The relationship between the PD-L1 expression of surgically resected and fine-needle aspiration specimens for patients with pancreatic cancer

BACKGROUND: Recently, therapeutic antibodies against programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) have shown promising clinical results for several solid tumors, including pancreatic cancer. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between the PD-L1 expression of surgical resected and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens for patients with pancreatic cancer. METHODS: Of 121 patients who underwent endoscopic ultrasound-guided (EUS)-FNA before surgery for pancreatic cancer in an academic center, the 94 (78%) with adequate FNA specimens for a histological evaluation were retrospectively analyzed. All the patients had undergone upfront surgery without any chemotherapy or radiotherapy. We performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining to investigate the PD-L1 expression in both resected and FNA specimens. The positive-stained cells were counted, and their percentage was used for the investigation. RESULTS: Of the 94 patients, 16 (17%) and 11 (10%) were defined as positive on resected cancer specimens using cutoff points of 5% and 10% positively stained cancer cell counts, respectively. The concordance rates for the positive frequency of PD-L1 expression between resected and FNA specimens were 44% (7/16) and 55% (6/11) when the positivity was set to ≥ 5% and ≥ 10%, respectively. The concordance rates for the negative frequency of PD-L1 expression between two specimens were 97% (76/78) and 99% (82/83) when the positivity was set to ≥ 5% and ≥ 10%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately, half of the patients with PD-L1 expression positive and almost all the patients with PD-L1 expression negative could be diagnosed on FNA specimens

Graph-Controlled Insertion-Deletion Systems

In this article, we consider the operations of insertion and deletion working in a graph-controlled manner. We show that like in the case of context-free productions, the computational power is strictly increased when using a control graph: computational completeness can be obtained by systems with insertion or deletion rules involving at most two symbols in a contextual or in a context-free manner and with the control graph having only four nodes.Comment: In Proceedings DCFS 2010, arXiv:1008.127

Induction of Liver Steatosis and Lipid Droplet Formation in ATF6α-Knockout Mice Burdened with Pharmacological Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

We burdened mice with intraperitoneal injection of the endoplasmic reticulum stress-inducing reagent tunicamycin, and found that wild-type mice were able to recover from the insult, whereas ATF6α-knockout mice exhibited liver dysfunction and steatosis. Our results establish links between endoplasmic reticulum stress, lipid metabolism and steatosi

Incandescent Light Bulbs Based on a Refractory Metasurface

A thermal radiation light source, such as an incandescent light bulb, is considered a legacy light source with low luminous efficacy. However, it is an ideal energy source converting light with high efficiency from electric power to radiative power. In this work, we evaluate a thermal radiation light source and propose a new type of filament using a refractory metasurface to fabricate an efficient light bulb. We demonstrate visible-light spectral control using a refractory metasurface made of tantalum with an optical microcavity inserted into an incandescent light bulb. We use a nanoimprint method to fabricate the filament that is suitable for mass production. A 1.8 times enhancement of thermal radiation intensity is observed from the microcavity filament compared to the flat filament. Then, we demonstrate the thermal radiation control of the metasurface using a refractory plasmonic cavity made of hafnium nitride. A single narrow resonant peak is observed at the designed wavelength as well as the suppression of thermal radiation in wide mid-IR range under the condition of constant surface temperature

Diagnostic Utility of the PD-L1 Immunostaining in Biopsy Specimens of Patients with Biliary Tract Neoplasms

Background　Anti-programmed death 1/programmed death ligand 1 (PD1/PD-L1) antibodies have been successfully used as treatment agents for several solid tumors; however, it is difficult to predict their effectiveness. We evaluated whether biopsy specimens could predict the positive status of PD-L1 in surgically resected tissue. Methods　Among 91 patients who underwent tissue sampling with endoscopic or liver biopsy before surgery for biliary tract neoplasms in an academic center, 45 (49%) patients were selected for retrospective analysis because the quality and quantity of their biopsy specimens were adequate for histologic evaluation. We performed immunohistochemical staining to investigate the PD-L1 expression in both resected and biopsy specimens. The percentage of the positively stained cells was calculated for subsequent use in the correlation investigation. Results　The biopsy methods were endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in 28 cases, percutaneous liver biopsy in 10 cases, and endoscopic ultrasound fine-needle aspiration in 7 cases. Among the 45 patients, when patients with > 10% positive tumor cells in surgically resected tissues were regarded as truly positive PD-L1, the positive and negative concordance rates between surgically resected tissues and biopsy samples were 56% (5/9) and 100% (36/36), respectively. With regard to the use of preoperative biopsy as a diagnostic tool, all (5/5) PD-L1-positive patients had a positive resected specimen. The accuracy of each biopsy method was as follows: ERCP, 89% (25/28); fine-needle aspiration, 86% (6/7); and liver biopsy, 100% (10/10). Conclusions　Biopsy samples could be a surrogate material for the assessment of the PD-L1 expression with substantial positive and high negative concordance rates

Treatment outcomes of alternating chemoradiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a single-center safety and efficacy study

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Alternating Chemoradiotherapy (ACRT) using cisplatin and 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods: This was a retrospective study in which patients’ clinical records were reviewed to identify patients with a new diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma at our institution between January 2005 and January 2019. Thirty-seven eligible patients were identified; of these, the clinical details of 27 patients treated with ACRT were evaluated. Patient outcomes, including overall survival and progression-free survival, and adverse events were assessed. Results: Of these initial 37 patients, 1, 10, 13, 10, and 3 were staged as I, II, III, IVA, and IVB, respectively, as defined by the 8th edition of the TNM classification system. Twenty-seven patients received ACRT comprising sequential administration of chemotherapy, radiotherapy (wide field), chemotherapy, radiotherapy (shrinking field), and chemotherapy. The 5-year overall survival and progression-free survival rates were 83.7% and 88.9%, respectively. Treatment compliance was 93%, which is comparable to that of previous reports. Conclusion: ACRT using cisplating and 5-fluorouracil was well tolerated with acceptable efficacy. Level of Evidence: IV

Hormonal regulation of pheromone biosynthesis in the silkworm moth, Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae)

In the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori L.), the sex pheromone [bombykol, (10E, 12Z)-10, 12-hexadecadien-l-ol] became undetectable 24 hr after decapitation, but its production was restored by the injection of a brain hormone (pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide, PBAN). In order to understand the mode of action of this hormone, 14C-incorporation into pheromone precursors and related compounds was examined by treating the pheromone glands of normal, decapitated, and decapitated and hormone-injected virgin females with 14C-hexadecanoic acid. In the decapitated female moth, conversion of the 14C-acid into bombykol as well as other C16-fatty alcohols was very low. The levels of 14C-incorporation observed in normal females were partially recovered in the decapitated female by hormone injection. However, the amount of unsaturated C16-fatty acyl moieties and their levels of 14C-incorporation was not decreased as much by decaptation. This suggests that the main regulatory role of PBAN is in the reduction of an acyl moiety in the bombykol biosynthetic pathway rather than effecting unsaturation steps. Further, when the gland, which was removed from the decapitated female, was incubated in a Grace's medium with PBAN, the pheromone was again produced indicating the direct regulation of the pheromone gland by this hormone