扶正消瘤颗粒对原发性肝癌血清中VEGF、HIF-1α表达的影响及临床意义＊

目的 探讨扶正消瘤颗粒对原发性肝癌血清中血管内皮生长因子（Vascular endothelial growth factor，VEGF）和缺氧诱导因子-1α（Hypoxia inducible factor-1α，HIF-1α）表达的影响及临床意义。方法 选择符合纳入标准的原发性肝癌患者66例，按1∶1随机分试验组和对照组。观察治疗过程中两组VEGF、HIF-1α水平的变化及对患者临床疗效指标的影响。结果 （1）在性别、年龄、合并乙型肝炎、Child-Pugh分级、AFP值、临床分期方面，试验组和对照组差异无统计学意义（P > 0.05）。（2）肝癌患者在治疗各时间节点的VEGF和HIF-1α表达水平呈线性正相关（r = 0.829，P < 0.001）。（3）VEGF浓度在经导管动脉化疗栓塞术（Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization，TACE）后3月降至术前水平（P > 0.05），HIF-1α在TACE后3月仍高于术前（P < 0.05）。（4）扶正消瘤颗粒可降低HIF-1α水平，下调VEGF的表达。（5）扶正消瘤颗粒可减少TACE序贯RFA治疗后的不良反应，提高患者的生活质量（P < 0.05）。（6）血清中VEGF水平与生活质量无明显相关性（P > 0.05，r = 0.251），HIF-1α水平与生活质量存在正相关性（P < 0.05，r = 0.450）。结论 扶正消瘤颗粒可明显改善TACE序贯RFA治疗后患者生活质量，降低HIF-1α水平，下调VEGF的表达，抑制肿瘤血管生成。     

Sample size re-estimation for clinical trials with longitudinal negative binomial counts including time trends

In some diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, lesion counts obtained from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are used as markers of disease progression. This leads to longitudinal, and typically overdispersed, count data outcomes in clinical trials. Models for such data invariably include a number of nuisance parameters, which can be difficult to specify at the planning stage, leading to considerable uncertainty in sample size specification. Consequently, blinded sample size re-estimation procedures are used, allowing for an adjustment of the sample size within an ongoing trial by estimating relevant nuisance parameters at an interim point, without compromising trial integrity. To date, the methods available for re-estimation have required an assumption that the mean count is time-constant within patients. We propose a new modeling approach that maintains the advantages of established procedures but allows for general underlying and treatment-specific time trends in the mean response. A simulation study is conducted to assess the effectiveness of blinded sample size re-estimation methods over fixed designs. Sample sizes attained through blinded sample size re-estimation procedures are shown to maintain the desired study power without inflating the Type I error rate and the procedure is demonstrated on MRI data from a recent study in multiple sclerosis.     

Use of colony-stimulating factor primary prophylaxis and incidence of febrile neutropenia from 2010 to 2016: a longitudinal assessment

Background: Guidelines recommend primary prophylactic use of colony-stimulating factor (PP-CSF) when risk of febrile neutropenia (FN) – based on chemotherapy and patient risk factors – is high. Whether and how PP-CSF use may have changed over time (e.g. due to guideline revisions, increasing use of myelosuppressive regimens, controversy regarding inappropriate CSF use), and whether there has been a concomitant change in the incidence of FN, is unknown.

Methods: A retrospective cohort design and data from two US healthcare claims repositories were employed. The study population included patients who had non-metastatic cancer of the breast, colon/rectum, lung or ovaries, or non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), and who received myelosuppressive chemotherapy regimens with an intermediate/high risk for FN. For each patient, the first cycle of the first course was characterized in terms of PP-CSF use and FN episodes. Crude incidence proportions for PP-CSF and FN during the first cycle were estimated by calendar quarter (2010–2016); multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate quarter-specific adjusted mean probabilities of FN by PP-CSF use.

Results: The study population totaled 142,730 patients with breast cancer (61%), colorectal cancer (14%), NHL (11%), ovarian cancer (10%) or lung cancer (5%). PP-CSF use increased from 52% in 1Q2010 to 58% in 4Q2016; pegfilgrastim was the most commonly used agent (>96% across quarters). PP-CSF administration on the same day as chemotherapy ranged from 8 to 11% until 1Q2015, and increased to 64% by 4Q2016. Adjusted incidence proportions for FN in the first chemotherapy cycle ranged from 2.7% (95% CI: 2.3–3.0) to 3.7% (95% CI: 3.1–4.3) among those who did not receive PP-CSF, and was 2.6% (95% CI: 2.5–2.7) across quarters among those who received PP-CSF.

Conclusions: Although the use of PP-CSF is commonplace in current US clinical practice, underutilization in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy regimens with an intermediate/high risk for FN may still be an issue. Use of same-day PP-CSF increased markedly from the end of 2015, although this finding reflects (at least in part) increased uptake of pegfilgrastim delivered via an on-body injector as well as the recent change in clinical practice guidelines. Overall, patients receiving PP-CSF appear to have a lower risk of FN during the first cycle of chemotherapy.