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ImportanceDysregulated metabolism is a hallmark of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Glutaminase is a key enzyme that fuels tumor growth by converting glutamine to glutamate. Telaglenastat is an investigational, first-in-class, selective, oral glutaminase inhibitor that blocks glutamine utilization and downstream pathways. Preclinically, telaglenastat synergized with cabozantinib, a VEGFR2/MET/AXL inhibitor, in RCC models.ObjectiveTo compare the efficacy and safety of telaglenastat plus cabozantinib (Tela + Cabo) vs placebo plus cabozantinib (Pbo + Cabo).Design, Setting, and ParticipantsCANTATA was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, pivotal trial conducted at sites in the US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Eligible patients had metastatic clear-cell RCC following progression on 1 to 2 prior lines of therapy, including 1 or more antiangiogenic therapies or nivolumab plus ipilimumab. The data cutoff date was August 31, 2020. Data analysis was performed from December 2020 to February 2021.InterventionsPatients were randomized 1:1 to receive oral cabozantinib (60 mg daily) with either telaglenastat (800 mg twice daily) or placebo until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe primary end point was progression-free survival (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1) assessed by blinded independent radiology review.ResultsA total of 444 patients were randomized: 221 to Tela + Cabo (median [range] age, 61 [21-81] years; 47 [21%] women and 174 [79%] men) and 223 to Pbo + Cabo (median [range] age, 62 [29-83] years; 68 [30%] women and 155 [70%] men). A total of 276 (62%) patients had received prior immune checkpoint inhibitors, including 128 with prior nivolumab plus ipilimumab, 93 of whom had not received prior antiangiogenic therapy. Median progression-free survival was 9.2 months for Tela + Cabo vs 9.3 months for Pbo + Cabo (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.74-1.21; P = .65). Overall response rates were 31% (69 of 221) with Tela + Cabo vs 28% (62 of 223) with Pbo + Cabo. Treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) rates were similar between arms. Grade 3 to 4 TEAEs occurred in 160 patients (71%) with Tela + Cabo and 172 patients (79%) with Pbo + Cabo and included hypertension (38 patients [17%] vs 40 patients [18%]) and diarrhea (34 patients [15%] vs 29 patients [13%]). Cabozantinib was discontinued due to AEs in 23 patients (10%) receiving Tela + Cabo and 33 patients (15%) receiving Pbo + Cabo.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this randomized clinical trial, telaglenastat did not improve the efficacy of cabozantinib in metastatic RCC. Tela + Cabo was well tolerated with AEs consistent with the known risks of both agents.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03428217

Liquid biopsies such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) have great potential to serve as prognostic and predictive biomarkers in urologic cancers. The possibility of using liquid biopsies for real-time noninvasive and dynamic monitoring of response to therapy has been an active area of investigation. In this brief review, we outline the evidence for the potential clinical utility of CTC and ctDNA analyses in prostate, urothelial, and renal cancers.

PDF file - 110K, Supplemental Tables. (S1) Clinical characteristics and CTC data for metastatic prostate cancer patients treated with hormonal therapy. (S2) Time course data for metastatic prostate cancer patients treated with hormonal therapy and analyzed for AR signaling in CTCs.

Supplementary Table S1. Genes tested for Prostate CTC digital PCR Assay; Supplementary Table S2. Clinical information for prostate cancer patients and healthy donor subjects; Supplementary Table S3. Clinical information for patients enrolled on prospective trial of first-line abiraterone for mCRPC; Supplementary Table S4. Clinical information for patients with localized prostate cancer in radical prostatectomy study; Supplementary Table S5. Droplet digital PCR primers used in this study.

Supplementary Figure S1. (A) Schematic of d-CTC assay. Whole blood is processed using the CTC-iChip, resulting in a bulk product highly enriched for intact CTCs (labeled green) but also contains WBCs (labeled red) and RBCs (unlabeled); Supplementary Figure S2. Graphs showing droplet digital PCR signal for each gene in 12 metastatic prostate cancer patients compared to 34 healthy male control subjects; Supplementary Figure S3. (A, B) Graphs of relationships between Prostate CTCM Score and serum PSA, and CTC droplet digital PCR KLK3 signal and serum PSA at the pre-treatment time point; Supplementary Figure S4. (A) Kaplan-Meier curves for radiographic progression-free survival (R-PFS) by CTC HOXB13 status at pretreatment; Supplementary Figure S5. (A) Heatmap of droplet digital PCR CTC signal after whole transcriptome amplification for blood samples from healthy donor controls arranged by sex and age, and from patients with clinically localized prostate cancer, arranged by D'Amico Risk Group; Supplementary Figure S6. (A) Box plots showing pre-operative leave-one-out cross validated (LOOCV) CTCL Score in clinically localized prostate cancer patients according to microscopic SVI or pelvic LN involvement identified at the time of radical prostatectomy

PDF file - 49K, Supplemental Methods for (a) single molecule sequencing and AR transcriptional signature, (b) HB CTC-chip fabrication, (c) HB CTC-chip blood processing, and (d) automated fluorescence microscopy.

