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Background:The NGR-hTNF (asparagine-glycine-arginine-human tumour necrosis factor) is able to promote antitumour immune responses and to improve the intratumoural doxorubicin uptake by selectively damaging tumour blood vessels.Methods:Patients progressing after 1 platinum/taxane-based regimen received NGR-hTNF 0.8 μg m−2 and doxorubicin 60 mg m−2 every 3 weeks. Primary endpoint was a Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors-defined response rate with a target of more than 6 out of 37 responding patients.Results:A total of 37 patients with platinum-free interval lower than 6 months (PFI<6; n=25), or between 6 and 12 months (PFI=6-12; n=12) were enrolled. Median baseline peripheral blood lymphocyte count (PBLC) was 1.6 per ml (interquartile range, 1.2-2.1). In all, 18 patients (49%) received more than 6 cycles. Febrile neutropaenia was registered in one patient (3%). Among 35 assessable patients, 8 (23%; 95% CI 12-39%) had partial response (2 with PFI<6; 6 with PFI=6-12) and 15 (43%) had stable disease (10 with PFI<6; 5 with PFI=6-12). Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.0 months for all patients, 3.8 months for patients with PFI<6, and 7.8 months for patients with PFI=6-12. Median overall survival (OS) was 17.0 months. Patients with baseline PBLC higher than the first quartile had improved PFS (P=0.01) and OS (P=0.001).Conclusion:Tolerability and activity of this combination warrant further randomised testing in patients with PFI<6. The role of PBLC as a blood-based biomarker deserves further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometrial cancer (EC) remains the most common malignancy of the female genital tract. The median age at diagnosis is the sixth decade, with abnormal uterine bleeding at the presentation in 90% of the patients. Surgical treatment, including complete hysterectomy, removal of remaining adnexal structures, and an appropriate surgical staging, represents the milestone of curative therapy for patients with EC. Adjuvant therapy is necessary in patients at high risk of recurrence. Conservative treatment approaches should be used in selected cases for women with a desire of fertility preservation. This review summarizes the management of EC and discusses current controversies regarding the role of lymphadenectomy and radiotherapy in patients with intermediate-risk tumors confined to the uterus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method to produce spin-polarized radioactive nuclear beams has been developed, which takes advantage of the low-energy transfer reaction in inverse kinematics. The method provides beam energies of a convenient range so that they may be implanted in a thin stopper, yet allowing the stopper to be spatially separated from the production target. The presence of polarizations of sizes at least $\left|P\right|\sim 0.5 \%$ has been confirmed for a 17N beam obtained from 9Be(18O,17N) reaction at $\theta_{\rm Lab} \sim -1.7\,^{\circ}$ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new measurement of proton resonance scattering on 7Be was performed up to the center-of-mass energy of 6.7 MeV using the low-energy RI beam facility CRIB (CNS Radioactive Ion Beam separator) at the Center for Nuclear Study of the University of Tokyo. The excitation function of elastic scattering above 3.5 MeV was measured successfully for the first time, providing important information about the resonance structure of the 8B nucleus. The resonances are related to the reaction rate of 7Be()8B, which is the key reaction in solar 8B neutrino production. Evidence for the presence of two negative parity states is presented. One of them is a state observed as a broad s-wave resonance, the existence of which had been questionable. Its possible effects on the determination of the astrophysical S-factor of 7Be()8B at solar energy are discussed. The other state had not been observed in previous measurements, and its spin and parity were determined as . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Single-particle properties of low-lying resonance levels in 14O have been studied efficiently by utilizing a technique of proton elastic resonance scattering with a 13N secondary beam and a thick proton target. The excitation functions for the elastic scattering were measured over a wide energy range of and fitted with an R-matrix calculation. A clear assignment of has been made for the level at in 14O for the first time. The excitation functions show a signature of a new level at with . The excitation energies and widths of the 14O levels are discussed in conjunction with the spectroscopic structure of nuclei with . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Transfer reactions are verified to be an important tool for the study of light unbound nuclei. We have studied the proton-rich nuclei 9C and 15F respectively through the 10B(14N, 15C)9C and 16O(14N, 15C)15F reactions. Resonance energies and widths were obtained for the first levels of the unbound 15F nucleus. The angular distributions corresponding to these resonances were analysed using the coupled-channels transfer code FRESCO. For the bound 9C nucleus only the ground state was observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]