Effective combined therapy for pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma: A case report

BACKGROUND Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma(P-EHE)is a rare disease.Thus far,consensus on a standard treatment for P-EHE has not been established given its low incidence worldwide.Apatinib combined with chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide has been used as an effective combination treatment for human malignancies.However,the efficacy of this combination has not been reported in P-EHE cases.CASE SUMMARY We present the case of a 64-year-old woman with chest tightness,cough,and chest pain.Computed tomography showed multiple unresectable pulmonary nodules.She had been misdiagnosed with lung carcinoma and underwent gefitinib treatment at a hospital.Subsequently,the patient underwent a cardiothoracic surgery for further disease investigation.CD31,CD34,and Vimentin expression were detected in the resected nodule specimens by immunohistochemical analyses,and pathological analyses confirmed the diagnosis of P-EHE.Following this,four cycles of apatinib combined with chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide were initiated.The patient demonstrated stabilization of multiple bilateral nodules and showed a dramatic improvement in the clinical presentation after combination treatment.The patient could not tolerate the side effects of chemotherapy.Therefore,she then continued apatinib monotherapy,which is ongoing to date.The patient was stable at the last follow-up after 24 mo.CONCLUSION Apatinib combined with chemotherapy with doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide may be an effective therapeutic option for P-EHE treatment.

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION ON THE MISCIBILITY OF ISOTACTIC POLYPROPYLENE (iPP) AND SYNDIOTACTIC POLYPROPYLENE (sPP) BLENDS

Experimental miscibility studies were performed on different compositions of iPP/sPP blends, where sPP has a low syndiotacticity （[rrrr] = 81%）. Combining optical microscopy, rheology, and solid state NMR spectroscopy, the miscibility of the blends was investigated at different scales in the traditionally thought to be ＂immiscible＂ iPP/sPP blends. For the composition of iPP/sPP （90/10） blend, it shows to be miscible in the melt, and furthermore, the existence of intermolecular chain interactions between sPP and iPP components was detected in the solid state.

Phase Morphology, Crystallization Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Poly(L-lactide) Toughened with Biodegradable Polyurethane: Effect of Composition and Hard Segment Ratio

Polyester-based biodegradable polyurethane （PU） with different hard segment ratios was selected to modify the impact toughness of poly（L-lactide） （PLLA）. The influence of blending composition and hard segment ratio of PU on the phase morphology, crystallization behavior and mechanical properties of PLLA/PU blends has been investigated systematically. The results showed that the PU particles were uniformly dispersed in PLLA matrix at a scale from sub- microns to several microns. The glass transition temperature of PU within these blends decreased compared to that of neat PU, but rose slightly with its content and hard segment ratio. The presence of PU retarded the crystallization ability of PLLA, whereas enhanced its elongation at break and impact resistance effectively. As the PU content reaches up to 30 wt%, the phenomenon of brittle-ductile transition occurred, resulting in a rougher fracture surface with the formation of fibril-like structure. Moreover, under the same concentrations, the elongation at break and impact strength of PLLA blends decreased slightly with the increase of hard segment ratio of PU.

DEFORMATION INVESTIGATION ON iPP/SiO_2 COMPOSITES: INFLUENCE OF STRETCHING TEMPERATURE AND PARTICLE SIZE ON MORPHOLOGY EVOLUTION AND CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE OF THIN FILMS

In the present work, structure changes during （SiO2） composites have been investigated systematically stretching of isotactic polypropylene （iPP） and iPP/silicon dioxide The or-form crystal structure of both iPP and iPP/SiO2 composites is destroyed and transforms into the mesophase as the samples are stretched at a low temperature （35℃）, while stretching at high temperatures （90℃ and 120℃） can restrain the appearance of defects and keep the perfection of crystal structure. FTIR results reveal that the stretching temperatures show no obvious difference of the effect on the orientation of pure iPP, however, the orientation of iPP/SiO2 composites is greatly changed by the tensile temperature. In the case of micron-sized SiO2 particles （average particle diameter d 〉 1 μm）, the orientation of the composites is lower than that of pure iPP at all stretching temperatures. The above results suggest that the stretching temperature and the SiO2 particle size have great influence on the structure variation and orientation behavior of iPP/SiO2 composites.

HYDROGEN-BONDING INDUCED CHANGE OF CRYSTALLIZATION BEHAVIOR OF POLY(BUTYLENE SUCCINATE) IN ITS MIXTURES WITH BISPHENOL A

In the present work, the blend of poly（butylene succinate） （PBS） and bisphenol A （BPA） was prepared by solution mixing, and the intermolecular interactions between the two components were characterized by a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance （NMR） and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR）. The results showed that intermolecular hydrogen-bonding forms between the carbonyl group of PBS and phenol hydroxyl of BPA. With the increase of BPA content, more hydrogen bonds were formed. The effect of hydrogen bonding on the crystallization behavior of PBS was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） and polarized optical microscopy （POM）. The results showed that the overall isothermal crystallization kinetics and the spherulite growth rate of PBS decrease with the increase of BPA content, while the PBS spherulite size increases with BPA content.