Clinical Study of Endocrine Hormone Combined with Trastuzumab in Maintenance Treatment of HR and HER-2 Positive Advanced Breast Cancer

Objective: To analyze the clinical effect of endocrine hormone combined with trastuzumab in maintenance therapy of HR (hormone receptor) and HER-2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor) positive advanced breast cancer. Methods: A total of 80 patients with HR and HER-2 positive advanced breast cancer admitted to our hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were selected, and the 80 patients were divided into 2 groups by random number table method, the control group (N= 40) The patients in the observation group (N=40) were treated with trastuzumab, and the patients in the observation group (N=40) were treated with endocrine hormones and trastuzumab for maintenance. The therapeutic effects of the two groups were compared. Results: The two groups of patients had similar serum CD8+, CD4+, CD3+ before treatment and CD8+ after treatment (P>0.05). After treatment, the CD4+ and CD3+ in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group. It was higher in the control group (P<0.05); the incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Endocrine hormone combined with trastuzumab maintenance therapy for HR and HER-2 positive advanced breast cancer has significant clinical effect, can effectively improve the immune indexes of patients, and has less adverse reactions, which is worthy of clinical application

Case report: Pathological complete response to perioperative treatment of radiotherapy combined with angiogenesis inhibitor in a patient with pleomorphic liposarcoma

BackgroundLiposarcomas (LPS) are mesenchymal malignancies with four principal subtypes presenting distinct molecular and clinical features. Pleomorphic liposarcoma (PLPS) is one of the rarest and most aggressive subtypes of LPS. Surgical resection is currently a preferred curative approach for localized PLPS. However, the prognosis of unresectable PLPS is extremely poor, and there is no standard treatment.Case presentationA 59-year-old Chinese woman was diagnosed with unresectable PLPS. The case was discussed and managed by specialists from a multidisciplinary team at Fudan Zhongshan Hospital. Preoperative radiotherapy (RT) of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) at 50 Gy/25 Fx concurrently with the angiogenesis inhibitor anlotinib (8 mg, days 1–14, every 3 weeks) was prescribed to the patient. The dosage of anlotinib was increased to 10 mg after RT. After 6 months of treatment, the tumor had significantly shrunk and was successfully resected. Examination of the surgical specimens showed a pathological complete response (pCR). Until the latest follow-up (April 2022), no recurrence was observed, and disease-free survival has exceeded 14 months.ConclusionThis case sheds light on the probability that perioperative RT combined with an angiogenesis inhibitor can be effectively used in PLPS, which is resistant to chemotherapy and usually considered to have a poor prognosis. Further studies with randomized controlled clinical trials will improve our knowledge of this preoperative treatment strategy

Surgical interventions for late ocular complications of relapsing polychondritis

Purpose: To report a case of surgical interventions for a patient with relapsing polychondritis who presented with late ocular complications. Observations: A 44-year-old male was diagnosed to have relapsing polychondritis on the basis of recurrent acute auricular chondritis, deformity of the ear, saddle nose deformity and painful nasal chondritis, acute ocular inflammation with conjunctivitis, episcleritis and keratouveitis, laryngotracheal chondritis, erythema nodosum in the skin, a history of polyarthritis, and abnormal blood examination findings. The acute ocular and auricular inflammation was resolved with oral corticosteroid treatment. Intraocular pressure (IOP) of the left eye was 60 mmHg as measured by Goldmann applanation tonometer. Gonioscopic observation revealed the presence of peripheral anterior synechiae and plateau iris configuration. Express drainage screw implantation was applied to the left eye, because topical and systemic medicines failed to decrease the IOP. After 12 months, complicated cataract aggravated in the right eye, and phacoemulsification operation was performed with corticosteroids administered during the perioperative period. His corrected visual acuity was 20/20 for the right eye, and the IOP remained below 21 mmHg for the left eye. The patient has been healthy, without any recurrence, for 36 months. Conclusions and importance: The present case of relapsing polychondritis is the first to be reported wherein late ocular complications were alleviated by surgical interventions. Routine use of corticosteroids is necessary for successful anti-glaucoma and phacoemulsification operations

Predicting near-field dam-break flow and impact force using a 3D model

A three-dimensional (3D) numerical model based on the unsteady Reynolds equations was used to simulate near-field dam-break flows and estimate the impact force on obstacles. The model employs a projection method to solve the governing equations and the method of volume of fluid (VOF) to capture the water surface movement. The model is first applied to simulate two physical model experiments of dam-break flows. Model-predicted pressure, water depth and velocity distributions are compared with laboratory measurements. For the second case, the 3D-VOF model predictions are also compared with predictions made by a two-dimensional model. The 3D-VOF model is then used to calculate the impact force of dam-break flow on a steady obstacle. A physical model experiment is set up to assist the numerical model study. The model-predicted impact force on the obstacle and the critical condition for it to move are compared with the measurements from the experiment

The association between early-onset cardiac events caused by neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer patients and some novel autophagy-related polymorphisms in their genomic DNA: a real-world study

Abstract Background An increasing number of cancer patients die of cardiovascular diseases. The cardiotoxicity of chemotherapy is particularly important in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) with limited therapeutic options. Cardiac autophagy is an important mechanism of cardiotoxicity. This research was aimed to investigate the cardiotoxicity of chemotherapy in TNBC, screen the susceptible population, and determine the relationship between cardiotoxicity and autophagy-related polymorphisms. Methods From a total of 2450 stage I-III TNBC patients, 147 met the inclusion criteria and finally recruited. Electrocardiography (ECG) was performed before most chemotherapy cycles, and echocardiography (UCG) was performed according to clinical needs. All ECG and UCG records were re-interpreted by cardiologists at the National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer database, we selected 25 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to autophagy and genotyped the 147 TNBC patients. Paired-sample T tests, Chi squared tests, and logistic regression models were employed for the analysis. Results Only 46 (31.3%) patients had normal ECG records after every chemotherapy cycle. Among the 16 patients who underwent UCG, 2 (12.5%) had a reversible decrease of left ventricular ejection fraction. The use of anthracyclines and excessive alcohol consumption were risk factors of ECG abnormalities. With the continuation of chemotherapy, heart rate gradually increased. Anthracyclines were associated with QRS duration abnormalities (P = 0.043). After genotyping for 25 autophagy-related SNPs, we found that the G allele of autophagy-related 13 (ATG13) rs10838611 was significantly associated with ECG abnormalities (odds ratio = 2.258, 95% confidence interval = 1.318–3.869; P = 0.003). Conclusion ECG abnormalities caused by chemotherapy are common in the real world. Autophagy-related SNPs are associated with chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity, thereby providing new evidence for autophagy as a cause of chemotherapy-induced cardiac damage

Modelling the fate and transport of faecal bacteria in estuarine and coastal waters

Bangladesh, the eighth largest populous country in the world, has a significant rural population (70%), which is contributing to the energy demand of the country. The major portion in energy demand of rural households is biomass energy. With the improvement in GDP the rural energy demand would switch to more electricity intensive demand pathway. This paper focuses on a bottom up approach towards modelling the aggregated energy demand of rural households of Bangladesh form the year 2010 to 2050. The combination of four level scenarios of four variables (population, GDP electrification index, public energy conservation index) would forecast lowest, highest and optimum energy demand pathways for rural households of Bangladesh. The study not only considers the electricity demand of the rural household, but also it would render the opportunity to concentrate at the detail user end energy demands (e.g. liquid fuel, biomass etc.)