Search

This letter discusses the challenges in administering a chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cell product to an elderly patient with mantle-cell lymphoma. The patient, a 77-year-old woman, had previously undergone chemotherapy and stem-cell transplantation but relapsed and was eligible for CAR-T therapy. However, due to various complications including a femur fracture and a SARS-CoV2 infection, the administration of the CAR-T product had to be postponed. The patient experienced toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) after CAR-T infusion, which required treatment with medications such as Tocilizumab and steroids. Despite initial improvement, the patient's condition worsened, and she eventually died. The case highlights the risks and potential complications associated with CAR-T therapy in elderly patients, particularly those with a high tumor burden. The authors suggest that monitoring peripheral CAR-T cells, cytokine levels, and biomarkers such as neurofilament light-chain (NfL) could be helpful in managing toxicities. They also emphasize the need for a better understanding of the pathophysiology of these toxicities and the development of new treatment options for frail patients. [Extracted from the article]

A set of TiO2 and Pt-TiO2 polycrystalline samples were prepared by sol-gel method hydrolysing a modified alkoxide titanium precursors under acidic conditions. The Pt-TiO2 samples gave an homogeneous nanometric metal dispersion after drying heat treatment forming platinum particles in the range 2–4 nm. All the samples have been characterised using several techniques, namely thermogravimetric analysis, gas-chromatography, mass spectrometry, thermogravimetric analysis combined with mass spectrometry or with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction coupled with a Rietveld refinement procedure, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and determination of specific surface area. Moreover, the samples have been employed as catalysts for 4-nitrophenol photodegradation in aqueous suspension used as a “probe” reaction. Characterisation results indicate that the thermal and chemical treatments of the catalysts influenced the photocatalytic activity. In the Pt-TiO2 samples both Pt(0) and Pt(II) species are present in the catalyst particles and the most abundant phase is anatase for all of the samples. Doping with Pt beneficially influences the photo-oxidant properties of TiO2 while the presence of organic residual species on the surface, deriving from the preparation procedure of the catalyst particles interferes negatively in the kinetics of the photocatalytic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of the products arising from a 10 days, sterile incubation at 37°C and pH 7.2 of a 1:1 mixture of N- α-(p-tosyl)-lysine-methylesterhydrochloride and anhydrous D-glucose was investigated by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry andH andC nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies. Differently to the reactivity usually described on the basis of other analytical techniques, FAB mass spectrometric measurements indicate the occurrence of the reaction of protected lysine with more than one D-glucose molecule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]