PARPi related toxicities: do we need more appropriate instruments to evaluate it?

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Anonymous subject identification and privacy information management in video surveillance

The widespread deployment of surveillance cameras has raised serious privacy concerns, and many privacy-enhancing schemes have been recently proposed to automatically redact images of selected individuals in the surveillance video for protection. Of equal importance are the privacy and efficiency of techniques to first, identify those individuals for privacy protection and second, provide access to original surveillance video contents for security analysis. In this paper, we propose an anonymous subject identification and privacy data management system to be used in privacy-aware video surveillance. The anonymous subject identification system uses iris patterns to identify individuals for privacy protection. Anonymity of the iris-matching process is guaranteed through the use of a garbled-circuit (GC)-based iris matching protocol. A novel GC complexity reduction scheme is proposed by simplifying the iris masking process in the protocol. A user-centric privacy information management system is also proposed that allows subjects to anonymously access their privacy information via their iris patterns. The system is composed of two encrypted-domain protocols: The privacy information encryption protocol encrypts the original video records using the iris pattern acquired during the subject identification phase; the privacy information retrieval protocol allows the video records to be anonymously retrieved through a GC-based iris pattern matching process. Experimental results on a public iris biometric database demonstrate the validity of our framework

Latest clinical evidence and further development of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer

For several decades, the systemic treatment of ovarian cancer has involved chemotherapy, with the relatively recent addition of antiangiogenic strategies given with chemotherapy and in the maintenance setting. In the past decade, numerous poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-inhibiting agents have been assessed. We review key trials that have led to the approval of three PARP inhibitors-olaparib, niraparib and rucaparib-as maintenance therapy for platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer. We discuss the efficacy and safety of these agents in the populations studied in clinical trials. We then provide an overview of the numerous avenues of ongoing research for PARP inhibitors in different treatment settings: as treatment rather than maintenance strategies and in combination with other anticancer approaches, including antiangiogenic and immunotherapeutic agents. Three phase III trials (NOVA, SOLO2 and ARIEL3) demonstrated remarkable improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) with PARP inhibitors given as maintenance therapy in patients with complete or partial response after platinum-based therapy for platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. Differences in trial design and patient populations influence the conclusions that can be drawn from these trials. Overall survival data are pending and there is a limited experience regarding long-term safety. PARP inhibitors have transformed the management of ovarian cancer and have changed the course of disease for many patients. Although recent approvals are irrespective of BRCA mutation or homologous repair deficiency status, genetic profiles, as well as dosing schedules, tolerability and affordability, may influence patient selection and the setting in which PARP inhibitors are used. The development and evolution of PARP inhibitors continue, with new agents, strategies, combinations and indications under intensive evaluation

Chemotherapy-free treatments: are we ready for prime time?

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is most frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage and, despite high response rates to initial taxane-platinum-based chemotherapy, more than 70% of patients will develop recurrent disease and will receive several chemotherapy treatments. At present, the 5-year overall survival (OS) for women diagnosed with stage III–IV disease is 46% and patients with genetic impairments of DNA repair pathways [BRCA mutations and in general homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)] live longer and possibly will receive even more lines of chemotherapy

Single incision laparoscopic anterior resection for cancer using a 'QuadiPort Access System®'

BACKGROUND: Single incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) is developing rapidly and different devices are already available. However there is limited data in the literature about single port laparoscopic colorectal surgery. AIMS: We report the first case of a single incision laparoscopic anterior resection for cancer using the device 'QuadiPort Access System?'. METHODS: A 66 year old female affected by adenocarcinoma of the rectosigmoid junction underwent a radical single incision laparoscopic anterior resection performed by an experienced laparoscopic team. RESULTS: The preoperative staging was T2N0M0. The total operative time was 135 min. Length of hospital stay was 6 days. The length of the specimen was 27 cm and 21 nodes were isolated. The pathological examination showed adenocarcinoma staged T3N2MX; G2. There was no postoperative morbidity and at the 6 month follow-up, the patient presented in well condition with no complications and free from cancer. CONCLUSION: Single incision laparoscopic anterior resection for locally advanced high rectal cancer seems to be feasible and the 'QuadiPort Access System?' seems to be a valid device. To evaluate outcomes and costeffectiveness of SILS versus the standard laparoscopic colorectal surgery multicenter prospective randomised trials are necessary and the 'QuadiPort Access System?' could prove to be the device of choice

The Mixing Ratio and Filling-Amount Affect the Tissue Browning and Antioxidant Properties of Fresh-Cut Baby Leaf Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and Rocket (Eruca sativa Mill.) Grown in Floating Growing Systems

Different types of baby leaf vegetables (BLV) are often mixed and packaged as salad mixes. This work has evaluated the effects of BLV mixing ratios (100% lettuce ‘Lollo Bionda’, 100 LB; 75% lettuce + 25% rocket, 75 LB; 50% lettuce + 50% rocket, 50 LB) and the weight filling amount (125 g filling amount, 125F; 250 g, 250F) on the antioxidant properties and browning potential (BP) of lettuce and rocket baby leaves during storage for 9 days at 4 °C in the dark. The samples were packaged in thermos-sealed bags previously prepared using polypropylene film. The results showed that the 50 LB mix had preserved high amounts of chlorophylls and internal nutrients on d9, regardless of the filling amount. No visible browning symptoms were detected in the 50 LB samples. The 50 LB × 125F mix was found to be the most efficient strategy to maintain the antioxidant property of BLV. Thus, the optimisation of the mixing ratio and its combination with an appropriate filling amount could represent an effective postharvest practice

Treatment of recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

Epidemiologic analysis reveals that the mortality rate from ovarian cancer is continuously decreasing due to the improvement of surgery and chemotherapy. However, the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients is still unsatisfactory overall considering that only 30% of patients are alive after five years. In fact, although surgery and first-line systemic chemotherapy induces complete and partial response in up to 80% of patients with about a 25% pathological complete remission rate, recurrences occur in the majority of patients. The role of surgery in recurrent disease has been recently studied and many patients can receive an optimal secondary cytoreduction. Most of the recurrent patients are subject to a number of treatment regimens that, although palliative in nature, are also able to prolong survival. Important results have been obtained in particular in platinum-sensitive recurrent disease where a platinum-based chemotherapy is able to prolong progression-free survival and overall survival. Overall, our armamentarium for the treatment of progressive or recurrent ovarian cancer is significantly richer than in the past, and in many patients it is possible to achieve our goal of controlling the chronic behavior of the disease