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Columnar porous silicon (CPS) substrate SnO2 gas-sensor devices with high sensitivities and low working temperatures (input power 500–800 mW in TO-99 casing) are presented. The paper compares a conventional substrate (SnO2 on SiO2/silicon substrate) with two porous substrate devices, one with pores of 60–300 nm (‘porous’), and the other of 400–2000 nm (‘mesoporous’). The CPS substrates were prepared on 〈1 0 0〉 p-type 3 inch silicon wafers through boron diffusion and anodisation. The SnO2 was prepared through sol–gel deposition from Tin II Ethylhexanoate precursors and was deposited through spin-coating. The W/Au inter-fingered contact structure was deposited over the SnO2 layers for the ‘porous’ and ‘mesoporous’ devices. The SnO2 layers were vitrified layer-by-layer at 400 °C and at the end annealed at 500 °C. The results indicate a mid-range working temperature range (250 °C) for the ‘porous’ substrate device, with good response times and high sensitivity, relative to the SnO2/silicon substrate device. The ‘mesoporous’ substrate device has yet higher sensitivity, however, it is considerably slower (typically 320 s OFF-times for O2 in synthetic air). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of use, modalities and potential interest of locoregional irradiation (LRT) in patients with upfront metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).Methods: Retrospective multicentric study. Were included all patients presenting an upfront metastatic HNSCC treated by platin-5FU- cetuximab based regimen, from 2008 to 2016. Patients with past history of cervical irradiation or HNSCC within the 5 years before metastasis diagnosis were excluded.Results: 65 patients were included. 25 patients (38%) presented a response or stable disease with chemotherapy. Forty-one patients (63%) underwent a locoregional irradiation: 5 patients before chemotherapy (upfront RT), 13 patients with stable disease or response after chemotherapy (consolidation RT), and 23 patients with progressive disease. Median overall survival (OS) was 11.6 months, median progression free survival was 7.9 months. OS was significantly improved for patients who underwent LRT (median OS 16.1 vs 7.5 months, p < 0.01). Among patients who received LRT, OS trended to be better if LRT was performed as consolidation RT compared to upfront RT (median OS of 22.1 vs 15.5 months, p = 0.11). Among patients with stable disease or response after chemotherapy, there was a non-significant better OS for the 13 patients treated by LRT (median OS 22.1 vs 11.8 months, p = 0.21)). Radical dose was not associated with better locoregional control compared to palliative dose (p = 0.37).Conclusion: LRT is frequently performed during management of upfront metastatic HNSCC and associated with better OS. Non-progressive disease after firs-line chemotherapy seems a good way to select patients who would benefit from radical LRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neoadjuvant trials conducted using a double HER2 blockade with lapatinib and trastuzumab, combined with different paclitaxel-containing chemotherapy regimens, have shown high pathological complete response (pCR) rates, but at the cost of important toxicity. We hypothesised that this toxicity might be due to a specific interaction between paclitaxel and lapatinib. This trial assesses the toxicity and activity of the combination of docetaxel with lapatinib and trastuzumab. Patients and methods: Patients with stage IIA to IIIC HER2-positive breast cancer received six cycles of chemotherapy (three cycles of docetaxel followed by three cycles of fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide). They were randomised 1 : 1 : 1 to receive during the first three cycles either lapatinib (1000 mg orally daily), trastuzumab (4 mg/kg loading dose followed by 2 mg/kg weekly), or trastuzumab + lapatinib at the same dose. The primary end point was pCR rate defined as ypT0/is. Secondary end points included safety and toxicity. pCR rate defined as ypT0/is ypN0 was assessed as an exploratory analysis. In June 2012, arm Awas closed for futility based on the results from other studies. Results: From October 2010 to January 2013, 128 patients were included in 14 centres. The percentage of the 122 assessable patients with pCR in the breast, and pCR in the breast and nodes, was numerically highest in the lapatinib + trastuzumab group (60% and 56%, respectively), intermediate in the trastuzumab group (52% and 52%), and lowest in the lapatinib group (46% and 36%). Frequency (%) of the most common grade 3–4 toxicities in the lapatinib /trastuzumab/lapatinib + trastuzumab arms were: febrile neutropenia 23/15/10, diarrhoea 9/2/18, infection (other) 9/4/8, and hepatic toxicity 0/2/8. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a numerically modest pCR rate increase with double anti-HER2 blockade plus chemotherapy, but suggests that the use of docetaxel rather than paclitaxel may not reduce toxicity. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00450892. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present analysis, carried out in the context of a randomized phase III trial, confirms superior outcomes for breast cancer patients for whom chemotherapy induces pathological complete response (pCR) after adjusting for other important prognostic factors. In contrast, when tumours do not achieve pCR, patients have a higher risk of relapse. This effect is observed in all intrinsic subtypes and justifies the current interest in post-neoadjuvant trials .Background Pathological complete response (pCR) following chemotherapy is strongly associated with both breast cancer subtype and long-term survival. Within a phase III neoadjuvant chemotherapy trial, we sought to determine whether the prognostic implications of pCR, TP53 status and treatment arm (taxane versus non-taxane) differed between intrinsic subtypes. Patients and methods Patients were randomized to receive either six cycles of anthracycline-based chemotherapy or three cycles of docetaxel then three cycles of eprirubicin/docetaxel (T-ET). pCR was defined as no evidence of residual invasive cancer (or very few scattered tumour cells) in primary tumour and lymph nodes. We used a simplified intrinsic subtypes classification, as suggested by the 2011 St Gallen consensus. Interactions between pCR, TP53 status, treatment arm and intrinsic subtype on event-free survival (EFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) were studied using a landmark and a two-step approach multivariate analyses. Results Sufficient data for pCR analyses were available in 1212 (65%) of 1856 patients randomized. pCR occurred in 222 of 1212 (18%) patients: 37 of 496 (7.5%) luminal A, 22 of 147 (15%) luminal B/HER2 negative, 51 of 230 (22%) luminal B/HER2 positive, 43 of 118 (36%) HER2 positive/non-luminal, 69 of 221(31%) triple negative (TN). The prognostic effect of pCR on EFS did not differ between subtypes and was an independent predictor for better EFS [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.40, P < 0.001 in favour of pCR], DMFS (HR = 0.32, P < 0.001) and OS (HR = 0.32, P < 0.001). Chemotherapy arm was an independent predictor only for EFS (HR = 0.73, P = 0.004 in favour of T-ET). The interaction between TP53, intrinsic subtypes and survival outcomes only approached statistical significance for EFS (P = 0.1). Conclusions pCR is an independent predictor of favourable clinical outcomes in all molecular subtypes in a two-step multivariate analysis. ClinicalTrials.gov EORTC 10994/BIG 1-00 Trial registration number NCT00017095. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Poster Highlights: Poster highlights 1 CL: Head & Neck PH-0039: Impact of sarcopenia on survival and recurrence after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer S. Thureau, L. Lebret, S. Dandoy, M. Ebran, C. Gouley Toutain, F. Guerault, L. Lefebvre, R. Mallet, C. Moldovan, O. Veresezan, J. Lequesne, R. Modzelewski, F. Clatot. [Extracted from the article]

The SDF-1/CXCR4 pathway has been suggested to play a role in the metastatic dissemination of various tumours. We assessed the prognostic impact of SDF-1 and CXCR4 expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Seventy-one HNSCC samples collected at the time of initial diagnosis were retrospectively analysed. SDF-1 and CXCR4 expression levels were measured using real-time RT-PCR and correlated to survival. After a median follow-up of 45months, 25 patients (35%) died of cancer (group D), and 46 patients (65%) were alive or dead without evidence of HSNCC evolution (group A). The median level of CXCR4 expression was 0.33 and 0.29 in groups A and D, respectively (P=0.93), showing no correlation with recurrence or survival. By contrast, the median level of SDF-1 expression was significantly different in the A and D groups (2.41 vs 1.16, respectively, P=0.018). Using the median level as a cut-off, patients with low SDF-1 had poorer metastasis-free (P=0.026), disease-free (P=0.006) and overall specific survival rates (P=0.002). The prognostic value of SDF-1 was confirmed by a multivariate analysis. In this series of 71 HNSCC patients, the SDF-1 expression level correlated significantly with metastatic evolution and overall survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New piezoelectric structures were deposited on flexible and rigid metallic substrates. • Well-aligned ZnO nanowires were successfully grown by the hydrothermal method. • The structure on the flexible substrate has shown the highest piezoelectric coefficient. • PMMA/ZnO NWs/Ti is a promising piezoelectric structure for nano energy harvesters. This paper reports the comparative study of piezoelectric nanostructures deposited on metallic flexible substrate versus rigid substrates as a new architecture for energy harvesters. Rigid metallic substrates are multi-layered types of Pt/Ti/SiO 2 /Si or Au/Ti/SiO 2 /Si while Ti foil is a flexible metallic substrate. The active piezo-layer consisted of a vertical ZnO nanowires (ZnO NWs) array grown by the hydrothermal method at low temperature, on a previously deposited crystalline seed (nucleation) sol-gel layer and covered with a layer of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). The new obtained nanostructures have been characterized in different stages of preparation by X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, Spectroscopic Ellipsometry. The piezoelectric performance of PMMA/(ZnO NWs)/Ti structures was evaluated by measuring the d 33 coefficient. Results show that ZnO nanowires have successfully grown on the flexible substrates with a piezoelectric coefficient four times greater than on rigid substrates. By improving vertical integration of ZnO NWs on flexible metallic substrate, PMMA/(ZnO NWs)/Ti affordable nanostructures open the way towards integration in wireless or defence technologies and in wearable or implantable biomedical systems as efficient harvester. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]