Out of the boxes,out of the silos: The need of interdisciplinary collaboration to reduce poor-quality medical products in the supply chain

In this paper, we argue that understanding and addressing the problem of poor-quality medical products requires a more interdisciplinary approach than has been evident to date. While prospective studies based on rigorous standardized methodologies are the gold standard for measuring the prevalence of poor-quality medical products and understanding their distribution nationally and internationally, they should be complemented by social science research to unpack the complex set of social, economic, and governance factors that underlie these patterns. In the following sections, we discuss specific examples of prospective quality surveys and of social science studies, highlighting the value of cross-sector partnerships in driving high-quality, policy-relevant research in this area.     

胶质淋巴系统——脑部疾病机制研究新方向

胶质淋巴系统是一个主要由星形胶质细胞水通道蛋白4介导的依靠动脉、静脉周围血管间隙的脑脊液-脑组织液交换流动的系统，是阿尔茨海默病、脑卒中、帕金森病、失眠、抑郁症等脑病的共同特征，是一条新的脑代谢途径，可以清除包括β-淀粉样蛋白、乳酸在内的代谢产物。本文综合分析了全球有关胶质淋巴系统在脑部疾病的研究，得出：胶质淋巴系统可能为神经退行性疾病等发病机制和诊治策略研究带来新视角；胶质淋巴系统有望为一些脑部疾病诊断提供新的有效证据；胶质淋巴系统可能是脑部疾病治疗给药方式的新途径。     

What is the impact of zinc deficiency for pancreatectomies in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma?

Backgroundand purpose: Zinc is an essential element for human health and plays an important role in metabolic, immunological and other biological processes. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between zinc deficiency (ZD) and the perioperative clinical course in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).MethodsOf 216 patients with PDAC who underwent elective pancreatectomy between 2013 and 2017 at our institution, 206 patients with sufficient clinical data were retrospectively reviewed. The perioperative variables were compared and the risk factors associated with infectious complications were identified.ResultsZD was preoperatively present in 36 (17.5%) of 206 patients with PDAC. In the patients of the ZD group, a higher proportion of males, higher preoperative modified Glasgow prognostic scores, a higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and a higher occurrence of postoperative infectious complications after pancreatectomy were observed, compared to the non-ZD group. By a univariate analysis, three risk factors were significantly associated with infectious complications after pancreatectomy: ZD (vs non-ZD: p = 0.002), serum albumin <3.5 g/dl (vs ≥ 3.5 g/dl: p = 0.005), and the procedure of pancreaticoduodenectomy (vs others: p = 0.013). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the occurrence of infectious complications was significantly associated with ZD (OR 3.430, 95%CI 1.570 to 7.490, p = 0.002) and the procedure of pancreaticoduodenectomy (OR 2.030, 95%CI 1.090 to 3.770, p = 0.025).ConclusionsThe current study newly demonstrated that ZD could serve as a preoperative predictor of infectious complications after pancreatectomies in the patients with PDAC.     

Efficacy and safety of cold snare polypectomy for sessile serrated polyps ≥ 10 mm: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundCold snare polypectomy (CSP) is a promising technique for the removal of sessile serrated polyps (SSPs) ≥ 10 mm. However, the efficacy and safety of this technique remain undetermined.AimsWe aimed to comprehensively evaluate the efficacy and safety of CSP for SSPs ≥ 10 mm.MethodsPubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched up to January 2021.ResultsA total of 10 studies consisting of 1727 SSPs (range, 10–40 mm) from 1021 patients were included. The overall rates of technical success, adverse events (AEs) and residual SSPs were 100%, 0.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that the rates of technical success and AEs were comparable between CSP and cold endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) (99.9% vs. 100% and 1.3% vs. 0.5%, respectively), between the proximal and distal colon (100% vs. 99.9% and 0.3% vs. 0, respectively), and between polyps of 10–19 mm and ≥20 mm (99.8% vs. 100% and 0.9% vs. 0, respectively). However, subgroup analysis showed that the rate of residual SSPs was slightly lower in CSP compared with cold EMR (1.3% vs. 3.9%), as well as in polyps of 10–19 mm compared with those ≥20 mm (3.1% vs. 4.7%).ConclusionCSP was an effective and safe technique for removing SSPs ≥ 10 mm.     

