Optimal response to tislelizumab plus chemotherapy in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer: a case report and literature review.

Metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC) has the worst prognosis among breast cancer subtypes. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) plus chemotherapy have promising survival benefits. Herein, we report a 51-year-old woman whose metastatic lesions were diagnosed as triple-negative subtype and who received tislelizumab plus eribulin treatment and achieved excellent efficacy. To our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to present tislelizumab in combination with eribulin for mTNBC treatment. New treatments resulting in prolonged survival and durable clinical responses would benefit mTNBC patients. Then, we summarize the possible influencing factors of the interaction between tislelizumab and eribulin.

Parsing the late-closure ambiguity: While Schrödinger measured the cat escaped from the box.

An experiment investigated the "good-enough" processing account regarding how people parse sentences with late-closure ambiguity, such as While Anna dressed the baby who was cute and cuddly spit up on the bed. One possible result of an initial misparse of the sentence (thinking that Anna dressed the baby) is that the correct parse then cannot be created. The alternative is that, although the misparse may linger in the comprehender's mind, the correct parse is eventually established and coexists with the misparse. This study approached this issue through an analogy to quantum physics. When photons are directed toward two small slits, it appears as if each photon passes through both slits ("bothness"). If particles not subject to quantum effects are directed at the slits, they pass through one or the other ("oneness"). Participants read sentences containing the late-closure ambiguity and afterward answered two questions about each sentence. These could query the potential misparse (Did Anna dress the baby?), correct-parse (Did Anna dress herself?), or the main clause (Did the baby spit up on the bed?), and the order of the question types was varied to test for quantum measurement context effects. The results supported "oneness," that is, the correct-parse and misparse of the subordinate clause do not coexist. Participants rarely said "yes" to both the misparse and correct-parse questions, and the "yes" response proportions for these two questions invariably added up to around 1.0. Furthermore, no quantum-like measurement-order effect between misparse and correct-parse questions was found.

Sintering Temperature Effect of Near-Zero Thermal Expansion Mn3Zn0.8Sn0.2N/Ti Composites.

Metal matrix composites with near-zero thermal expansion (NZTE) have gained significant popularity in high-precision industries due to their excellent thermal stability and mechanical properties. The incorporation of Mn3Zn0.8Sn0.2N, which possesses outstanding negative thermal expansion properties, effectively suppressed the thermal expansion of titanium. Highly dense Mn3Zn0.8Sn0.2N/Ti composites were obtained by adjusting the fabrication temperature. Both composites fabricated at 650 °C and 700 °C exhibited NZTE. Furthermore, finite element analysis was employed to investigate the effects of thermal stress within the composites on their thermal expansion performance.

Leucogen tablets at 60 mg three times per day are safe and effective to control febrile neutropenia.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether it is safe to use leucogen tablets 60 mg three times per day (180 mg for a day) and whether this regimen could reduce the incidence of febrile neutropenia caused by chemotherapy. METHODS: This prospectively designed study focused on the safety and effectiveness of leucogen tablets 60mg three times per day for a group of cancer patients during chemotherapy for mainly lung or gastric cancers. The tablets were administered from 5 days before until the termination of chemotherapy. Neutropenia and other healthcare encounters were defined as events and occurrence was estimated for comparison. RESULTS: We identified 39 patients receiving leucogen tablets 60mg three times per day, including 11 with gastric, 12 with lung and 16 with other sites of cancer. The mean age was 65 (29-75) years and there were 27 male and 12 female patients. The mean duration of leucogen tablets intake was 59 days. Eighteen patients were treated with taxane-based, 4 with irinotecan-based and 17 with other chemotherapy. The incidence of febrile neutropenia was 0%. Twelve patients were found severe neutropenia (grade III/IV), and the duration of severe neutropenia (grade III/IV) was 5 days. Treatment-emergent adverse events were attributable to complications of myelosuppressive chemotherapy or the primary disease (i.e., alopecia, nausea, asthenia, neutropenia, and severe hepatic renal dysfunction). No chemotherapy was delayed and no treatment related death was observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that leucogen tablets 60mg three times per day (180mg for a day) are safe and could be effective for preventing febrile neutropenia in patients with chemotherapy.

