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2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Mike-Andrew Westhoff ◽  
Marie Schuler-Ortoli ◽  
Daniela Zerrinius ◽  
Amina Hadzalic ◽  
Andrea Schuster ◽  
...  

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common solid tumour in children and, despite current treatment with a rather aggressive combination therapy, accounts for 10% of all deaths associated with paediatric cancer. Breaking the tumour cells’ intrinsic resistance to therapy-induced cell death should lead to less aggressive and more effective treatment options. In other tumour entities, this has been achieved by modulating the balance between the various pro- and anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family with small molecule inhibitors. To evaluate the therapeutic benefits of ABT-199 (Venetoclax), a Bcl-2 inhibitor, and ABT-263 (Navitoclax), a dual Bcl-XL/Bcl-2 inhibitor, increasingly more relevant model systems were investigated. Starting from established MB cell lines, progressing to primary patient-derived material and finally an experimental tumour system imbedded in an organic environment were chosen. Assessment of the metabolic activity (a surrogate readout for population viability), the induction of DNA fragmentation (apoptosis) and changes in cell number (the combined effect of alterations in proliferation and cell death induction) revealed that ABT-263, but not ABT-199, is a promising candidate for combination therapy, synergizing with cell death-inducing stimuli. Interestingly, in the experimental tumour setting, the sensitizing effect of ABT-263 seems to be predominantly mediated via an anti-proliferative and not a pro-apoptotic effect, opening a future line of investigation. Our data show that modulation of specific members of the Bcl-2 family might be a promising therapeutic addition for the treatment of MB.


2022 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 360-376
Author(s):  
Manik Chahal ◽  
Brian Thiessen ◽  
Caroline Mariano

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, and over half of patients with newly diagnosed GBM are over the age of 65. Management of glioblastoma in older patients includes maximal safe resection followed by either radiation, chemotherapy, or combined modality treatment. Despite recent advances in the treatment of older patients with GBM, survival is still only approximately 9 months compared to approximately 15 months for the general adult population, suggesting that further research is required to optimize management in the older population. The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) has been shown to have a prognostic and predictive role in the management of older patients with other cancers, and domains of the CGA have demonstrated an association with outcomes in GBM in retrospective studies. Furthermore, the CGA and other geriatric assessment tools are now starting to be prospectively investigated in older GBM populations. This review aims to outline current treatment strategies for older patients with GBM, explore the rationale for inclusion of geriatric assessment in GBM management, and highlight recent data investigating its implementation into practice.


Antibiotics ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Arya Nair ◽  
Rashmi Mallya ◽  
Vasanti Suvarna ◽  
Tabassum Asif Khan ◽  
Munira Momin ◽  
...  

Microbial pathogens are the most prevalent cause of chronic infections and fatalities around the world. Antimicrobial agents including antibiotics have been frequently utilized in the treatment of infections due to their exceptional outcomes. However, their widespread use has resulted in the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Furthermore, due to inherent resistance to antimicrobial drugs and the host defence system, the advent of new infectious diseases, chronic infections, and the occurrence of biofilms pose a tougher challenge to the current treatment line. Essential oils (EOs) and their biologically and structurally diverse constituents provide a distinctive, inexhaustible, and novel source of antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiparasitic agents. However, due to their volatile nature, chemical susceptibility, and poor solubility, their development as antimicrobials is limited. Nanoparticles composed of biodegradable polymeric and inorganic materials have been studied extensively to overcome these limitations. Nanoparticles are being investigated as nanocarriers for antimicrobial delivery, antimicrobial coatings for food products, implantable devices, and medicinal materials in dressings and packaging materials due to their intrinsic capacity to overcome microbial resistance. Essential oil-loaded nanoparticles may offer the potential benefits of synergism in antimicrobial activity, high loading capacity, increased solubility, decreased volatility, chemical stability, and enhancement of the bioavailability and shelf life of EOs and their constituents. This review focuses on the potentiation of the antimicrobial activity of essential oils and their constituents in nanoparticulate delivery systems for a wide range of applications, such as food preservation, packaging, and alternative treatments for infectious diseases.