Pharmacokinetics and Early Tumor Response to Conventional Transarterial Chemoembolization with Sorafenib and Doxorubicin in a VX2 Rabbit Tumor Model

PurposeTo investigate the pharmacokinetics (PK) and early effects of conventional transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) using sorafenib and doxorubicin on tumor necrosis, hypoxia markers, and angiogenesis in a rabbit VX2 liver tumor model.Materials and MethodsVX2 tumor-laden New Zealand White rabbits (N = 16) were divided into 2 groups: 1 group was treated with hepatic arterial administration of ethiodized oil and doxorubicin emulsion (DOX-TACE), and the other group was treated with ethiodized oil, sorafenib, and doxorubicin emulsion (SORA-DOX-TACE). Animals were killed within 3 days of the procedure. Levels of sorafenib and doxorubicin were measured in blood, tumor, and adjacent liver using mass spectrometry. Tumor necrosis was determined by histopathological examination. Intratumoral hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 1α, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and microvessel density (MVD) were determined by immunohistochemistry.ResultsThe median intratumoral concentration of sorafenib in the SORA-DOX-TACE group was 17.7 μg/mL (interquartile range [IQR], 7.42–33.5 μg/mL), and its maximal plasma concentration (C_max) was 0.164 μg/mL (IQR, 0.0798–0.528 μg/mL). The intratumoral concentration and C_max of doxorubicin were similar between the groups: 4.08 μg/mL (IQR, 3.18–4.79 μg/mL) and 0.677 μg/mL (IQR, 0.315–1.23 μg/mL), respectively, in the DOX-TACE group and 1.68 μg/mL (IQR, 0.795–4.08 μg/mL) and 0.298 μg/mL (IQR, 0.241–0.64 μg/mL), respectively, in the SORA-DOX-TACE group. HIF-1α expression was increased in the SORA-DOX-TACE group than in the DOX-TACE group. Tumor volume, tumor necrosis, VEGF expression, and MVD were similar between the 2 groups.ConclusionsThe addition of sorafenib to DOX-TACE delivered to VX2 liver tumors resulted in high intratumoral and low systemic concentrations of sorafenib without altering the PK of doxorubicin.     

Tumor-associated high endothelial venules mediate lymphocyte entry into tumors and predict response to PD-1 plus CTLA-4 combination immunotherapy

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鼻咽癌患者血清中miR-141-3p和miR-155-3p的表达水平及其临床意义北大核心

目的:探讨鼻咽癌患者血清中miR-141-3p及miR-155-3p的表达水平及临床意义。方法:选取2017年01月至2020年09月我院收治的95例鼻咽癌患者和45例健康对照组作为研究对象,采用实时荧光定量PCR法检测miR-141-3p及miR-155-3p表达水平。应用受试者工作特征(receiver operating characteristic, ROC)曲线分析血清中miR-141-3p及miR-155-3p表达水平对鼻咽癌的诊断价值。Pearson相关分析分析鼻咽癌患者血清中miR-141-3p与miR-155-3p表达水平的相关性。结果:鼻咽癌组血清中miR-141-3p(3.25±1.28 vs 0.64±0.17)及miR-155-3p(1.47±0.83 vs 0.35±0.08)表达水平均明显高于对照组(P均<0.001)。鼻咽癌患者血清中miR-141-3p及miR-155-3p表达水平升高与临床分期高、分化程度低、淋巴结转移及远处转移相关(P均<0.001)。ROC曲线显示,血清中miR-141-3p及miR-155-3p表达水平诊断鼻咽癌的最佳截断值分别为2.18、0.97,两项联合诊断鼻咽癌的曲线下面积(0.940,95%CI:0.877~0.998)最大,其敏感度和特异度为97.0%和86.2%。相关分析显示,鼻咽癌患者血清中miR-141-3p与miR-155-3p表达水平呈正相关(r=0.853,P<0.001)。结论:鼻咽癌患者血清中miR-141-3p及miR-155-3p表达水平明显升高,有望作为鼻咽癌诊断的潜在标志物。     

Limited clinical activity of palbociclib and ribociclib monotherapy in advanced cancers with cyclin D-CDK4/6 pathway alterations in the Dutch DRUP and Australian MoST trials

The Dutch Drug Rediscovery Protocol (DRUP) and the Australian Cancer Molecular Screening and Therapeutic (MoST) Program are similar nonrandomized, multidrug, pan-cancer trial platforms that aim to identify signals of clinical activity of molecularly matched targeted therapies or immunotherapies outside their approved indications. Here, we report results for advanced or metastatic cancer patients with tumors harboring cyclin D-CDK4/6 pathway alterations treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors palbociclib or ribociclib. We included adult patients that had therapy-refractory solid malignancies with the following alterations: amplifications of CDK4, CDK6, CCND1, CCND2 or CCND3, or complete loss of CDKN2A or SMARCA4. Within MoST, all patients were treated with palbociclib, whereas in DRUP, palbociclib and ribociclib were assigned to different cohorts (defined by tumor type and alteration). The primary endpoint for this combined analysis was clinical benefit, defined as confirmed objective response or stable disease ≥16 weeks. We treated 139 patients with a broad variety of tumor types; 116 with palbociclib and 23 with ribociclib. In 112 evaluable patients, the objective response rate was 0% and clinical benefit rate at 16 weeks was 15%. Median progression-free survival was 4 months (95% CI: 3-5 months), and median overall survival 5 months (95% CI: 4-6 months). In conclusion, only limited clinical activity of palbociclib and ribociclib monotherapy in patients with pretreated cancers harboring cyclin D-CDK4/6 pathway alterations was observed. Our findings indicate that monotherapy use of palbociclib or ribociclib is not recommended and that merging data of two similar precision oncology trials is feasible.