176 research outputs found
“Malignant” Perivascular Epithelioid Cell Neoplasm: Risk Stratification and Treatment Strategies
Purpose. Perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (PEComas) are a rare collection of tumors characterized by a myomelanocytic phenotype, and PEComas occurring in “nonclassic” anatomic distributions are known as perivascular epithelioid cell tumor not otherwise specified (PEComa-NOS). This review aims to compile and analyze cases of PEComa-NOS in an effort to better define their natural history.
Design. We evaluated all 234 cases of PEComa-NOS reported in the English literature, extracting information regarding diagnostic features, treatment approaches, and outcomes. Multivariate analysis of a number of variables evaluable on pathologic review was performed to refine preexisting risk stratification criteria. Outcomes for patients receiving nonsurgical treatment are also reported.
Results. Primary tumor size ≥5 cm (P = 0.02) and a high (1/50 HPF) mitotic rate (P < 0.0001) were the only factors significantly associated with recurrence following surgical resection. Cytotoxic chemotherapy and radiation therapy have shown little benefit in treating PEComa-NOS; mTOR inhibition is emerging as a treatment option.
Conclusion. Progress has been made in understanding the natural history and molecular biology of PEComa-NOS. This review further clarifies risk of recurrence in this disease, allowing clinicians to better risk stratify patients. Further work should focus on applying this knowledge to making treatment decisions for patients with this disease
Colorectal cancer patients with liver metastases and severe hyperbilirubinemia: A consecutive series that explores the benefits and risks of chemotherapy
Tamana Walia, J Fernando Quevedo, Timothy J Hobday, Gary Croghan, Aminah JatoiDivision of Medical Oncology, Rochester, MN, USABackground: Do colorectal cancer patients with hyperbilirubinemia and liver metastases benefit from chemotherapy?Methods/Results: This study entailed a review of 3,019 consecutive patients with colorectal cancer. Within this cohort, 20 met the study&rsquo;s a priori selection criteria, which included a new diagnosis of colorectal cancer, no prior therapy, and a total bilirubin of &ge;3.0 mg/dL. All 20 patients had liver metastases, and as a whole the group had a median serum bilirubin of 6.4 mg/dL (range 3.1, 28 mg/dL). Six patients received chemotherapy with an oxaliplatin-containing regimen, and four subsequently sustained a drop in their bilirubin. In one instance, a drop from 27.2 to 2.5 mg/dL occurred. These six patients lived a median of 71 days (range 23+, 283 days), but one treatment-related death occurred. In contrast, patients who received only supportive care lived a median of 28 days.Conclusion: Chemotherapy appears to provide modest benefit to newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients with severe hyperbilirubinemia.Keywords: colorectal cancer, liver metastases, hyperbilirubinemia, chemotherapy, oxaliplati
Fitting the Phenomenological MSSM
We perform a global Bayesian fit of the phenomenological minimal
supersymmetric standard model (pMSSM) to current indirect collider and dark
matter data. The pMSSM contains the most relevant 25 weak-scale MSSM
parameters, which are simultaneously fit using `nested sampling' Monte Carlo
techniques in more than 15 years of CPU time. We calculate the Bayesian
evidence for the pMSSM and constrain its parameters and observables in the
context of two widely different, but reasonable, priors to determine which
inferences are robust. We make inferences about sparticle masses, the sign of
the parameter, the amount of fine tuning, dark matter properties and the
prospects for direct dark matter detection without assuming a restrictive
high-scale supersymmetry breaking model. We find the inferred lightest CP-even
Higgs boson mass as an example of an approximately prior independent
observable. This analysis constitutes the first statistically convergent pMSSM
global fit to all current data.Comment: Added references, paragraph on fine-tunin
TeV-Scale Z' Bosons from D-branes
Generic D-brane string models of particle physics predict the existence of
extra U(1) gauge symmetries beyond hypercharge. These symmetries are not of the
E_6 class but rather include the gauging of Baryon and Lepton numbers as well
as certain Peccei-Quinn-like symmetries. Some of the U(1)'s have triangle
anomalies, but they are cancelled by a Green-Schwarz mechanism. The
corresponding gauge bosons typically acquire a mass of order the string scale
M_S by combining with two-index antisymmetric fields coming from the closed
string sector of the theory. We argue that in string models with a low string
scale M_S proportional to 1-10 TeV, the presence of these generic U(1)'s may be
amenable to experimental test. Present constraints from electroweak precision
data already set important bounds on the mass of these extra gauge bosons. In
particular, for large classes of models, rho-parameter constraints imply M_S >=
1.5 TeV. In the present scheme some fraction of the experimentally measured Z^0
mass would be due not to the Higgs mechanism, but rather to the mixing with
these closed string fields. We give explicit formulae for recently constructed
classes of intersecting D6- and D5-brane models yielding the Standard Model
(SM) fermion spectrum.Comment: 46 pages, LaTeX, JHEP.cls, 21 Figures. minor correction
Branonium
We study the bound states of brane/antibrane systems by examining the motion
of a probe antibrane moving in the background fields of N source branes. The
classical system resembles the point-particle central force problem, and the
orbits can be solved by quadrature. Generically the antibrane has orbits which
are not closed on themselves. An important special case occurs for some
Dp-branes moving in three transverse dimensions, in which case the orbits may
be obtained in closed form, giving the standard conic sections but with a
nonstandard time evolution along the orbit. Somewhat surprisingly, in this case
the resulting elliptical orbits are exact solutions, and do not simply apply in
the limit of asymptotically-large separation or non-relativistic velocities.
