Association between the HER2 Gene Status and the Efficacy of First-line Pemetrexed Combined with Platinum Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced Lung Adenocarcinoma

Background and objective Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is one of the driver genes of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several studies have shown that the efficacy of pemetrexed in HER2-mutant NSCLC is controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of pemetrexed combined with platinum chemotherapy in patients with HER2-mutant and HER2 wild-type lung adenocarcinoma. Methods The clinical data of 106 cases of EGFR, ALK, ROS-1, KRAS, BRAF, RET and MET-negative patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients who diagnosed by histopathology in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were retrospectively reviewed. The relationships between HER2 gene status, clinical characteristics and response and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. Results All of the 106 patients’ HER2 status were determined. HER2 mutations occurred in 32 cases (30.2%), no mutations in 74 cases (69.8%). HER2 mutations were common in young, non-smoking and female patients. All patients received first-line pemetrexed and platinum-based chemotherapy. The objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) of patients with HER2-mutant lung adenocarcinoma were significantly higher than those without HER2 mutations (40.6% vs 14.9%, χ2=8.464, P=0.004; 93.8% vs 68.9%, χ2=6.327, P=0.012), and the difference was statistically significant. According to univariate analysis, the PFS was significantly associated with the brain metastases, maintenance chemotherapy and HER2 gene status (P0.05). Cox multivariate analysis indicated that HER2 mutation was an independent positive prognostic factor of PFS (P=0.038). Conclusion HER2-mutant lung adenocarcinoma patients with first-line pemetrexed combined with platinum chemotherapy have greater clinical benefit than HER2 wild-type patients

Characteristics of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor with Rare Mutations in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer and the Effect of EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors on Them

Background and objective Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer. It has been clinically evaluated that therapiestargeting against the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as the clinical standard first-line treatment. The response and outcome of EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients harboring common mutations in EGFR kinase domain (deletion in exon19 and L858R in exon 21) has been well demonstrated, but not in rare or complex mutations. Methods A total of 150 patients that harbored rare or complex mutations in EGFR diagnosed by histopathology were included in this retrospective study. The clinical-pathological characteristics of all 150 patients as well as the response and progression-free survival (PFS) in 48 patients that received EGFR-TKIs in first/second/third line treatments weredescribed and analyzed. Results Patients were divided into four groups based on the mutation types: single G719X point mutation in exon 18 (n=46, 30.7%), single L861Q point mutation in exon 21 (n=45, 30.0%), other single rare mutation (n=14, 9.3%) and complex mutations (n=45, 30.0%). The result indicated thatthere was no correlation of EGFR mutation typeswith other parameters such as gender, age, clinical stage, pathology and smoking history. For the 48 patients that received EGFR-TKIs treatment, there were no significant differencesamong 4 groups in terms of objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) (54.5% vs 30.0% vs 0.0% vs 35.7%, χ2=3.200, P=0.34; 90.9% vs 85.0% vs 66.7% vs 92.9%, χ2=2.162, P=0.59). The median progress-free survival (mPFS) was 11.0 months (95%CI: 4.4-17.6), and in each group of different EGFR mutation types are 15.8 months (95%CI: 9.5-22.2), 8.0 months (95%CI: 5.1-11.0), 4.9 months (95%CI: 1.4-8.4) and 23.1 months (95%CI: 15.8-30.4)(χ2=7.876, P=0.049). Conclusion The efficiency of targeting EGFR-TKIs on different types of rare or complex mutations was heterogeneous. The PFS may be better in patients that harbored complex mutations than those with single rare mutations. Further studies with larger sample size are necessary. Moreover, to discover novel therapeutic targets and develop new drugs are imminentfor those patientswith no response to the existing treatments

GENERAL BELIEF IN A JUST WORLD, MORAL DISENGAGEMENT, AND HELPING PROPENSITY IN EMERGENCIES

We used the theory of belief in a just world (BJW) to systematically examine how general BJW influences decision making about helping in emergency situations involving different attributions. Participants were 740 college students who completed a survey measuring general BJW, moral disengagement, and propensity to help in emergency scenarios. Results showed that both general BJW and attribution scenario type influenced emergency helping. Furthermore, general BJW moderated the magnitude of the effect of victim attribution on helping, playing a stronger role in negatively predicting helping propensity in an obscure attribution scenario than in drunken (internal attribution) or accident (external attribution) scenarios. Moral disengagement mediated the effect of general BJW on helping only in the obscure attribution scenario. These findings provide further empirical evidence for BJW theory, accounting for some situations involving immoral decision making, as well as clarifying where and how general BJW influences the propensity to help

The effect of reciprocity disposition on giving and repaying reciprocity behavior

Human beings have a general tendency for reciprocity in most societies. The internalized reciprocity norm assumption suggests that reciprocity disposition would encourage reciprocity towards strangers in one-shot interactions. To verify this, we examined the predictive ability of reciprocity dispositions for giving and repaying reciprocal behaviors. A sample of college students (N = 98) participated in the reciprocity game in a laboratory, which comprised a prisoner dilemma game (PD) and dictator game (DG). The results indicated that reciprocity behavior occurred among strangers without face-to-face interactions. Reciprocity expectation predicted the choice of cooperation in the PD significantly. Positive and negative reciprocity dispositions had no effect on the strategy choice; however, they significantly predicted payoff allocation in the DG. Specifically, a higher positive reciprocity disposition led to more payoff allocation, while a higher negative reciprocity disposition led to less payoff allocation. In summary, strangers abide by the reciprocity norm, and the internalized reciprocity disposition exerts an influence on repaying behavior and accounts for some individual differences in reciprocity. These findings provide robust support for the internalized reciprocity norm assumption, and illustrate the process mechanism of human interaction among strangers. People may predict interpersonal interaction better through reciprocity dispositions and reciprocity valences. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

Proof of Aerobically Autoxidized Self-Charge Concept Based on Single Catechol-Enriched Carbon Cathode Material

Highlights An air-breathing chemical self-charge concept of oxygen-enriched carbon cathode. The oxygen-enriched carbon material with abundant catechol groups. Rapid air-oxidation chemical self-charge of catechol groups. Abstract The self-charging concept has drawn considerable attention due to its excellent ability to achieve environmental energy harvesting, conversion and storage without an external power supply. However, most self-charging designs assembled by multiple energy harvesting, conversion and storage materials increase the energy transfer loss; the environmental energy supply is generally limited by climate and meteorological conditions, hindering the potential application of these self-powered devices to be available at all times. Based on aerobic autoxidation of catechol, which is similar to the electrochemical oxidation of the catechol groups on the carbon materials under an electrical charge, we proposed an air-breathing chemical self-charge concept based on the aerobic autoxidation of catechol groups on oxygen-enriched carbon materials to ortho-quinone groups. Energy harvesting, conversion and storage functions could be integrated on a single carbon material to avoid the energy transfer loss among the different materials. Moreover, the assembled Cu/oxygen-enriched carbon battery confirmed the feasibility of the air-oxidation self-charging/electrical discharging mechanism for potential applications. This air-breathing chemical self-charge concept could facilitate the exploration of high-efficiency sustainable air self-charging devices