Liquid-crystalline phase transition in organophosphazenes

Organophosphazenes with a similar mesogenic moiety were prepared and their mesogenicity was studied by differential scanning calorinetry (DSC) measurements and polarizing microsope observations. In cyclotriphosphazenes with alk-­oxybiphenyl and Schiff base moieties, mesomorphic phase transitions were observed, but no mesomorphic phase was observed for the corresponding cyclotetraphosphazenes. In polyphos-­phazenes with an alkoxybiphenyl moiety, no mesomorphic phase was observed. The molecular structure of cyclotriphosphazenes facilitated the formation of a mesomorphic layer structure; in contrast, the formation of a mesomorphic layer structure did not occur in cyclotetraphosphazenes and polyphosphazenes, even though they bore a similar mesogenic moiety. Moreover, in cyclotriphosphazenes with an optically active alkoxybiphenyl group, a smectic C* phase was observed. The spontaneous polarization of the compound was −190 μ C m −2 at 436 K in 25 μ in cell using the triangular-wave method. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/38314/1/785_ftp.pd

Phase II Trial of the Combination of Alectinib with Bevacizumab in Alectinib Refractory <i>ALK</i>-Positive Nonsquamous Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NLCTG1501)

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive lung cancer is a rare cancer that occurs in approximately 5% of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLCs) patients. Despite the excellent efficacy of ALK-tyrosine kinase inhibitor in ALK-positive NSCLCs, most patients experience resistance. We conducted a phase II study to investigate the combination of alectinib with bevacizumab in ALK-positive NSCLC patients after failure of alectinib. In this study, ALK-positive nonsquamous NSCLC patients previously treated with alectinib received bevacizumab 15 mg/kg on day 1 every 3 weeks and alectinib 600 mg/day until disease progression. The primary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS) and the safety of alectinib and bevacizumab. The secondary endpoints included overall survival (OS) and correlation of circulating tumor DNA and plasma proteins with PFS. Of the 12 patients treated, the median PFS was 3.1 months (95% CI 1.2–16.1), and the median OS was 24.1 months (95% CI 8.3-not estimable). The EML4-ALK fusion gene in circulating tumor DNA was significantly correlated with shorter PFS (1.2 months vs. 11.4 months, HR 5.2, p = 0.0153). Two patients experienced grade 3 adverse events; however, none of the patients required dose reduction. Although the primary endpoint was not met, alectinib combined with bevacizumab showed clinical efficacy in ALK-positive patients