In breast cancer patients, after only one course of neoadjuvant chemotherapy the reduction in FDG uptake is an early and powerful predictor of pCR.

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Background: Some oxysterols are identified in atheromatous plaques and in plasma of atherosclerotic patients. We asked whether they might modulate cytokine secretion on human monocytic cells. In healthy and atherosclerotic subjects, we also investigated the relationships between circulating levels of C‐reactive protein (CRP), conventional markers of hyperlipidemia, some oxysterols (7β‐hydroxycholesterol, 7‐ketocholesterol, and 25‐hydroxycholesterol), and various cytokines. Methods: Different flow cytometric bead‐based assays were used to quantify some cytokines (IL‐1β, IL‐2, IL‐4, IL‐5, IL‐6, IL‐7, IL‐8, IL‐10, IL‐12, IL‐13, IL‐17, G‐CSF, GM‐CSF, IFN‐γ, MCP‐1, MIP‐1β, or TNF‐α) in the culture media of oxysterol‐treated U937 and THP‐1 cells, and in the sera of healthy and atherosclerotic subjects. CRP and markers of hyperlipidemia were determined with routine analytical methods. Oxysterols were quantified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Flow cytometric and biochemical methods were used to measure IL‐8 mRNA levels, intracellular IL‐8 content, and protein phosphorylation in the mitogenic extracellular kinase/extracellular signal‐regulated kinase1/2 (MEK/ERK1/2) signaling pathway. Results: All oxysterols investigated are potent in vitro inducers of MCP‐1, MIP‐1β, TNF‐α, and/or IL‐8 secretion, the latter involving the MEK/ERK1/2 cell signaling pathway. In healthy and atherosclerotic subjects, no relationships were found between cytokines (IL‐8, IL‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐10, TNF‐α, IL‐12, and MCP‐1), CRP, conventional markers of hyperlipidemia, and oxysterols. However, in patients with arterial disorders of the lower limbs, small but statistically significant differences in the circulating levels of CRP, TNF‐α, and IL‐10 were observed comparatively to healthy subjects and according to the atherosclerotic stage considered. Conclusions: Flow cytometric bead‐based assays are well adapted to measure variations of cytokine secretion in the culture media of oxysterol‐treated cells and in the sera of healthy and atherosclerotic subjects. They underline the in vitro proinflammatory properties of oxysterols and may permit to distinguish healthy and atherosclerotic subjects, as well as various atherosclerotic stages. © 2006 International Society for Analytical Cytology

AimTo investigate the respective influence of software tool and total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV0) calculation method on prognostic stratification of baseline 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography ([18F]FDG-PET) in newly diagnosed Hodgkin lymphoma (HL).Methods59 patients with newly diagnosed HL were retrospectively included. [18F]FDG-PET was performed before any treatment. Four sets of TMTV0 were calculated with Beth Israel (BI) software: based on an absolute threshold selecting voxel with standardized uptake value (SUV) >2.5 (TMTV02.5), applying a per-lesion threshold of 41% of the SUVmax (TMTV041) and using a per-patient adapted threshold based on SUVmax of the liver (>125% and >140% of SUVmax of the liver background; TMTV0125 and TMTV0140). TMTV041 was also determined with commercial software for comparison of software tools. ROC curves were used to determine the optimal threshold for each TMTV0 to predict treatment failure.ResultsMedian follow-up was 39 months. There was an excellent correlation between TMTV041 determined with BI and with the commercial software (r = 0.96, p<0.0001). The median TMTV0 value for TMTV041, TMTV02.5, TMTV0125 and TMTV0140 were respectively 160 (used as reference), 210 ([28;154] p = 0.005), 183 ([-4;114] p = 0.06) and 143ml ([-58;64] p = 0.9). The respective optimal TMTV0 threshold and area under curve (AUC) for prediction of progression free survival (PFS) were respectively: 313ml and 0.70, 432ml and 0.68, 450ml and 0.68, 330ml and 0.68. There was no significant difference between ROC curves. High TMTV0 value was predictive of poor PFS in all methodologies: 4-years PFS was 83% vs 42% (p = 0.006) for TMTV02.5, 83% vs 41% (p = 0.003) for TMTV041, 85% vs 40% (p<0.001) for TMTV0125 and 83% vs 42% (p = 0.004) for TMTV0140.ConclusionIn newly diagnosed HL, baseline metabolic tumor volume values were significantly influenced by the choice of the method used for determination of volume. However, no significant differences were found in term of prognosis.

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