Purpose:Dual inhibition of glucose and glutamine metabolism results in synergistic anticancer effects in solid tumor models. Telaglenastat, an investigational, small-molecule, glutaminase inhibitor, exhibits modest single-agent activity in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. This phase Ib trial evaluated telaglenastat plus cabozantinib or everolimus, agents known to impair glucose metabolism in patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC).Patients and Methods:mRCC patients received escalating doses of telaglenastat [400–800 mg per os (p.o.) twice daily] in a 3 + 3 design, plus either everolimus (10 mg daily p.o.; TelaE) or cabozantinib (60 mg daily p.o.; TelaC). Tumor response (RECISTv1.1) was assessed every 8 weeks. Endpoints included safety (primary) and antitumor activity.Results:Twenty-seven patients received TelaE, 13 received TelaC, with median 2 and 3 prior therapies, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events were mostly grades 1 to 2, most common including decreased appetite, anemia, elevated transaminases, and diarrhea with TelaE, and diarrhea, decreased appetite, elevated transaminases, and fatigue with TelaC. One dose-limiting toxicity occurred per cohort: grade 3 pruritic rash with TelaE and thrombocytopenia with TelaC. No maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was reached for either combination, leading to a recommended phase II dose of 800-mg telaglenastat twice daily with standard doses of E or C. TelaE disease control rate (DCR; response rate + stable disease) was 95.2% [20/21, including 1 partial response (PR)] among 21 patients with clear cell histology and 66.7% (2/3) for papillary. TelaC DCR was 100% (12/12) for both histologies [5/10 PRs as best response (3 confirmed) in clear cell].Conclusions:TelaE and TelaC showed encouraging clinical activity and tolerability in heavily pretreated mRCC patients.

Supplementary Data from Telaglenastat Plus Cabozantinib or Everolimus for Advanced or Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: An Open-Label Phase I Trial

Purpose: The androgen receptor (AR) mRNA splice variant AR-V7 has emerged as a predictive biomarker for response to AR-targeted therapies. There are currently no commercially available assays to detect AR splice variants. The branched chain RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) platform enables the highly sensitive detection of RNA transcripts in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues.Experimental design: We designed a branched chain RNA ISH probe to target the unique cryptic exon CE3 of AR-V7 using multiple tiling probes. This automated ISH assay was applied to tumor tissue from two distinct clinical cohorts that we hypothesized would differ in AR-V7 status.Results: We detected AR-V7 in all tumor samples from men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with tissue obtained after disease progression despite at least one subsequent line of hormonal therapy (abiraterone, enzalutamide, or bicalutamide; n = 12). We detected AR-V7 in just one tumor from men who had undergone prostatectomy for localized adenocarcinoma (n = 30; Gleason 4 + 5 = 9 in the AR-V7–positive sample). Given the apparent distinction between the above groups by AR-V7 signal, we analyzed pretreatment AR-V7 status as a predictive and prognostic biomarker in men with treatment-naïve metastatic disease. Patients with metastases but without detectable AR-V7 RNA at baseline had significantly longer overall survival (log-rank P = 0.044) and a trend toward superior progression-free survival (log-rank P = 0.055).Conclusions: Within an institutional cohort, the RNA ISH assay identified AR-V7 within FFPE tissue and may have prognostic value in metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer. These preliminary findings warrant further study in larger cohorts. Clin Cancer Res; 23(2); 363–9. ©2016 AACR.

Treatment with cabozantinib, an inhibitor of MET and VEGFR2 signaling, has demonstrated clinical benefit in early trials in men with metastatic prostate cancer. Preclinical evidence suggests that cabozantinib can kill cancer cell seeds while disrupting angiogenesis and stromal cells in the metastatic soil. Clin Cancer Res; 20(3); 525–7. ©2013 AACR.