A predictive model for evaluating responsiveness to pemetrexed treatment in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

PURPOSE: To highlight the potential factors that could predict the response rate of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated with pemetrexed combined chemotherapy after first- or second-line chemotherapy using the FOLFOX regimen. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2007 and July 2014, 54 patients diagnosed and pathologically-confirmed with advanced colorectal cancer in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, were enrolled. They received pemetrexed at a dose of 500mg/m2 by 10 minute infusion on day 1, repeated every 3 weeks. Doses were modified depending on nadir counts of blood cells. Combined chemotherapeutic agents included irinotecan, lobaplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, gemcitabine, cis-platinum or bevacizumab. Multiple variables (age, sex, hemoglobin, platinum drugs combined, metastasis sites, LDH, ALP, CEA>40 ug/ml) reported earlier were selected.We used logistic regression analysis to evaluate relationships between these and tumor response. RESULTS: On multivariable analysis, we found that age was significant in predicting the responsiveness to pemetrexed (p<0.05) combined with oxaliplatin. We did not find any other factors which were significantly associated with the response rate to chemotherapy with pemetrexed and irinotecan. CONCLUSIONS: By multivariate analysis, we found that age had significant impact on the responsiveness of pemetrexed when combined with oxaliplatin. Additional research based on genomic properties of host and tumors are needed to clarify markers for better selection of patients who could benefit from pemetrexed combined chemotherapy.

Nadir CA-125 level as prognosis indicator of high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

PURPOSE: The capacity of nadir CA-125 levels to predict the prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer remains controversial. This study aimed to explore whether the nadir CA-125 serum levels could predict the durations of overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) in patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HG-SOC) from the USA and PRC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 616 HG-SOC patients from the MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC, USA) between 1990 and 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. The results of 262 cases from the Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research (JICR, PRC) between 1992 and 2011 were used to validate the MDACC data. The CA-125 immunohistochemistry assay was performed on 280 tissue specimens. The Cox proportional hazards model and the log-rank test were used to assess the associations between the clinicopathological characteristics and duration of survival. RESULTS: The nadir CA-125 level was an independent predictor of OS and PFS (p < 0.01 for both) in the MDACC patients. Lower nadir CA-125 levels (≤10 U/mL) were associated with longer OS and PFS (median: 61.2 and 16.8 months with 95% CI: 52.0-72.4 and 14.0-19.6 months, respectively) than their counterparts with shorter OS and PFS (median: 49.2 and 10.5 months with 95% CI: 41.7-56.7 and 6.9-14.1 months, respectively). The nadir CA-125 levels in JICR patients were similarly independent when predicting the OS and PFS (p < 0.01 for both). Nadir CA-125 levels less than or equal to 10 U/mL were associated with longer OS and PFS (median: 59.9 and 15.5 months with 95% CI: 49.7-70.1 and 10.6-20.4 months, respectively), as compared with those more than 10 U/mL (median: 42.0 and 9.0 months with 95% CI: 34.4-49.7 and 6.6-11.2 months, respectively). Baseline serum CA-125 levels, but not the CA-125 expression in tissues, were associated with the OS and PFS of HG-SOC patients in the MDACC and JICR groups. However, these values were not independent. Nadir CA-125 levels were not associated with the tumor burden based on second-look surgery (p = 0.09). Patients who achieved a pathologic complete response had longer OS and PFS (median: 73.7 and 20.7 months with 95% CI: 63.7-83.7 and 9.5-31.9 months, respectively) than those with residual tumors (median: 34.6 and 10.6 months with 95% CI: 6.9-62.3 and 4.9-16.3 months, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The nadir CA-125 level was an independent predictor of OS and PFS in HG-SOC patients. Further prospective studies are required to clinically optimize the chances for a complete clinical response of HG-SOC cases with higher CA-125 levels (>10 U/mL) at the end of primary treatment.

Clinical observation of Endostar® combined with chemotherapy in advanced colorectal cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: Endostar® (Rh-endostatin injection) is a new recombinant human endostatin developed by Shandong Simcere-Medgenn Bio-Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd in China. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Endostar plus leucovorin calcium/ 5-fluorouracil/oxaliplatin (FOLFOX4) in treating patients with advanced colorectal cancer. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with advanced colorectal cancer were retrospectively assigned to one of two treatment groups: FOLFOX4 (control) or FOLFOX4 plus Endostar (Endostar) according to patient accreditation. The observational end points were overall response rate, overall survival, progression-free survival and toxicity. RESULTS: The response rate and progression-free survival of Endostar were significantly better than those of control group (P <0.05), but significance was not observed for median survival. In addition, gastrointestinal side effects and incidence of leucopenia were not lower than in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The addition of Endostar to FOLFOX4 resulted in a higher objective response rate and longer time to disease progression. Hypertension and cardiac ischemia were the principal safety concerns, but were manageable. Endostar deserves to be further investigated by randomized controlled clinical trails.