Worse Prognosis in the Symptomatic Patients With Lung Cancer - Czech Multicentric Study

BACKGROUND/AIM

This study aimed at contributing to a better diagnosis of lung cancer by analyzing the patient's symptoms and their linkage to other characteristics.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We analyzed the data of 3,322 patients from LUCAS (LUngCAncerfocuS) National Registry of the Czech Republic. Overall survival was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

The most common symptoms were cough (47.5%), dyspnea (45.6%), pain (27.3%), and weight loss (25.7%). Among all patients, 16% were asymptomatic. We demonstrated the negative prognostic significance of increasing number of lung cancer symptoms, that was significant after adjustment for age, TNM stages, and performance status, and morphological types of the cancer.

CONCLUSION

Monitoring the severity and type of symptoms in patients with lung cancer can help in the diagnostics of the disease and the estimation of prognosis.

Lung Cancer in Non-smokers in Czech Republic: Data from LUCAS Lung Cancer Clinical Registry

BACKGROUND/AIM

LUCAS is a clinical lung cancer registry (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier is NCT04228237), prospectively collecting data from newly diagnosed lung cancer patients in seven pneumooncology centers in the Czech Republic, since June 1, 2018. The aim of the study was to assess the stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis, percentage of morphological types, survival, percentage of driving mutations, eligibility for radical surgery, and percentage of patients who undergo radical surgery, in the non-smoking population in comparison with smokers and former smokers.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The total number of patients in the registry at the time of the analysis was 2,743. Only 2,439 patients with complete records (smoking status, stage, and type of tumor) were included in this study.

RESULTS

The analysis indicated that non-smokers are diagnosed at a later stage of the disease but they have a better survival rate than smokers. Fewer smokers with stage III disease who are eligible for radical surgery will undergo surgery compared to non-smokers with the same clinical stage. Driving mutations are more common in non-smokers, even after adjustment for the more frequent occurrence of adenocarcinoma in the group of non-smokers.

CONCLUSION

The data from LUCAS registry are consistent with already known facts, suggesting that the LUCAS registry is a useful clinical tool.

Self-Organization in Nanoparticle Titanium Dioxide Thin Films

Nanocrystalline titanium dioxide has been synthesized using a sol-gel technique followed by hydrothermal growth at temperatures in the range 190-270°C. Thin films of these colloids were studied using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and nitrogen adsorption/desorption. Self-organization of the nanocrystalline particles in regular arrays was observed in films made from colloids autoclaved at lower temperatures. We present herein initial photovoltaic performance of these semiconducting films used as working electrodes in a dye-sensitized solar cell.

Acid-Base Equilibria of (2,2'-Bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid)ruthenium(II) Complexes and the Effect of Protonation on Charge-Transfer Sensitization of Nanocrystalline Titania

The ruthenium complexes [Ru(dcbpyH(2))(2)(Cl)(2)] (1), [Ru(dcbpyH(2))(2)(NCS)(2)] (2), (Bu(4)N)(4)[Ru(dcbpy)(2)(NCS)(2)] (3), and (Bu(4)N)(2)[Ru(dcbpyH)(2)(NCS)(2)] (4) were synthesized and characterized by cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis absorption, and emission, IR, Raman, and NMR spectroscopy. The absorption and emission maxima of these complexes red shifted with decreasing pH, and showed pH-dependent excited-state lifetimes. The ground-state pK(a) values were determined by spectrophotometeric methods, and the dissociation of protons was found to occur in two steps (pK(a) = 3 and 1.5). The Ru(II)/(III) couple in the complex (Bu(4)N)(4)[Ru(dcbpy)(2)(NCS)(2)] is shifted ca. 290 mV negatively with regard to that of the complex [Ru(dcbpyH(2))(2)(NCS)(2)] due to the replacement of H(+) by tetrabutylammonium cation. The negative shift for the dcbpy-based reduction potential is even larger, i.e., about 600 mV compared to that of the complex [Ru(dcbpyH(2))(2)(NCS)(2)]. The effect of deprotonation on the performance of these complexes as photosensitizers for nanocrystalline titania was investigated.

Inhibition of intraocular neovascularization caused by retinal ischemia in pigs by PKCbeta inhibition with LY333531

OBJECTIVE

The authors tested the antiangiogenic properties of an orally administered protein kinase-Cbeta inhibitor, LY333531, in a pig model of preretinal neovascularization caused by retinal branch vein occlusion to determine the effectiveness of this therapy in preventing intraocular neovascularization from an ischemic stimulus.

METHODS

In 20 eyes of 10 pigs, branch retinal vein occlusions were created in a standardized manner using photodynamic thrombosis with rose bengal dye and thermal burns from an argon laser with green light. Five animals received 1 mg/kg LY333531 daily in two oral doses, and five animals were untreated. The eyes were followed clinically for 12 weeks with ophthalmoscopy, fundus photography, and fluorescein angiography. A standardized grading system permitted masked assessment of disc proliferations using stereo fundus photographs. After the pigs were killed, all neovascularization was confirmed histopathologically in a masked fashion and a final grade was assigned to each eye. The Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical analysis of the median values of the unpaired data between the two eyes of each animal (data were rounded up).

RESULTS

Significant inhibition of neovascularization was observed in eyes from animals treated with the study drug (P = 0.03). Although some of the treated eyes demonstrated no clinically evident new vessels, histopathologic and photographic analysis demonstrated fine new vessels on the optic disc in all eyes (mean grade 1.9). All the untreated eyes developed clinically evident neovascularization (mean grade 3.1). The oral drug was well tolerated, and no side effects were documented.

CONCLUSIONS

A specific protein kinase-Cbeta inhibitor, LY333531, effectively inhibited preretinal and optic nerve head neovascularization in the pig model of branch retinal vein occlusion. This was consistent with the known pathways of signal transduction by growth factors in activated cells and suggested that inhibition of this key regulatory isozyme is effective in the treatment of ischemia-mediated neovascular diseases.

Vascular endothelial growth factor-induced retinal permeability is mediated by protein kinase C in vivo and suppressed by an orally effective beta-isoform-selective inhibitor

Increased vascular permeability and excessive neovascularization are the hallmarks of endothelial dysfunction, which can lead to diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy in the eye. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important mediator of ocular neovascularization and a known vasopermeability factor in nonocular tissues. In these studies, we demonstrate that intravitreal injection of VEGF rapidly activates protein kinase C (PKC) in the retina at concentrations observed clinically, inducing membrane translocation of PKC isoforms alpha, betaII, and delta and >threefold increases in retinal vasopermeability in vivo. The effect of VEGF on retinal vascular permeability appears to be mediated predominantly by the beta-isoform of PKC with >95% inhibition of VEGF-induced permeability by intravitreal or oral administration of a PKC beta-isoform-selective inhibitor that did not inhibit histamine-mediated effects. These studies represent the first direct demonstration that VEGF can increase intraocular vascular permeability through activation of PKC in vivo and suggest that oral pharmacological therapies involving PKC beta-isoform-selective inhibitors may prove efficacious for the treatment of VEGF-associated ocular disorders such as diabetic retinopathy.