A phase I/II study of gemcitabine during radiotherapy in children with newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma

The purpose of this phase I/II, open-label, single-arm trial is to investigate the safety, tolerability, maximum tolerated dose and preliminary efficacy of the potential radiosensitizer gemcitabine, administered concomitantly to radiotherapy, in children with newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). Six doses of weekly gemcitabine were administered intravenously, concomitantly to 6 weeks of hyperfractionated radiotherapy. Successive cohorts received increasing doses of 140, 175 and 200 mg/m2 gemcitabine, respectively, following a 3 + 3 dose-escalation schedule without expansion cohort. Dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) were monitored during treatment period. Clinical response was assessed using predefined case report forms and radiological response was assessed using the modified RANO criteria. Quality of life (QoL) was assessed using PedsQL questionnaires. Between June 2012 and December 2016, nine patients were enrolled. Treatment was well tolerated, and no DLTs were observed up to the maximum dose of 200 mg/m2. All patients experienced reduction of tumor-related symptoms. QoL tended to improve during treatment. PFS and MOS were 4.8 months (95% CI 4.0–5.7) and 8.7 months (95% CI 7.0–10.4). Classifying patients according to the recently developed DIPG survival prediction model, intermediate risk patients (n = 4),

Microstructure and tensile properties of twin-roll cast Mg-Zn-Mn-Al alloys

The microstructure and tensile properties of twin-roll cast (TRC) Mg-6% Zn-1% Mn (ZM61) alloys with varying Al contents were investigated. The microstructure of the alloys becomes finer with the addition of Al. The type of dispersoid particles also changes with the Al addition: from MgZn2 in ZM61 alloy to Al8Mn5 in the ZM61-1% Al (ZMA611) and ZM61-3% Al (ZMA613) alloys. ZMA611 alloy has a better combination of tensile properties than ZM61 alloy. However, ZMA613 alloy shows poor ductility due to the formation of coarse Mg-21(Al,Zn)(17) phase during TRC.close788

Correction to: A phase I/II study of gemcitabine during radiotherapy in children with newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma

In Table 2 of the original publication, there were errors in the baseline scores for the PedsQL TM 3.0 Cancer Module questionnaire, so a corrected version of Table 2 is shown in this erratum. In the subcategories of the PedsQL TM 3.0 Cancer Module questionnaire, nausea and fear of procedure did not score significantly lower after treatment compared to baseline. So, based on the corrected data in Table 2, there was no significant decrease in the total score of the cancer questionnaire, and this statement in the previous manuscript was incorrect