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Abstract The largest burden of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lies in Asia, secondary to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Improved survival with sorafenib has fostered new research but many challenges remain in designing clinical trials. The disease, its management, and populations affected by it are heterogeneous worldwide and within Asia. An expert conference of Eastern Asian oncologists and hepatologists was convened to foster consensus in clinical trial design. The panel identified key areas that need to be addressed to facilitate clinical trials in Asia. Stratification by viral etiology is desirable within Asia and by region in global trials. Antiviral therapy should also be considered as a stratification factor and incorporated into HCC management in trials. The panel agreed that histological diagnosis is not required for trial entry and that Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging is acceptable for trials as long as portal hypertension can be better defined with standardized methodology. Consensus in treatment must be sought to allow multi-national trials and it must be recognized that first-line sorafenib is not largely feasible in Asia. Finally, Asian nations must be urged to participate in clinical trials, many of which are ongoing, to advance new treatment options in this challenging disease.

Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL) is a histological subtype of peripheral T-cell lymphoma associated with a poor prognosis. This post-hoc pooled analysis aims to provide insight about the efficacy of pralatrexate monotherapy in a subset of twenty-nine patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) AITL drawn from two prospective registration trials completed in China and Japan. After a median of two prior lines of therapy, an overall response rate of 52% (15/29 patients; 95% CI 0.34, 0.70) was demonstrated. The estimated median duration of response, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 6.4 months (196 days), 5.0 months (151 days), and 18.0 months (548 days), respectively. Grades 1–3 mucositis was observed in twenty-three patients (79.3%); and hemato-toxicity in twenty-six (89.7%) patients. Results of this analysis corroborate with data from two previously reported US retrospective cohorts, supporting the potential benefits of pralatrexate monotherapy in patients with r/r AITL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical composition of the leaf and bark oils of three Cinnamomum species (C. altissimum Kosterm., C. scortechinii Gamb. and C. microphyllum Ridl.) was examined by co-chromatography with authentic samples on two columns of different polarity, GC/MS and linear retention indices. The leaf and bark oils of C. altissimum were made up mainly of sesquiterpenoids (65.6% and 74.5%). Spathulenol (16.1%) was the major component of C. altissimum leaf oil, while linalool (25.3%) was the most abundant component in the bark oil. Many sesquiterpenoids were also found in the leaf and bark oils of C. scortechinii. However, linalool was the most abundant component, constituting 25.4% and 10.6% of the leaf and the bark oils, respectively. The leaf and bark oils of C. microphyllum are potential natural sources of benzyl benzoate since it constituted up to 90.0% and 92.7% of the leaf and bark oils, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]