IMPACT OF BODY COMPOSITION ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PREMENOPAUSAL PATIENTS WITH EARLY STAGE BREAST CANCER DURING CHEMOTHERAPY

Body composition has been studied relatively recently as part of oncology trials in different types of tumors. There are numerous studies that define the impact of chemotherapy side effects on the quality of life (QoL) of breast cancer patients, however, there are few studies that analyze the impact of body composition on the QoL of premenopausal patients in the course of cytotoxic treatment. The study was performed on a sample of premenopausal patients treated with neoadjuvant or adjuvant AC chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer at Day Hospital of the Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital for Tumors in Zagreb. The study included 68 patients, median age 46.6 years. Analysis of the QoL questionnaires and their association with body composition indicated several interesting results. At the beginning of treatment, most pronounced was the connection between body composition and physical and sexual functioning and hair loss, while in subsequent treatment cycles the effect on other QoL subdomains, in particular fatigue and diarrhea, was more pronounced. In conclusion, we found body composition to have a significant impact on certain QoL subdomains during treatment.

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Using Optical Surface Management System - AlignRT as an Optical Body Surface Motion Management in Deep Breath Hold Patients: Results from a Single-Arm Retrospective Study

Purpose

To assess the efficacy and safety of stereotactic body radiotherapy for patients with unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer using Optical Surface Management System - AlignRT (OSMS-AlignRT) as an optical body surface motion management in deep breath hold.

Patients and Methods

Forty-five patients diagnosed with locally advanced pancreatic cancer were treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy in 3 or 5 fractions, and received varying BED₁₀ (median 79.5 Gy) from April 2017 to December 2020. All patients were treated in deep breath hold with OSMS-AlignRT used as optical body surface motion management. Thirty-three patients received systemic treatment before and/or after stereotactic body radiotherapy, and twelve patients received no systemic treatment. In this retrospective, observational, single-arm study, primary endpoints were overall survival and freedom from local progression (ie, local control). Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival and toxicity. Actuarial survival analysis and univariate analysis were investigated.

Results

Data from forty-five patients were analyzed. Median follow-up was 15 months. One-year freedom from local progression and survival were 95.5% and 71.1%, respectively. Median progression-free survival was 14 months. Median overall survival from diagnosis for all patients was 17 months, and 19 months for patients alive at the time of analysis. No patient had >G2 toxicity.

Conclusion

Stereotactic body radiotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer using OSMS-AlignRT as optical body surface motion management in deep breath hold patients is an effective and safe local treatment option, with no >G2 toxicity, and could be a promising therapeutic option with acceptable toxicity, either as a single treatment or in a multimodal regimen. OSMS-AlignRT provided accurate and reliable body surface motion management during stereotactic body radiotherapy.

ATF4 Regulates MYB to Increase γ-Globin in Response to Loss of β-Globin

β-Hemoglobinopathies can trigger rapid production of red blood cells in a process known as stress erythropoiesis. Cellular stress prompts differentiating erythroid precursors to express high levels of fetal γ-globin. However, the mechanisms underlying γ-globin production during cellular stress are still poorly defined. Here, we use CRISPR-Cas genome editing to model the stress caused by reduced levels of adult β-globin. We find that decreased β-globin is sufficient to induce robust re-expression of γ-globin, and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of differentiating isogenic erythroid precursors implicates ATF4 as a causal regulator of this response. ATF4 binds within the HBS1L-MYB intergenic enhancer and regulates expression of MYB, a known γ-globin regulator. Overall, the reduction of ATF4 upon β-globin knockout decreases the levels of MYB and BCL11A. Identification of ATF4 as a key regulator of globin compensation adds mechanistic insight to the poorly understood phenomenon of stress-induced globin compensation and could inform strategies to treat hemoglobinopathies.

Consumers as co-creators of new product ideas: An application of projective and creative research techniques

Involving consumers in the process of modification and creation of new food products has been recently identified as a vital factor for new product development. However, little attention has been devoted to consumer-generated product solutions, and instead, researchers continue to view new product development process as a firm-centred activity. This study uses projective and creative research techniques to involve consumers in the process of modification and creation of new aquaculture product ideas. We provide guidelines for the use of these techniques in the new product development process, as well as managerial and practical implications for the future development of new aquaculture products.

IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL DIFFERENTIATION OF TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER

Based on immunohistochemical staining for the basal markers cytokeratin 5/6 (CK 5/6), cytokeratin 14 (CK 14) and P-cadherin, triple negative tumors (TNT) are divided into two groups: 1) basal-like (BL) positive for one or all three markers; and 2) non basal-like (NBL) negative for all three markers. Even though the different origin of the cells of these two types of tumors implies different biological properties, they had been treated as one entity until recently. This paper analyzes TNT collected from 150 patients and distributed into two groups according to the results of immunohistochemical analysis, i.e. BL 116 (77.3%) and NBL 34 (22.67%). In this study, CK 5/6, CK 14 and P-cadherin were used as markers for identifying BL tumors. The immunohistochemical reaction was positive for CK 5/6 in 37%, for CK 14 in 50.86% and for P-cadherin in 68.34% of cases. The subclassification of triple negative breast cancer using the basal markers CK 5/6, CK 14 and P-cadherin has enabled identification of BL and NBL breast cancers in a proportion that is in line with the only accurate analysis of TNT gene expression. Using the mentioned combination of markers in daily practice is easy to perform and economically affordable.

Physiological characteristics of platelet/circulatory serotonin: study on a large human population

The aim of this work was the study of platelet/circulatory serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), specifically alternative ways of its measurement and main physiological characteristics. The study was performed on a large human population (N=500) of blood donors of both sexes over the course of a longer time period (17 months). Owing to the heterogeneity in measurement of circulatory serotonin encountered in the literature, three ways of expression were comparatively studied: per unit number of platelets, per unit mass of platelet protein and per unit volume of whole blood. Results demonstrated unimodal distribution of individual frequencies of platelet/circulatory serotonin in the human population with the mean values of 579+/-169 ng 5-HT/10(9) platelets; 332+/-89.9 ng 5-HT/mg protein and 130+/-42.3 ng 5-HT/ml blood (mean+/-S.D.). A progressive decrease of serotonin level with age (18-65 years) was demonstrated, reaching statistical significance between the extreme age groups. No significant differences in the serotonin level between the sexes were observed. No seasonal oscillations in platelet/circulatory serotonin were found. Platelet serotonin demonstrated intra-individual stability over time. Finally, regarding the methodology of measurement, our results demonstrated a good correlation among the above-mentioned ways of expression of platelet/circulatory serotonin. This indicates the possibility of intercomparison of the literature reports expressing this physiological parameter either as 5-HT concentration in platelets or as 5-HT level in the circulation.