RETRACTED: ORIENT-3: A randomized, open-label, phase III study of sintilimab versus docetaxel in previously treated advanced/metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sqNSCLC)

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article was retracted at the request of the authors. The authors of this abstract have advised that full agreement between authors and sponsors on publication of the abstract has not been reached and they are therefore unable to publish this data at present.

Carotid and vertebral artery stenosis evaluated by contrast-enhanced MR angiography in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients after radiotherapy: a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the incidence of carotid artery (CA) and vertebral artery (VA) stenosis by contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after radiotherapy.

METHODS

72 patients with NPC after radiotherapy more than 3 years ago were recruited as irradiation group to investigate the incidence and degree of CA and VA stenosis by CE-MRA. The results were compared with those of the control group, which comprised 50 newly diagnosed patients with NPC who had not received radiotherapy.

RESULTS

There was a higher incidence of CA and VA stenosis in the irradiation group than in the control group in terms of patient number as well as vessel involvement. The incidence of significant (>50%) CA and VA stenosis, except for the basilar artery, was also higher in the irradiation group than in the control group. The most commonly detected stenosis in the irradiation group was found in the internal CA (ICA) and VA, followed by the external CA and common CA (CCA). CCA and/or ICA (CCA/ICA) stenosis was present in 67 (93.1%) of 72 patients, with 27 (37.5%) patients having significant CCA/ICA stenosis. The statistical analysis demonstrated that age at receiving CE-MRA scanning and time interval from radiotherapy were the independent predictors of significant CCA/ICA stenosis.

CONCLUSION

The CE-MRA scanning results showed that the incidence of stenosis seems to exist in a wider range of CAs and VAs in the patients with NPC after radiotherapy than in the patients who had not received radiotherapy, and the incidence of significant CCA/ICA stenosis is higher in patients with older age and longer interval from radiotherapy.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE

Radiation-induced CA and VA stenosis exists widely in patients with NPC after radiotherapy, and its prevalence is more common in patients with older age and longer interval from radiotherapy.

Characterization of seven new HLA alleles from the Henan and Gansu Provinces of China

Four new class I and three class II alleles have been found in Chinese individuals.

Analysis of ribosomal RNA sequences by combinatorial clustering

We present an analysis of multi-aligned eukaryotic and procaryotic small subunit rRNA sequences using a novel segmentation and clustering procedure capable of extracting subsets of sequences that share common sequence features. This procedure consists of: i) segmentation of aligned sequences using a dynamic programming procedure, and subsequent identification of likely conserved segments; ii) for each putative conserved segment, extraction of a locall homogeneous cluster using a novel polynomial procedure; and iii) intersection of clusters associated with each conserved segment. Aside from their utilit in processing large gap-filled multi-alignments, these algorithms can be applied to a broad spectrum of rRNA analysis functions such as subalignment, phylogenetic subtree extraction and construction, and organism tree-placement, and can serve as a framework to organize sequence data in an efficient and easily searchable manner. The sequence classification we obtained using the method presented here shows a remarkable consistency with the independently constructed eukaryotic phylogenetic tree.

Definition and characterization of chicken Gal alpha(1,3)Gal antibodies

BACKGROUND

The Gal alpha(1,3)Gal epitope is of interest as, in pig-to-primate xenotransplantation, it is the major target of naturally occurring human IgM and IgG antibodies, leading to hyperacute rejection. Human and Old World monkeys make anti-Gal alpha(1,3)Gal antibodies as they lack a functional gene and do not express Gal alpha(1,3)Gal. Interestingly, the cultured fibroblasts of some other species, such as chickens, have been reported also not to express Gal alpha(1,3)Gal--if this is true for other tissues, and chickens do not express Gal alpha(1,3)Gal antigen, then they would have anti-Gal antibodies--which could have diagnostic and therapeutic value, particularly as chicken antibodies do not fix mammalian complement.

METHODS

Standard serological methods were used to characterize the antibodies. Several baboons received pig kidney xenografts that had been perfused with hyperimmune chicken anti-Gal antibodies.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

We now demonstrate that chickens do not express Gal alpha(1,3)Gal on their red cells, leukocytes, or tissues, and that their serum contains large amounts of anti-Gal alpha(1,3)Gal antibodies. In addition, chickens could be immunized to produce high-titer, high-avidity antibodies (9.5x10(9) M(-1))--an avidity considerably greater than that of the Gal alpha(1,3)Gal binding lectin IB4 (2.9x10(8) M(-1)) or Gal antibodies in human serum (2.2x10(5) M(-1)). Chicken antibodies, obtained from both normal and immunized chickens, could block the in vitro cytolysis of pig endothelial cells or lymphocytes by human or baboon antibodies. However, such antibodies tested in vivo in pig-to-baboon xenotransplantation failed to block hyperacute rejection and, indeed, may have accelerated this.

Monoclonal antibodies to a MUC 4 peptide react with lung cancer

The cDNA of mucin 4 (MUC 4) has been cloned from human tracheo-bronchial cDNA library and MUG 4 was demonstrated to be expressed in normal tracheobronchial and colonic mucosa. However, as there are no antibodies available, there is little information on the distribution of MUC 4 on normal and malignant tissues. A 22 amino-acid peptide (M4.22), derived from the MUC 4 cDNA sequence was synthesized and used to immunise mice and 2 monoclonal antibodies were produced and characterized by ELISA, immunoperoxidase staining and flow cytometry. By ELISA the two anti-MUG 4 mAbs reacted with the immunizing peptide (M4.22), but not with peptides derived from other mucins. By immunoperoxidase staining the mAbs reacted with native mucin expressed in normal colon and to a lesser extent with stomach, but not with normal lung. By contrast, the mAbs reacted most strongly (similar to 70%) with lung cancers. Using six-mer overlapping peptides the minimum number of amino acids in the epitopes detected by the mAbs were TPL (M4.171) and PLPV (M4.275). MUC 4 detected by the mAbs was of a molecular mass (180 kDa) by Western blotting. Using anti-MUC 4 mAbs non-large cell lung cancers were found to be MUC 4 positive compared with normal lung tissues which were negative. By contrast, normal colon was strongly positive but the expression was decreased in colon cancer. These findings could have diagnostic and therapeutic implication for lung cancer.