Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicities

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are molecules that increase the endogenous immune response against tumors. They have revolutionized the field of oncology. Since their initial approval for the treatment of advanced melanoma, their use has expanded to the treatment of several other advanced cancers. Unfortunately, immune checkpoint inhibitors have also been associated with the emergence of a new subset of autoimmune-like toxicities, known as immune-related adverse events. These toxicities differ depending on the agent, malignancy, and individual susceptibilities. Although the skin and colon are most commonly involved, any organ may be affected, including the liver, lungs, kidneys, and heart. Most of these toxicities are diagnosed by excluding other secondary infectious or inflammatory causes. Corticosteroids are commonly used for treatment of moderate and severe immune-related adverse events, although additional immunosuppressive therapy may occasionally be required. The occurrence of immune-related toxicities may require discontinuation of immunotherapy, depending on the specific toxicity and its severity. In this article, we provide a focused review to familiarize practicing clinicians with this important topic given that the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors continues to increase.     

Anisotropic Bladder Planning Target Volume in Bladder Radiation Therapy

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate 3 planning target volume (PTV) margin expansions and determine the most appropriate volume to be used in bladder preservation therapy when using daily cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). We aimed to establish whether a smaller PTV expansion is feasible without risking geographical miss.

Secretion,blood levels and cutaneous expression of TL1A in psoriasis patients

TL1A is a TNF‐like cytokine which has been shown to co‐stimulate TH1 and TH17 responses during chronic inflammation. The expression of this novel cytokine has been investigated in inflammatory disorders like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, but little is known about expression and induction in psoriasis. Indeed, the pathogenesis in psoriasis is still not fully understood and it is speculated that cytokines other than TNF‐α are important in subsets of patients. Also, for patients with severe disease that are treated with systemic anti‐TNF‐α blockade, novel candidates to be used as disease and response biomarkers are of high interest. Here, we demonstrate TL1A expression in biopsies from psoriatic lesions. Also, we investigated spontaneous and induced TL1A secretion from PBMCs and blood levels from a cohort of psoriasis patients. Here, increased spontaneous secretion from PBMCs was observed as compared to healthy controls and a small subset of patients had highly elevated TL1A in the blood. Interestingly, activation of PBMCs with various cytokines showed a decreased sensitivity for TL1A activation in psoriasis patients compared to healthy controls.TL1A levels in blood and biopsies could not be correlated with disease activity with this patient cohort. Thus, additional large‐scale studies are warranted to investigate TL1A as a biomarker.     

miR-26b通过调节Notch1信号通路参与原发性肝细胞肝癌侵袭的机制研究

目的:探讨miR-26b参与原发性肝细胞肝癌（HCC）侵袭的机制。方法:在细胞培养液中培养人肝细胞系HL-7702和HCC细胞各系Hepb-3、HuH-7、MHCC97-L、MHCC97-H。实时荧光定量PCR法（qRT-PCR）检测miR-26b的表达水平；用miR-26b mimics、miR-26b inhibitors和Notch1-siRNA分别转染HCC细胞；MTT实验检测转染后HCC细胞的活力；采用Western blot检测Notch1受体蛋白表达水平的变化；Transwell小室测定不同处理后的HCC细胞的侵袭能力。结果:人正常肝细胞系HL-7702和HCC细胞系Hepb-3、HuH-7、MHCC97-L、MHCC97-H中的miR-26b相对表达含量随其侵袭和迁移能力的升高而依次下降；抑制miR-26b的表达，Notch1受体蛋白表达明显增高，而此时HCC细胞的侵袭性显著增强；相反，上调miR-26b的表达，Notch1受体蛋白表达明显降低，而HCC细胞侵袭性显著下降；miR-26b可能通过调控Notch1信号通路调节HCC细胞侵袭性。结论:miR-26b通过负调控Notch1信号通路抑制HCC细胞侵袭能力，为HCC侵袭的机制奠定了理论基础，miR-26b可能成为HCC治疗的新靶点。     

肺癌靶向治疗研究:以文献计量学和可视化分析描述的热点与趋势

目的:通过文献计量学分析方法，阐述并分析肺癌靶向治疗的研究热点与趋势。方法:文章检索了万方数据库、Web of Science、SooPAT(中国专利)数据库近10年来国内外肺癌靶向治疗的相关文献，以文献计量学方法，分析并归类了肺癌靶向治疗的研究热点与时效变迁的趋势。结果:在万方数据库3 744篇肺癌靶向治疗的中文文章中，发现作用于表皮生长因子受体基因突变位点的分子靶向药物-吉非替尼治疗非小细胞肺癌的研究是中国学者近10年的主要研究热点；在近10年Web of Science数据库中检索到的810篇英文文章及参考文献显示，西妥昔单抗、贝伐单抗、纳武单抗、吉非替尼、厄洛替尼和环唑替尼为这10年肺癌治疗领域靶向治疗的热点药物，而多种靶向药物的联合治疗、晚期非小细胞肺癌的靶向治疗效果和肺癌靶向治疗后的脑转移也成为近5年该领域的国际关注热点；中国肺癌靶向治疗领域的254项有权专利的分析显示，申报了专利的主要药物包括酸敏感的吉非替尼-氟硼二吡咯衍生物、顺铂抗肺癌主动靶向隐形类脂质体等。结论:文章采用文献计量学的量化分析技术，呈现出近10年肺癌靶向治疗已成为该领域专业研究者持续关注的热点，而如何选择正确的靶向药物或药物组合方案来解决肺癌治疗中的耐药性问题，同时最大程度地减少患者的不良反应，以延长患者的生存率，应是未来集中研究的方向。     

