Aflibercept in Combination With FOLFIRI as First-line Chemotherapy in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC): A Phase II Study (FFCD 1302)

BackgroundFOLFIRI (irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin) + aflibercept improves median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). Our aim was to investigate efficacy and tolerability of this combination in the first line.Patients and MethodsPatients with untreated documented mCRC received aflibercept plus FOLFIRI every 14 days until progression or unacceptable toxicity in an open, phase II single-arm, multicenter trial. The primary endpoint was the 6-month PFS rate. Secondary endpoints were OS and tolerability. A 2-step Simon design was used with H₀: 55% and H₁= 75%. Data were analyzed in intention to treat.ResultsForty-one patients were included, and 40 were analyzed (1 consent withdrawal) in 9 French centers between October 2014 and February 2017. The median age was 65 years (range, 46-81 years), 55% had ≥ 2 metastatic sites, and 50% and 15% had RAS and BRAF mutations, respectively. Twenty-two (54.5%; 95% confidence interval, 38.9%-68.5%) patients were alive and non-progressive at 6 months. FOLFIRI + aflibercept was considered ineffective, resulting in the cessation of inclusions. The median follow-up was 34 months. The overall response rate was 55%, and the disease control rate was 80%. The median duration of treatment was 5.3 months; the median PFS and OS were 8.2 and 18.6 months, respectively. Grade 3 to 4 adverse events were mainly gastrointestinal (47.5%) and vascular (32.5%). Of the patients, 87.5% had at least 1 dose modification.ConclusionAlthough the primary objective was not met, first-line FOLFIRI + aflibercept for mCRC leads to median PFS and OS close to those reported with classical doublet and targeted agents, but with significant toxicities needing dose reduction.     

Discovering novel lung cancer associated antigens and the utilization of their autoantibodies in detection of lung cancer

ObjectiveThe identification of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and their corresponding autoantibodies in lung cancer (LC) may expand our vision of cancer immunity. This study aims to screen novel TAAs to distinguish LC from the healthy population.MethodsIn our previous study, 35 genes encoding LC-associated TAAs were identified from the serological analysis of recombinant cDNA expression libraries (SEREX), and Oncomine database was further used to identify potential genes in cancer progression. Autoantibody to TAAs were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in sera from 1379 participants in validation set and verification set.FindingsBased on analysis of three independent microarrays in Oncomine, ten genes were consistently dysregulated in LC. The sera level and positive frequency of the anti-TOP2A, anti-ACTR3, anti-RPS6KA5 and anti-PSIP1 from LC patients were higher than normal control in validation set. The area under curve (AUC) of anti-TOP2A, anti-ACTR3, anti-RPS6KA5 and anti-PSIP1 was respectively 0.758, 0.787, 0.707, 0.668. The sensitivity of these four autoantibodies for LC detection ranged from 26.63 % to 32.07 % with the specificity over 90 %. Data from the verification set confirmed the results. Except that, the frequency of serum autoantibody against TOP2A (43.3 %) and ACTR3 (50.0 %) was significantly higher in early stage LC than late stage (23.6 % and 22.3 %, respectively).ConclusionTOP2A, ACTR3, RPS6KA5 and PSIP1 can elicit humoral immune response in LC and their autoantibodies have relationship with the tumorigenesis of LC. Anti-TOP2A and anti-ACTR3 have the potential to serve as a serological biomarkers in early stage LC.     

安罗替尼联合替吉奥治疗三线及以上晚期非小细胞肺癌的安全性和有效性

目的:前瞻性应用安罗替尼联合替吉奥治疗三线及以上晚期非小细胞肺癌，观察临床疗效和药物的安全性。方法:均经组织病理或细胞学明确诊断晚期非小细胞肺癌，且二线化疗治疗后疾病进展。口服安罗替尼胶囊8 mg/d，d1~14联合替吉奥胶囊60 mg/m2 bid d1~14，21天为一个周期。治疗终止时间为疾病进展或出现不可接受的毒副反应。结果:本研究结果显示，总体客观缓解率（ORR）可达到26.8%，总体疾病控制率（DCR）可达到80.5%，中位无进展生存期（mPFS）达到5.2个月（95%CI:3.9~6.6个月）。单因素分析，脑转移组患者mPFS（4.8个月）对比无脑转移组患者mPFS（5.9个月），两组差异具有统计学意义（P=0.039）。多变量回归分析显示，ECOG评分(P=0.002)、治疗线数（P=0.015）和疗效(P=0.014)是PFS的独立影响因素。最常见毒副反应为高血压、蛋白尿、骨髓抑制、胃肠道反应、疲乏和口腔黏膜炎。结论:安罗替尼联合替吉奥胶囊在晚期非小细胞肺癌三线及以上治疗中，其总体的疗效确切且药物毒副反应可控。     