Author(s):  
Sheema Sabahath ◽  
Abdullah Haitham Bogis ◽  
Taif Shabib Al Mutairi ◽  
Hasan Yousef Alshahabi ◽  
Hussain Ahmed Al Sayhab ◽  
...  

A cystocele is usually found to protrude the urinary bladder through the vaginal wall. Various causes have been reported in the literature for the pathogenesis and development of cystocele. These can cumulatively lead to a remarkable weakness in the muscular and connective tissue layers related to the urinary bladder and anterior vaginal wall. The present study discusses the etiology, staging, and management of patients with cystocele. Evidence indicates that a defect within the pelvic-floor supporting system can significantly lead to the development of cystocele. Parity, increasing age, and obesity are the main associated risk factors for developing these events. Staging is important to decide the most suitable treatment plan, which might be conservative or surgical. Some patients do not require any management approach, being asymptomatic, and refuse the current treatment modalities. Surgery has been associated with enhanced outcomes and can be conducted via two different approaches, including anterior colporrhaphy and sacral colpopexy. 


Author(s):  
Ellen Garven ◽  
Christopher B. Rodell ◽  
Kristen Shema ◽  
Krianthan Govender ◽  
Samantha E. Cassel ◽  
...  

Despite advancements in procedures and patient care, mortality rates for neonatal recipients of the Norwood procedure, a palliation for single ventricle congenital malformations, remain high due to the use of a fixed-diameter blood shunt. In this study, a new geometrically tunable blood shunt was investigated to address limitations of the current treatment paradigm (e.g., Modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt) by allowing for controlled modulation of blood flow through the shunt to accommodate physiological changes due to the patient’s growth. First, mathematical and computational cardiovascular models were established to investigate the hemodynamic requirements of growing neonatal patients with shunts and to inform design criteria for shunt diameter changes. Then, two stages of prototyping were performed to design, build and test responsive hydrogel systems that facilitate tuning of the shunt diameter by adjusting the hydrogel’s degree of crosslinking. We examined two mechanisms to drive crosslinking: infusion of chemical crosslinking agents and near-UV photoinitiation. The growth model showed that 15–18% increases in shunt diameter were required to accommodate growing patients’ increasing blood flow; similarly, the computational models demonstrated that blood flow magnitudes were in agreement with previous reports. These target levels of diameter increases were achieved experimentally with model hydrogel systems. We also verified that the photocrosslinkable hydrogel, composed of methacrylated dextran, was contact-nonhemolytic. These results demonstrate proof-of-concept feasibility and reflect the first steps in the development of this novel blood shunt. A tunable shunt design offers a new methodology to rebalance blood flow in this vulnerable patient population during growth and development.


Author(s):  
Amanda Honeycutt ◽  
Andrew Breck ◽  
Sarah Bass ◽  
Dominick Esposito

Aim: To estimate the impact of universal anti-TNF therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease. Materials & methods: Developed a population-level Markov model to estimate the impact on health outcomes and medical expenditures of expanding anti-TNF therapy use versus current treatment practices. Results: Reductions in deaths (2600), hip fractures (980), major adverse cardiac events (2700) and patient out-of-pocket medical spending (2%) over 5 years. Total societal costs would be US$22,100 higher per patient per year, primarily due to the high cost of anti-TNF therapy. Conclusion: Expanding anti-TNF therapy use among US adult patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn’s disease would reduce morbidity and mortality, decrease disease-related medical costs and increase treatment costs compared with current practice. Despite the higher costs, this approach could substantially benefit patients.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Silvia Di Agostino ◽  
Mahrou Vahabi ◽  
Chiara Turco ◽  
Giulia Fontemaggi

