Presence of CrkI-containing microvesicles in squamous cell carcinomas could have ramifications on tumor biology and cancer therapeutics.

Recently, we described a phenomenon whereby apoptotic cells generate and release CrkI-containing microvesicles, which stimulate proliferation in surrounding cells upon contact to compensate for their own demise. We termed these microvesicles "ACPSVs" for Apoptotic Compensatory Proliferation Signaling microvesicles. As immune cells and a majority of current cancer therapeutics destroy tumor cells primarily by apoptosis, we conducted a small pilot study to assess the possibility that ACPSVs may also be generated in squamous cell carcinomas. We first evaluated a primary and a metastatic squamous cell carcinoma cancer cell lines for their ability to produce ACPSVs under normal and apoptotic conditions. We next conducted a pilot study to assess the occurrence of ACPSVs in solid tumors extracted from 20 cancer patients with squamous cell carcinomas. Both cancer cell lines produced copious amounts of ACPSVs under apoptotic conditions. Interestingly, the metastatic squamous cell carcinoma cancer cell line also produced high levels of ACPSVs under healthy condition, suggesting that the ability to generate ACPSVs may be hijacked by these cells. Importantly, ACPSVs were also abundant in the solid tumors of all squamous cell carcinoma cancer patients. Detection of ACPSVs in cancer has potentially important ramifications in tumor biology and cancer therapeutics which warrants further investigation.

Feasibility of Outpatient Stem Cell Transplantation in Multiple Myeloma and Risk Factors Predictive of Hospital Admission.

High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) remains the standard of care for multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Although outpatient ASCT has been shown to be safe and feasible, the procedure is overall rare with most patients in the US undergoing inpatient ASCT. Furthermore, hospitalization rates for patients that undergo outpatient ASCT remain high. Adequate markers that predict hospitalization during outpatient ASCT are lacking, yet would be of great clinical value to select patients that are suited to outpatient ASCT. In this study we aimed to elucidate differences between planned outpatient and inpatient ASCT and further evaluated clinical characteristics that are significantly associated with hospitalization during planned outpatient hospitalization. Factors that were significantly associated with a planned inpatient ASCT included an advanced MM disease stage, worse performance status as well as non-Caucasian race, while low albumin levels and female gender were significantly associated with hospitalization during outpatient ASCT. The results of this analysis provide crucial knowledge of factors that are associated with planned inpatient ASCT and hospitalization during outpatient ASCT and could guide the treating physician in decision-making and further facilitate outpatient transplantation.

Predicting risk of progression in relapsed multiple myeloma using traditional risk models, focal lesion assessment with PET-CT and minimal residual disease status.

Not available.

A Rare Case of Ipilimumab-induced Reversible Hypophysitis and Permanent Primary Hypothyroidism.

Ipilimumab is a monoclonal antibody targeting the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 receptor, which was originally approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. It is the first immune checkpoint inhibitor to enter clinical practice. Immune toxicity due to ipilimumab causing colitis, hepatitis, and dermatitis are well-described in literature. We report a case of hypophysitis resolving with corticosteroid treatment, following which the patient developed long-term primary thyroid impairment. This highlights the importance of vigilance for rarer immune-related toxicities as clinical utilization of ipilimumab becomes more widespread.

Antitubercular activity of ZnO nanoparticles prepared by solution combustion synthesis using lemon juice as bio-fuel.

In this study, we report the synthesis, structural and morphological characteristics of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using solution combustion synthesis method where lemon juice was used as the fuel. In vitro anti-tubercular activity of the synthesized ZnO nanoparticles and their biocompatibility studies, both in vitro and in vivo were carried out. The synthesized nanoparticles showed inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra strain at concentrations as low as 12.5µg/mL. In vitro cytotoxicity study performed with normal mammalian cells (L929, 3T3-L1) showed that ZnO nanoparticles are non-toxic with a Selectivity Index (SI) >10. Cytotoxicity performed on two human cancer cell lines DU-145 and Calu-6 indicated the anti-cancer activity of ZnO nanoparticles at varied concentrations. Results of blood hemolysis indicated the biocompatibility of ZnO nanoparticles. Furthermore, in vivo toxicity studies of ZnO nanoparticles conducted on Swiss albino mice (for 14days as per the OECD 423 guidelines) showed no evident toxicity.