No Impact of Seasonality of Diagnoses on Baseline Tumor Immune Infiltration, Response to Treatment, and Prognosis in BC Patients Treated with NAC.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) makes it possible to monitor in vivo response to treatment. Several studies have investigated the impact of the seasons on the incidence and detection of BC, on tumor composition, and on the prognosis of BC. However, no evidence is available on their association with immune infiltration and the response to treatment. The objective of this study was to analyze pre- and post-NAC immune infiltration as assessed by TIL levels, the response to treatment as assessed by pathological complete response (pCR) rates, and oncological outcomes as assessed by relapse-free survival (RFS) or overall survival (OS) according to the seasonality of BC diagnoses in a clinical cohort of patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Out of 1199 patients, the repartition of the season at BC diagnosis showed that 27.2% were diagnosed in fall, 25.4% in winter, 24% in spring, and 23.4% in summer. Baseline patient and tumor characteristics, including notable pre-NAC TIL levels, were not significantly different in terms of the season of BC diagnosis. Similarly, the pCR rates were not different. No association for oncological outcome was identified. Our data do not support the idea that the seasonality of diagnoses has a major impact on the natural history of BC treated with NAC.

Pregnancy, fertility concerns and fertility preservation procedures in a national study of French breast cancer survivors.

RESEARCH QUESTION: What are the real-life oncofertility practices in young women diagnosed with breast cancer? DESIGN: The FEERIC (FErtility, prEgnancy, contRaceptIon after breast Cancer in France) study is a web-based cohort study launched with the French collaborative research platform Seintinelles. The current work is based on the enrolment self-administered questionnaire of 517 patients with prior breast cancer diagnosis, free from relapse and aged 18 to 43 years at inclusion (from 12 March 2018 to 27 June 2019). RESULTS: Median age at breast cancer diagnosis was 33.6 years and 424 patients (82.0%) received chemotherapy. Overall, 236 (45.6%) patients were offered specialized oncofertility counselling, 181 patients underwent at least one fertility preservation procedure (FPP); 125 (24.2%) underwent one or more FPP with material preservation (oocytes n = 108, 20.9%; embryos n = 31, 6.0%; ovarian cryopreservation n = 6, 1.2%) and 78 patients received gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonists (15.1%). With a median follow-up of 26.9 months after the end of treatments, 133 pregnancies had occurred in 85 patients (16.4%), including 20 unplanned pregnancies (15.0%). Most of the pregnancies were natural conceptions (n = 113, 87.6%), while 16 (12.4%) required medical interventions. For the planned pregnancies, median time to the occurrence of an ongoing pregnancy was 3 months. Patients who had an unplanned pregnancy reported lower rates of information on the consequences of the treatments on fertility (P = 0.036) at diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the patients were not offered proper specialized oncofertility counselling at the time of breast cancer diagnosis. Naturally conceived pregnancies after breast cancer were much more frequent than pregnancies resulting from the use of cryopreserved gametes. Adequate contraceptive counselling seems as important as information about fertility and might prevent unplanned pregnancies.

Feasibility and Impact of Adapted Physical Activity (APA) in Cancer Outpatients Beginning Medical Anti-Tumoral Treatment: The UMA-CHAPA Study.

Adapted physical activity (APA) improves quality of life and cancer outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of an APA program in outpatients beginning medical anticancer treatment. The secondary objective was to assess the impact of APA on fatigue, anxiety, depression, and handgrip strength (HGS). This prospective study was conducted between January and July 2017. Among 226 patients beginning treatment in the unit for a digestive, lung, hematological, or dermatological cancer, 163 were included. Adherence to the APA program was defined as more than or equal to one one-hour session per week for 3 months. The first evaluation was conducted at 3 months (M3), and the second evaluation at 6 months (M6). A total of 163 patients were included (mean age 62.5 ± 14.3); 139 (85.3%) agreed to follow the APA program. At M3, 106 of them were evaluated, of which 86 (81.1%) declared that they had followed the program. Improvement in anxiety was observed at M3 (-1.0 ± 3.2; p = 0.002) but there was no significant change in fatigue or depression. HGS decreased significantly (-1.2 ± 5.5; p = 0.04). The APA program was feasible in cancer outpatients beginning medical anticancer treatment. APA should be part of standard support care.

[Evaluation of the feasibility of a program of adapted physical activity in day hospital of digestive oncology: From the point of view of patients]. / Évaluation de la faisabilité d'un programme d'activité physique adaptée en hôpital de jour de cancérologie digestive : à partir du point de vue des patients.

