Systemic chemotherapy and pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC): A case report of a multimodal treatment for peritoneal metastases of pancreatic origin

Introduction: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) with peritoneal metastases (PM) has a dismal prognosis and palliative systemic chemotherapy, which represents the standard treatment option, has significant pharmacokinetics limitations and low efficacy. Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) is a new method of drug delivery that is expected to maximize exposure of peritoneal nodules to antiblastic agents. A combination of systemic chemotherapy and PIPAC may be valuable. Presentation of case: A 55 years old male affected by PDAC with synchronous PM underwent a multimodal treatment comprising systemic chemotherapy and PIPAC without any procedural-related adverse events. Tumor genomic profiling evaluation from peritoneal biopsies addressed further tailored systemic chemotherapy. Discussion: The presented case illustrates the possibility of adding PIPAC to systemic chemotherapy with a fair tolerance profile and good quality of life while allowing monitoring of therapy-response and tailoring of the antiblastic treatment

Microparticles from dental calculus disclose paleoenvironmental and palaeoecological records

plants have always represented a key element in landscape delineation. Indeed, plant diversity, whose distribution is influenced by geographic/climatic variability, has affected both environmental and human ecology. the present contribution represents a multi-proxy study focused on the detection of starch, pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs in ancient dental calculus collected from pre-historical individuals buried at la sassa and pila archaeological sites (central Italy). the collected record suggested the potential use of plant taxa by the people living in central Italy during the copper-middle bronze age and expanded the body of evidence reported by previous palynological and palaeoecological studies. the application of a microscopic approach provided information about domesticated crops and/or gathered wild plants and inferred considerations on ancient environments, water sources, and past health and diseases. moreover, the research supplied data to define the natural resources (e.g., C4-plant intake) and the social use of the space during that period. another important aspect was the finding of plant clues referable to woody habitats, characterised by broad-leaved deciduous taxa and generally indicative of a warm-temperate climate and grassy vegetation. other unusual records (e.g., diatoms, brachysclereids) participated in defining the prehistoric ecological framework. thus, this work provides an overview on the potential of the human dental calculus analysis to delineate some features of the ancient plant ecology and biodiversity

10 Years of Pressurized Intraperitoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy (PIPAC) is a novel intraperitoneal drug delivery method of low-dose chemotherapy as a pressurized aerosol in patients affected by peritoneal cancer of primary or secondary origin. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis with the aim of assessing the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of PIPAC. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using Medline and Web of Science databases from 1 January 2011, to inception, to 31 December 2021. Data were independently extracted by two authors. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality and risk of bias of studies. Meta-analysis was performed for pathological response, radiological response, PCI variation along treatment, and for patients undergoing three or more PIPAC. Pooled analyses were performed using the Freeman–Tukey double arcsine transformation, and 95% CIs were calculated using Clopper–Pearson exact CIs in all instances. Results: A total of 414 papers on PIPAC were identified, and 53 studies considering 4719 PIPAC procedure in 1990 patients were included for analysis. The non-access rate or inability to perform PIPAC pooled rate was 4% of the procedures performed. The overall proportion of patients who completed 3 or more cycles of PIPAC was 39%. Severe toxicities considering CTCAE 3–4 were 4% (0% to 38.5%). In total, 50 studies evaluated deaths within the first 30 postoperative days. In the included 1936 patients were registered 26 deaths (1.3%). The pooled analysis of all the studies reporting a pathological response was 68% (95% CI 0.61–0.73), with an acceptable heterogeneity (I2 28.41%, p = 0.09). In total, 10 papers reported data regarding the radiological response, with high heterogeneity and a weighted means of 15% (0% to 77.8%). PCI variation along PIPAC cycles were reported in 14 studies. PCI diminished, increased, or remained stable in eight, one and five studies, respectively, with high heterogeneity at pooled analysis. Regarding survival, there was high heterogeneity. The 12-month estimated survival from first PIPAC for colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, gynecological cancer and hepatobiliary/pancreatic cancer were, respectively, 53%, 25%, 59% and 37%. Conclusions: PIPAC may be a useful treatment option for selected patients with PM, with acceptable grade 3 and 4 toxicity and promising survival benefit. Meta-analysis showed high heterogeneity of data among up-to-date available studies. In a subset analysis per primary tumor origin, pathological tumor regression was documented in 68% of the studies with acceptable heterogeneity. Pathological regression seems, therefore, a reliable outcome for PIPAC activity and a potential surrogate endpoint of treatment response. We recommend uniform selection criteria for patients entering a PIPAC program and highlight the urgent need to standardize items for PIPAC reports and datasets

Feasibility and safety of PIPAC combined with additional surgical procedures: PLUS study.

