Serial measurement of hepatic lipids during chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer: a 1H MRS study

Hepatic steatosis is a hallmark of chemotherapy‐induced liver injury. We made serial ¹H MRS measurements of hepatic lipids in patients over the time course of a 24‐week chemotherapeutic regimen to determine whether ¹H MRS could be used to monitor the progression of chemotherapy‐induced steatosis. Thirty‐four patients with stage III or IV colorectal cancer receiving 5‐fluorouracil, folinic acid and oxaliplatin (n = 21) or hepatic arterial infusion of floxuridine with systemic irinotecan (n = 13) were studied prospectively. ¹H MRS studies were performed at baseline and after 6 and 24 weeks of treatment. A ¹H MR spectrum was acquired from the liver during a breath hold and the ratio of fat to fat + water (FFW) was calculated to give a measure of hepatic triglycerides (HTGCs). The methodology was histologically validated in 18 patients and the reproducibility was assessed in 16 normal volunteers. Twenty‐seven patients completed baseline, 6‐week and 24‐week ¹H MRS examinations and one was censored. Thirteen of 26 patients (50%) showed an increase in FFW after completion of treatment. Six patients (23%) developed hepatic steatosis and two patients converted from steatosis to nonsteatotic liver. Patients whose 6‐week hepatic lipid levels had increased significantly relative to baseline also had a high probability of lipid elevation relative to baseline at the completion of treatment. Serial ¹H MRS is effective for the monitoring of HTGC changes during chemotherapy and for the detection of chemotherapy‐associated steatosis. Six of 26 patients developed steatosis during chemotherapy. Lipid changes were observable at 6 weeks. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Primary leiomyosarcomas of the skin

We report four cases of cutaneous, and one of subcutaneous, leiomyosarcoma with the results of histological examinations and immunohistochemical studies. likelihood of metastases than the cutaneous type. Only one of our cutaneous leiomyosarcomas recurred after 18 months and the patient with a subcutaneous lesion had lung metastases after five years. Subcutaneous leiomyosarcomas have more     

Education and Levels of Salivary Cortisol Over the Day in US Adults

Background  

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is hypothesized to be an important pathway linking socioeconomic position and chronic disease.     

Negative prognostic effect of low nuclear GLI1 expression in glioblastomas

This is preliminary study assessing the efficacy and safety of concurrent use of radiation therapy (RT) and T-DM1 for the treatment of brain metastases (BM) in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer (BC). We retrospectively studied 12 patients treated for BM at the Institut Curie in 2014–2015 with T-DM1 and concurrent (4) or sequential (8) radiosurgery with or without whole brain irradiation. The following variables were studied: local control, clinical and radiological response as well as early and late side effects. The mean age of the population was 38 years at the time of diagnosis of BC and 46 years at of BM. All patients were with good PS. The response rate of the concurrent treatment group was 75?% with 1 complete response, 1 partial response, one stable disease and 1 progression. Comparatively, the response rate in the sequential group was as follows: two complete responses, two partial responses, six cases of stable disease and two cases of local progression. No patient experienced interruption of irradiation because of side effects. About 50?% of patients were asymptomatic after treatment. Radiation necrosis was observed in 50?% of patients in the concurrent group and 28.6?% of patients in the sequential group with a similar rate of oedema in the two groups. We found that the combination of T-DM1 and radiosurgery was feasible but can increase the incidence of radiation necrosis. Larger prospective studies with longer follow-up are needed to more clearly evaluate this association.