Internalizing symptoms, rumination, and problematic social networking site use: A cross national examination among young adults in seven countries

BACKGROUND

As daily engagement with social networking sites (SNS) increases globally, identifying and understanding the risk factors associated with problematic SNS use is of utmost importance. Researchers are interested in understanding internalizing symptoms as both a risk factor and a negative consequence of problematic SNS use. Prior research has proposed rumination alongside internalizing symptoms as a risk factor, though limited research has examined these associations across different cultures.

OBJECTIVE

The present study examined the indirect associations between internalizing symptoms (specifically depressive and social anxiety symptoms) and problematic SNS use via rumination among a cross-cultural sample.

METHOD

Participants were 8,912 (70.8 % female; Mean age = 20.25, SD = 3.95) college students recruited across seven countries (U.S., Canada, Spain, England, Argentina, Uruguay, and South Africa) who completed measures of internalizing symptoms, rumination, weekly SNS use, and problematic SNS use.

RESULTS

We found that higher internalizing symptoms were associated with more problematic SNS use via higher ruminative thinking. Specifically, problem-focused thoughts (a rumination subtype) uniquely accounted for 22.89% and 28.15% of the total effect of depressive and social anxiety symptoms on problematic SNS use, respectively. Other rumination subtypes (i.e., anticipatory thoughts and repetitive thinking) also demonstrated significant indirect effects, though weaker effects than for problem-focused thoughts. Findings were invariant across countries.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide support for further exploring the role rumination plays in determining and comparing problematic SNS use cross-culturally in longitudinal and experimental work.

Correction: The development and validation of the Videogaming Motives Questionnaire (VMQ)

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240726.].

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients With Cancer and Infection by Hepatitis B or C Virus: A Perspective Through the Results of a European Survey

Introduction

Patients with cancer and hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are underrepresented in several clinical trials testing immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Consequently, safety and efficacy of ICI therapy in this population have not been completely defined. We aimed to evaluate the attitudes of oncologists on this topic.

Methods

We conducted a 14-item European anonymous online survey.

Results

Physicians from 56 oncology departments (26 from Italy, 15 from France, and 15 from Spain) took part in the survey. They mainly used to prescribe ICIs for treating patients with lung cancer, melanoma, and renal cell carcinoma. Of them, 95% recognized the need for specific guidelines addressing the management of patients with cancer and HBV or HCV treated with ICIs. Just 63% of the respondents screened patients for HBV and HCV status before ICIs initiation, although the risk of immune-related hepatotoxicity or viral reactivation was a major concern for most of them. Only 9% of the surveyed oncologists considered HBV and HCV infection a major exclusion criterion for receiving ICIs. Furthermore, 29% of the respondents would start a prophylactic treatment of active infection at ICIs initiation.

Conclusions

ICIs administration in patients with cancer and HBV or HCV infection is of concern for most of the surveyed European oncologists. Nonetheless, active screening and treatment of viral hepatitis should be improved. Data in this specific setting are needed for an evidence-based management and should be generated by broadening inclusion criteria of clinical trials to allow the enrollment of patients with HBV and HCV.

Biological Rationale for Peripheral Blood Cell-Derived Inflammatory Indices and Related Prognostic Scores in Patients with Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To describe the biological rationale of peripheral blood cells (PBC)-derived inflammatory indexes and assess the related prognostic scores for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC) treated with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).

RECENT FINDINGS

Inflammatory indexes based on PBC may indicate a pro-inflammatory condition affecting the immune response to cancer. The lung immune prognostic index (LIPI), consisting of derived neutrophils-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lactate dehydrogenase, is a validated prognostic tool, especially for pretreated aNSCLC patients, where the combination of NLR and PD-L1 tumour expression might also be predictive of immunotherapy benefit. In untreated high-PD-L1 aNSCLC patients, the Lung-Immune-Prognostic score (LIPS), including NLR, ECOG PS and concomitant steroids, is prognostic, and its modified version might indicate patients with favourable outcomes despite an ECOG PS of 2. NLR times platelets (i.e., SII), included in the NHS-Lung score, might improve the prognostication for combined chemoimmunotherapy. PBC-derived inflammatory indexes and related scores represent accurate, reproducible and non-expensive prognostic tools with clinical and research utility.

Effects of spatial variation in dose delivery: what can we learn from radon-related lung cancer studies?

