Concurrent chemotherapy (carboplatin, paclitaxel, etoposide) and involved-field radiotherapy in limited stage small cell lung cancer: a Dutch multicenter phase II study

To improve the prognosis of limited stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) the addition of concurrent thoracic radiotherapy to a platinum-containing regimen is important. In the Netherlands, we initiated a multicenter, phase II study, of the combination of four cycles of carboplatin (AUC 5), paclitaxel (200 mg m−2) and etoposide (2 × 50 mg orally for 5 days) combined with 45 Gy (daily fractions of 1.8 Gy). The radiation was given to the involved field and concurrently with the second and third chemotherapy cycle. Patients with a partial or complete response received prophylactic cranial irradiation to a dose of 30 Gy. From January 1999 to December 2001, 37 of the 38 patients with LS-SCLC entered were eligible for toxicity analysis and response. Grade 3 and 4 haematological toxicity occurred in 57% (21/37) with febrile neutropenia in 24% (9/37). There were no treatment-related deaths or other grade 4 toxicity. Grade 3 toxicities were oesophagitis (27%), radiation pneumonitis (6%), anorexia (14%), nausea (16%), dyspnea (19%) and lethargy (22%). The objective response rate was 92% (95% confidence interval (CI) 80–98%) with a median survival time of 19.5 months (95% CI 12.8–29.2). The 1-, 2- and 5-year survival rate was 70, 47 and 27%, respectively. In field local recurrences occurred in six patients. Distant metastases were observed in 19 patients of which 13 in the brain. This study indicates that combination chemotherapy with concurrent involved-field radiation therapy is an effective treatment for LS-SCLC. Despite PCI, the brain remained the most important site of recurrence

Correction:Quantitative distribution of patient-derived leukemia clones in murine xenografts revealed by cellular barcodes

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.</p

An empirical analysis of patents flows and R&D flows around the world

In this article, we empirically investigate the effect of Research and Development (R&amp;D) flows on patent flows around the world. We do this using an unbalanced panel consisting primarily of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries that have both patent and R&amp;D expenditure information broken down by domestic and foreign sources. Our analysis shows that even among a fairly homogeneous group of countries, the sources of patents and R&amp;D differ substantially. Using a dynamic panel framework, we find that domestic R&amp;D per capita increases domestic patents per capita only for the European Patent Convention (EPC) countries that already have a decentralized approach to innovation. Foreign R&amp;D per capita increases foreign patents per capita in all countries even though foreign R&amp;D constitutes a very small fraction of total R&amp;D. We find that some of these differences can be attributed to the locations of the patent applications, including those to the European Patent Office (EPO), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and triadic patent applications to the EPO, USPTO and Japan Patent Office (JPO) simultaneously

Health-related quality of life after prophylactic cranial irradiation for stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients:Results from the NVALT-11/DLCRG-02 phase III study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The NVALT-11/DLCRG-02 phase III trial (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01282437) showed that, after standard curative intent treatment, prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) decreased the incidence of symptomatic brain metastases (BM) in stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients compared to observation. In this study we assessed the impact of PCI on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In addition, an exploratory analysis was performed to assess the impact of neurocognitive symptoms and symptomatic BM on HRQoL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stage III NSCLC patients were randomized between PCI and observation. HRQoL was measured using the EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D-3L), EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BN20 instruments at completion of standard curative intent treatment and 4 weeks, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 months thereafter. Generalized linear mixed effects (GLM) models were used to assess the impact of PCI compared to observation over time on three HRQoL metrics: the EORTC QLQ-C30 global health status and the EQ-5D-3L utility and visual analogue scale (EQ VAS) scores. RESULTS: In total, 86 and 88 patients were included in the PCI and observation arm, with a median follow-up of 48.5 months (95% CI 39-54 months). Baseline mean HRQoL scores were comparable between the PCI and observation arm for the three HRQoL metrics. In the GLM models, none of the HRQoL metrics were clinically relevant or statistically significantly different between the PCI and the observation arm (p-values ranged between 0.641 and 0.914). CONCLUSION: No statistically significant nor a clinically relevant impact of PCI on HRQoL was observed

Poor Pulmonary Function is Not Associated with Increased Rates of Toxicity or Decreased Overall Survival After Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Early Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results of a Multi-institutional Analysis

Purpose/Objective(s): Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is considered as the treatment of choice for stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in medically inoperable patients. It was the purpose of this study to evaluate whether pretreatment pulmonary function is predictive for survival and toxicity after SBRT. American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 52nd Annual Meeting October 31 - November 4, San Diego, C

Pain shared, pain halved? Cooperation as a coping strategy for innovation barriers

The paper analyses the relationship between the perception of barriers to innovation and the firm’s propensity to cooperate to mitigate their effect. First, we look at whether cooperation with research organizations or private firms is associated with experiencing different types of barriers, for example, financial constraints, lack of human capital or uncertain market demand. Second, we test whether experiencing several types of barriers simultaneously has a super-modular effect on the propensity to cooperate tout court, and the choice of cooperation partner. We find that having to face a single, specific constraint leads to firms ‘sharing the pain’ with cooperation partners—both research organization and other firms. However, the results of a super-modularity test show that having to cope with different barriers is a deterrent to establishing cooperation agreements, especially when firms lack finance, adequate skills and information on technology or markets. The paper adds to the innovation literature by identifying the factors associated with firms’ coping with different barriers by applying a selective cooperation strategy

A Multi-national Pooled Analysis of 434 Cases of Stage I Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Treated with Volumetrically Image-guided Stereotactic Lung Radiotherapy: Results from the Elekta Collaborative Lung Research Group

Background: Published lung SBRT outcomes/dose response data for inoperable NSCLC come from small phase I-II studies or larger datasets not requiring image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) or volumetric prescriptions. This entire cohort of SBRT patients had daily online cone-beam CT. American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 52nd Annual Meeting October 31 - November 4, San Diego, C

Time Interval Between Staging FDG Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Initiation of Stereotactic Lung Radiotherapy (SBRT) Impacts the Risk of Recurrence and Metastasis in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Background: To study influence of time interval from staging PET scanning to RT start time on recurrence and survival in patients with NSCLC undergoing lung SBRT. American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 52nd Annual Meeting October 31 - November 4, San Diego, C

How do MNC R&amp;D laboratory roles affect employee international assignments?

Research and development (R&#38;D) employees are important human resources for multinational corporations (MNCs) as they are the driving force behind the advancement of innovative ideas and products. International assignments of these employees can be a unique way to upgrade their expertise; allowing them to effectively recombine their unique human resources to progress existing knowledge and advance new ones. This study aims to investigate the effect of the roles of R&#38;D laboratories in which these employees work on the international assignments they undertake. We categorise R&#38;D laboratory roles into those of the support laboratory, the locally integrated laboratory and the internationally interdependent laboratory. Based on the theory of resource recombinations, we hypothesise that R&#38;D employees in support laboratories are not likely to assume international assignments, whereas those in locally integrated and internationally interdependent laboratories are likely to assume international assignments. The empirical evidence, which draws from research conducted on 559 professionals in 66 MNC subsidiaries based in Greece, provides support to our hypotheses. The resource recombinations theory that extends the resource based view can effectively illuminate the international assignment field. Also, research may provide more emphasis on the close work context of R&#38;D scientists rather than analyse their demographic characteristics, the latter being the focus of scholarly practice hitherto