新生血管特异性结合肽GX1二聚体抑制胃癌新生血管生成的实验研究

目的:探讨新生血管特异性结合肽GX1二聚体对胃癌新生血管生成的影响。方法:化学合成GX1二聚体、GX1单体、对照肽二聚体，CCK-8实验、管状结构形成实验、迁移实验研究GX1二聚体对胃癌血管内皮细胞（co-HUVEC）增殖、微管形成、迁移能力的影响，流式细胞学技术分析其对细胞周期分布和凋亡的影响。结果:CCK-8结果显示，GX1二聚体与对照肽二聚体及PBS对照组相比，100~200 μmol/L可抑制co-HUVEC增殖，具有统计学差异（P<0.05），并呈剂量依赖性，GX1二聚体较单体抑制作用增强，并有统计学差异（P<0.05）。管状结构形成实验、细胞损伤迁移实验结果显示，与对照肽二聚体及对照组PBS 相比，GX1二聚体及GX1单体，均可抑制胃癌内皮细胞管状结构的形成及迁移，且二聚体抑制作用强于单体；对照肽二聚体仅有轻微的抑制胃癌内皮细胞管状结构的形成及迁移。流式细胞术分析显示，与对照肽二聚体及PBS对照组相比，GX1二聚体及GX1单体均可诱导细胞凋亡（P<0.05），且GX1二聚体的诱导作用强于GX1单体（P<0.05），而对细胞周期分布则无明显影响。结论:GX1二聚体和GX1单体均可抑制胃癌新生血管内皮细胞增殖、微管形成、迁移能力及诱导凋亡，且GX1二聚体较GX1单体作用增强。GX1二聚体有望代替单体成为胃癌新生血管靶向治疗小肽类药物。     

PTPN6通过抑制SP1/p38 MAPK信号通路促进前列腺癌细胞的化疗敏感性

目的:研究PTPN6对前列腺癌细胞PC3的作用及其作用机制。方法:RT-PCR和Western blot实验检测前列腺癌组织和细胞以及癌旁组织和人前列腺上皮细胞中PTPN6的表达量；CCK-8和EDU染色实验检测PTPN6对前列腺癌细胞PC3增殖的影响；Western blot实验检测耐药相关蛋白P-gp和MRP-1的蛋白表达水平。结果:RT-PCR和Western blot结果显示，PTPN6在前列腺癌组织和细胞中的表达量显著低于癌旁组织和人前列腺上皮细胞中的表达量；过表达PTPN6显著抑制前列腺癌PC3细胞的增殖，并降低PC3细胞的耐药性；进一步的研究结果表明PTPN6可通过抑制SP1，并抑制p38 MAPK通路抑制PC3细胞的增殖和耐药。结论:PTPN6能够抑制前列腺癌细胞PC3的增殖和耐药，提高其化疗敏感性，作用机制是通过调控SP1/p38 MAPK信号通路来实现的，这一结果能够为临床上前列腺癌的诊断和治疗提供分子基础。     

Attachment to Caregivers and Type 1 Diabetes in Children

Attachment is a behavioral and physiological system, which enables individual’s dynamic adaptation to its environment. Attachment develops in close interaction between an infant and his/her mother, plays an important role in the development of the infant’s brain, and influences the quality of interpersonal relationships throughout life.Security of attachment is believed to influence individual response to stress, exposing insecurely organized individuals to deregulated autonomic nervous system and exaggerated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity, which, in turn, produces increased and prolonged exposure to stress-hormones. Such stress responses may have considerable implications for the development of diverse health-risk conditions, such as insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia, shown by numerous studies.Although the mechanisms are not yet fully understood, there is compelling evidence highlighting the role of psychological stress in the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D). One of the possible contributing factors for the development of T1D may be the influence of attachment security on individual stress reactivity. Thus, the suggestion is that insecurely attached individuals are more prone to experience increased and prolonged influence of stress hormones and other mechanisms causing pancreatic beta-cell destruction.The present paper opens with a short overview of the field of attachment in children, the principal attachment classifications and their historic development, describes the influence of attachment security on individual stress-reactivity and the role of the latter in the development of T1D. Following is a review of recent literature on the attachment in patients with T1D with a conclusion of a proposed role of attachment organization in the etiology of T1D.