Therapeutic benefit of larotrectinib over the historical standard of care in patients with locally advanced or metastatic infantile fibrosarcoma (EPI VITRAKVI study).

BACKGROUND: Patients with infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS) have shown strong and long-lasting responses to larotrectinib, a tropomyosin receptor kinase inhibitor (TRKi), in single-arm clinical trials. Conventional chemotherapy has also shown important efficacy. But, until now, no comparative data exist. This study aims to assess the therapeutic benefit of larotrectinib over the current standard of care (SOC) of chemotherapy in paediatric patients with locally advanced or metastatic IFS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: EPI VITRAKVI is a retrospective, observational, externally controlled study (NCT05236257). Data of patients aged ≤21 years with locally advanced or metastatic IFS treated with larotrectinib in the phase I/II SCOUT trial (NCT02637687) were compared with those of an external historical control group (data of Institut Curie and Cooperative Weichteilsarkom Studiengruppe) treated with a chemotherapy-based regimen. Between-group differences were assessed after balancing groups using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW). RESULTS: In total, 93 patients were compared, 51 in the larotrectinib arm and 42 in the external control arm. After therapy, 4 patients (7.8%) in the larotrectinib group had a medical treatment failure event [start of new systemic treatment (2 cases), mutilating surgery (2 cases)] versus 15 (35.7%) in the external control group [start of new systemic treatment (6 cases), mutilating surgery (5 cases), radiation therapy (2 cases), and death (2 cases)]. Larotrectinib was associated with an 80% reduced likelihood of encountering a medical treatment failure event, when compared to the external control group (weighted and stratified hazard ratio 0.20, 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.63, P = 0.0060). These results were confirmed by sensitivity analyses, including exact matching, and subgroup analyses for number of lines of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with larotrectinib reduced the need of subsequent therapies compared to SOC with chemotherapy in children with locally advanced or metastatic IFS, regardless of the line of treatment.

Nanoscale trace metal imprinting of biocalcification of planktic foraminifers by Toba's super-eruption.

Bioactive metal releases in ocean surface water, such as those by ash falls during volcanic super-eruptions, might have a potentially toxic impact on biocalcifier planktic microorganisms. Nano-XRF imaging with the cutting-edge synchrotron hard X-ray nano-analysis ID16B beamline (ESRF) revealed for the first time a specific Zn- and Mn-rich banding pattern in the test walls of Globorotalia menardii planktic foraminifers extracted from the Young Toba Tuff layer, and thus contemporaneous with Toba's super-eruption, 74,000 years ago. The intra-test correlation of Zn and Mn patterns at the nanoscale with the layered calcareous microarchitecture, indicates that the incorporation of these metals is syngenetic to the wall growth. The preferential Mn and Zn sequestration within the incipient stages of chamber formation suggests a selective incorporation mechanism providing a resilience strategy to metal pollution in the test building of planktic foraminifers.

[Childhood absence epilepsy: An update]. / Épilepsie absence de l'enfant : actualités diagnostiques et thérapeutiques.

Childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) is a common pediatric epilepsy syndrome accounting for 10% of all pediatric epilepsies. The aim of this review is to provide an updated overview of this epilepsy syndrome to pediatricians. Most of the patients can be initially managed in private practice or in general pediatric settings. Absence seizures are the only seizure type observed at the time of diagnosis in these patients. An electroencephalogram recording and a clinical evaluation lead to the diagnosis. The underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. CAE is considered a self-limited epilepsy syndrome since most of the patients will become seizure free. Only a few patients (5-10%) have resistant CAE. However, CAE, as well as any pediatric epilepsy syndrome, should not be considered a "benign" epilepsy. Attention deficit is observed in about one third of the patients. There is also an increased risk of academic difficulties related to specific cognitive disorders. Therefore, the early detection of children at risk of developing neuropsychological problems can be helpful for preventing school underachievement and poor psychosocial outcome. Recently, several studies including a large randomized controlled trial indicated that ethosuximide should be considered as a first-line treatment and valproate as a second-line treatment. Cognitive side effects should be an important factor in the selection of the antiepileptic drug and should be specifically assessed during the follow-up. This review concludes by discussing the criteria that might lead to referring the patient to a specialist.