大肠癌组织中细胞胀亡及MMP-2检测

目的 :检测大肠癌组织中胀亡细胞及MMP - 2。方法 :应用透射电镜和免疫组化方法检测 5 1例大肠癌组织中胀亡细胞和MMP - 2的表达。结果 :①大肠癌组织中可检测到不同时期的胀亡细胞。②大肠癌组织中MMP- 2表达率 5 4 .9% (2 8/ 5 1 ) ,明显高于正常大肠粘膜 (P <0 .0 5 )。③MMP - 2在淋巴结转移组的阳性表达率为 6 9.5 7% (1 6 / 2 3) ,明显高于无淋巴结转移组的 4 2 .86 % (1 2 / 2 8) ;有淋巴结转移组胀亡指数明显低于无淋巴结转移组 (P<0 .0 5 )。④MMP - 2表达阳性组OI高于MMP - 2阴性组。结论 :大肠癌组织中存在胀亡细胞和MMP - 2的表达 ,2者关系密切 ,且均与大肠癌的转移有关。     

人乳腺病变组织AgNORs的形态定量分析

目的：探讨计算机图像分析技术对乳腺肿瘤核仁组成区相关嗜银蛋白（AgNORs）表达在病理学诊断中的意义。方法：选取乳癌、乳腺结构不良、乳腺纤维腺瘤及正常乳腺组织各20例，应用图像分析系统和嗜银染色技术，对乳腺病变组织的AgNORs进行形态计量学分析，观察每个细胞的胞核面积、核周长以及AgNOR颗粒数目、颗粒面积、AgNOR的大颗粒数、形态因子、面积比值、平均面积等8项参数。结果：正常乳腺及乳腺结构不良、乳腺纤维腺瘤组织的细胞核面积、核周长以及AgNOR颗粒数目、颗粒面积明显小于乳癌组织（P＜0．01），AgNOR的大颗粒数、形态因子、面积比值、平均面积在乳癌组织与乳腺纤维腺瘤及正常乳腺组织间差异有统计学意义（P＜0．05）。上述8项参数4组间多类判别分析回代符合率为72．5％，癌和非癌的判别回代符合率达100％。结论：图像分析对于乳腺良、恶性病变的鉴别诊断具有重要价值，是一精确、客观的AgNOR定量研究手段。     

A nationwide post-marketing survey of knowledge,attitude and practice toward human papillomavirus vaccine in general population: Implications for vaccine roll-out in mainland China

BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been increasingly discussed in mainland China since its first approval in 2016. To date, nearly all studies assessing HPV vaccine perceptions and attitudes were implemented during pre-licensure period. Therefore, the nationwide post-marketing survey was conducted to update knowledge, attitudes and practice on HPV vaccine among general population in mainland China.MethodsParticipants aged 18–45 years living in mainland China were recruited in April 2019 by multi-stage non-randomized sampling. Sociodemographic factors, HPV and HPV vaccine related awareness, knowledge, attitudes, vaccine uptake and potential obstacles were assessed in questionnaires. Bivariate analysis and multivariate regression were used to identify disparity among subgroups with different sociodemographic characteristics.Results4,000 women (32.1 ± 7.81y) and 1,000 men (31.8 ± 7.96y) were included in final analysis. Less than one third of participants had heard of HPV (female: 31%; male: 22%) and HPV vaccine (female: 34%; male: 23%). Knowledge score was also unfavorable on HPV (female: 3 out of 13; male: 1.8 out of 13) and HPV vaccine (female: 3 out of 6; male: 2 out of 5). Only 3% females had been vaccinated three years after HPV licensure in China, although willingness to get vaccinated among those unvaccinated were high (mean willingness score ± SD: female: 3.3 ± 0.97; male: 3.0 ± 0.98). Industry of employment and household income were the major factors related to awareness and knowledge of vaccine, whereas HPV and HPV vaccine awareness were key influential factors for willingness. The main obstacles of vaccination were safety concerns, lack of knowledge, and high price of HPV vaccines.ConclusionsFindings highlight a lack of vaccine awareness, knowledge, and poor uptake in mainland China and underscore the necessity of health education campaigns. The identified priority groups, contents to be delivered and practical obstacles could furthermore provide insight into health education to reduce disparities and accelerate HPV vaccine roll-out in China.     

