Bacterial Colony Counts During Vaginal Surgery

Objective: To describe the bacterial types and colony counts present before and during vaginal surgery. Methods: A descriptive study was undertaken of patients undergoing vaginal hysterectomy with or without reconstructive pelvic surgery. Aerobic and anaerobic bacterial cultures were obtained immediately before and throughout the surgical cases at preselected time intervals. Standard antimicrobial prophylaxis was administered in all cases. Mean total colony counts and mean anaerobic colony counts were determined by adding all colonies regardless of bacteria type. ‘Contamination’ was defined as ≥ 5000 colony-forming units/ml. Results: A total of 31 patients aged 26 to 82 years (mean age ± SD, 51 ± 15) were included. The highest total and anaerobic colony counts were found at the first intraoperative time interval. On the first set of cultures (30 minutes after the surgical scrub), 52% (16/31) of the surgical fields were contaminated, and at 90 minutes, 41% (12/29) were contaminated. A negligible number of subsequent cultures were contaminated. Conclusions: Any future interventions designed to minimize bacterial colony counts should focus on the first 30 to 90 minutes of surgery

Pembrolizumab Enhances the Anti-Leukemia Activity of Antigen Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp23/1074/thumbnail.jp

Biopsy confirmation of metastatic sites in breast cancer patients:clinical impact and future perspectives

Determination of hormone receptor (estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status in the primary tumor is clinically relevant to define breast cancer subtypes, clinical outcome,and the choice of therapy. Retrospective and prospective studies suggest that there is substantial discordance in receptor status between primary and recurrent breast cancer. Despite this evidence and current recommendations,the acquisition of tissue from metastatic deposits is not routine practice. As a consequence, therapeutic decisions for treatment in the metastatic setting are based on the features of the primary tumor. Reasons for this attitude include the invasiveness of the procedure and the unreliable outcome of biopsy, in particular for biopsies of lesions at complex visceral sites. Improvements in interventional radiology techniques mean that most metastatic sites are now accessible by minimally invasive methods, including surgery. In our opinion, since biopsies are diagnostic and changes in biological features between the primary and secondary tumors can occur, the routine biopsy of metastatic disease needs to be performed. In this review, we discuss the rationale for biopsy of suspected breast cancer metastases, review issues and caveats surrounding discordance of biomarker status between primary and metastatic tumors, and provide insights for deciding when to perform biopsy of suspected metastases and which one (s) to biopsy. We also speculate on the future translational implications for biopsy of suspected metastatic lesions in the context of clinical trials and the establishment of bio-banks of biopsy material taken from metastatic sites. We believe that such bio-banks will be important for exploring mechanisms of metastasis. In the future,advances in targeted therapy will depend on the availability of metastatic tissue

Early prediction of clinical response to checkpoint inhibitor therapy in human solid tumors through mathematical modeling

Background:: Checkpoint inhibitor therapy of cancer has led to markedly improved survival of a subset of patients in multiple solid malignant tumor types, yet the factors driving these clinical responses or lack thereof are not known. We have developed a mechanistic mathematical model for better understanding these factors and their relations in order to predict treatment outcome and optimize personal treatment strategies. Methods:: Here, we present a translational mathematical model dependent on three key parameters for describing efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors in human cancer: tumor growth rate (α), tumor-immune infiltration (Λ), and immunotherapy-mediated amplification of anti-tumor response (µ). The model was calibrated by fitting it to a compiled clinical tumor response dataset (n = 189 patients) obtained from published anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 clinical trials, and then validated on an additional validation cohort (n = 64 patients) obtained from our in-house clinical trials. Results:: The derived parameters Λ and µ were both significantly different between responding versus nonresponding patients. Of note, our model appropriately classified response in 81.4% of patients by using only tumor volume measurements and within 2 months of treatment initiation in a retrospective analysis. The model reliably predicted clinical response to the PD-1/PD-L1 class of checkpoint inhibitors across multiple solid malignant tumor types. Comparison of model parameters to immunohistochemical measurement of PD-L1 and CD8+ T cells confirmed robust relationships between model parameters and their underlying biology. Conclusions:: These results have demonstrated reliable methods to inform model parameters directly from biopsy samples, which are conveniently obtainable as early as the start of treatment. Together, these suggest that the model parameters may serve as early and robust biomarkers of the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor therapy on an individualized per-patient basis. Funding:: We gratefully acknowledge support from the Andrew Sabin Family Fellowship, Center for Radiation Oncology Research, Sheikh Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, and institutional funds from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. We have also received Cancer Center Support Grants from the National Cancer Institute (P30CA016672 to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and P30CA072720 the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey). This research has also been supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation Grant DMS-1930583 (ZW, VC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 1R01CA253865 (ZW, VC), 1U01CA196403 (ZW, VC), 1U01CA213759 (ZW, VC), 1R01CA226537 (ZW, RP, WA, VC), 1R01CA222007 (ZW, VC), U54CA210181 (ZW, VC), and the University of Texas System STARS Award (VC). BC acknowledges support through the SER Cymru II Programme, funded by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND scheme and the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). EK has also received support from the Project Purple, NIH (U54CA210181, U01CA200468, and U01CA196403), and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (16-65-SING). MF was supported through NIH/NCI center grant U54CA210181, R01CA222959, DoD Breast Cancer Research Breakthrough Level IV Award W81XWH-17-1-0389, and the Ernest Cockrell Jr. Presidential Distinguished Chair at Houston Methodist Research Institute. RP and WA received serial research awards from AngelWorks, the Gillson-Longenbaugh Foundation, and the Marcus Foundation. This work was also supported in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute to SHC (R01CA109322, R01CA127483, R01CA208703, and U54CA210181 CITO pilot grant) and to PYP (R01CA140243, R01CA188610, and U54CA210181 CITO pilot grant). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Patient perspective on the management of atrial fibrillation in five European countries

