No abstract

Lower pretreatment CD4 counts were associated with acute hematologic toxicity, and lower posttreatment CD4 count levels were associated with an increased risk of tumor recurrence. These results suggest that immune surveillance may play an important role in long-term disease control in anal cancer.

patients had tumoral PD-L1 expression !5%. Patients with tumoral PD-L1 !5% had better OS vs those with lower expression, HRZ0.29 (CI 0.10-0.78), pZ0.009; 10 years OS: 84% for PD-L1 !5% vs. 46% for PD-L1 <5%. On univariate analysis, OS was associated with PD-L1 status, as well as T stage, N stage, ECOG status and gender. On multivariate analysis, PD-L1 !5% remained statistically significant for better OS, HRZ0.35 (CI 0.12-0.99), pZ0.047. 33 of 65 (51%) of tumors had high CD8 levels (3 or 4). There was no association between CD8 status and OS; further stratifying PD-L1 high patients by CD8 did not improve the prognostic impact vs PD-L1 status alone. Conclusion: This is the first study reporting significant association of PD-L1 expression with OS in patients with anal cancer treated with CRT. PD-L1 status warrants consideration in the prognostication of patients with anal cancer. Future studies are required to determine the benefit of alternative treatment strategies based on PD-L1 status.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but non-response is common. Brain glutamate (Glu) signaling may contribute to OCD pathophysiology and moderate CBT outcomes. We assessed whether Glu measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was associated with OCD and/or CBT response. Youths aged 7-17 years with DSM-IV OCD and typically developing controls underwent 3 T proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging (PEPSI) MRS scans of pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) and ventral posterior cingulate cortex (vPCC)-regions possibly affected by OCD-at baseline. Controls returned for re-scan after 8 weeks. OCD youth-in a randomized rater-blinded trial-were re-scanned after 12-14 weeks of CBT or after 8 weeks of minimal-contact waitlist; waitlist participants underwent a third scan after crossover to 12-14 weeks of CBT. Forty-nine children with OCD (mean age 12.2±2.9 years) and 29 controls (13.2±2.2 years) provided at least one MRS scan. At baseline, Glu did not differ significantly between OCD and controls in pACC or vPCC. Within controls, Glu was stable from scan-to-scan. Within OCD subjects, a treatment-by-scan interaction (p=0.034) was observed, driven by pACC Glu dropping 19.5% from scan-to-scan for patients randomized to CBT, with minor increases (3.8%) for waitlist participants. The combined OCD participants (CBT-only plus waitlist-CBT) also showed a 16.2% (p=0.004) post-CBT decrease in pACC Glu. In the combined OCD group, within vPCC, lower pre-CBT Glu predicted greater post-CBT improvement in symptoms (CY-BOCS; r=0.81, p=0.00025). Glu may be involved in the pathophysiology of OCD and may moderate response to CBT.