Adjuvant chemotherapy is associated with an overall survival benefit regardless of age in ER+/HER2- breast cancer pts with 1-3 positive nodes and oncotype DX recurrence score 20 to 25: an NCDB analysis

BackgroundThe RxPONDER trial found that among breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, 1-3 positive axillary nodes, and a recurrence score of ≤25, only pre-menopausal women benefitted from adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy; postmenopausal women with similar characteristic did not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. We aimed to replicate the RxPonder trial using a larger patient cohort with real world data to determine whether a RS threshold existed where adjuvant chemotherapy was beneficial regardless of age.MethodsThe National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for women with ER+, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative breast cancer, 1-3 positive axillary nodes, and RS ≤25 who received endocrine (ET) only or chemo-endocrine therapy (CET). Cox regression interaction was explored between CET and age as a surrogate for menopausal status.ResultsThe final analytic cohort included 28,427 eligible women: 7,487 (26.3%) received adjuvant CET and 20,940 (73.7%) ET. In the entire cohort, RS had a normal distribution, with a median score of 14. After correcting for demographic and clinical variables, a threshold effect was observed with RS >20 being associated with a significantly inferior overall survival (OS) (P value range: < 0.001-0.019). In women with RS of 20-25, CET was associated with a significant improvement in OS compared to ET alone, regardless of age (age <=50: HR = 0.334, P=0.002; age>50: HR=0.521, P=0.019).ConclusionAmong women with ER+/HER2- breast cancer with 1–3 positive nodes, and a RS of 20-25—in contrast to the RxPONDER trial—we observed that CET was associated with an OS benefit in women regardless of age

A green route to synthesize low-cost and high-performance hard carbon as promising sodium-ion battery anodes from sorghum stalk waste

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have been considered to be potential candidates for next-generation low-cost energy storage systems due to the low-cost and abundance of Na resources. However, it is a big challenge to find suitable anode materials with low-cost and good performance for the application of SIBs. Hard carbon could be a promising anode material due to high capacity and expectable low-cost if originating from biomass. Herein, we report a hard carbon material derived from abundant and abandoned biomass of sorghum stalk through a simple carbonization method. The effects of carbonization temperature on microstructure and electrochemical performance are investigated. The hard carbon carbonized at 1300 °C delivers the best rate capability (172 mAh gâ1 at 200 mA gâ1) and good cycling performance (245 mAh gâ1 after 50 cycles at 20 mA gâ1, 96% capacity retention). This contribution provides a green route for transforming sorghum stalk waste into âtreasureâ of promising low-cost anode material for SIBs. Keywords: Sorghum stalk, Hard carbon, Anode, Sodium-ion battery, Carbonizatio

Estimating the overall survival benefit of adjuvant chemo‐endocrine therapy in women over age 50 with pT1‐2N0 early stage breast cancer and 21‐gene recurrence score ≥26: A National Cancer Database analysis

Abstract Background Validation studies of the 21‐gene recurrence score (RS) previously demonstrated that adjuvant chemotherapy plus endocrine therapy (CET) was associated with a significant survival benefit in women with node negative breast cancer (BC) and RS >31. However, the TAILORx trial, did not quantify the benefit of adjuvant CET in older women with node negative hormone receptor positive (HR+) BC with RS ≥26. We hypothesized that CET would be associated with improved overall survival (OS) compared to endocrine therapy (ET) in women >50 with HR+/HER2‐node negative BC and RS ≥26. Methods The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried to identify women >50 with RS ≥26 ER+/HER2‐BC pT1‐2N0M0. Chi‐square and logistic regression analysis determined the difference between ET and CET. OS was analyzed using a multivariable Cox model. Results We included 16,745 women—4740 (28.3%) received ET and 12,005 (71.7%) received CET. Women who received CET had: moderately (OR = 1.853, p 50 years of age with RS ≥26 pT1 and pT2 N0M0 HR+/HER2‐breast cancer, and which suggests that cytotoxic chemotherapy has an impact on reducing mortality that is independent of induction of premature ovarian failure

A Bifunctional Fluorophosphate Electrolyte for Safer Sodium-Ion Batteries

Summary: Most of the currently developed sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have potential safety hazards due to the use of highly volatile and flammable alkyl carbonate electrolytes. To overcome this challenge, we report an electrochemically compatible and nonflammable electrolyte, tris(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) phosphate (TFEP) with low-concentration sodium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (0.9 M), which is designed not only to match perfectly with the hard carbon (HC) anode but also to enhance the thermal stability of SIBs. Experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that TFEP molecules have a significantly low barrier to decompose before Na+ inserts into HC, forming a stable inorganic solid-electrolyte interface layer, thus improving the electrochemical and structural stabilities of HC anodes. An HC/Na3V2(PO4)3 full cell using TFEP electrolyte shows a high capacity retention of 89.2% after 300 cycles and a dramatically reduced exothermic heat at elevated temperature, implying its potential application for safe and low-cost larger-scale energy storage. : Chemistry; Materials Science; Energy Materials Subject Areas: Chemistry, Materials Science, Energy Material

Differential responses of ecosystem respiration components to experimental warming in a meadow grassland on the Tibetan Plateau

Global warming is anticipated to have profound effects on terrestrial carbon fluxes and thus feed backs to future climate change. Ecosystem respiration (R-eco) is one of the dominant components of biosphere CO2 fluxes, but the effects of warming on Reco are still unclear. A field warming experiment using open top chambers (OTCs) was conducted in a meadow grassland on the Tibetan Plateau to study the effects of warming on the components of Reco. Warming significantly enhanced above-ground plant respiration (R-agb) and total autotrophic plant respiration (R-plant 1 by 28.7% and 19.9%, respectively, but reduced heterotrophic respiration (R-h) by 10.4%. These different responses resulted in the insensitive responses of Reco and soil respiration (R-s) to the experimental warming. The warming treatment also increased R-plant/R-eco and R-agb/R-eco. by 8.4% and 17.3%, respectively, while decreasing R-h/R-eco, by 19.0%, suggesting that warming could eventually cause R-eco to be dominated by R-plant. Enhancements in Roam and R-agb were related to the warming-induced increases in aboveground biomass (AGB) while reduced R-h was closely coupled with warming-induced decrease of microbial biomass carbon. Our results highlight that the differential responses of the components of R-eco to different environmental physics under warming scenarios should be taken into consideration to project the future carbon-climate feed backs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved