Clinical benefit of readministration of gefitinib for initial gefitinib-responders with non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Gefitinib, an oral agent of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has a certain efficacy against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several predictive factors of gefitinib sensitivity have been well described. However, few studies have investigated the clinical features of gefitinib-responders. In the present study, we analyzed the response and disease progression of primary and metastatic lesions to gefitinib in responders and the results of gefitinib readministration following temporary cessation of gefitinib upon progression of initial gefitinib treatment and other treatments. METHOD: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical courses of 27 NSCLC patients who received gefitinib and achieved either a complete or partial response. RESULTS: The best-response rate and disease-control rate against the initial chemotherapy for the gefitinib-responders were 27.3% and 77.3%, respectively. Favorable efficacy was observed in the primary lesion and metastases to the lung, liver and brain, while there was no obvious effect on bone metastasis. The primary lesion and intrapulmonary metastasis were the sites of major recurrence. Median progression-free survival was 13.8 months, median duration of gefitinib treatment was 17.0 months and median overall survival was 29.2 months. Some of the patients who experienced disease progression after responding to gefitinib were again sensitive to readministration of gefitinib following temporary cessation of gefitinib and other treatments. CONCLUSION: Patients may still be expected to have prolonged survival if they once responded to gefitinib and then underwent various subsequent treatments followed by readministration of gefitinib. These findings might provide valuable information for the management of gefitinib-responders

Clinical benefit of readministration of gefitinib for initial gefitinib-responders with non-small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND: Gefitinib, an oral agent of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has a certain efficacy against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several predictive factors of gefitinib sensitivity have been well described. However, few studies have investigated the clinical features of gefitinib-responders. In the present study, we analyzed the response and disease progression of primary and metastatic lesions to gefitinib in responders and the results of gefitinib readministration following temporary cessation of gefitinib upon progression of initial gefitinib treatment and other treatments. METHOD: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical courses of 27 NSCLC patients who received gefitinib and achieved either a complete or partial response. RESULTS: The best-response rate and disease-control rate against the initial chemotherapy for the gefitinib-responders were 27.3% and 77.3%, respectively. Favorable efficacy was observed in the primary lesion and metastases to the lung, liver and brain, while there was no obvious effect on bone metastasis. The primary lesion and intrapulmonary metastasis were the sites of major recurrence. Median progression-free survival was 13.8 months, median duration of gefitinib treatment was 17.0 months and median overall survival was 29.2 months. Some of the patients who experienced disease progression after responding to gefitinib were again sensitive to readministration of gefitinib following temporary cessation of gefitinib and other treatments. CONCLUSION: Patients may still be expected to have prolonged survival if they once responded to gefitinib and then underwent various subsequent treatments followed by readministration of gefitinib. These findings might provide valuable information for the management of gefitinib-responders

A spindle cell carcinoma presenting with osseous metaplasia in the gingiva: a case report with immunohistochemical analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) is a rare, high malignant variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), which shows biphasic proliferation of conventional SCC component and malignant spindle shape cells with sarcomatous appearance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A case of Spindle cell carcinoma with bone-like calcified materials, occurring at the mandibular molar region of 71-years-old Japanese male patient was presented with gross finding, histological findings and MRI image. To identify the characteristics of the bone-like materials, immunohistochemistry were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Histologically, the cancer cells were composed of spindle cells and epithelial cells which form nests with prominent keratinization. Histological findings showed typical histology of the SpCC, however, as an uncommon finding, spatters of calcified, bone-like materials were observed in between the cancer cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed that cancer cells were positive for cytokeratins and vimentin to a varying degree and negative for Desmin, S-100, Osteopontin, BMP-2 or BMP-4. These findings implied that the calcified materials were formed by metaplasia of the stromal cells.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Bone-like materials formation by osseous and/or cartilaginous metaplasia of the stroma in the carcinoma has been reported. However, the detailed mechanism of these metaplasia and affection on the clinical feature, prognosis and therapies are not well established. In summary, we presented an unique case of SpCC, which has not been described in the literature.</p

Second law, entropy production, and reversibility in thermodynamics of information

We present a pedagogical review of the fundamental concepts in thermodynamics of information, by focusing on the second law of thermodynamics and the entropy production. Especially, we discuss the relationship among thermodynamic reversibility, logical reversibility, and heat emission in the context of the Landauer principle and clarify that these three concepts are fundamentally distinct to each other. We also discuss thermodynamics of measurement and feedback control by Maxwell's demon. We clarify that the demon and the second law are indeed consistent in the measurement and the feedback processes individually, by including the mutual information to the entropy production.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures. As a chapter of: G. Snider et al. (eds.), "Energy Limits in Computation: A Review of Landauer's Principle, Theory and Experiments

Co-existence of acute myeloid leukemia with multilineage dysplasia and Epstein-Barr virus-associated T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis: a case report

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease mediated by inflammatory processes mainly at the joints. Recently, awareness of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated T-cell lymphoproliferative disorder (T-LPD) has been heightened for its association with methotraxate usage in RA patients. In the contrary, acute myeloid leukemia with multilineage dysplasia (AML-MLD) has never been documented to be present concomitantly with the above two conditions. In this report we present a case of an autopsy-proven co-existence of AML-MLD and EBV-associated T-LPD in a patient with RA

Divergence in Sex Steroid Hormone Signaling between Sympatric Species of Japanese Threespine Stickleback

Sex steroids mediate the expression of sexually dimorphic or sex-specific traits that are important both for mate choice within species and for behavioral isolation between species. We investigated divergence in sex steroid signaling between two sympatric species of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus): the Japan Sea form and the Pacific Ocean form. These sympatric forms diverge in both male display traits and female mate choice behaviors, which together contribute to asymmetric behavioral isolation in sympatry. Here, we found that plasma levels of testosterone and 17β-estradiol differed between spawning females of the two sympatric forms. Transcript levels of follicle-stimulating hormone-β (FSHβ) gene were also higher in the pituitary gland of spawning Japan Sea females than in the pituitary gland of spawning Pacific Ocean females. By contrast, none of the sex steroids examined were significantly different between nesting males of the two forms. However, combining the plasma sex steroid data with testis transcriptome data suggested that the efficiency of the conversion of testosterone into 11-ketotestosterone has likely diverged between forms. Within forms, plasma testosterone levels in males were significantly correlated with male body size, a trait important for female mate choice in the two sympatric species. These results demonstrate that substantial divergence in sex steroid signaling can occur between incipient sympatric species. We suggest that investigation of the genetic and ecological mechanisms underlying divergence in hormonal signaling between incipient sympatric species will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of speciation in animals