Real-world data of fulvestrant as first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer

Goals of endocrine therapy for advanced breast cancer (ABC) include prolonging survival rates, maintaining the quality of life, and delaying the initiation of chemotherapy. We evaluated the effectiveness of fulvestrant as first-line in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive ABC with relapse during or after adjuvant anti-estrogenic therapy in real-world settings. Retrospective, observational study involving 171 postmenopausal women with ER-positive ABC who received fulvestrant as first-line between January 2011 and May 2018 in Spanish hospitals. With a median follow-up of 31.4 months, the progression-free survival (PFS) with fulvestrant was 14.6 months. No differences were seen in the visceral metastatic (14.3 months) versus non-visceral (14.6 months) metastatic subgroup for PFS. Overall response rate and clinical benefit rate were 35.2% and 82.8%. Overall survival was 43.1 months. The duration of the clinical benefit was 19.2 months. Patients with ECOG performance status 0 at the start of treatment showed a significant greater clinical benefit rate and overall survival than with ECOG 1-2. Results in real-world settings are in concordance with randomized clinical trials. Fulvestrant continues to demonstrate clinical benefits in real-world settings and appears be well tolerated as first-line for the treatment of postmenopausal women with ER-positive ABC

A Carboxylesterase 2 Gene Polymorphism as Predictor of Capecitabine on Response and Time to Progression

Este artículo ha sido publicado en la revista Current Drug Metabolism Esta versión tiene Licencia Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND Le remito pdf recibido de mi solicitud a la revista del postprint, y que me han enviado por correo electrónico con permiso para su depósito.Capecitabine is a drug that requires the consecutive action of three enzymes: carboxylesterase 2 (CES 2), cytidine deaminase (CDD), and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) for transformation into 5-fluorouracil (5FU). The metabolism of 5FU requires the activity of thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) among other enzymes. The present study prospectively examined the possible relationship between the toxicity and efficacy of capecitabine and 14 different polymorphisms in CES 2, CDD, TS and DPD. Between 2003 and 2005, a total of 136 patients with advanced breast or colorectal cancer treated with capecitabine were prospectively enrolled. The presence of two polymorphisms (CDD 943insC and CES 2 Exon3 6046 G/A) were associated with a non-statistically significant higher incidence of grade 3 hand-foot syndrome (HFS) (p=0.07) and grade 3-4 diarrhoea (p=0.09), respectively. Patients heterozygous or homozygous for the polymorphism CES 2 5’UTR 823 C/G exhibited a significantly greater response rate to capecitabine, and time to progression of disease (59%, 8.7 months) than patients with the wild type gene sequence (32%, p=0.015; 5.3 months, p=0.014). For the first time, an association between a polymorphism in the CES2 gene and the efficacy of capecitabine has been described, providing preliminary evidence of its predictive and prognostic value

Governing Artificial Intelligence to benefit the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Big Tech's unregulated roll-out out of experimental AI poses risks to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with particular vulnerability for developing countries. The goal of financial inclusion is threatened by the imperfect and ungoverned design and implementation of AI decision-making software making important financial decisions affecting customers. Automated decision-making algorithms have displayed evidence of bias, lack ethical governance, and limit transparency in the basis for their decisions, causing unfair outcomes and amplify unequal access to finance. Poverty reduction and sustainable development targets are risked by Big Tech's potential exploitation of developing countries by using AI to harvest data and profits. Stakeholder progress toward preventing financial crime and corruption is further threatened by potential misuse of AI. In the light of such risks, Big Tech's unscrupulous history means it cannot be trusted to operate without regulatory oversight. The article proposes effective pre-emptive regulatory options to minimize scenarios of AI damaging the SDGs. It explores internationally accepted principles of AI governance, and argues for their implementation as regulatory requirements governing AI developers and coders, with compliance verified through algorithmic auditing. Furthermore, it argues that AI governance frameworks must require a benefit to the SDGs. The article argues that proactively predicting such problems can enable continued AI innovation through well-designed regulations adhering to international principles. It highlights risks of unregulated AI causing harm to human interests, where a public and regulatory backlash may result in over-regulation that could damage the otherwise beneficial development of AI.Qatar National Research Fund, Grant/Award Number: NPRP 11S-1119-17001

