ER+/PR- phenotype exhibits more aggressive biological features and worse outcome compared with ER+/PR+ phenotype in HER2-negative inflammatory breast cancer.

The loss of progesterone receptor (PR) often predicts worse biological behavior and prognosis in estrogen receptor-positive (ER +) breast cancer. However, the impact of PR status on inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) has not been studied. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate the influence of PR on IBC. Patients with ER+ and HER2-negative IBC were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. Pearson's χ2 test was used to compare the clinicopathological characteristics between patients with estrogen receptor-positive/progesterone receptor-positive (ER+/PR +) and patients with estrogen receptor-positive/progesterone receptor-negative (ER+/PR-). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate the effects of PR status on the breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival (OS) in IBC. Overall, 1553 patients including 1157 (74.5%) patients with ER+/PR+ and 396 (25.5%) patients with ER+/PR- were analyzed in our study. The patients with ER+/PR- were more likely to be high histological grade (p < 0.001) and liver metastasis (p = 0.045) compared to patients with ER+/PR+. Despite higher chance of receiving chemotherapy (83.6% vs 77.3%, P = 0.008), patients with ER+/PR- showed worse BCSS (5-year BCSS rate, 34.3% vs 51.3%, P < 0.001) and OS (5-year OS rate, 31.3% vs 46.1%, P < 0.001) compared with ER+/PR+ phenotype. Multivariate survival analysis showed that patients with ER+/PR- still had worse BCSS (hazard ratios [HR]: 1.764, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.476-2.109, P < 0.001) and OS (HR: 1.675, 95% CI 1.411-1.975, P < 0.001) than ER+/PR+ phenotype. Furthermore, patients with ER+/PR- showed worse outcomes than ER+/PR+ phenotype in most subgroups, especially in patients with younger age (≤ 60 years), lower histological grade, lymph node involved and distant metastasis. Patients with ER+/PR- had more aggressive biological behaviors and worse outcomes than patients with ER+/PR+ in IBC. Stronger treatments maybe needed for IBC patients with ER+/PR-.

UV-enhanced nano-nickel ferrite-activated peroxymonosulfate for the degradation of chlortetracycline hydrochloride in aqueous solution.

In this study, nano-nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) was successfully prepared by hydrothermal synthesis and applied to the oxidative removal of chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CTH) in the presence of ultraviolet radiation (UV) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Several characterization methods were used to reveal the morphology and surface properties of nano-NiFe2O4, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared absorption (FTIR) spectroscopy. The removal efficiency of CTH, the factors affecting the reaction process and the reaction mechanism of PMS activated by UV combined with nano-NiFe2O4 (UV + nano-NiFe2O4/PMS) in aqueous solution were systematically studied. The results showed that the UV + nano-NiFe2O4/PMS system led to a higher removal efficiency of CTH than other parallel systems. The results also showed that the CTH removal efficiency was enhanced under optimal conditions ([nano-NiFe2O4] = 1 g L-1, [PMS] = 1 g L-1, [UV wavelength] = 254 nm and [pH] = 11) and that a removal efficiency of 96.98% could be achieved after 60 min. In addition, the influence of the PMS concentration, CTH concentration, dosage of added nano-NiFe2O4 and pH on the PMS activation efficiency and CTH oxidative degradation effect was studied. Inorganic anions such as Cl-, HCO3 -, CO3 2- and NO3 - increased the removal efficiency of CTH by 21.29%, 27.17%, 25.32% and 5.96% respectively, while H2PO4 - inhibited CTH removal, and the removal efficiency of CTH decreased 6.08% after 60 min. Free radical identification tests detected SO4 -˙, OH˙ and 1O2 and showed that these species participated in the degradation reaction of CTH. The results of LC-MS and TOC analysis showed that CTH was degraded in the UV + nano-NiFe2O4/PMS system through hydroxylation, demethylation, deamination, and dehydration reaction and finally mineralized into CO2. These findings confirmed that nano-NiFe2O4 is a green and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for activation of PMS and demonstrates potential applicability in the treatment of antibiotic wastewater.

Mechanoresponsive PS-PnBA-PS Triblock Copolymers via Covalently Embedding Mechanophore.

A mechanically active spiropyran (SP) mechanophore is incorporated into the center of poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PnBA) block to construct a series of mechanoresponsive polystyrene (PS)-PnBA-SP-PnBA-PS triblock copolymers. Similar mechanical activations of SP occur in all of the copolymers in solution, whereas a unique PS fraction-dependent mechanochromism is observed in the bulk. Effective mechanical activation occurs in the copolymer with a medium PS block length, whereas a very weak color change is observed in the samples bearing low PS fractions and activation appears only in the vicinity of the fracture point in the copolymer bearing long PS blocks. The difference in chemical compositions of the triblock copolymers leads to different microphase separated structures in the bulk and consequently the unique stress-strain responses and mechanochemistry. This platform promises to open way to the design of a wide range of useful mechanoresponsive triblock copolymers having different hard/soft blocks and various types of mechanoresponsive motifs.