Silencing of MicroRNA-21 confers the sensitivity to tamoxifen and fulvestrant by enhancing autophagic cell death through inhibition of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway in breast cancer cells

Tamoxifen (TAM) and fulvestrant (FUL) represent the major adjuvant therapy to estrogen receptor-alpha positive (ER⁺) breast cancer patients. However, endocrine resistance to TAM and FUL is a great impediment for successful treatment. We hypothesized that miR-21 might alter the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to TAM or FUL by regulating cell autophagy. Using the ER⁺ breast cancer cells, we knockdown miR-21.by transfection with miR-21 inhibitor, then the cells were exposed to TAM or FUL and the percentages of apoptosis and autophagy were determined. Knockdown of miR-21 significantly increased the TAM or FUL-induced apoptosis in ER⁺ breast cancer cells. Further, silencing of miR-21 in MCF-7 cells enhanced cell autophagy at both basal and TAM or FUL-induced level. The increase of autophagy in miR-21-knockdown MCF-7 cells was also indicated by increase of beclin-1, LC3-II and increased GFP-LC3 dots. Importantly, knockdown of miR-21 contributed to autophagic cell death, which is responsible for part of TAM induced cell death in miR-21 inhibitor-transfected cells. Further analysis suggested that miR-21 inhibitor enhance autophagic cell death through inhibition of PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. MiR-21 coordinated the function of autophagy and apoptosis by targeting Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) through inhibition of PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. In conclusion, silencing of miR-21 increased the sensitivity of ER⁺ breast cancer cells to TAM or FUL by increasing autophagic cell death. Targeting autophagy-related miRNAs is a potential strategy for overcoming endocrine resistance to TAM and FUL.     

WWOX基因对人急性淋巴细胞性白血病细胞CCRF-CEM细胞凋亡及细胞周期的影响

目的:研究WWOX基因对人急性淋巴细胞性白血病细胞CCRF-CEM细胞凋亡及细胞周期的影响及分子机制。方法:体外培养CCRF-CRM细胞系，将WWOX基因转染入CCRF-CEM细胞，建立高表达WWOX的CCRF-CEM细胞，流式细胞仪法测定CCRF-CEM细胞的细胞周期和凋亡，Western blot法测定WWOX基因、细胞周期和凋亡相关因子的蛋白表达，qRT-PCR法测定caspase-3的mRNA表达。结果:与对照组和空白质粒组相比，转染入WWOX的CCRF-CEM细胞的WWOX蛋白表达显著增加，G0/G1期的细胞比例显著增加，凋亡细胞比例显著增加；CCRF-CEM细胞中cyclin D1、cyclin E、CDK2的蛋白表达显著降低而Wnt-5α和JNK的蛋白表达显著增加，caspase-3的mRNA表达促进CCRF-CEM细胞的凋亡。结论:WWOX基因在急性淋巴细胞性白血病CCRF-CEM细胞中发挥抑癌基因作用，可以有效促进细胞凋亡并抑制细胞周期进程。     

乳腺癌Survivin表达意义及苦参临床疗效分析

目的:探讨乳腺癌（breast cancer，BC）Survivin表达与以紫杉醇为主的化疗疗效之间的关系，并进一步研究复方苦参注射液对化疗疗效的影响。方法:筛选119例乳腺癌患者，通过回顾性分析，依据既往用药情况分为:含紫杉醇化疗组（A组）和化疗联合复方苦参注射液组（B组）。应用免疫组化法检测患者肿瘤组织中Survivin表达水平，再分为阳性表达组和阴性表达组。分别以χ2检验和Kaplan-Meier方法分析有效率和生存时间的差异。结果:A组阴性表达患者化疗有效率为83.3%，明显高于阳性表达组（P=0.031）；且PFS、OS均较阳性组延长，但仅PFS差异具有统计学意义（P=0.046）。B组阳性表达与阴性表达者在化疗有效率、PFS、OS方面均无明显差异。两组之间比较发现:联合苦参B组阳性表达患者有效率较单纯化疗A组阳性表达者有明显升高趋势(P=0.026)。阳性表达者PFS在联合苦参后由12.761月提高到16.197月，具有统计学差异（P=0.027）。OS由30.789月提高到36.570月，但差异并没有统计学意义（P>0.05）。结论:对Survivin表达水平的检测有望成为乳腺癌含紫杉醇化疗方案的预测指标，且针对Survivin高表达患者联合复方苦参注射液可能提高化疗的有效率，甚至延长PFS。