USANDO MENTIMETER EN EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR: HERRAMIENTA DIGITAL EN LÍNEA PARA INCENTIVAR Y POTENCIAR LA ADQUISICIÓN DE CONOCIMIENTO DE MANERA LÚDICA

With the emergence of COVID-19, the educational community has needed to incorporate new methodological approaches to face the new forms of teaching required by the pandemic scenario. One of these approaches is gamification, which implies introducing educational content in a playful way. In Higher Education, gamification must have a level of complexity that the most popular programs can't provide. Mentimeter is a program that is based on an online audience software and allows a wide range of questions and questionnaires significantly suitable for the educational level analysed. It facilitates the active learning of students, increasing their attention, commitment and motivation, thus allowing the student to be the centre of the teaching-learning process. This article analyses the use of Mentimeter in a wide range of classes of various university disciplines and reviews its theoretical and practical potential for the improvement of teaching-learning processes, the acquisition of knowledge by students and the use of new teaching methodologies.Con la irrupción de la COVID-19, la comunidad educativa necesitado incorporar nuevos enfoques metodológicos para enfrentarse a las formas de docencia que ha requerido el escenario de pandemia. Uno de estos enfoques es la gamificación (introducir contenidos educativos de manera lúdica). En la Educación Superior, la gamificación ha de tener un nivel de complejidad que los programas más conocidos no tienen. Mentimeter es un programa que parte de un software de audiencia en línea y permite elaborar preguntas y cuestionarios muy adecuados para los niveles de educación analizados. Facilita el aprendizaje activo del alumnado, aumentando su atención, compromiso y motivación, permitiendo con ello que el/la estudiante sea el centro del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje. El presente artículo analiza el uso de Mentimeter en un conjunto amplio de clases de diversas disciplinas universitarias y revisa su potencialidad teórico-práctica para la mejora de los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje, la adquisición de conocimiento por parte del alumnado y el uso de nuevas metodologías docentes.Com o surgimento do COVID-19, a comunidade educacional precisou incorporar novas abordagens metodológicas para enfrentar as formas de ensino que o cenário pandêmico tem exigido. Uma dessas abordagens é a gamificação (introdução de conteúdo educacional de forma lúdica). No Ensino Superior, a gamificação deve ter um nível de complexidade que os programas mais populares não possuem. O Mentimeter é um programa que parte de um software de audiência online e permite a elaboração de questões e questionários muito adequados aos níveis de ensino analisados. Facilita a aprendizagem ativa dos alunos, aumentando sua atenção, comprometimento e motivação, permitindo assim que o aluno seja o centro do processo ensino-aprendizagem. Este artigo analisa a utilização do Mentimeter em um amplo conjunto de turmas de diversas disciplinas universitárias e revisa seu potencial teórico-prático para a melhoria dos processos de ensino-aprendizagem, a aquisição de conhecimentos pelos alunos e a utilização de novas metodologias docentes

A reforma educacional no México e no Chile: apontamentos sobre as rupturas e continuidades

Este artigo busca resgatar a inflexão ocorrida recentemente nas políticas educacionais da América Latina a partir de duas situações específicas, a do México e a do Chile. Considerando que tais políticas têm sido implementadas a partir de uma lógica relacionada à globalização capitalista em curso e são expressões da correlação de forças sociais num espaço concreto, propõe-se identificar de que forma diretrizes comuns, definidas por organismos internacionais, interagem com as características culturais vigentes em cada país. Tal preocupação advém da percepção acerca da função social da área educacional e de sua dinâmica como expressão das contradições. Conclui-se que, embora alvo de políticas semelhantes, a realidade educacional nos dois países expressa situações distintas: no México, tem-se uma "ruptura conservadora", pelo seu caráter regressivo, e no Chile uma "continuidade conservadora"