Chemotherapy with cisplatin and vinorelbine for elderly patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

BACKGROUND: Although modest improvements in the survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can be achieved with cisplatin-based chemotherapy (CT), its value is disputed in the geriatric setting. In this study, we evaluate the feasibility of vinorelbine/cisplatin CT for elderly NSCLC patients. METHODS: In this pilot phase I/II trial, all patients received CT with vinorelbine 25 mg/m(2), on day 1 and 8, and cisplatin on day 1, in 28 days-cycles. After stratification for age (up to 75 years), younger patients were sequentially allocated to moderate cisplatin doses (80 mg/m(2 )or 90 mg/m(2)), and older patients were allocated to lower cisplatin doses (60 mg/m(2 )or 70 mg/m(2)). We recruited patients aged over 70 years with newly diagnosed NSCLC, clinical stage III or IV, Karnofsky performance status ≥ 70%, normal serum creatinine, peripheral neuropathy ≤ grade 1, and no prior cancer therapy. RESULTS: Analysis was by intention to treat. Main toxicities (grade 3–4) was as follows: neutropenia, 20%; anemia, 11%; and thrombocytopenia, 2%; alopecia, 55%; fatigue, 11%; and peripheral neurotoxicity, 2%. No grade 3–4 emesis or renal toxicity occurred. Global median time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were 27.0 (95% CI: 10.1 to 43.7) weeks and 30.1 (95% CI: 24.4 to 35.8) weeks; 1- and 2-year survival rates were 36.3% and 13.2%, respectively. Overall response rate was 50.0% (95% CI: 35.4% to 64.5%), with 1 complete response; no difference on response rate was noticed according to cisplatin dose. Median overall survival was 30.1 weeks, with 1- and 2-year survival rates of 36.3% and 13.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Age does not preclude assessment on the role of cisplatin-vinorelbine CT for elderly NSCLC patients with good performance status and adequate bodily functions

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Arte y Realidad

Este número de Polis tiene como tema central de su Lente de aproximación , el arte como comprensión de la realidad. Podría parecer extraño que una revista de ciencias sociales aborde esta temática, habitualmente reservada a publicaciones especializadas. Sin embargo, en el contexto actual de crisis de la política, de pérdida de mapas cognitivos y de esperanzas colectivas, de escepticismo respecto a la ciencia, el arte y la experiencia estética adquieren una especial relevancia cultural, social y política: lo que hace que no sean sólo un espacio de refugio contracultural de sentido en sociedades burocratizadas regidas por la racionalidad formal -como pensaba Weber- sino que se conviertan para muchos en un -o en el - espacio de constitución de sentidos; una vía de comprensión de una realidad “de tiempos nublados”, como decía Octavio Paz; una realidad que frecuentemente experienciamos como incomprensible, contradictoria, dramática e injusta