Supplementary Figure from Telaglenastat Plus Cabozantinib or Everolimus for Advanced or Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: An Open-Label Phase I Trial

Control cell line validations.

Supplementary Figure Legend

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On July 29, 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration’s Oncology Center of Excellence convened Conversations on Cancer. This Conversation, the first ever by the US Food and Drug Administration, focused on Asian Americans and served as the platform for this Commentary. Panelists elaborated on topics ranging from heterogeneity in Asian American demographics to racism through a path to health equity and supplemented this Commentary with literature citations. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing US race group, yet data aggregation obscures distinctions and cancer disparities within the more than 24 million Asians living in the United States with harmful impacts on communities and patients, as illustrated by breast cancer survivor Susan Shinagawa’s patient-to-advocate journey. Bigotry against Asian Americans has been pervasive since the 19th century, but especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Asian Americans are unique as the first US population to experience cancer as the leading cause of death. Asian Americans are disproportionately affected by cancers because of infectious origins and have the highest rates of lung cancer among never-smoking women. The infinitesimal proportion of the National Institutes of Health’s budget compared with experiencing the highest percentage increases of any US racial population more than 3 decades highlights the dearth of focused research among Asian Americans. Recognizing the heterogeneity of Asian Americans and that disaggregated data are critical for accurately characterizing distinct ethnic groups, focusing on the impact of racism and COVID-19 on cancer disparities, and focusing and prioritizing funding resources are necessary steps forward for achieving health equity for Asian Americans.

A conductive network of waste-tire derived carbon (WTC) was used to produce homogeneous Sb/WTC and Sb2O3/WTC composite materials via ball milling as promising anodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Highly reversible redox peaks at 0.81/0.71, 0.25 V for Sb/WTC and 0.80/0.76, 0.21/0.26 V for Sb2O3/WTC anodes have been observed related to Na+ intercalation and deintercalation in carbon and Na–Sb and Na3Sb as plausible conversion/alloy reactions. Sodium half-cells delivered reversible discharge capacities of 206 mA h g−1 and 207 mA h g−1 at a current density of 37 mA g−1 for the composite Sb/WTC and Sb2O3/WTC materials, respectively. Both the Sb/WTC and Sb2O3/WTC composite materials showed impressive capacity retention with 85% and 88%, respectively after 100 cycles. Rate capability studies at 60 °C yielded an enhanced capacity of 240 mA h g−1 for Sb/WTC and 300 mA h g−1 for Sb2O3/WTC at 37 mA g−1.

The Ariel mission will observe spectroscopically around 1000 exoplanets to further characterise their atmospheres. For the mission to be as efficient as possible, a good knowledge of the planets' ephemerides is needed before its launch in 2028. While ephemerides for some planets are being refined on a per-case basis, an organised effort to collectively verify or update them when necessary does not exist. In this study, we introduce the ExoClock project, an open, integrated and interactive platform with the purpose of producing a confirmed list of ephemerides for the planets that will be observed by Ariel. The project has been developed in a manner to make the best use of all available resources: observations reported in the literature, observations from space instruments and, mainly, observations from ground-based telescopes, including both professional and amateur observatories. To facilitate inexperienced observers and at the same time achieve homogeneity in the results, we created data collection and validation protocols, educational material and easy to use interfaces, open to everyone. ExoClock was launched in September 2019 and now counts over 140 participants from more than 15 countries around the world. In this release, we report the results of observations obtained until the 15h of April 2020 for 119 Ariel candidate targets. In total, 632 observations were used to either verify or update the ephemerides of 83 planets. Additionally, we developed the Exoplanet Characterisation Catalogue (ECC), a catalogue built in a consistent way to assist the ephemeris refinement process. So far, the collaborative open framework of the ExoClock project has proven to be highly efficient in coordinating scientific efforts involving diverse audiences. Therefore, we believe that it is a paradigm that can be applied in the future for other research purposes, too., Comment: 33 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Experimental Astronomy, data available through OSF at DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/3W7HM

More than 75% of cancer-related deaths occur from cancers for which we do not screen. New screening liquid biopsies may help fill these clinical gaps, although evidence of benefit still needs to be assessed. Which lessons can we learn from previous efforts to guide those of the future? Screening trials for ovarian, prostate, pancreatic, and esophageal cancers are revisited to assess the evidence, which has been limited by small effect sizes, short duration of early-stage disease relative to screening frequency, study design, and confounding factors. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) to show mortality reduction have required millions of screening-years, two-decade durations, and been susceptible to external confounding. Future RCTs with late-stage incidence as a surrogate endpoint could substantially reduce these challenges, and clinical studies demonstrating safety and effectiveness of screening in high-risk populations may enable extrapolation to broader average-risk populations. Multicancer early detection tests provide an opportunity to advance these practical study designs. Conditional approvals based on RCTs with surrogate endpoints, contingent upon real world evidence generation and continuation of trials to definitive endpoints, may lower practical barriers to innovation in cancer screening and enable greater progress.

