Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have attracted increasing attention as vehicles for cancer treatment. Herein, MSC-based synergistic oncotherapy strategy is presented for the first time. To achieve this goal, yolk-shell structured gold nanorod embedded hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica nanospheres (GNR@HPMOs) with high paclitaxel (PTX) loading capability and excellent photothermal transfer ability upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation are first prepared. Cytotoxicity and migration assays show that the viability and tumor-homing capability of MSCs are well-retained after internalization of high content of PTX loaded GNR@HPMOs (denoted as GNR@HPMOs-PTX). In vitro experiments show the GNR@HPMOs-PTX loaded MSCs (GNR@HPMOs-PTX@MSCs) possess synergistic chemo-photothermal killing effects for breast cancer cells. Also, photoacoustic imaging shows that the MSCs can improve dispersion and distribution in tumor tissue for GNR@HPMOs-PTX after intratumoral injection. In vivo experiments in breast cancer model of nude mice further demonstrate that the GNR@HPMOs-PTX@MSCs significantly inhibit tumor growth, suggesting their great potential for synergistic therapy of cancer.

18 F-Alfatide II has been translated into clinical use and been proven to have good performance in identifying breast cancer. In this study, we investigated 18 F-Alfatide II for evaluation of axillary lymph nodes (ALN) in breast cancer patients and compared the performances with 18 F-FDG.Methods: A total of 44 female patients with clinically suspected breast cancer were enrolled and underwent 18 F-Alfatide II and 18 F-FDG PET/CT within a week. Tracer uptakes in ALN were evaluated by visual analysis, semiquantitative analysis with maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ), mean standardized uptake value (SUV mean ) and SUV max ratio of target/non-target (T/NT).Results: Among 44 patients, 37 patients were pathologically diagnosed with breast cancer with metastatic (17 cases) or non-metastatic (20 cases) ALN. The sensitivity, speci city, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of visual analysis were 70.59%, 90.00%, 81.08%, 85.71% and 78.26% for 18 F-Alfatide II, 64.71%, 90.00%, 78.38%, 84.62% and 75.00% for 18 F-FDG, respectively. By combining 18 F-Alfatide II and 18 F-FDG, the sensitivity signi cantly increased to 82.35%, the speci city was 85.00%, the accuracy increased to 83.78%, the PPV was 82.35% and the NPV signi cantly increased to 85.00%. Three cases of luminal B subtype were false negative for both 18 F-Alfatide II and 18 F-FDG. The other 2 false negative cases of 18 F-Alfatide II were triple-negative subtype and 3 false negative cases of 18 F-FDG were luminal B subtype too. The AUCs of three semi-quantitative parameters (SUV max , SUV mean , T/NT) for 18 F-Alfatide II were between 0.8 and 0.9, whereas those for 18 F-FDG were more than 0.9. 18 F-Alfatide II T/NT had the highest Youden index (76.5%), speci city (100%), accuracy (89.19%) and PPV (100%) among these semi-quantitative parameters. 18 F-Alfatide II uptake as well as 18 F-FDG uptake in metastatic axillary lymph nodes (MALN) was signi cantly higher than that in benign axillary lymph nodes (BALN). Both 18 F-Alfatide II and 18 F-FDG did not show difference in primary tumor uptake irrespective of ALN status. Conclusion: 18 F-Alfatide II can be used in breast cancer patients to detect metastatic ALN, however, like 18 F-FDG, with high speci city but relatively low sensitivity. The combination of 18 F-Alfatide II and 18 F-FDG can signi cantly improve sensitivity and NPV. 18 F-Alfatide II T/NT may serve as the most important semiquantitative parameter to evaluate ALN.

