Search

Background The BOLERO-2 trial reported efficacy and safety of Everolimus (EVE) and Exemestane (EXE) combination in HR+ advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients. The BALLET trial further evaluated the safety of EVE-EXE in HR+ ABC patients, without reporting efficacy data. Aim of the EVA real-life study was to collect data of efficacy and safety of EVE-EXE combination in the clinical setting, as well as exploring efficacy according to EVE Dose-Intensity (DI) and to previous treatment with Fulvestrant. Patients and methods This study aimed to describe the outcome of ABC pts treated with EVE-EXE combination in terms of median duration of EVE treatment and ORR in a real-life setting. Results From July 2013 to December 2015, the EVA study enrolled 404 pts. Median age was 61 years (33–83). Main metastatic sites were: bone (69.1%), soft tissue (34.7%) and viscera (33.2%). Median number of previous treatments was 2 (1–7). 43.3% of the pts had received Fulvestrant. Median exposure to EVE was 31.0 weeks (15.4–58.3) in the whole population. No difference was observed in terms of EVE exposure duration according to DI (p for trend = 0.27) or type of previous treatments (p = 0.33). ORR and Disease Control Rate (DCR) were observed in 31.6% and 60.7% of the patients, respectively, with the lowest ORRs confined in CHT pre-treated patients or in those who received the lowest DI of EVE. Grade 3-4 adverse events (AEs) were reported in 37.9% of the patients. Main AEs were: stomatitis (11.2%), non-infectious pneumonitis - NIP (3.8%), anaemia (3.8%) and fatigue (3.2%). Conclusions The EVA study provided new insights in the use of EVE-EVE combination in HR+ ABC pts many years after the publication of the pivotal trial. The combination is safe and the best response could be obtained in patients receiving the full dose of EVE and/or after hormone-therapy as Fulvestrant in ABC.

BACKGROUND: The present analysis focuses on real-world data of Everolimus- Exemestane in advanced HR+ve, HER2-ve elderly breast cancer patients (aged 65 years) included in the EVA study, with unique findings in those aged 70 years. METHODS: Data are collected from clinical records and analysed according to age cut-off (< 65 years; 65 - 69 years and [greater than or equal to] 70 years). Relationship of analyzed variables with response were tested by mean of a Mantel- Haenszel chi square test. Time to event analysis was described by Kaplan Meier approach and association with baseline characteristics was analysed by stratified log-rank test and proportional hazard model. RESULTS: From July 2013 to December 2015, the EVA study enrolled overall 404 pts. 154 patients out of 404 (38,1%) were aged [greater than or equal to] 65 years, of whom 87 were [greater than or equal to] 70 years. Median duration of EVE treatment was 28.5 weeks (95% CI 19.0 - 33.8) in patients aged 65-69 years and 24,4 weeks (95% CI 19,2 - 33,2) in those aged [greater than or equal to] 70 years. Fewer patients aged 65 years received the highest EVE Dose-Intensity (> 7.5 mg/day) in comparison to younger patients (49,6% vs. 66,8%). Grade 3-4 toxicities occurred to 55 patients (35,7%), mainly stomatitis (10,9%), rash (5,8%) and non-infectious pneumonitis (NIP) (3,6%). Some toxicities, such as weight loss and anaemia were peculiarly observed in patients aged [greater than or equal to] 70 years. Five treatment-related deaths were collected (3,2%). CONCLUSIONS: EVE-EXE combination remains one of the potential treatments in HR+ patients also for elderly ones.

This paper considers the problem of radar waveform design in the presence of colored Gaussian disturbance under a Peak to Average power Ratio (PAR) and an energy constraint. Firstly, we focus on the selection of the radar signal optimizing the Signal to Noise Power Ratio (SNR) for a given target Doppler frequency (Algorithm 1). Then, we devise its phase quantized version (Algorithm 2), which forces the waveform phase to lie within a finite alphabet. Both the problems are formulated in terms of NP-hard non-convex quadratic optimization programs; in order to solve them, we resort to Semidefinite Programming (SDP) relaxation and randomization techniques, providing provable-quality sub-optimal solutions with a polynomial time computational complexity. Finally, we analyze the performance in terms of detection capability and robustness with respect to Doppler shifts.

Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease consisting of different biological subtypes, with differences in terms of incidence, response to diverse treatments, risk of disease progression, and sites of metastases. In the last years, several molecular targets have emerged and new drugs, targeting PI3K/Akt/mTOR and cyclinD/CDK/pRb pathways and tumor microenvironment have been integrated into clinical practice. However, it is clear now that breast cancer is able to develop resistance to these drugs and the identification of the underlying molecular mechanisms is paramount to drive further drug development. Autophagy is a highly conserved homeostatic process that can be activated in response to antineoplastic agents as a cytoprotective mechanism. Inhibition of autophagy could enhance tumor cell death by diverse anti-cancer therapies, representing an attractive approach to control mechanisms of drug resistance. In this manuscript, we present a review of autophagy focusing on its interplay with targeted drugs used for breast cancer treatment.

Severe disease commonly manifests as a systemic inflammatory process. Inflammation is associated withthe enhanced production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and with a marked reduction in the plasma concentrations of protective antioxidant molecules. This imbalance gives rise to oxidative stress, which is greater in patients with more severe conditions such as sepsis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and burns. In these patients, oxidative stress can trigger cell, tissue, and organ damage, thus increasing morbidity and mortality. Ascorbic acid (ASC) is a key nutrient thatserves as an antioxidant and a cofactor for numerous enzymatic reactions. However, humans, unlike most mammals, are unable to synthesize it. Consequently, ASC must be obtained through dietary sources, especially fresh fruit and vegetables. The value of administering exogenous micronutrients, to reestablish antioxidant concentrations in patients with severe disease, has been recognized for decades. Despite the suggestion that ASC supplementation may reduce oxidative stress and prevent several chronic conditions, few large, randomized clinical trials have tested it in patients with severe illness. This article reviews the recent literature on the pharmacological profile of ASC and the role of its supplementation in critically ill patients.

The introduction of CDK4/6 inhibitors in combination with endocrine therapy (ET) represents the most relevant advance in the management of hormone receptor (HR) positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer over the last few years. This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is aimed to better characterize the efficacy of CDK4/6 inhibitors in some relevant subgroups and to test heterogeneity between different compounds with a particular focus on their ability to improve overall survival (OS). Pooled estimates of hazard ratios (HRs) were computed for progression-free survival (PFS), OS, and objective response rate (ORR) analysis in predefined subgroups to better understand treatment effect concerning specific patients’ characteristics. To estimate the absolute benefit in terms of PFS, pooled survival curves were generated by pooling the data of all trials. A total of eight RCTs were included. Adding a CDK4/6 inhibitor to ET is beneficial in terms of PFS, irrespective of the presence or not of visceral metastases, the number of metastatic sites, and the length of the treatment-free interval (TFI). The addition of CDK4/6 inhibitors produces a significant OS improvement, both in aromatase inhibitor (AI)-sensitive (HR 0.75, 95% CI) and AI-resistant patients (HR 0.77, 95% CI [0.67–0.89]). Pooled data from each single drug show that palbociclib remains the only class member not showing a statistically significant HR for OS (HR 0.83, 95% CI [0.68–1.02]).

In this paper, the synthesis of optimized radar waveforms ensuring spectral compatibility with the overlayed electromagnetic radiators is addressed. For the first time the quality of the bandwidths available for transmission is accounted for at the design stage via a specific constraint measuring their purity. To this end, cognition provided by a Radio Environmental Map (REM) is exploited so as to induce dynamic spectral constraints on the radar waveform as well as on the quality of bandwidths free from cooperative transmissions. A waveform optimization aiming at improving some radar performances is proposed. It requires the relaxation of the original problem into a convex optimization problem and involves a polynomial computational complexity. At the analysis stage, the waveform performance is studied in terms of spectral shape and auto-ambiguity features.

We deal with the problem of intrapulse radar-embedded communication, and propose a novel waveform design procedure based on multi-objective optimization. Precisely, under both energy and similarity constraints, we devise orthogonal signals aiming at maximization of the Signal-to-Interference Ratio (SIR) and minimization of a suitable correlation index (related to the possibility of waveform interception). The problem can be cast into a non-convex multi-objective optimization and solved via the so-called scalarization technique. Finally, performance of the proposed waveform design scheme is assessed in terms of both Symbol Error Rate (SER) and the so-called “intercept metric”.