Purpose:Dual inhibition of glucose and glutamine metabolism results in synergistic anticancer effects in solid tumor models. Telaglenastat, an investigational, small-molecule, glutaminase inhibitor, exhibits modest single-agent activity in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients. This phase Ib trial evaluated telaglenastat plus cabozantinib or everolimus, agents known to impair glucose metabolism in patients with metastatic RCC (mRCC).Patients and Methods:mRCC patients received escalating doses of telaglenastat [400–800 mg per os (p.o.) twice daily] in a 3 + 3 design, plus either everolimus (10 mg daily p.o.; TelaE) or cabozantinib (60 mg daily p.o.; TelaC). Tumor response (RECISTv1.1) was assessed every 8 weeks. Endpoints included safety (primary) and antitumor activity.Results:Twenty-seven patients received TelaE, 13 received TelaC, with median 2 and 3 prior therapies, respectively. Treatment-related adverse events were mostly grades 1 to 2, most common including decreased appetite, anemia, elevated transaminases, and diarrhea with TelaE, and diarrhea, decreased appetite, elevated transaminases, and fatigue with TelaC. One dose-limiting toxicity occurred per cohort: grade 3 pruritic rash with TelaE and thrombocytopenia with TelaC. No maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was reached for either combination, leading to a recommended phase II dose of 800-mg telaglenastat twice daily with standard doses of E or C. TelaE disease control rate (DCR; response rate + stable disease) was 95.2% [20/21, including 1 partial response (PR)] among 21 patients with clear cell histology and 66.7% (2/3) for papillary. TelaC DCR was 100% (12/12) for both histologies [5/10 PRs as best response (3 confirmed) in clear cell].Conclusions:TelaE and TelaC showed encouraging clinical activity and tolerability in heavily pretreated mRCC patients.

Novel meso- and microporous tire-derived carbon framework as a support for magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle adsorbents (MNA) that selectively adsorb selenite (Se(IV)) ions from contaminated water h...

Concerns regarding children’s health and physical activity levels have prompted a growing interest in understanding the school mode choice decision. Walking and biking to school can help school-age children achieve recommended daily physical activity levels. The growing literature in this area has provided valuable insights but has often failed to adequately consider the influence of parents on children’s decision making. This study aims to provide additional insights by examining the school mode choice with a focus on active travel and the role of parental effects. A multinomial logit model was estimated for children’s school mode choice using the 2009 National Household Travel Survey with the add-on sample for Texas. A comprehensive set of variables, including individual and household characteristics, built and travel environment measures, and parental characteristics and attitudes, were found to be influential on the decision of active travel to school. Although the focus of this study is on children’s school mode, a model examining parent’s active travel was also estimated to provide a picture of parents and their own active travel decisions through a Poisson count regression model for the parents’ non-motorized travel frequency (weekly). Findings strongly suggested that mothers’ concerns regarding traffic conditions in the neighborhood can discourage children’s active mode use. In contrast, fathers’ work flexibility seemed to facilitate more non-motorized school travel. Similarly, many factors were important in determining non-motorized trip frequency. A flexible work environment, particularly for the mothers, was observed to increase the overall trip frequency of parents. The results from this study corroborate the findings from several earlier studies while also indicating new factors not previously identified. The work done in this study can be extended in several directions. One particularly interesting avenue of future research is to model the two decisions in a joint model to identify the causal direction while accounting for unobserved factors.