Exposure to radon progeny results in heterogeneous dose distributions in many different spatial scales. The aim of this review is to provide an overview on the state of the art in epidemiology, clinical observations, cell biology, dosimetry, and modelling related to radon exposure and its association with lung cancer, along with priorities for future research. Particular attention is paid on the effects of spatial variation in dose delivery within the organs, a factor not considered in radiation protection. It is concluded that a multidisciplinary approach is required to improve risk assessment and mechanistic understanding of carcinogenesis related to radon exposure. To achieve these goals, important steps would be to clarify whether radon can cause other diseases than lung cancer, and to investigate radon-related health risks in children or persons at young ages. Also, a better understanding of the combined effects of radon and smoking is needed, which can be achieved by integrating epidemiological, clinical, pathological, and molecular oncology data to obtain a radon-associated signature. While in vitro models derived from primary human bronchial epithelial cells can help to identify new and corroborate existing biomarkers, they also allow to study the effects of heterogeneous dose distributions including the effects of locally high doses. These novel approaches can provide valuable input and validation data for mathematical models for risk assessment. These models can be applied to quantitatively translate the knowledge obtained from radon exposure to other exposures resulting in heterogeneous dose distributions within an organ to support radiation protection in general.

Implementing the European Society for Medical Oncology Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets in a Comprehensive Profiling Program: Impact on Precision Medicine Oncology

PURPOSE

To facilitate implementation of precision medicine in clinical management of cancer, the European Society of Medical Oncology proposed in 2018 a new scale to harmonize and standardize the reporting and interpretation of clinically relevant genomics data (ESMO Scale of Actionability of molecular Targets [ESCAT]). This study aims to characterize the clinical impact of matching targetable genomic alterations (GAs) in patients with advanced cancer according to ESCAT.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Analysis of next-generation sequencing results from 552 patients is included in two prospective precision medicine studies at Gustave Roussy. End points included objective response rates, progression-free survival, and overall survival according to ESCAT.

RESULTS

Molecular data from 516 patients were available and discussed within a Molecular Tumor Board. The most common tumor types were GI (n = 164; 30%), lung (n = 137; 25%), and urologic tumors (n = 68; 13%). Overall, 379 GAs were considered as actionable targets according to ESCAT in 348 (67%) patients. In 31 (6%) patients, two concomitant actionable targets were identified. On the basis of ESCAT, GAs were considered to be classified as tier I in 120 patients (29%), II in 25 patients (5%), III in 80 patients (16%), and IV in 153 patients (30%). A total of 136 patients (27%) received a matched therapy. ESCAT was significantly associated with objective response rates and clinical benefit rates. The median progression-free survival was 6.5 months (95% CI, 4.2 to 8.9), 3 months (95% CI, 1 to not available), 3 months (95% CI, 2.2 to 3.8), and 4 months (95% CI, 2.8 to 6.3) for ESCAT I, II, III, and IV, respectively ( P = .0125).

CONCLUSION

Implementation of ESCAT classification for clinical decision making by Molecular Tumor Board is feasible and useful to better tailor therapies in patients with cancer.

Prognostic scores including peripheral blood-derived inflammatory indices in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors

Peripheral blood inflammatory indices, like the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), may reflect the host's pro-inflammatory status and systemic immune response to cancer-related inflammation. We reviewed 22 combined prognostic scores based on peripheral blood-derived inflammatory indices for aNSCLC patients treated with single-agent or combination immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) as first-line or subsequent therapy lines and attempted evidence strength assessment and scoring. The Lung Immune Prognostic Index (LIPI), consisting of derived NLR and LDH, was the most studied score with validated prognostic value in over five thousand aNSCLC ICI-naïve or pretreated patients. The combination of NLR and tumour programmed-cell-death-ligand1 (PD-L1) expression showed a predictive value. The Lung-Immune-Prognostic score (LIPS) might help identify patients with poor performance status but a favourable outcome following first-line ICI. These non-expensive scores can help clinicians discuss the prognosis with aNSCLC patients approaching ICI, identify those less likely to benefit from single-agent ICI and orient future clinical research.

Neuroticism, rumination, depression and suicidal ideation: A moderated serial mediation model across four countries

Background/objective

Research has highlighted the role of neuroticism, rumination, and depression in predicting suicidal thoughts, but studies on how these variables interplay are scarce. The aims of the present study were to test a model in which emotional stability (i.e., low neuroticism) would act as an antecedent and moderator of rumination and depressed mood in the prediction of suicidal ideation (i.e., moderated serial-mediation), and to explore their replicability across four countries and sex, among college students as an at-risk-group for suicide.