Bakhai A, Sandberg A, Mittendorf T, et al. Patient perspective on the management of atrial fibrillation in five European countries. In: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. Vol 13. BMC; 2013

Optimal MHC-II-restricted tumor antigen presentation to CD4+ T helper cells: the key issue for development of anti-tumor vaccines

Present immunoprevention and immunotherapeutic approaches against cancer suffer from the limitation of being not “sterilizing” procedures, as very poor protection against the tumor is obtained. Thus newly conceived anti-tumor vaccination strategies are urgently needed. In this review we will focus on ways to provide optimal MHC class II-restricted tumor antigen presentation to CD4+ T helper cells as a crucial parameter to get optimal and protective adaptive immune response against tumor. Through the description of successful preventive or therapeutic experimental approaches to vaccinate the host against the tumor we will show that optimal activation of MHC class II-restricted tumor specific CD4+ T helper cells can be achieved in various ways. Interestingly, the success in tumor eradication and/or growth arrest generated by classical therapies such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy in some instances can be re-interpreted on the basis of an adaptive immune response induced by providing suitable access of tumor-associated antigens to MHC class II molecules. Therefore, focussing on strategies to generate better and suitable MHC class II–restricted activation of tumor specific CD4+ T helper cells may have an important impact on fighting and defeating cancer

A parsimonious explanation for intersecting perinatal mortality curves: understanding the effect of plurality and of parity

BACKGROUND: Birth weight- and gestational age-specific perinatal mortality curves intersect when compared across categories of maternal smoking, plurality, race and other factors. No simple explanation exists for this paradoxical observation. METHODS: We used data on all live births, stillbirths and infant deaths in Canada (1991–1997) to compare perinatal mortality rates among singleton and twin births, and among singleton births to nulliparous and parous women. Birth weight- and gestational age-specific perinatal mortality rates were first calculated by dividing the number of perinatal deaths at any given birth weight or gestational age by the number of total births at that birth weight or gestational age (conventional calculation). Gestational age-specific perinatal mortality rates were also calculated using the number of fetuses at risk of perinatal death at any given gestational age. RESULTS: Conventional perinatal mortality rates among twin births were lower than those among singletons at lower birth weights and earlier gestation ages, while the reverse was true at higher birth weights and later gestational ages. When perinatal mortality rates were based on fetuses at risk, however, twin births had consistently higher mortality rates than singletons at all gestational ages. A similar pattern emerged in contrasts of gestational age-specific perinatal mortality among singleton births to nulliparous and parous women. Increases in gestational age-specific rates of growth-restriction with advancing gestational age presaged rising rates of gestational age-specific perinatal mortality in both contrasts. CONCLUSIONS: The proper conceptualization of perinatal risk eliminates the mortality crossover paradox and provides new insights into perinatal health issues

A novel inhibitor of fatty acid synthase shows activity against HER2+ breast cancer xenografts and is active in anti-HER2 drug-resistant cell lines

Introduction: Inhibiting the enzyme Fatty Acid Synthase (FASN) leads to apoptosis of breast carcinoma cells, and this is linked to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) signaling pathways in models of simultaneous expression of FASN and HER2. Methods: In a xenograft model of breast carcinoma cells that are FASN+ and HER2+, we have characterised the anticancer activity and the toxicity profile of G28UCM, the lead compound of a novel family of synthetic FASN inhibitors. In vitro, we analysed the cellular and molecular interactions of combining G28UCM with anti-HER drugs. Finally, we tested the cytotoxic ability of G28UCM on breast cancer cells resistant to trastuzumab or lapatinib, that we developed in our laboratory. Results: In vivo, G28UCM reduced the size of 5 out of 14 established xenografts. In the responding tumours, we observed inhibition of FASN activity, cleavage of poly-ADPribose polymerase (PARP) and a decrease of p-HER2, p- protein kinase B (AKT) and p-ERK1/2, which were not observed in the nonresponding tumours. In the G28UCM-treated animals, no significant toxicities occurred, and weight loss was not observed. In vitro, G28UCM showed marked synergistic interactions with trastuzumab, lapatinib, erlotinib or gefitinib (but not with cetuximab), which correlated with increases in apoptosis and with decreases in the activation of HER2, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and AKT. In trastuzumab-resistant and in lapatinib-resistant breast cancer cells, in which trastuzumab and lapatinib were not effective, G28UCM retained the anticancer activity observed in the parental cells. Conclusions: G28UCM inhibits fatty acid synthase (FASN) activity and the growth of breast carcinoma xenografts in vivo, and is active in cells with acquired resistance to anti-HER2 drugs, which make it a candidate for further pre-clinical development