DOI 10.1007/s00280-013-2346-z ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Extraction of tamoxifen and its metabolites from formalin‑fixed, paraffin‑embedded tissues: an innovative quantitation method using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometr

Depressive Symptoms and Associated Factors in Female Students in Fukushima Four Years after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster

Young women in their late teens and early 20s are at the highest risk for depression onset. The present study aimed to assess depressive symptoms among female college students in Fukushima. More specifically, it aimed to clarify factors predicting possible symptom profiles, with an emphasis on determining how nuclear radiation risks affect the reporting of depression symptoms. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of 310 female students at a college in the Fukushima prefecture, Japan, in December 2015, and 288 participants submitted valid questionnaires. In total, 222 (77.1%) participants lived in Fukushima at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The measures included the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index, the Fukushima Future Parents Attitude Measure, and risk perception of radiation health effects. A total of 46.5% of participants reported depressive symptoms. Path analysis revealed that higher radiation risk perceptions and reduced efficacy with reproduction related to a decline in self-esteem and self-efficacy, which was subsequently associated with increased depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of radiation education among children and young adults, both after a nuclear accident and during disaster preparation, particularly in the context of reproductive and mental health

Table_1_The prognostic impact of PD-L1 and CD8 expression in anal cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy.docx

BackgroundProgrammed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression has been shown to be prognostic in many cancer types and used in consideration of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. However, there are very limited and conflicting data on the prognostic impact of PD-L1 in patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC). The objectives of this study were to measure the expression of PD-L1 and CD8 in patients with ASCC treated with radical chemoradiotherapy (CRT) and to correlate tumor expression with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).MethodsNinety-nine patients with ASCC treated with primary CRT at two tertiary care cancer centers between 2000 and 2013, with available pre-treatment tumors, were included. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) from pre-treatment tumor specimens were stained for PD-L1 and CD8. PD-L1 expression in the tumor and stroma was quantified using HALO image analysis software, and results were interpreted using quantitative methods. The density of CD8 cells within the tumor was interpreted by a trained pathologist semi-quantitatively, using a 0-4 scoring system. Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank was used to determine the significance in the association of tumor markers with PFS and OS. Cox multivariate analysis was used to explore independent predictors of PFS and OS.ResultsOf the 99 patients, 63 (64%) had sufficient tumor samples available for full analysis. CD8 high status was documented in 32 of 63 (50.8%) % of cases. PD-L1 expression was positive in 88.9% of cases. Approximately half the patients had tumor PD-L1 ≥ 5%. Patients with tumor PD-L1 ≥ 5% had better OS vs those with lower expression, HR=0.32 (95% CI 0.11-0.87), p=0.027; 10 years OS: 84% for tumor PD-L1 ≥ 5% vs 49% for PD-L1 ConclusionsTumor PD-L1≥5% is associated with OS in patients with ASCC treated with CRT. PD-L1 expression status using this unique cut-point warrants further validation for prognostication in patients with this disease. Future studies are required to determine the benefit of alternative treatment strategies based on PD-L1 status.</p