Synthesis and automated fluorine-18 radiolabeling of new PSMA-617 derivatives with a CuAAC radiosynthetic approach

In the last decade, the development of new radiopharmaceuticals for the imaging and therapy of prostate cancer has been a highly active and important area of research, especially focusing on the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), an antigen which is upregulated in prostate, as well as in other tumor cells. A large variety of PSMA ligands have been radiolabeled, to date. Among the various derivatives, PSMA-617 resulted to be one of the most interesting in terms of interaction with the antigen and clinical properties, and its lutetium-177 labeled version has recently been approved by regulatory agencies for therapeutic purposes. For this reasons, the radiolabeling with fluorine-18 of a PSMA-617 derivative might be of interest. Beside other methodologies to radiolabel macromolecules with fluorine-18, the “click-chemistry” approach resulted to be very useful, and the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) is considered one of most efficient and reliable. This paper proposes the synthesis of a suitable precursor for the radiolabeling with fluorine-18 of a new PSMA-617 derivative. The whole radiosynthetic procedure has been fully automated, and the final product, which proved to be stable in plasma, has been obtained with radiochemical yield and purity suitable for subsequent preclinical studies.     

子野个数限值对宫颈癌固定野调强放疗计划的影响

目的:分析子野个数限值对宫颈癌固定野调强放疗（fixed-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy,ff-IMRT）计划的影响，寻求最优的子野个数限值。方法:选取10例接受ff-IMRT的宫颈癌患者，基于Monaco 5.11.03计划系统，以45 Gy/25 f处方剂量分别对同一患者设计8种ff-IMRT计划（ff-IMRT计划依据子野个数限值命名，子野个数限值分别为40、60、70、80、100、120、130、150），采用SPSS 20.0软件比较除plan100之外7个ff-IMRT计划与plan100剂量学参数、优化时间和治疗参数的差异。结果:8种ff-IMRT计划归一化后，plan40和plan60的D2%、Dmin、CI和HI均劣于plan100（P＜0.05）。8种ff-IMRT计划均能较好保护危及器官（organ at risk,OAR）和正常组织。plan40小肠V45;plan40和plan60小肠D2cc，直肠、膀胱V45、D40%，两侧股骨头V40和正常组织 V35、V40均高于plan100（P＜0.05）。plan40和plan60优化时间、治疗参数均优于plan100（P＜0.05）；plan120、plan130和plan150子野面积、子野个数（51~150 cm2和＞150 cm2）和出束时间均劣于plan100（P＜0.05）。结论:子野个数限值为70~100时，ff-IMRT计划能兼顾剂量学参数满足临床要求、优化时间和治疗参数最优化，建议在设计宫颈癌ff-IMRT计划时在该范围内设置子野个数限值。     

A systematic review of axillary nodal irradiation for the management of the axilla in patients with early-stage breast cancer

BackgroundGiven numerous publications and clinical trials regarding axillary management in breast cancer, we sought to summarize this complex literature to help clarify this field for clinicians. This systematic review focuses on the role of irradiation of the axillary nodes (locoregional nodal irradiation [LRNI]) in the management of the axilla in patients with early-stage breast cancer in various clinical settings.MethodsWe searched MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, the Cochrane library, the proceedings of the ASCO, the ASTRO, the ESMO, the ESTRO, and the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (2016–2019) meetings. The quality of the studies was assessed with design-specific tools. The study was registered in PROSPERO.ResultsWe included one systematic review, one individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis, and five randomized controlled trials (RCTs). After axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), LRNI resulted in small benefits in breast cancer specific mortality, locoregional recurrence, and distant metastases-free survival but not overall survival. After a positive sentinel node biopsy (SLNB), LRNI may provide equivalent locoregional control and disease-free survival (DFS) compared to ALND with a lower risk of lymphedema. No randomized data is available for the neoadjuvant setting.ConclusionsThe summary of the role of radiation, is relevant to radiation oncologists for choosing the correct cohort of patient requiring LRNI and to surgeons making clinical decisions regarding the timing and type of breast reconstruction offered to patients.     

Oral cancer prediction by noninvasive genetic screening

Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) develop in genetically altered epithelium in the mucosal lining, also coined as fields, which are mostly not visible but occasionally present as white oral leukoplakia (OL) lesions. We developed a noninvasive genetic assay using next-generation sequencing (NGS) on brushed cells to detect the presence of genetically altered fields, including those that are not macroscopically visible. The assay demonstrated high accuracy in OL patients when brush samples were compared with biopsies as gold standard. In a cohort of Fanconi anemia patients, detection of mutations in prospectively collected oral brushes predicted oral cancer also when visible abnormalities were absent. We further provide insight in the molecular landscape of OL with frequent changes of TP53, FAT1 and NOTCH1. NGS analysis of noninvasively collected samples offers a highly accurate method to detect genetically altered fields in the oral cavity, and predicts development of OSCC in high-risk individuals. Noninvasive genetic screening can be employed to screen high-risk populations for cancer and precancer, map the extension of OL lesions beyond what is visible, map the oral cavity for precancerous changes even when visible abnormalities are absent, test accuracy of promising imaging modalities, monitor interventions and determine genetic progression as well as the natural history of the disease in the human patient.     

