Synthesis, in silico modelling, and in vitro biological evaluation of substituted pyrazole derivatives as potential anti-skin cancer, anti-tyrosinase, and antioxidant agents

Twenty-five azole compounds (P1-P25) were synthesised using regioselective base-metal catalysed and microwave-assisted approaches, fully characterised by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and infrared spectra (IR) analyses, and evaluated for anticancer, anti-tyrosinase, and anti-oxidant activities in silico and in vitro. P25 exhibited potent anticancer activity against cells of four skin cancer (SC) lines, with selectivity for melanoma (A375, SK-Mel-28) or non-melanoma (A431, SCC-12) SC cells over non-cancerous HaCaT-keratinocytes. Clonogenic, scratch-wound, and immunoblotting assay data were consistent with anti-proliferative results, expression profiling therewith implicating intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis activation. In a mushroom tyrosinase inhibition assay, P14 was most potent among the compounds (half-maximal inhibitory concentration where 50% of cells are dead, IC50 15.9 μM), with activity greater than arbutin and kojic acid. Also, P6 exhibited noteworthy free radical-scavenging activity. Furthermore, in silico docking and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) simulations predicted prominent-phenotypic actives to engage diverse cancer/hyperpigmentation-related targets with relatively high affinities. Altogether, promising early-stage hits were identified - some with multiple activities - warranting further hit-to-lead optimisation chemistry with further biological evaluations, towards identifying new skin-cancer and skin-pigmentation renormalising agents.

AB1583-PARE QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS OF SYMPTOMS, IMPACTS AND SELECTED PROMIS SHORT FORMS: A STUDY IN PATIENTS WITH AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS

Background

Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is characterised by inflammation of the sacroiliac joints and spine. Sleep disturbance, pain and fatigue are reported in the literature to be key symptoms and impacts of axSpA. Three customised Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Short Forms (Sleep Disturbance, Pain Interference and Fatigue), previously developed for use in rheumatoid arthritis, have been proposed for use in patients with axSpA to assess the key concepts.

Objectives

To conduct in-depth qualitative interviews to further understand the patient experience of axSpA and evaluate the content validity of the three PROMIS Short Forms to support their use as endpoints in axSpA clinical trials.

Methods

A non-interventional, cross-sectional qualitative (concept elicitation [CE] and cognitive debriefing [CD]) study was conducted in 28 adult patients with diagnosed axSpA, including radiographic axSpA (r-axSpA), also known as ankylosing spondylitis (AS, n=12), and non-radiographic axSpA (nr-axSpA, n=16). Patients took part in 90-minute telephone interviews. A semi-structured interview guide was used to assist discussions. The CE section used broad, open-ended questions to elicit information about symptoms and impact experienced by patients. The CD section involved a ‘think-aloud’ exercise in which patients read out each instruction, item and response option for the three PROMIS Short Forms and shared their feedback. Patients were also asked detailed questions about the relevance of the items, response options and recall period. Verbatim interview transcripts were subject to thematic and content analysis.

Results

Patients were from the United States (n=20) and Germany (n=8), mean age was 52.8 years, and 57% (n=16) were male; mean time since diagnosis of axSpA was 9.5 years (range 0.3–31.3 years). The CE section identified 12 distinct signs and symptoms that characterised patients’ experience of axSpA: pain, sleep problems, fatigue/tiredness, stiffness, swelling, vision/eye issues, restricted body movements, headache/migraine, spasms, change in posture/stature, balance/coordination problems and numbness. Pain, sleep problems and fatigue/tiredness were all reported to be experienced by ≥90% of patients, occurring simultaneously and exacerbating one another. 78% (n=21/27) of patients reported pain to be the most bothersome symptom, and 88% (n=23/26) described it as the symptom they would most like treatment to improve. Patients reported axSpA to impact their lives across six health-related quality of life (HRQoL) domains: physical functioning (100%), emotional wellbeing (89%), work/volunteering (79%), social functioning (75%), activities of daily living (61%) and cognitive functioning (54%). Impacts were most frequently described as being associated with pain, stiffness and fatigue. The experiences of symptoms and impacts were consistent between the AS and nr-axSpA patients. CD showed all three PROMIS instruments are conceptually comprehensive and well understood by patients with axSpA. No patients reported misunderstanding of instructions and/or items of the sleep disturbance instrument, and only one and four items had a small number of instances of misunderstanding for the fatigue and pain interference instruments, respectively. Across each instrument, all items were relevant to at least half of patients, and almost all patients reported the instruments to be appropriate for measuring their experience of sleep problems, pain and fatigue due to axSpA. Both AS and nr-axSpA patients confirmed the three PROMIS Short Forms to be relevant and appropriate for assessing their disease experience.

