Five-Years Outcome Analysis of 142 Consecutive Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Treated with Doxorubicin Eluting Microspheres 30–60 μm: Results from a Single-Centre Prospective Phase II Trial

Purpose: To assess prospectively long-term results of doxorubicin-loaded HepaSphere 30–60 μm in consecutive patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) not amenable to curative treatments. Patients and Methods: Single-center study from June 2011 to December 2015 in 151 patients treated with 75 mg of doxorubicin per HepaSphere vial. Baseline: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer BCLC A/B was 49.3%/50.7%, and median diameter 6.1 cm (mean 6.7 ± 2.0). Liver function, local response (mRECIST), liver time to progression (LTTP), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS) and adverse events (AEs) were recorded. Results: Final analysis included 142 patients with median follow-up of 46.8 months (range 4–72) without grade 4/5 AEs, and 30-day mortality was 0%. Mean number of scheduled treatments was 2.6 (range 1–3) and on demand 3 (range 1–8). Complete response for single tumor ≤ 5 cm was 75.0% and 66.7% for Child A and Child B, while for > 5 cm was 28.6% and 11.8%, respectively. OS was 31.0 months (mean 33.3 ± 15.2; range 8–69), notably for BCLC A 41 months (mean 41.1 ± 15.3; range 13–69) and for BCLC B 26.0 (mean 26.0 ± 10.5; range 8–51). OS at 1, 3 and 5 years: 95.8%, 75.7% and 21.4% for BCLC A, and 94.4%, 36.1% and 2.7% for BCLC B. Median LTTP for BCLC A was 11 months (mean 11.9 ± 4.7; range 3–24) and 7.5 for BCLC B (mean 7.9 ± 2.9). Local response was significant for OS and LTTP (p < 0.0001), while size and lesion number affected LPFS and OS (p < 0.001). Conclusions: HepaSphere 30–60 μm loaded with doxorubicin provides a safe and effective treatment option for patients with HCC. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature and the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE)

Lab4CE: a Remote Laboratory for Computer Education

International audienceRemote practical activities have been demonstrated to be efficient when learners come to acquire inquiry skills. In computer science education, virtualization technologies are gaining popularity as this technological advance enables instructors to implement realistic practical learning activities, and learners to engage in authentic and problem-based learning. However, virtualization solutions have not been designed especially for education and do not address any pedagogical concern. Since several large-scale studies showed that instructional supports during practical activities are almost as important as technical features, this article investigates the following research question: how the scaffolding around the lab increases students’ engagement in remote practical learning of computer science? To answer this question, we introduce the Lab4CE environment, a remote laboratory for computer education which adopts a distributed, modular and flexible architecture to integrate a set of scaffolding tools and services intended for instructors and learners. An exploratory study conducted with 139 undergraduate students enrolled in the first year of a computer science degree suggests a positive effect of the framework on learners’ engagement when they come to practice system administration, and reveals a significant positive correlation between students’ activity within the system and students’ learning achievement