Confounded association between proton pump inhibitor use and risk of biliary tract cancer: Result from three cohorts

Recent epidemiological studies suggested that proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use was associated with an increased risk of biliary tract cancer (BTC), however, confounders were not adequately controlled. Our study aimed to evaluate PPI use and subsequent risk of BTC and its subtypes in three well-established cohorts. We conducted a pooled analysis of the subjects free of cancers in UK Biobank (n = 463 643), Nurses' Health Study (NHS, n = 80 235) and NHS II (n = 95 869). Propensity score weighted Cox models were used to estimate marginal HRs of PPIs use on BTC risk, accounting for potential confounders. We documented 284 BTC cases in UK Biobank (median follow-up: 7.6 years), and 91 cases in NHS and NHS II cohorts (median follow-up: 15.8 years). In UK biobank, PPI users had a 96% higher risk of BTC compared to nonusers in crude model (HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.44-2.66), but the effect was attenuated to null after adjusting for potential confounders (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.60-1.49). PPI use was not associated with risk of BTC in the pooled analysis of three cohorts (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.60-1.43). We also observed no associations between PPI use with risk of intrahepatic (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.49-2.04), extrahepatic bile duct (HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.52-2.27) and gallbladder cancers (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.26-1.66) in UK Biobank. In summary, regular use of PPIs was not associated with the risk of BTC and its subtypes.     

浅谈不同年龄结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌患者甲状腺超声特征的临床比较

目的:给予不同年龄结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌患者实施甲状腺超声检查,对相应的超声检查特征展开分析。方法:选择2018年6月~2019年6月的114例患者为对象,所有患者均被确诊为结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌,并且利用甲状腺二维超声及多普勒超声对患者进行检查,依据患者年龄阶段均分为两组,每组中各纳入57例患者,年龄超过60岁以上的患者为老年组;年龄在60岁以下的患者为中青年组,对比两组患者的血流相关指标与钙化情况数据。结果:老年组中的平均收缩期流速、阻力指数等数据明显低于中青年组,且比较后P<0.05,具有临床可比较意义。老年组中钙化的总例数为21例,总钙化率占比为36.84%,中青年组中钙化的总例数为38例,总钙化率占比为66.67%,前者数据显著低于后者钙化率,P<0.05。结论:在对结节性甲状腺肿合并甲状腺癌患者实施超声检查后,中青年组患者的病灶呈现低回声、高回声以及伴微小钙化、血流分布以内部血流为主、血流阻力大的特点明显高于老年组,能够显著提升诊断效果,为日后的临床治疗提供了图像依据。     

Role of surgical treatments in high-grade or advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

Over the last 40 years, the incidence and prevalence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) have continued to increase. Compared to other epithelial neoplasms in the same organ, GEP-NENs exhibit indolent biological behavior, resulting in more chances to undergo surgery. However, the role of surgery in high-grade or advanced GEP-NENs is still controversial. Surgery is associated with survival improvement of well-differentiated high-grade GEP-NENs, whereas poorly differentiated GEP-NENs that may benefit from resection require careful selection based on Ki67 and other tissue biomarkers. Additionally, surgery also plays an important role in locally advanced and metastatic disease. For locally advanced GEP-NENs, isolated major vascular involvement is no longer an absolute contraindication. In the setting of metastatic GEP-NENs, radical intended surgery is recommended for patients with low-grade and resectable metastases. For unresectable metastatic disease, a variety of surgical approaches, including cytoreduction of liver metastasis, liver transplantation, and surgery after neoadjuvant treatment, show survival benefits. Primary tumor resection in GEP-NENs with unresectable metastatic disease is associated with symptom control, prolonged survival, and improved sensitivity toward systemic therapies. Although there is no established neoadjuvant or adjuvant strategy, increasing attention has been given to this emerging research area. Some studies have reported that neoadjuvant therapy effectively reduces tumor burden, improves the effectiveness of subsequent surgery, and decreases surgical complications.     

Telehealth: An Effective Model of Care for Renal Cancer Surveillance

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic presented challenges for urology patients to receive care in the format of a traditional clinic visit. For renal cancer patients, active surveillance and postintervention surveillance are the standard components of management. Telehealth, which was defined as a televideo encounter via the BlueJeans (Verizon) platform (a telehealth platform), was used to ensure continuity of care. Telehealth using the televideo modality was shown to be an effective model of care delivery to provide an optimal patient experience with ease of use.