Baseline neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is associated with outcome of ipilimumab-treated metastatic melanoma patients.

BACKGROUND: Ipilimumab improves the survival of metastatic melanoma patients. Despite documented, durable objective responses, a significant number of patients fails to benefit from treatment. The aim of this study was to identify an upfront marker for treatment benefit. METHODS: A total of 187 metastatic melanoma patients treated in three Italian Institutions with 3 mg kg(-1) ipilimumab, and 27 patients treated with 10 mg kg(-1) ipilimumab, were evaluated. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was calculated from pre-therapy full blood counts. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method, and multivariate Cox models were applied, adjusting for confounders and other prognostic factors. RESULTS: In the training cohort of 69 patients treated at European Institute of Oncology, pre-therapy NLR was identified as the strongest and independent marker for treatment benefit in multivariate analyses. Patients with baseline NLR<5 had a significantly improved PFS (HR=0.38; 95% CI: 0.22-0.66; P=0.0006) and OS (HR=0.24; 95% CI: 0.13-0.46; P<0.0001) compared with those with a NLR⩾5. Associations of low NLR with improved survival were confirmed in three validation cohorts of patients. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that baseline NLR is strongly and independently associated with outcome of patients treated with ipilimumab, and may serve to identify patients most likely to benefit from this therapy.

A multinuclear solid-state magnetic resonance study of the interactions between the inorganic and organic coatings of BaSO4 submicronic particles.

Silica-coated BaSO4 submicronic particles, modified on the surface by treatment with stearic acid, have been characterized by means of 29Si, 13C, and 1H magic-angle-spinning (MAS) high-resolution techniques, and low-resolution 1H-FID analysis. Two types of adsorbed water were identified; adsorbed either inside or on the surface of BaSO4, most of the latter being removed by the silica coating. Evidences of silica-stearic acid interactions were found involving either carboxylic acid or carboxylate functional groups, and occurring by means of hydrogen and/or covalent bonds. Stearic acid was present as monolayer only, its chain being mostly rigid, even though a small fraction was subjected to fast inter-conformational motions.

Field evaluation and agronomic performance of transgenic wheat.

Seven transgenic lines of wheat have been evaluated under field conditions during 2 agonomic years. Four lines contained the transgenes for beta-glucuronidase ( uidA), herbicide resistance ( bar) and for one high-molecular-weight (HMW) subunit, and three lines contained only one transgene for one HMW glutenin subunit and no marker genes. Agronomic traits and yield components were studied in transgenic lines and compared with the non-transgenic parent and null segregant lines. Although phenotypic differences for many traits have been found, only heading date and the number of spikelets per spike showed clear genotypic differences for both field trials. All transgenic lines had a longer heading date than parent lines whereas the number of spikelets per spike in transgenic lines was around that for L88-31 and higher for L88-6 than the corresponding parent lines. No differences were found between lines constitutively expressing the uidA and bar genes from those which only expressed the HMW genes. We conclude that differences between transgenic lines and their parents are small, and could be eliminated by backcrossing transgenic lines with their parents and selecting for the wanted genotype.

Gelatin-based blends and composites. Morphological and thermal mechanical characterization.

Gelatin, a natural macromolecular proteic material from renewable resources, is widely used in many industrial applications. In this study gelatin scraps, deriving from pharmaceutical capsule productions, were turned into films by casting water solutions or suspensions producing flexible and consistent films. Gelatin was blended with poly(vinyl alcohol), a biodegradable synthetic polymer, in order to improve mechanical properties in the films. Gelatin was blended also with sugar cane bagasse, a lignin cellulosic waste from sugar cane processing. These blends showed good interface adhesion between gelatin and sugar cane fibers and mechanical properties of practical interest for up to 20% of sugar cane content by weight. Glutaraldehyde was used in different amounts as a cross-linking agent increasing elongation at break especially for amount above 1%. Morphology, thermal, thermomechanical, and mechanical properties of the samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), and tensile tests, respectively. Cast films presented thermal and mechanical properties, which make them good candidates as biodegradable self-fertilizing mulching films.