INTRODUCTION: Adapted physical activity (APA) is recognized as an effective supportive care for asthenia and quality of life in oncology. Before an APA program was organized, the feasibility of such a program was evaluated among the patients. METHODS: Descriptive, prospective, semi-qualitative, single-center study over a 3-month period in patients treated with ambulatory chemotherapy for digestive cancer. A self-questionnaire was offered to all patients to evaluate their practice and knowledge about APA. In ten patients, fatigue, anxiety and depression were assessed, before and after 9 weeks of hospital-based APA. The scores were compared by matched Student test. RESULTS: Of the 123 patients treated, 80 questionnaires (65%) were exploitable. Before the diagnosis of cancer, 40 patients (50%) were physically active, 20% after (n=16). The reasons for not practicing were: lack of interest/not the idea (42%), lack of time (34%), do not believe in profit (9%), too expensive (8%). Fifty-three patients (66%) were interested in the program. In 10 patients, the APA program significantly reduced the depression score (P=0.024) and a non-significant improvement in anxiety and fatigue. DISCUSSION: This study shows that patients treated with chemotherapy are unaware of the usefulness of APA and that medical information can improve adherence to such a program. The establishment of an intra-hospital APA program proved to be possible and relevant.

Antimicrobial prenylated benzoylphloroglucinol derivatives and xanthones from the leaves of Garcinia goudotiana.

Bioassay-guided fractionation using antimicrobial assay of the crude acetonic extract of Garcinia goudotiana leaves and of its five partitions led to the isolation of two new prenylated benzoylphloroglucinol derivatives, goudotianone 1 (1) and goudotianone 2 (2), in addition to two known compounds including one xanthone, 1,3,7-trihydroxy-2-isoprenylxanthone (3), and one triterpenoid, friedelin (4). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of different spectroscopic methods, including extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The crude acetonic extract, the methylene chloride and ethyl acetate partitions, and some tested compounds isolated from this species (1-3) demonstrated selective significant antimicrobial activities against Gram-positive bacteria, in particular Staphylococcus lugdunensis, Enterococcus faecalis and Mycobacterium smegmatis. The potential cytotoxic activities of these extracts and compounds were evaluated against human colon carcinoma HT29 and human fetal lung fibroblast MRC5 cells.

3-Carboxamido-5-aryl-isoxazoles as new CB2 agonists for the treatment of colitis.

Recent investigations showed that anandamide, the main endogenous ligand of CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, possesses analgesic, antidepressant and anti-inflammatory effects. In the perspective to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), our approach was to develop new selective CB2 receptor agonists without psychotropic side effects associated to CB1 receptors. In this purpose, a new series of 3-carboxamido-5-aryl-isoxazoles, never described previously as CB2 receptor agonists, was designed, synthesized and evaluated for their biological activity. The pharmacological results have identified great selective CB2 agonists with in vivo anti-inflammatory activity in a DSS-induced acute colitis mouse model.

Synthesis, antiproliferative activity and tubulin targeting effect of acridinone and dioxophenothiazine derivatives.

The synthesis of new acridinone and dioxophenothiazine derivatives along with their tubulin polymerization inhibitory and antiproliferative activities is reported. The analysis of correlation for cytotoxic and antitubulin potential of tested compounds showed that 4-methoxyphenylethyl derivatives 18a and 19a were highly cytotoxic but were regarded to have no significant antitubulin activity. However, the introduction of a 3-hydroxy substituent leading to compounds 18e and 19e, strongly increased the antitubulin potential but was associated with a loss of the antiproliferative activity. Modeling studies, topoisomerase inhibition assays and cell cycle analysis have been performed to better investigate the mechanism of action of such compounds.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of (aryloxy)quinazoline ureas as novel, potent, and selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 inhibitors.

In our continuing search for medicinal agents to treat proliferative diseases, quinazoline derivatives were synthesized and evaluated pharmacologically as epithelial growth factor receptor and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) tyrosine kinase inhibitors. A quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis was conducted to rationalize the structure-activity relationship and to predict how similar the inhibitor-binding profiles of two protein kinases are likely to be on the basis of the docking of lead coumpounds into the ATP-binding site. This model was used to direct the synthesis of new compounds. A series of N-(aromatic)-N'-{4-[(6,7-dimethoxyquinazolin-4-yl)oxy]phenyl}urea were identified as potent and selective inhibitors of the tyrosine kinase activity of VEGFR-2 (fetal liver kinase 1, kinase insert domain-containing receptor). An efficient route was developed that enabled the synthesis of a wide variety of analogues with substitution on several positions of the template. Substitution of diarylurea, competitive with ATP, afforded several analogues with low nanomolar inhibition of enzymatic activity of VEGFR-2. In this paper, we describe the synthesis, structure-activity relationships, and pharmacological characterization of the series.

Impact of aryloxy-linked quinazolines: a novel series of selective VEGFR-2 receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Three series of 6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline derivatives substituted in the 4-position by aniline, N-methylaniline and aryloxy entities, targeting EGFR and VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinases, were designed and synthesized. Pharmacological activities of these compounds have been evaluated for their enzymatic inhibition of VEGFR-2 and EGFR and for their antiproliferative activities on various cancer cell lines. We have studied the impact of the variation in the 4-position substitution of the quinazoline core. Substitution by aryloxy groups led to new compounds which are selective inhibitors of VEGFR-2 enzyme with IC(50) values in the nanomolar range in vitro.