PIPAC (Pressurized IntraPeritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy) is a minimally invasive approach relying on physical principles for improving intraperitoneal drug delivery, including optimizing the homogeneity of drug distribution through an aerosol. Feasibility and safety of the new approach are now consolidated and data on its effectiveness are continuously increasing. Although any surgical procedure associated with PIPAC had always been discouraged due to the high risk of complications, surgical practice is constantly changing: with growing expertise, more and more surgical teams associate PIPAC with surgery. PLUS study is part of the retrospective international cohort studies including 10 centers around the world (India, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland) and 96 cases of combined approaches evaluated through a propensity score analysis. the procedures most frequently associated with PIPAC were not only adhesiolysis, omentectomy, adnexectomy, umbilical/inguinal hernia repairs, but also more demanding procedures such as intestinal resections, gastrectomy, splenectomy, bowel repair/stoma creation. Although the evidence is currently limited, PLUS study demonstrated that PIPAC associated with additional surgical procedures is linked to an increase of surgical time (p < 0.001), length of stay (p < 0.001) and medical complication rate (p < 0.001); the most frequently reported medical complications were mild or moderate in severity, such as abdominal pain, nausea, ileus and hyperthermia. No difference in terms of surgical complications was registered; neither reoperation or postoperative deaths were reported. these results suggest that PIPAC can be safely combined in expert centers with additional surgeries. Widespread change of practice should be discouraged before the results of ongoing prospective studies are available

Genetic and epigenetic alterations of cdh1 regulatory regions in hereditary and sporadic gastric cancer

E-cadherin is a key player in gastric cancer (GC) and germline alterations of CDH1, its encoding gene, are responsible for Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer (HDGC) syndrome. This study aimed at elucidating the role of genetic variants and DNA methylation of CDH1 promoter and enhancers in the regulation of gene expression. For this purpose, we analyzed genetic variants of the CDH1 gene through Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) in a series of GC cell lines (NCI-N87, KATO-III, SNU-1, SNU-5, GK2, AKG, KKP) and the corresponding CDH1 expression levels. By bisulfite genomic sequencing, we analyzed the methylation status of CDH1 regulatory regions in 8 GC cell lines, in a series of 13 sporadic GC tissues and in a group of 20 HDGC CDH1-negative patients and 6 healthy controls. The NGS analysis on CDH1 coding and regulatory regions detected genetic alterations in 3 out of 5 GC cell lines lacking functional E-cadherin. CDH1 regulatory regions showed different methylation patterns in patients and controls, GC cell lines and GC tissues, expressing different E-cadherin levels. Our results showed that alterations in terms of genetic variants and DNA methylation patterns of both promoter and enhancers are associated with CDH1 expression levels and have a role in its regulation.This research and its authors were funded by IRCCS IRST (G.T., C.M., R.D. V.A., M.R., F.R., M.C., S.P., G.M., D.C., P.U.) and by FEDER-Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020–Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT–Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274) (C.S.J., R.B.-M., A.A., C.O.). This work was also financed by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000029 (CANCER)-supported by Norte Portugal Regional Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)–project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016390 (CancelStem) and PTDC/BTM-TEC/30164/2017 (3DChroMe), funded by ERDF, POCI and FCT

Validation of ammonia diffusive and pumped samplers in a controlled atmosphere test facility using traceable Primary Standard Gas Mixtures

