ABSTRACT
Parathyroid cancer (PC) is extremely resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RT), but hormonally functional by producing excessive parathyroid hormone (PTH), causing remarkable hypercalcemia even in biochemical disease recurrence. Accordingly, management of hypercalcemia by calcimimetics and bisphosphonates has been main treatment for unresectable PC. Here, we report a case of unresectable tumor mutational burden (TMB)-high recurrent PC that has been effectively controlled by pembrolizumab (PEM) with RT. A 48-year-old male patient, with previous history of left single parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism, underwent surgeries for recurrent hyperparathyroidism at 47 and 48 years of age, and was pathologically diagnosed with PC. He was referred to our hospital due to persistent hypercalcemia and elevated PTH. The recurrent tumors were identified in the superior mediastinum and radically resected, then the hyperparathyroidism was improved. A FoundationOne® CDx of the specimen called TMB-high. He demonstrated recurrent hyperparathyroidism at 49 years of age, and underwent a gross curative resection. However, hyperparathyroidism achieved only insufficient improvement, indicating biochemical residual cancer cells. PEM treatment was initiated in combination with RT to the left central-lateral neck and superior mediastinum. He successfully achieved evocalcet and zoledronate withdrawal, and the PTH level improvement was continuously observed for 8 months at present, with only grade 2 subclinical hypothyroidism. Interestingly, leukocyte fraction ratios were reversed corresponding to disease improvement. A combination of PEM and RT is a promising treatment of unresectable TMB-high PC. Recent evidence on the immunomodulatory effect of RT provides the rationale for the combination of RT and PEM.
ABSTRACT
Heavy metals, such as chromium (VI) and lead (II), are the most common pollutants found in wastewater. To solve these problems, this research was intended to synthesize magnetite hydrogel beads (CMC-CS-Fe3O4) by crosslinking carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and chitosan (CS) and impregnating them with iron oxide (Fe3O4) as a potential adsorbent to remove Cr (VI) and Pb (II) from water. CMC-CS-Fe3O4 was characterized by pHzpc, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Batch removal experiments with different variables (CMC:CS ratio, pH, initial metals concentration, and contact time) were conducted, and the results revealed that CMC-CS-Fe3O4 with a CMC:CS (3:1) ratio had the best adsorption capacity for Cr (VI) and Pb (II) at pH levels of 2 and 4, respectively. The findings of this research revealed that the maximum adsorption capacity for Cr (VI) and Pb (II) were 3.5 mg/g and 18.26 mg/g, respectively, within 28 h at 30 â. The adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics suggested that removal of Cr (VI) and Pb (II) were fitted to Langmuir and pseudo-second orders. The highest desorption percentages for Cr (VI) and Pb (II) were 70.43% and 83.85%, achieved using 0.3 M NaOH and 0.01 M N·a2EDTA, respectively. Interestingly, after the first cycle of the adsorption-desorption process, the hydrogel showed a sudden increase in adsorption capacity for Cr (VI) and Pb (II) until it reached 7.7 mg/g and 33.0 mg/g, respectively. This outcome may have certain causes, such as entrapped metal ions providing easy access to the available sites inside the hydrogel or thinning of the outer layer of the beads leading to greater exposure toward active sites. Hence, CMC-CS-Fe3O4 hydrogel beads may have potential application in Cr (VI) and Pb (II) removal from aqueous solutions for sustainable environments.
ABSTRACT
Temperature and salinity effects on marine diatom species growth has been studied extensively; however, their effect on arsenic (As) biotransformation has been imprecise. This study reports the growth, and As biotransformation and speciation patterns at various temperatures and salinities of six marine diatom species: Asteroplanus karianus, Thalassionema nitzschioides, Nitzschia longissima, Skeletonema sp., Ditylum brightwellii, and Chaetoceros didymus. The growth rate and As biotransformation potentials of these species during three weeks of culture in f/2 based medium were significantly affected by wide temperature (0-35 °C) and salinity (0.3-50) ranges. Growth and As biotransformation were higher at optimum temperatures of 10-25 °C, and salinity of 10-35, whereas growth and arsenic biotransformation were lower at <5 °C and 5 and >25 °C and 35, respectively. The results showed that As(V) to As(III) biotransformation differed significantly (p < 0.05) between day 10 and 17. At optimum temperature and salinity levels, the cell size and As biotransformation were higher for all the species. A conceptual model on temperature and salinity effects on growth and As uptake and biotransformation mechanisms by these species has been proposed based on the findings of this study.
Subject(s)
Arsenic/metabolism , Diatoms/metabolism , Biotransformation/physiology , Salinity , TemperatureABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Lapatinib and erlotinib are used for cancer treatment, showing large interindividual variability. Therapeutic drug monitoring may be useful for assessing the clinical outcomes and adverse events. A simple high-performance liquid chromatography UV method was developed for the determination of lapatinib and erlotinib in human plasma. METHODS: An aliquot of plasma sample spiked with internal standard was treated with acetonitrile to precipitate the proteins. Lapatinib and erlotinib were separated on an octadecylsilyl silica gel column using a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile, methanol, water, and trifluoroacetic acid (26:26:48:0.1) pumped at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 316 nm. RESULTS: The calibration curves for lapatinib and erlotinib were linear (r = 0.9999) in the range of 0.125-8.00 mcg/mL. The extraction recoveries for both lapatinib and erlotinib at the plasma concentration of 0.125-8.00 mcg/mL were higher than 89.9% with coefficients of variation less than 3.5%. The coefficients of variation for intraday and interday assays of lapatinib and erlotinib were less than 5.1% and 6.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present method can be used for blood concentration monitoring for lapatinib or erlotinib in exactly the same conditions.