Conclusion

Pain, sleep problems and fatigue are pivotal symptoms of axSpA and associated with HRQoL impacts. Interpretability and content validity of the PROMIS customised Short Forms have been confirmed, with each deemed to adequately assess key impacts associated with axSpA, making them suitable for use in clinical trials of patients with axSpA.

Funding: GSK [209770]

Acknowledgements

Medical writing support was provided by Tony Reardon, of of Aura, a division of Spirit Medical Communications Group Limited (Manchester, UK), and was funded by GlaxoSmithKline.

Disclosure of Interests

Amy Findley Grant/research support from: employee of Adelphi Values, who received fees from GlaxoSmithKline for the conduct of this study, Jessica Middlehurst Grant/research support from: employee of Adelphi Values, who received fees from GlaxoSmithKline for the conduct of this study, Chloe Howse Grant/research support from: employee of Adelphi Values, who received fees from GlaxoSmithKline for the conduct of this study, Molly Clifford Grant/research support from: employee of Adelphi Values, who received fees from GlaxoSmithKline for the conduct of this study, William Neill Grant/research support from: employee of Adelphi Values, who received fees from GlaxoSmithKline for the conduct of this study, Sophi Tatlock Grant/research support from: employee of Adelphi Values, who received fees from GlaxoSmithKline for the conduct of this study, Wen-Hung Chen Shareholder of: GlaxoSmithKline, Employee of: GlaxoSmithKline

, Marguerite Bracher Shareholder of: GlaxoSmithKline, Employee of: GlaxoSmithKline, Dharm Patel Shareholder of: GlaxoSmithKline, Employee of: GlaxoSmithKline

Toward integration: from quantitative biology to mathbio-biomath?

In response to the call of BIO2010 for integrating quantitative skills into undergraduate biology education, 30 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Program Directors at the 2006 HHMI Program Directors Meeting established a consortium to investigate, implement, develop, and disseminate best practices resulting from the integration of math and biology. With the assistance of an HHMI-funded mini-grant, led by Karl Joplin of East Tennessee State University, and support in institutional HHMI grants at Emory and University of Delaware, these institutions held a series of summer institutes and workshops to document progress toward and address the challenges of implementing a more quantitative approach to undergraduate biology education. This report summarizes the results of the four summer institutes (2007-2010). The group developed four draft white papers, a wiki site, and a listserv. One major outcome of these meetings is this issue of CBE-Life Sciences Education, which resulted from proposals at our 2008 meeting and a January 2009 planning session. Many of the papers in this issue emerged from or were influenced by these meetings.

Delayed cellulitis associated with conservative therapy for breast cancer

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Delayed breast cellulitis is an infrequently reported entity after conservation therapy for breast cancer. We describe our experience with this entity at Naval Medical Center, San Diego.

METHODS

Eight patients who presented with delayed cellulitis after wide local excision/axillary dissection and breast radiotherapy (RT) are presented. Their clinical characteristics and therapy are described and possible causative factors are analyzed.

RESULTS

The latency of breast cellulitis is variable after breast conservation therapy, although most cases in our experience and in the literature occur within a year post-RT. These infections are frequently refractory to a single course of antibiotics (n = 4 cases in our experience). Some patients suffer multiple episodes separated by months.

CONCLUSIONS

Breast cancer patients are at risk for delayed cellulitis after conservative surgery and RT. The mechanism of such events probably involves lymph stasis, however, therapy is no different from the more frequently occurring cases of cellulitis presenting perioperatively.

T1 breast carcinoma in women 70 years of age and older may not require axillary lymph node dissection

BACKGROUND

The current trend in breast cancer treatment is toward breast conservation and selective use of axillary lymph node dissection. Patient eligibility criteria for treatment without axillary dissection are evolving.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the tumor registry over a 10-year period at Naval Medical Center San Diego and included all women aged 70 and older with T1 breast carcinoma (n = 78). Data included tumor size, surgical therapy, post-operative therapy, recurrence, and survival. The women were divided into groups by the approach taken toward the axilla.

RESULTS

No patient was given adjuvant chemotherapy. There were no axillary cancer recurrences in our patients. No statistically significant difference existed, regardless of the approach to the axilla, in recurrence or survival between groups.

CONCLUSION

Axillary dissection in this population did not influence postoperative treatment, decrease recurrence, or improve survival. Our study suggests breast cancer treatment in this population should not include axillary dissection.

Computed tomography of thorotrastosis

Two cases of thorotrastosis examined by computed tomography are reported. The appearance of the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes is diagnostic. This technique is probably the procedure of choice for detection of Thorotrast-induced liver neoplasm.