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The objective of this trial was to investigate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of benapenem administered by single or multiple intravenous infusions in healthy Chinese volunteers. The trial was divided into 3 parts. In part A, 94 subjects were enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, sequential-ascending-single-dose study. The subjects were randomly assigned to groups receiving placebo or benapenem for injection at doses of 62.5, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000 mg. The effects of intravenous infusion time on the subjects of 250-, 500-, and 1,000-mg groups were explored. In part B, 12 subjects were enrolled in a single-dose PK study under fasting conditions and received 250, 500, or 1,000 mg of benapenem for injection. In part C, 36 subjects were given 250, 500, and 1,000 mg of benapenem for injection once daily for 7 consecutive days. The results showed that benapenem for injection was well tolerated during the studies. The major observed adverse events were mild, and all were resolved spontaneously without any medical intervention. Benapenem was mainly excreted through the kidneys in the form of parent molecule and metabolites. The PK and safety profiles of benapenem in healthy Chinese volunteers support its once-daily dosing in future clinical investigations. (Part A, part B, and part C have been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifiers NCT03588156, NCT03578588, and NCT03570970, respectively.)

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Background Ectopic pituitary adenoma (EPA) is defined as a special type of pituitary adenoma that originates outside of the sellar region, is extra- or intra-cranially located, and without connection to normal pituitary tissue. EPA is extremely rare, with most cases presented as case reports or small case series. Due to nonspecific symptoms and laboratory indicators, the preoperative diagnosis, treatment and management for EPA remain challenging. Case presentation Here, we report the imaging phenotype and pathological findings of a case of invasive EPA in a 47-year-old woman. A preoperative non-contrast CT scan revealed a 5.8 × 3.6 × 3.7 cm soft tissue mass located in the sphenoid sinus and clivus. MRI showed an ill-defined solid mass with heterogeneous signals on T1-weighted and T2-weighted images. The mass displayed infiltrative growth pattern, destroying bone of the skull base, invading adjacent muscles and encasing vessels. The patient underwent partial tumor resection via transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery. Pathological examination led to diagnosis of ectopic ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma. Post-surgery, the patient received external beam radiotherapy. Conclusion EPA with invasive growth pattern has rarely been reported. The imaging phenotype displays its relationship to the pituitary tissue and surrounding structures. Immunohistochemical examination acts as a crucial role in differentiating EPA from other skull base tumors. This case report adds to the literature on EPA by summarizing its characteristics alongside a review of the literature.

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Chinfloxacin hydrochloride is a novel tricyclic fluorinated quinolone in development for treatment of conventional and biothreat infections. This first-in-human randomized study in Chinese healthy subjects was divided into 5 parts. Part A was a single-ascending-dose study to assess safety and tolerability of chinfloxacin. The single-dose pharmacokinetic study, a food effect study, and a multiple-dose pharmacokinetics study were conducted in parts B, C, and D, respectively. Part E was a randomized, placebo-controlled and positive-control single-dose, crossover study to evaluate the effect of chinfloxacin on thorough electrocardiographic QT/corrected QT (QTc) interval. The results suggest that single and multiple oral administrations of chinfloxacin were well tolerated. The observed adverse events (AEs) were dizziness, nausea, weakness, photosensitive dermatitis, and increased frequency of defecation. All AEs were mild and were resolved spontaneously without any treatment. The time to peak plasma concentration ( and , respectively) was about 2 h, and the half-life was 14 to 16 h. Food slightly affected the drug's rate and extent of absorption, increasing the from 1.60 to 2.59 h and reducing the by 13.6% and area under the concentration-time curve by 8.95%. Chinfloxacin at 400 mg had no effect on prolongation of QT/QTc intervals. Although 600 mg chinfloxacin had a mild effect on the prolongation of the QT/QTc interval, the effect was less pronounced than that of the positive control, 400 mg moxifloxacin. The pharmacokinetics and safety profiles of chinfloxacin in healthy Chinese volunteers support its once-daily dosing in future clinical investigations. (This study has been registered at www.ChiCTR.org.cn under identifiers ChiCTR-TRC-10001619 for parts A to D and ChiCTR1800015906 for part E.).