Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin as a Single Agent or as Combination Therapy with Carboplatin in Patients with Recurrent or Refractory Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

OBJECTIVE Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD;CAELYX^(?)), a novel formulation of doxorubicin with enhancedtherapeutic efficacy and reduced toxicity, has demonstratedimproved progression-free survival in recurrent or refractoryovarian cancer. The objective of this open-label, noncomparative,observational study was to determine the efficacyand safety of PLD monotherapy or combination therapy withcarboplatin for patients with recurrent or refractory ovariancancer.METHODS Sixty-two patients with recurrent or refractoryovarian cancer who completed a platinum-based chemotherapyregimen and demonstrated platinum sensitivity for first-linetreatment at least 6 months prior to study entry were enrolledin 20 centers in China. PLD was given as monotherapy (50mg/m^2 infused over 60 minutes) or as combination therapy(30 mg/m^2 1-hour infusion) with carboplatin (area under thecurve 5 mg.min/mL 1-hour infusion) on day 1 every 28 daysfor 4 cycles. The primary endpoint was objective response (OR)rate or CA-125 level. Secondary endpoints included time toresponse, time-to-progression, health-related quality of life, andsafety.RESULTS Overall, 48% of the 62 evaluable patients achieveda confirmed OR. More patients receiving PLD and carboplatinachieved an OR vs the PLD monotherapy group (63% vs. 37%).The median time to response and disease progression was58.5 days and 56.0 days, respectively. Overall and drug-relatedadverse events were reported for 39% and 34%, respectively.The most commonly reported adverse events were stomatitis(22.6%) and palmar-plantar erythroderma (9.7%). Two deathswere reported.CONCLUSION PLD is an effective and well tolerated agentin women with recurrent or refractory epithelial ovarian cancer.

Real-world outcomes of niraparib treatment in patients with ovarian cancer:amulticenter non-interventional study in China

Dear Editor,Ovarian cancer remains the deadliest among all gynecological cancers.Although most patients at advanced stage respond to initial treatment,the majority experience recurrence[1].It was estimated that 55,342 new cases and 37,519 deaths from ovarian cancer occurred in China annually[2].Contemporarily,the treatment landscape has changed rapidly since the role of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose)polymerase inhibitors(PARPi)in ovarian cancer treatmentwas explored.Based on data from the PRIMA/ENGOT-OV26/GOG-3012[3]and ENGOTOV16/NOVA trials[4],niraparib has been approved globally as maintenance therapy for newly diagnosed and platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer.The indication of niraparib for salvage treatment was based on the results of the QUADRA(NCT02354586)trial[5].Although niraparib has been tested in prospective randomized clinical trials(RCTs),no multicenter study on its real-world application in China had been conducted.Considering the differences in population,accessibility and affordability of drugs,the results of the real-world settings may differ from those of RCTs.Therefore,we conducted this multicenter,non-interventional study at 8 hospitals.

Nonperturbative generation of above-threshold harmonics from pre-excited argon atoms in intense mid-infrared laser fields

We experimentally investigate the generation of above-threshold harmonics completely from argon atoms on an excited state using mid-infrared femtosecond laser pulses. The highly nonlinear dependences of the observed signal on the pulse energy and polarization of the probe laser pulses indicate its nonperturbative characteristic.