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Purpose: Limited pelvic nodal relapse of prostatic cancer is a paramount challenge for locoregional salvage treatments. Salvage whole pelvis radiation therapy as considered in the BLINDED trial is an attractive option, but there are concerns about its toxicity. This article describes early toxicity with the technique., Methods and Materials: BLINDED was a prospective multicenter phase 2 trial investigating high-dose salvage pelvic irradiation with an additional dose to the fluorocholine-based positron emission tomography-positive pelvic lymph nodes, combined with 6-month androgen blockade. The prescribed dose was 54 Gy in 1.8 Gy fractions with up to 66 Gy in 2.2 Gy fractions to the pathologic pelvic lymph nodes. Early toxicity was defined as toxicity until 1 year after radiation therapy. Patients quality of life was assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaires (QLQ-C30 and QLQ-PR25)., Results: Seventy-four patients were recruited in 15 French radiation oncology departments between August 2014 and July 2016. Seven were excluded before treatment because of violation of the inclusion criteria. The intention-to-treat analysis therefore included 67 patients. Half had received prior prostatic irradiation. Median age was 67.7 ± 6.5 years. Grade 2 acute urinary toxicity was observed in 9 of 67 patients (13.4%), and grade 2 1-year toxicity occurred in 4 of 67 patients (6%). Three patients (4.4%) had grade 3 urinary toxicity. Grade 2 acute digestive toxicity was observed in 10 of 67 patients (14.9%), and grade 2 1-year toxicity occurred in 4 of 67 patients (6%). Patients with prior prostate bed irradiation did not exhibit increased urinary or digestive toxicity. The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaire scores at 1 year did not worsen significantly., Conclusions: The acute and 1-year toxicity of the BLINDED protocol was satisfactory, even in patients with a history of prostatic irradiation., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Environmental stress factors may be responsible for biological changes in living species that are able to overcome deleterious effects depending on their detoxifying capacities. Defense systems present in every living species are involved in elimination of reactive chemical species of endogenous or exogenous origin, neutralization of their effects, repair of initial lesions, and compensation of deficient metabolic pathways. Consequently, the performance of defense systems and their inducibility will explain adaptation to environmental disturbances, whereas their alteration will augur toxicity in the exposed species. Several field studies have illustrated the relationships between antioxidants and toxicity in benthic invertebrates in rivers. They highlighted that defense systems may be useful biomarkers in mechanistic studies of ecotoxicity and in the biomonitoring of living species in polluted environments., (Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Antioxidant systems were studied in the freshwater bivalve Unio tumidus transplanted from a control site to four different contaminated areas, in order to study the biological response according to the contamination characteristics. Reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH, GSSG), the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as selenium-dependent and non-selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidases (SeGPx and non-SeGPx), and glutathione reductase (GRd) were measured in the gills and the digestive gland of the mussels after 15 days of exposure at different sites. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) was evaluated by means of malondialdehyde measurements (MDA). The four sites investigated were located in the valleys of Fensch (F), Moselle (M), Lot et Garonne (LG), and Sarthe (S). At each site, the bivalves were placed upstream (Up) from an identified pollution source (a cokery, a laundry, or a foundry) and downstream (Do), close to the effluent outfall (Do(1)) or farther (Do(2)). The goal was to study the antioxidant response in relation to the pollution gradient. Metals and congeners of PAHs, PCBs, and organochlorinated pesticides were analyzed in the river sediments of each station. The exposure of the bivalves at the most highly polluted sites or close to the pollution source led to a sharp depletion in some antioxidant parameters, namely GRd, SeGPx, and GSH. The decrease in enzyme activities could reach 80% for GRd and 70% for SeGPx, while GSH depletion could yield 70%, leading then in an induction of lipid peroxidation, either in the digestive gland or in the gills. The higher the MDA concentrations, the lower the activity of these three antioxidant parameters, suggesting that they could be biomarkers for toxicity. Yet, a depletion in these parameters was sometimes insufficient for cytotoxicity to be induced, since lipid peroxidation failed to appear in some cases where antioxidant depletion was clear, although not so severe. The response of the gills and the digestive gland was not always paralleled, which can be explained by differences in the bioavailability of pollutants. In some cases, a relationship was not found between the antioxidant response and the degree and the type of contamination in sediments, suggesting that the effects could result from nonidentified pollutants or/and be indicators of bio-availability., (Copyright 2000 Academic Press.)

We analyzed an outbreak of gut colonization by Pseudomonas aeruginosa occurring in an intensive care hematology unit by using conventional typing methods and pulsed-field electrophoresis. In October and November 1989, the feces of four immunocompromised children undergoing total digestive decontamination were colonized by P. aeruginosa. Ten isolates were obtained from the gut flora in pure culture. Retrospective investigations found that one P. aeruginosa isolate from stools of one of the patients was already present at high counts 6 months before the outbreak. This patient had been discharged from the unit in May 1989 and had been readmitted concomitantly with the outbreak. Only pulsed-field electrophoresis could demonstrate that a single epidemic strain was present in the fecal flora of the children. This strain had probably been brought into the unit by the patient with chronic fecal carriage.

Epidemiological studies have shown the role of alcohol in esophageal cancer in the West of France. Experiments were undertaken on Wistar rats to study the effect of locally consumed alcoholic beverages on the esophagus. Neither histological modifications, precancerous lesions nor cancer were observed in the animals. There was no significant excess of benign or malignant tumours in treated animals when compared with controls.