We report the determination of ammonia (NH3) diffusive sampling rates for six different designs of commercial diffusive samplers (CEH ALPHA sampler, Gradko diffusion tube, Gradko DIFRAM-400, Passam ammonia sampler,and ICS Maugeri Radiello radial sampler (blue and white turbulence barriers)), together with the validation test results for a pumped sampler (CEH DELTA denuder). The devices were all exposed in the UK's National Physical Laboratory's (NPL) controlled atmosphere test facility (CATFAC). For each of the seven diffusive sampler exposure tests there were traceable concentrations of ammonia (in the range 3–25 μgm−3) generated under well-defined conditions of temperature, relative humidity and wind speed, which are applicable to a variety of ambient monitoring environments. The sampler exposure time at each concentration was 28 days, except for the radial devices, which were exposed for 14 days. The work relied on the dilution of newly developed stable Primary Standard Gas Mixtures (PSMs) prepared by gravimetry in passivated gas cylinders as a method of improving the metrological traceability of ammonia measurements. The exposed diffusive samplers were sent blind to the participants for analysis and the reported NH3 concentrations were then compared against the known reference concentration. From the results for each sampler type a diffusive sampling rate was calculated and compared against the rate used routinely by the participants. Some measurement results were in good agreement with the known traceable reference concentration (particularly for one diffusive sampler design (ALPHA)), while other devices exhibited over-reading and under-reading (each with a clear bias). The new diffusive sampling rates determined in the laboratory study were then applied to measurements in a field comparison campaign, and this was found to deliver an improvement in agreement between the different devices deployed

Atmospheric isoprene measurements reveal larger-than-expected Southern Ocean emissions

Isoprene is a key trace component of the atmosphere emitted by vegetation and other organisms. It is highly reactive and can impact atmospheric composition and climate by affecting the greenhouse gases ozone and methane and secondary organic aerosol formation. Marine fluxes are poorly constrained due to the paucity of long-term measurements; this in turn limits our understanding of isoprene cycling in the ocean. Here we present the analysis of isoprene concentrations in the atmosphere measured across the Southern Ocean over 4 months in the summertime. Some of the highest concentrations ( >500 ppt) originated from the marginal ice zone in the Ross and Amundsen seas, indicating the marginal ice zone is a significant source of isoprene at high latitudes. Using the United Kingdom Earth System Model we show that current estimates of sea-to-air isoprene fluxes underestimate observed isoprene by a factor >20. A daytime source of isoprene is required to reconcile models with observations. The model presented here suggests such an increase in isoprene emissions would lead to >8% decrease in the hydroxyl radical in regions of the Southern Ocean, with implications for our understanding of atmospheric oxidation and composition in remote environments, often used as proxies for the pre-industrial atmosphere

Encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroid disease in patients with Graves' disease: clinical manifestations, follow-up, and outcomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroid disease (EAATD) is characterized by neurological/psychiatric symptoms, high levels of anti-thyroid antibodies, increased cerebrospinal fluid protein concentration, non-specific electroencephalogram abnormalities, and responsiveness to the corticosteroid treatment in patients with an autoimmune thyroid disease. Almost all EAATD patients are affected by Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), although fourteen EAATD patients with Graves' disease (GD) have been also reported.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We have recorded and analyzed the clinical, biological, radiological, and electrophysiological findings and the data on the therapeutic management of all GD patients with EAATD reported so far as well as the clinical outcomes in those followed-up in the long term.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twelve of the fourteen patients with EAATD and GD were women. The majority of GD patients with EAATD presented with mild hyperthyroidism at EAATD onset or shortly before it. Active anti-thyroid autoimmunity was detected in all cases. Most of the patients dramatically responded to corticosteroids. The long term clinical outcome was benign but EAATD can relapse, especially at the time of corticosteroid dose tapering or withdrawal. GD and HT patients with EAATD present with a similar clinical, biological, radiological, and electrophysiological picture and require an unaffected EAATD management.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>GD and HT equally represent the possible background condition for the development of EAATD, which should be considered in the differential diagnosis of all patients with encephalopathy of unknown origin and an autoimmune thyroid disease, regardless of the nature of the underlying autoimmune thyroid disease.</p

Timing is everything: the regulation of type III secretion

Type Three Secretion Systems (T3SSs) are essential virulence determinants of many Gram-negative bacteria. The T3SS is an injection device that can transfer bacterial virulence proteins directly into host cells. The apparatus is made up of a basal body that spans both bacterial membranes and an extracellular needle that possesses a channel that is thought to act as a conduit for protein secretion. Contact with a host-cell membrane triggers the insertion of a pore into the target membrane, and effectors are translocated through this pore into the host cell. To assemble a functional T3SS, specific substrates must be targeted to the apparatus in the correct order. Recently, there have been many developments in our structural and functional understanding of the proteins involved in the regulation of secretion. Here we review the current understanding of protein components of the system thought to be involved in switching between different stages of secretion