Promotional effects of calcination temperature and H2O on the catalytic activity of Al-substituted MnAlO catalysts for low-temperature acetone oxidation.

In order to enhance the role of Al in the materials, Al-substituted MnAlO catalysts were synthesized via the hydrothermal-redox method at different calcination temperatures for acetone oxidation. There were Al-substituted α-MnO2 and amorphous aluminum oxide existed with homogeneous dispersion of elements in the catalysts. The surface property, reaction rate, CO2 yield and water resistance of MnAlO catalysts were greatly affected by calcination temperatures. MnAlO-450 catalyst exhibited the best catalytic performance (acetone conversion of 90% at 165 °C) with CO2 yield higher than 99.7%, which was mainly related to the weaker Mn-O bond strength, lower temperature reducibility and abundant Lewis acid sites. The acetone conversion of MnAlO-450 increased by as much as 16% in the presence of 1 vol% H2O compared to that in the absence of H2O at T50 (the temperature for 50% conversion of acetone). The acceleration consumption of ethanol as the main by-product by H2O improved the catalytic performance. This work would shed light on the Al substitution based catalysts for OVOC oxidation with highly efficient and water resistance.

[Mechanisms of drug resistance in endocrinotherapy for castration-resistant prostate cancer].

Androgen plays a significant role in the development and progression of prostate cancer (PCa), one of the commonest malignancies in the male urogenital system. Castration-resistant PCa (CRPC) is the end-result of the majority of prostate cancer cases treated by androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Furthermore, the androgen axis is reactivated due to adaptive intratumoral androgen biosynthesis, which can be driven by adrenal androgens and /or by changes in the androgen receptor (AR) including AR gene amplification. At present, drugs targeting the androgen axis, such as abiraterone and enzalutamide, et al, are used for the first-line therapy for CRPC. Nevertheless, drug resistance and disease progression occur during the treatment of CRPC by anti-androgen therapy. Therefore, an insight into the mechanisms of drug resistance in anti-androgen therapy for CRPC may help surmount the drug reistance and improve the prognosis of the malignancy.

Adult primary testicular lymphoma: clinical features and survival in a series of patients treated at a high-volume institution in China.

BACKGROUND: To retrospectively investigate the clinical characteristics, initial treatment, relapse, therapy outcome, and prognosis of Chinese patients with primary testicular lymphoma (PTL) through analysis of the cases of our institute. METHODS: From December 2008 to July 2018, all patients with PTL were included in this study. Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate PFS and OS. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the survival times for groups of patients differing in terms of clinical and laboratory parameters. RESULTS: All 28 PTL patients (24 DLBCL, three NK/T lymphomas, and one Burkkit's lymphoma) with a median age of 65.5 years were included in this study. Six patients were observed recurrence among all the 22 individuals evaluated. Following orchiectomy and systemic chemotherapy, with or without intrathecal prophylaxis, complete response was achieved in 15 (68%) patients. For DLBCL patients, the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 44.63 months (95% CI 17.71-71.56 months), and the median overall survival (OS) was 77.02 months (95% CI, 57.35-96.69 months). For all the DLBCL patients, the 5-year PFS and 5-year OS were 35.4% (95%CI, 14.8-56.0%) and 53.4% (95%CI, 30.1-76.7%). Without further chemotherapy following orchiectomy (HR = 3.4, P = 0.03) were associated with inferior PFS of DLBCL patients. Advanced Ann Arbor stage (HR =5.9, P = 0.009) and high (international prognostic index, IPI) score: 3-5 (HR =3.9, P = 0.04) were correlated with shorter OS of DLBCL patients. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that PTL is an aggressive malignant with a poor prognosis. Limited Ann Arbor stage, further chemotherapy following orchiectomy, and low IPI score (less than 2) are correlated with superior survival for DLBCL patients.

[Androgen biosynthesis in castration-resistant prostate cancer: Advances in studies].

Prostate cancer is a most common malignant tumor in the male urogenital system. Currently, castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a bottleneck in the treatment of prostate cancer, which has a very poor prognosis, with a median survival of merely 12 months. Although androgen-deprivation therapy eliminates the majority of the androgens in circulation, CRPC patients adapt to low-level androgens by synthesizing intratumoral androgens or altering androgen receptors. This review summarizes the main ways of synthesizing testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the enzymes involved, and changes of the androgen level in different stages of CRPC. Blocking any one of the pathways of androgen biosynthesis is likely to upregulate another and lead to incomplete androgen elimination and consequently drug resistance. Therefore, identifying the pathways of androgen biosynthesis may provide an opportunity for the development of the drugs for blocking the major pathways of androgen and introtumoral androgen biosynthesis and antagonizing androgen receptors.