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast carcinoma characterized by poor prognosis and high rate of metastasis. Current treatment is based on chemo- and/or radiotherapy and surgery. TNBC is devoid of estrogen, progesterone and HER2 receptors. Although precision medicine has come a long way to ameliorate breast cancer disease management, targeted therapies for the treatment of TNBC patients are still limited. Mounting evidence has shown that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) drive many oncogenic processes at the basis of increased proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis in TNBC, strongly contributing to tumor progression and resistance to treatments. Many of these ncRNAs are secreted in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and impinge on the activity of the diverse immune and stromal cell types infiltrating the TME. Importantly, secreted ncRNAs may be detected as circulating molecules in serum/plasma from cancer patients and are emerging a promising diagnostic/therapeutic tools in TNBC. This review aims to discuss novel insights about the role of secreted circulating ncRNAs in the intercellular communication in the tumor microenvironment and their potential clinical use as diagnostic and prognostic non-invasive biomarkers in TNBC.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Loo ◽  
James W. Smithy ◽  
Michael A. Postow ◽  
Allison Betof Warner

With the increasing promise of long-term survival with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies, particularly for patients with advanced melanoma, clinicians and investigators are driven to identify prognostic and predictive factors that may help to identify individuals who are likely to experience durable benefit. Several ICB combinations are being actively developed to expand the armamentarium of treatments for patients who may not achieve long-term responses to ICB single therapies alone. Thus, negative predictive markers are also of great interest. This review seeks to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the durability of ICB treatments. We will discuss the currently available long-term data from the ICB clinical trials and real-world studies describing the survivorship of ICB-treated melanoma patients. Additionally, we explore the current treatment outcomes in patients rechallenged with ICB and the patterns of ICB resistance based on sites of disease, namely, liver or CNS metastases. Lastly, we discuss the landscape in melanoma in the context of prognostic or predictive factors as markers of long-term response to ICB.


Author(s):  
PAROMA AREFIN ◽  
MD SHEHAN HABIB ◽  
NAZIM UDDIN AHMED ◽  
MD ABDUR RAHIM ◽  
MD IBRAHIM ◽  
...  

The current treatment approaches for allergic rhinitis are practiced over decades, but the patient quality of life has not yet changed so much. The reasons are research gaps in pathophysiology of the disease, proper management of the disease. Fexofenadine HCl is a second-generation antihistamine drug which has a half-life of about 14.4 h. It is useful in the management of common symptoms like sneezing, itchy throat, and red eyes in individuals suffering from allergic rhinitis. Fexofenadine immediate release or sustained release formulations are available in the market as suspension, tablet and capsule. In this research paper, we have discussed the symptoms associated with allergic rhinitis and treatment approaches. Fexofenadine HCl is being used for the treatment of this disease. But as it has a long half-life, we have discussed the importance of the introduction of sustained-release microsphere formulation of Fexofenadine HCl in the market.


2022 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 657
Author(s):  
Xuan Wang ◽  
Yunhao Li ◽  
Jianqing Lu ◽  
Xiongwei Deng ◽  
Yan Wu

Despite advances in the development of tumor treatments, mortality from cancer continues to increase. Nanotechnology is expected to provide an innovative anti-cancer therapy, to combat challenges such as multidrug resistance and tumor recurrence. Nevertheless, tumors can greatly rely on autophagy as an alternative source for metabolites, and which desensitizes cancer cells to therapeutic stress, hindering the success of any current treatment paradigm. Autophagy is a conserved process by which cells turn over their own constituents to maintain cellular homeostasis. The multistep autophagic pathway provides potentially druggable targets to inhibit pro-survival autophagy under various therapeutic stimuli. In this review, we focus on autophagy inhibition based on functional nanoplatforms, which may be a potential strategy to increase therapeutic sensitivity in combinational cancer therapies, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, phototherapy, sonodynamic therapy, and immunotherapy.


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