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) pandemic has highlighted the need for personal protective equipment, specifically filtering facepiece respirators like N95 masks While it is common knowledge that polypropylene (PP) is the industry standard material for filtration media, trial and error is often required to identify suitable commercial precursors for filtration media production This work aims to identify differences between several commercial grades of PP and demonstrate the development of N95 filtration media with the intent that the industry partners can pivot and help address N95 shortages Three commercial grades of high melt flow index PP were melt blown at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and broadly characterized by several methods including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and neutron scattering Despite the apparent similarities (high melt flow and isotacticity) between PP feedstocks, the application of corona charging and charge enhancing additives improve each material to widely varying degrees From the analysis performed here, the most differentiating factor appears to be related to crystallization of the polymer and the resulting electret formation Materials with higher crystallization onset temperatures, slower crystallization rates, and larger number of crystallites form a stronger electret and are more effective at filtration © XXXX American Chemical Society

511 Background: PD(L)1 inhibitors can achieve durable responses in aUC but only in a minority of patients (pts). Combination strategies with agents that “prime and stimulate” the immune system may improve outcomes. CV301 comprises 2 recombinant poxviruses, Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) and Fowlpox (FPV), encoding the human transgenes for CEA, MUC-1, and a Triad of Co-stimulatory Molecules (TRICOM: ICAM-1, LFA-3, and B7-1). MVA-CV301 is used for priming and FPV-CV301 is used for booster doses. Preliminarily, BN-platform vaccine plus PD-(L)1 inhibitors exhibited synergistic preclinical anti-tumor efficacy and the combination of CV301 and anti-PD-(L)1 agent demonstrated an acceptable safety profile. We hypothesized that this combination would be safe and effective in cisplatin-ineligible or platinum-refractory pts with aUC. Methods: A Phase 2, single-arm multicenter trial was designed to study CV301 + atezo as 1st-line treatment in pts with aUC ineligible for cisplatin-based chemotherapy regardless of PD-L1 status (Cohort 1; C1) and in pts progressing on/after platinum-based chemotherapy (Cohort 2; C2). MVA-CV301 was given subcutaneously (SC) on Days 1 and 22 and FPV-CV301 SC from day 43 every 21 days for 4 doses, then every 6 weeks until 6 months, then every 12 weeks until 2 years. Atezo 1200mg IV was given every 21 days. Primary endpoint: objective response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints: OS, PFS, response duration, AEs and antigen-specific T-cell responses to CEA and MUC-1 by ELISPOT. Using 1-sided α 2.5%/cohort, a 2-stage design with 14/19 and 13/22 stage 1/2 subjects, respectively, will achieve ≥70% power if the true ORR for C1 is 43% and C2 is 33%. 3 C1 and 2 C2 responders were required in stage 1 to move forward. Results: 43 evaluable pts were enrolled and received therapy: 19 in C1; 24 in C 2. Overall, 9 pts experienced ≥ Grade 3 AEs related to the combination of treatment: 5 in C1, and 4 in C2. In C1, 1 pt had partial response (PR), for ORR 5.3% (90%CI: 0.3, 22.6) and 5 (26.3%, 90%CI: 11.0, 47.6) had stable disease (SD) as best response. In C2, 1pt had CR and 1 had PR, for ORR 8.3% (90%CI: 1.5, 24.0) and 3 (12.5%, 90%CI: 3.5, 29.2) had SD as best response. Median PFS and OS in C1 were 2.0 mo and 13.8 mo, and in C2 1.95 and 8.13 mo, respectively. The trial was halted for futility. Responding pts in C2 exhibited T-cell responses to CEA and pts with SD exhibited responses to MUC-1. Conclusions: CV301 + atezo exhibited an acceptable safety profile but did not demonstrate sufficient efficacy in pts with aUC as 1st-line therapy in cisplatin-ineligible pts or in the platinum-refractory setting. The development of effective vaccines to generate robust and durable responses as single agents and/or combined with anti-PD(L)1 remains an unmet need in aUC. Clinical trial information: NCT03628716.