Potent farnesyltransferase inhibitors with 1,4-diazepane scaffolds as novel destabilizing microtubule agents in hormone-resistant prostate cancer.

A new class of potent farnesyltransferase inhibitors based on a 1,4-diazepane scaffold was synthesized with protein farnesyltransferase inhibition potencies in the low nanomolar range. The compounds block the growth on two hormone-resistant tumor prostatic cell lines (DU145 and PC3). The advanced cellular evaluation of the more potent farnesyltransferase inhibitors was explored and revealed a disorganization of tubulin in PC3 cells.

Design, synthesis, and DNA-binding of N-alkyl(anilino)quinazoline derivatives.

New N-alkylanilinoquinazoline derivatives 5, 12, 20, and 22 have been prepared from 4-chloro-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline 3, 4-chloro-6,7-methylenedioxyquinazoline 19, and commercially available anilines. Differents classes of compounds substituted by an aryloxygroup (6a-c, 16a,b, and 17a,b), (aminophenyl)ureas (12a,b and 13a-f), anilines (4a-m, 20a,b), N-alkyl(aniline) (5a-m, 21a,b, 22a,d), and N-aminoalkyl(aniline) (22e-g) have been synthesized. These molecules were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities and as potential DNA intercalating agents. We studied the strength and mode of binding to DNA of these molecules by DNA melting temperature measurements, fluorescence emission, and circular dichroism. The results of various spectral and gel electrophoresis techniques obtained with the different compounds, in particular compounds 5g and 22f, revealed significant DNA interaction. These experiments confirm that the N-aminoalkyl(anilino)-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline nucleus is an efficient pharmacophore to trigger binding to DNA, via an intercalative binding process.

Quinazoline-urea, new protein kinase inhibitors in treatment of prostate cancer.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), two protein tyrosine kinases, are involved in pathological disorders and the progression of different types of carcinomas. Concomitant inhibition of both tyrosine kinase activities appears to be an attractive target for cancer chemotherapy. A series of new quinazoline derivatives substituted by amide, urea, or carbamic acid ester groups have been synthesized. The biological activities of these new compounds have been evaluated for their enzyme inhibition and antiproliferative activities.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of substituted dioxodibenzothiazepines and dibenzocycloheptanes as farnesyltransferase inhibitors.

A new series of FTase inhibitors containing a tricyclic moiety--dioxodibenzothiazepine or dibenzocycloheptane--has been designed and synthesized. Among them, dioxodibenzothiazepine 18d displayed significant inhibitory FTase activity (IC(50)=17.3 nM) and antiproliferative properties.

Derivatives of Iressa, a specific epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, are powerful apoptosis inducers in PC3 prostatic cancer cells.

The tyrosine kinase activity of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is widely involved in signaling pathways and often deregulated in cancer. Its role in the development of prostate cancer is well established, and therapeutic strategies such as blockade of the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain with small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been proposed. Herein we describe the synthesis and in vitro pharmacological properties of C6- and C7-substituted 4-anilinoquinazolines, analogues of Iressa and powerful proapoptotic inducers in hormone-independent prostate cancer PC3 cell lines.

Novel N-(4-Piperidinyl)benzamide antimalarials with mammalian protein farnesyltransferase inhibitory activity.

Protein farnesyltransferase of Plasmodium falciparum is a potential target in the treatment of malaria for which increased drug resistance is observed. The design, synthesis and evaluation of a series of N-(4-piperidinyl)benzamides is reported. The most potent compounds showed in vitro activity against the parasite at submicromolar concentrations.

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of two rational-designed nonpeptidic farnesyltransferase inhibitors on HT29 human colon cancer cell lines.

FTase inhibitors constitute a new class of potential cancer therapeutics, especially in colorectal cancer where K-ras-selective mutations exist and have a role in tumorigenesis. The synthesis and biological evaluation of two nonpeptidic molecules (13 and 16) designed on the basis of a zinc chelator imidazole linked to two aromatic fragments able to fit in the "exit groove" and in the "A2 binding site" of FTase are described. These molecules are characterized respectively by a flexible phenylmethyl chain and a more constrained scaffold so as to evaluate their respective influences on site recognition. They have been evaluated in vitro and in vivo against human colon cancer cell lines and 13 not only inhibited tumor growth but also showed no toxic effects at the dose used.

New benzo[5,6]pyrrolizino[1,2-b]quinolines as cytotoxic agents.

An assessment of structure-activity relationships associated with the new benzo[5,6]pyrrolizino[1,2-b]quinoline system displaying potent in vitro cytotoxic activity against the MCF7 cell line is described.