribution is challenging, because the asymptomatic stage is difficult to recognize for the patient and is often detected as an incidental finding or in case of recommended screening; the age at onset is often interval-censored. In this paper, we propose a method for the estimation of the age at onset distribution of the asymptomatic stage of a genetic disease based on ascertained pedigree data that take into account the way the data are ascertained to overcome selection bias. Simulation studies show that the estimates seem to be asymptotically unbiased. Our work is motivated by the analysis of data on facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a genetic muscle disorder. In our application, carriers of the genetic causal variant are identified through genetic screening of the relatives of symptomatic carriers and their disease status is determined by a medical examination. The estimates reveal an early age at onset of the asymptomatic stage of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.