Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias Workgroup: Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias Report and Recommendations

Rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are expected to increase greatly over the next decades. Many practices lack guidelines on how to increase quality of diagnosing, treating, and supporting people with dementia and their family members and other caregivers. This workgroup met from January to November 2017, aligned with and built off the Alzheimer’s State Plan, and organized recommendations with the following focus areas: Early detection and appropriate diagnosis Ongoing care and support or management including for family members and caregivers Advance care planning and palliative care Assessment and planning for need for increased support and/or higher levels of care Preparing for potential hospitalization Screening for delirium risk during hospitalization for all patients over 6

公けの施設の利用と表現の自由 : アメリカにおけるpublic formの法理の検討

はじめに　I 伝統的フォーラム　1 禁止の時代　2 public forumの理論の萌芽　3 public forumの理論の基礎と展開　4 一時的動揺期と再確認　Ⅱ 現代的フォーラムの拡がり　Ⅲ public forumの法理の検討　1 「時，場所および方法の規則」の原則　(1) 施設の性質，本来の利用目的　(2) 代替施設の存在　(3) 言論とフォーラムの関係　2 「政府中立」の原則　(1) content-neutral と「平等原則」の適用　(2) compellingな政治利益　(3) 「public form」の概念と内容規制　おわり

Media reporting of tenofovir trials in Cambodia and Cameroon

BACKGROUND: Two planned trials of pre-exposure prophylaxis tenofovir in Cambodia and Cameroon to prevent HIV infection in high-risk populations were closed due to activist pressure on host country governments. The international news media contributed substantially as the primary source of knowledge transfer regarding the trials. We aimed to characterize the nature of reporting, specifically focusing on the issues identified by media reports regarding each trial. METHODS: With the aid of an information specialist, we searched 3 electronic media databases, 5 electronic medical databases and extensively searched the Internet. In addition we contacted stakeholder groups. We included media reports addressing the trial closures, the reasons for the trial closures, and who was interviewed. We extracted data using content analysis independently, in duplicate. RESULTS: We included 24 reports on the Cambodian trial closure and 13 reports on the Cameroon trial closure. One academic news account incorrectly reported that it was an HIV vaccine trial that closed early. The primary reasons cited for the Cambodian trial closure were: a lack of medical insurance for trial related injuries (71%); human rights considerations (71%); study protocol concerns (46%); general suspicions regarding trial location (37%) and inadequate prevention counseling (29%). The primary reasons cited for the Cameroon trial closure were: inadequate access to care for seroconverters (69%); participants not sufficiently informed of risks (69%); inadequate number of staff (46%); participants being exploited (46%) and an unethical study design (38%). Only 3/23 (13%) reports acknowledged interviewing research personnel regarding the Cambodian trial, while 4/13 (30.8%) reports interviewed researchers involved in the Cameroon trial. CONCLUSION: Our review indicates that the issues addressed and validity of the media reports of these trials is highly variable. Given the potential impact of the media in formulation of health policy related to HIV, efforts are needed to effectively engage the media during periods of controversy in the HIV/AIDS epidemic

Phase I trial of the safety and immunogenicity of a tri-antigen vaccine targeting HER2, IGFBP-2, and IGF-IR in patients with non-metastatic breast cancer

Background: HER2, IGFBP-2, and IGF-IR are proteins that are overexpressed in breast cancer. These three proteins, when used as immunogens, provide broad antigenic coverage to all molecular breast cancer subtypes. The proteins are also up-regulated in pre-invasive and highrisk breast lesions which are associated with progression to invasive cancer. Therefore, generating protective immunity against these antigens could have the result of preventing cancer development in high risk patients. We identified epitopes derived from these proteins, termed Th1 selective epitopes, that specifically stimulated T-helper 1 immune responses in humans and mice. The tri-antigen vaccine was effective in preventing the development of breast cancer in a transgenic mouse model of neu-expressing mammary cancer. We conducted a dose finding study of a plasmid-based vaccine encoding three extended Th1 selective epitopes derived from these antigens in breast cancer patients. Methods: Patients with nonmetastatic, node positive, HER2 negative breast cancer that are in remission and defined as no evidence of disease were enrolled sequentially to one of 3 dose arms: 150, 300, and 600 mcg of the tri-antigen vaccine plasmid with 10 evaluable patients per arm (NCT02780401). Vaccines were given monthly intradermally for three total doses with rhu-GM-CSF (100mcg) as an adjuvant. The primary endpoint was safety through the 6-month follow-up visit and the secondary endpoints were immunogenicity, persistence of the immune response after vaccination, and assessment of potential stimulation of T-regulatory (T-reg) cells or myeloid derived suppressor cells to the overexpressed non-mutated antigens as well as determining the recommended Phase II dose. Results: Thirty-two patients were enrolled and 97% received all three vaccinations. The mean age at enrollment was 51.9 years with 61% of patients being premenopausal and 39% post-menopausal. The majority of patients were Stage II/III. Eighty-eight percent of patients had hormone receptor positive tumors and twelve percent were triple negative disease. The majority of adverse events (AE) (\u3e95%) were grade 1 or 2. The most common AE were injection site reactions, flu like symptoms, fatigue, chills, myalgia, and nausea. All doses were immunogenic with the greatest magnitude antigen specific Type I immune responses seen in the low and intermediate doses. Eighty percent of patients at the 300mcg dose retained high levels of antigen specific immunity at 1 and 6 months after immunization as compared to 57% and 50% at the 100 and 600mcg doses respectively. No antigen specific Th2 cells, MDSC or T-reg were generated with vaccination. Immunizations did not upregulate PD-1 on CD4 or CD8 T-cells. Conclusions: A plasmid-based vaccine encoding extended Th1 selective epitopes derived from HER2, IGFBP-2, and IGF-IR could be administered safely and generate high levels of antigen specific interferon gamma secreting Tcells (Th1). The 300mcg dose elicited significant immune responses in the majority of patients which persisted at least 6 months after the end of immunization. A Phase II study of the vaccine given in the neoadjuvant setting to patients with HER2 positive breast cancer is ongoing (NCT04329065)