Method

Participants were 3482 undergraduates from U.S, Spain, Argentina, and the Netherlands. Path analysis and multi-group analysis were conducted.

Results

Emotional stability was indirectly linked to suicidal ideation via rumination and depressed mood. Moreover, emotional stability moderated the associations between rumination and depressed mood, and between depressed mood and suicidal ideation. Findings were consistent in males and females, and across countries studied.

Discussion

Regardless of sex and country, people with low emotional stability reported higher levels of rumination, which in turn was associated with more depressed mood, and these were associated with higher reports of suicidal thoughts. This cascade of psychological risk factors for suicidal ideation seems to be more harmful in people who endorse low levels of emotional stability.

Circulating Low Density Neutrophils Are Associated with Resistance to First Line Anti-PD1/PDL1 Immunotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Simple Summary

Immunotherapy has been positioned as frontline therapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), alone when PD-L1 tumor expression is high, or combined with chemotherapy otherwise. However, 50% of the patients do not respond to the treatment and the mechanisms of resistance are not well defined. Moreover, it is not clear whether chemo-immunotherapy could be advantageous in high PD-L1 tumor expression. We have found that baseline circulating low-density neutrophils (LDN) identify a subset of patients intrinsically refractory to immunotherapy. Interestingly, responses can be achieved with CT+IT, detecting a progressive depletion of LDN. Besides the potential role as predictive biomarker we observed that resistance was mediated by soluble molecules related with the HGF/c-MET pathway. Our findings establish circulating myeloid cells as one of the main mediators of resistance to immunotherapy in NSCLC, and give a rationale for potential drug combinations that might improve the outcomes.

Abstract

Single-agent immunotherapy has been widely accepted as frontline treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high tumor PD-L1 expression, but most patients do not respond and the mechanisms of resistance are not well known. Several works have highlighted the immunosuppressive activities of myeloid subpopulations, including low-density neutrophils (LDNs), although the context in which these cells play their role is not well defined. We prospectively monitored LDNs in peripheral blood from patients with NSCLC treated with anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) as frontline therapy, in a cohort of patients treated with anti-PD1 immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy (CT+IT), and correlated values with outcomes. We explored the underlying mechanisms through ex vivo experiments. Elevated baseline LDNs predict primary resistance to ICI monotherapy in patients with NSCLC, and are not associated with response to CT+IT. Circulating LDNs mediate resistance in NSCLC receiving ICI as frontline therapy through humoral immunosuppression. A depletion of this population with CT+IT might overcome resistance, suggesting that patients with high PD-L1 tumor expression and high baseline LDNs might benefit from this combination. The activation of the HGF/c-MET pathway in patients with elevated LDNs revealed by quantitative proteomics supports potential drug combinations targeting this pathway.

Radon and Lung Cancer: Current Trends and Future Perspectives

Simple Summary

Radon represents the main risk factor of lung cancer in non-smokers and the second one in smoking patients. In Europe, there are several radon-prone areas, but regulatory policies may vary between countries. Radon causes DNA damage and high genomic tumor instability, but its exact carcinogenesis mechanism in lung cancer remains unknown. Molecular drivers in NSCLC are more often described in non-smoker patients and a potential association between radon exposure and oncogenic-driven NSCLC has been postulated. This is an updated review on indoor radon exposure and its role in lung cancer carcinogenesis, especially focusing on its potential relation with NSCLC with driver genomic alterations. We want to contribute to rising knowledge and awareness on this still silent but preventable lung cancer risk factor.

Abstract

Lung cancer is a public health problem and the first cause of cancer death worldwide. Radon is a radioactive gas that tends to accumulate inside homes, and it is the second lung cancer risk factor after smoking, and the first one in non-smokers. In Europe, there are several radon-prone areas, and although the 2013/59 EURATOM directive is aimed to regulate indoor radon exposition, regulating measures can vary between countries. Radon emits alpha-ionizing radiation that has been linked to a wide variety of cytotoxic and genotoxic effects; however, the link between lung cancer and radon from the genomic point of view remains poorly described. Driver molecular alterations have been recently identified in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC), such as somatic mutations (EGFR, BRAF, HER2, MET) or chromosomal rearrangements (ALK, ROS1, RET, NTRK), mainly in the non-smoking population, where no risk factor has been identified yet. An association between radon exposure and oncogenic NSCLC in non-smokers has been hypothesised. This paper provides a practical, concise and updated review on the implications of indoor radon in lung cancer carcinogenesis, and especially of its potential relation with NSCLC with driver genomic alterations.