Efficacy of nimotuzumab according to inflammatory indices in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Introduction: The response to therapies in advanced lung cancer could be related to certain prognostic factors such as inflammatory indices. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the humanized monoclonal antibody nimotuzumab in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer according to inflammatory indices. Method: A retrospective longitudinal evaluation study was carried out in a universe of 498 patients older than 18 years, with a cytohistological diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer, in advanced stages, after the first line of oncological therapy, including in multicenter clinical trials promoted by the Center for Molecular Immunology from 2002 to 2018. Descriptive statistics were applied, the x-tile 3.6.1 software was used for the Kaplan Meier test, significant differences were considered when p< 0,05. Results: In the patients analyzed, nimotuzumab showed therapeutic benefit in the group of patients who did not progress to the first line of treatment with chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy, when they had a lower neutrophil-lymphocyte index (p= 0,017 and p= 0,027) and a lower platelet-lymphocyte index (p= 0,030 and p= 0,009). Conclusion: Selecting a patient with a lower inflammatory index benefits the efficacy of treatment with the humanized mAb nimotuzumab in advanced non-small cell lung cancer, which becomes a predictive tool for response to treatment

Simulations of the electrostatic field, temperature, and tissue damage generated by multiple electrodes for electrochemical treatment

Integrated analysis of the spatial distributions of the electric potential, electric field, temperature, and tissue damage generated by multiple arrays of straight needle electrodes inserted into tumors is highly significant for improving the effectiveness of electrochemical treatment. In this study, we simulated the spatial profiles generated by multiple electrodes inserted individually into a tumor and multiple pairs of straight needle electrodes inserted in a tumor surrounded by healthy tissue. Poisson nonlinear and Laplace equations were used to calculate the electric potential in the tumor and the surrounding healthy tissue, respectively. The stationary bioheat transfer equation of Pennes was used to calculate the temperature in both tissues. The percentage tissue damage was computed in each biological medium for each electrode array shape. Numerical simulations showed that the non-homogeneous spatial distributions of the temperature (above 40 °C) generated by different types of multiple pairs of straight needle electrodes covered the whole tumor volume. Spatial profiles of this physical magnitude were generated by multiple straight needle electrodes, which were individually inserted into the tumor and partially covered by its volume. In addition, the simulations showed that multiple pairs of electrodes led to tumor damage percentages above 80%. By contrast, multiple electrodes inserted individually in the tumor induced damage percentages below 25%. We conclude that multiple pairs of straight needle electrodes may be applied to deep-seated solid tumors in treatment with electrochemical therapy considering their theoretically calculated high tumor damage percentages.Fil: Calzado, Enaide Maine. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Rodríguez, Jorge Luis García. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Bergues Cabrales, Luis Enrique. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Monier García, Francisco. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Selva Castañeda, Antonio Rafael. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: González Delgado, Ivelice María. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Mesa Torres, Leonardo. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Giró Uribazo, Fidel Valentín. Universidad de Oriente; Cuba. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física del Plasma. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física del Plasma; ArgentinaFil: Morales González, Maraelys. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Acosta Brooks, Soraida Candida. Hospital Provincial Saturnino Lora. Servicio de Medicina Interna; CubaFil: Rubio González, Tamara. Dirección Municipal de Salud Pública. Servicio de Genética; CubaFil: Roca Oria, Eduardo José. Universidad de Oriente; CubaFil: Bravo Roger, Leonardo Lorenzo. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Hernández Figueroa, Hugo Enrique. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; BrasilFil: Pérez, Geisa Dávila. Universidad de Oriente; Cub