433 Background: Prior randomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing bladder preservation to radical cystectomy (RC) for muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) closed early due to lack of accrual. Given that no future RCTs are foreseen, and in the absence of level 1 data, we aimed to provide the best evidence possible on outcomes of matched cohorts comparing trimodality therapy (TMT, maximal transurethral resection of bladder tumor followed by concurrent chemoradiation) to RC in order to guide management. Methods: This retrospective analysis included 703 patients with MIBC clinical stage T2-T3/4aN0M0 MIBC urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, 421 RC and 282 TMT who would have been eligible for both TMT or RC, treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto; and University of Southern California, Los Angeles between 2005-2017. To compare homogeneous cohorts, all patients included in this analysis had solitary tumors < 7 cm, no or unilateral hydronephrosis, and no multifocal carcinoma in situ. Treatment propensity scores were estimated using logistic regression, and patients were matched 3:1 with replacement. Covariates included age, sex, clinical T stage, hydronephrosis, (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy, body mass index, smoking history, and ECOG status. Overall survival (OS) was estimated with adjusted Cox models; cancer-specific survival (CSS), distant failure-free survival, pelvic nodal failure-free survival and metastasis-free survival (combined distant and pelvic nodal failure) were estimated with adjusted competing risk models. Our primary endpoint of interest was metastasis-free survival. The analysis was performed as intent-to-treat. Results: The 3:1 matched cohort comprised of 1,116 patients (834 RC vs 282 TMT). After matching, age (71.3 vs 71.6), cT2 clinical stage (88 vs 90%), presence of hydronephrosis (12 vs 10%), and use of (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy (60 vs 65%) were similar between RC and TMT cohorts. Salvage cystectomy was performed in 38 patients (13%) treated by TMT. At 5 years, metastasis-free (73 vs 78%, p = 0.07), distant failure-free (78 vs 82%, p = 0.14), and pelvic nodal failure-free (96 vs 94%, p = 0.33) survival were not statistically different between RC and TMT, whereas CSS and OS favored TMT (78 vs 85%, p = 0.02; 70 vs 78%, p < 0.001). Outcomes for RC and TMT were not different among centers. Final pT stage in the RC patients was: pT0 14%, pT1 7%, pT2 29%, pT3/4 42% and N+ 24%. Peri RC mortality was 2.1% and median number of nodes removed was 40. NMIBC recurrence occurred in 57/278 (20.5%) TMT patients. Conclusions: This large multi-institutional contemporary study provides the best evidence to date, in the absence of randomized trials, supporting TMT for select patients with MIBC. Oncologic outcomes seem to be equivalent between TMT and RC, affirming the position that TMT should be offered as an effective alternative.

Tin and tin oxide-based electrodes are promising high-capacity anodes for lithium-ion batteries. However, poor capacity retention is the major issue with these materials due to the large volumetric expansion that occurs when lithium is alloyed with tin during lithiation and delithiation process. Here, a method to prepare a low-cost, scalable carbon and tin(II) oxide composite anode is reported. The composite material was prepared by ball milling of carbon recovered from used tire powders with 25 wt% tin(II) oxide to form lithium-ion battery anode. With the impact of energy from the ball milling, tin oxide powders were uniformly distributed inside the pores of waste-tire-derived carbon. During lithiation and delithiation, the carbon matrix can effectively absorb the volume expansion caused by tin, thereby minimizing pulverization and capacity fade of the electrodes. The as-synthesized anode yielded a capacity of 690 mAh g−1 after 300 cycles at a current density of 40 mA g−1 with a stable battery performance. A method to prepare low-cost carbon/tin (II) oxide (SnO) composite by ball milling is reported. SnO powders are uniformly distributed inside the carbon matrix, which could effectively absorb the volume expansion of Sn and alleviate capacity fade. The anode yields a capacity of 690 mAh g−1 after 300 cycles.

Background: We aim to estimate prostate-specific antigen (PSA) half-life after salvage radiation therapy (SRT) in patients with detectable PSA after radical prostatectomy (RP). Methods: A total of 272 patients treated with salvage radiotherapy between July 1987 and July 2010 were included in this IRB approved retrospective analysis. The median pre-salvage radiotherapy dose was 0.6 ng/mL (range, 0.2 - 21.9 ng/mL), 47 patients had at least a minimum tumor stage of T3b, 29 had a Gleason score over 7, and median dose was 66.6 Gy (range, 54.0 - 72.4 Gy). Results: The estimated PSA half-life in our cohort of patients was 3.0 months (95% CI, 2.9 - 3.2 months; range, 0.5 - 28.5 months). There was no evidence of a statistically significant association between PSA half-life and any baseline clinicopathologic characteristics. The median interval between individual PSA measurements was noted to be 4.6 months (range, 0.1 - 20.4 months). The median interval from the start of radiation therapy to the nadir PSA was 6.3 months (range, 1.3 - 79.1 months). PSA half-life remained approximately 3.0 months when accounting for infrequent and outlier PSA values. Conclusion: The PSA half-life after definitive RT has been reported to be approximately 1.6 months. Our analysis found the PSA half-life after SRT to be approximately twice that of patients treated with definitive RT. These results provide useful information to radiation oncologists when counseling patients both before and after SRT regarding expectations about PSA measurements.