The orbits eventually decay through the radiation of massless modes into the
bulk and onto the branes, and we estimate this decay time. Applications of
these orbits to cosmology are discussed in a companion paper.Comment: 34 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures, uses JHEP
Astrophysical and Cosmological Implications of Large Volume String Compactifications
We study the spectrum, couplings and cosmological and astrophysical
implications of the moduli fields for the class of Calabi-Yau IIB string
compactifications for which moduli stabilisation leads to an exponentially
large volume V ~ 10^{15} l_s^6 and an intermediate string scale m_s ~
10^{11}GeV, with TeV-scale observable supersymmetry breaking. All K\"ahler
moduli except for the overall volume are heavier than the susy breaking scale,
with m ~ ln(M_P/m_{3/2}) m_{3/2} ~ (\ln(M_P/m_{3/2}))^2 m_{susy} ~ 500 TeV and,
contrary to standard expectations, have matter couplings suppressed only by the
string scale rather than the Planck scale. These decay to matter early in the
history of the universe, with a reheat temperature T ~ 10^7 GeV, and are free
from the cosmological moduli problem (CMP). The heavy moduli have a branching
ratio to gravitino pairs of 10^{-30} and do not suffer from the gravitino
overproduction problem. The overall volume modulus is a distinctive feature of
these models and is an M_{planck}-coupled scalar of mass m ~ 1 MeV and subject
to the CMP. A period of thermal inflation can help relax this problem. This
field has a lifetime ~ 10^{24}s and can contribute to dark matter. It may be
detected through its decays to 2\gamma or e^+e^-. If accessible the e^+e^-
decay mode dominates, with Br(\chi \to 2 \gamma) suppressed by a factor
(ln(M_P/m_{3/2}))^2. We consider the potential for detection of this field
through different astrophysical sources and find that the observed gamma-ray
background constrains \Omega_{\chi} <~ 10^{-4}. The decays of this field may
generate the 511 keV emission line from the galactic centre observed by
INTEGRAL/SPI.Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures; v2. refs adde
SUSY Breaking and Moduli Stabilization from Fluxes in Gauged 6D Supergravity
We construct the 4D N=1 supergravity which describes the low-energy limit of
6D supergravity compactified on a sphere with a monopole background a la Salam
and Sezgin. This provides a simple setting sharing the main properties of
realistic string compactifications such as flat 4D spacetime, chiral fermions
and N=1 supersymmetry as well as Fayet-Iliopoulos terms induced by the
Green-Schwarz mechanism. The matter content of the resulting theory is a
supersymmetric SO(3)xU(1) gauge model with two chiral multiplets, S and T. The
expectation value of T is fixed by the classical potential, and S describes a
flat direction to all orders in perturbation theory. We consider possible
perturbative corrections to the Kahler potential in inverse powers of
and , and find that under certain circumstances, and when taken together
with low-energy gaugino condensation, these can lift the degeneracy of the flat
direction for . The resulting vacuum breaks supersymmetry at moderately
low energies in comparison with the compactification scale, with positive
cosmological constant. It is argued that the 6D model might itself be obtained
from string compactifications, giving rise to realistic string
compactifications on non Ricci flat manifolds. Possible phenomenological and
cosmological applications are briefly discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 2 figures. Uses JHEP3.cls. References fixed and updated,
some minor typos fixed. Corrected minor error concerning Kaluza-Klein scales.
Results remain unchange
Brane-Antibrane Inflation in Orbifold and Orientifold Models
We analyse the cosmological implications of brane-antibrane systems in
string-theoretic orbifold and orientifold models. In a class of realistic
models, consistency conditions require branes and antibranes to be stuck at
different fixed points, and so their mutual attraction generates a potential
for one of the radii of the underlying torus or the 4D string dilaton. Assuming
that all other moduli have been fixed by string effects, we find that this
potential leads naturally to a period of cosmic inflation with the radion or
dilaton field as the inflaton. The slow-roll conditions are satisfied more
generically than if the branes were free to move within the space. The
appearance of tachyon fields at certain points in moduli space indicates the
onset of phase transitions to different non-BPS brane systems, providing ways
of ending inflation and reheating the corresponding observable brane universe.
In each case we find relations between the inflationary parameters and the
string scale to get the correct spectrum of density perturbations. In some
examples the small numbers required as inputs are no smaller than 0.01, and are
the same small quantities which are required to explain the gauge hierarchy.Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures. Substantial changes on version 1. New
cosmological scenarios proposed including the dilaton as the inflaton. Main
conclusions unchange
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