Published papers

Background: Dasatinib, nilotinib, and bosutinib, second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and ponatinib, a third-generation TKI, are approved pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Although liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assays for simultaneous quantification of the four TKIs in human serum have been reported in the literature, a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay that simultaneously quantifies these compounds has not yet been developed. This study aims to establish and validate an efficient HPLC analytical method using a photodiode array (PDA) detector for the simultaneous quantification of the four TKIs. Methods: Calibration standards were prepared by serial dilution of serum samples containing the four TKIs, followed by solid-phase extraction. The four TKIs were eluted in order within 10 min using a binary HPLC gradient system. Results: The calibration ranges were 2–500 ng/ml for dasatinib, 100–5000 ng/ml for nilotinib, and 10–500 ng/ml for bosutinib and ponatinib. Intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy values were found to be in accordance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines. The recovery rates were 92.9%–96.0%, 80.7%–86.1%, 91.6%–99.0%, and 86.4%–92.6% for dasatinib, nilotinib, bosutinib, and ponatinib, respectively. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an HPLC-PDA analytical method that allows efficient simultaneous quantification of the four TKIs in the serum of patients with CML. We believe that the method developed herein can improve the efficiency of therapeutic drug monitoring in patients with CML in clinical practice.

Background: Association between baseline medications plus neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) plus platinum doublet remains unknown, despite several reported prognostic models. We used real-world data to investigate whether baseline medications plus NLR predict survival outcomes in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving ICI plus platinum doublet. Methods: This multicenter, retrospective, observational study conducted in Japan between December 2018 and March 2021 used real-world data of consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC who received ICI (pembrolizumab or atezolizumab) plus platinum doublet as first-line treatment. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. The prognostic score for baseline medications plus NLR was weighted by regression β coefficients and used to categorize patients into good, intermediate, and poor prognoses groups. In addition, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve analyses and univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were constructed. Results: Overall, 241 patients were included. Poor prognosis was significantly associated with worse PFS (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.78; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08–2.94; P = 0.025) and OS (HR: 3.59; 95% CI: 2.05–6.28; P < 0.001) than good prognosis. Harrell’s C-index for this prognostic model was 0.648. Conclusions: Baseline medication plus NLR could predict progressively worse survival outcomes in patients with advanced NSCLC receiving ICI plus platinum doublet and could be used as a prognostic index for poor outcomes.

Monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) metabolizes monoamines such as dopamine regarding neural transmission and controls its level in the mammalian's brain. When MAO-B metabolizes dopamine abnormally, normal neurotransmission does not occur, and central nervous system disorders such as Parkinson's disease may develop. Although several MAO inhibitors have been developed, most of them have no selectivity between monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) and MAO-B, or they work irreversibly against the enzyme. This report describes the first case of screening of N-arylated heliamine derivatives to develop novel MAO-B selective inhibitors that can be synthesized concisely by microwave-assisted Pd nanoparticle-catalyzed Buchwald-Hartwig amination. We discovered that the derivatives 4h, 4i, and 4j display inhibitory activity against MAO-B with IC50 values of 1.55, 13.5, and 5.08 μM, respectively.

The absolute structure of an indole alkaloid (+)-cinchonaminone by total synthesis of both (+)-cinchonaminone and its enantiomer was determined. The main focus of the study was the enantioselective synthesis of both enantiomers of a chiral cis-3,4-disubstituted piperidine. We also evaluated monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitory activities of these enantiomers. Furthermore, its structurally simplified derivatives were synthesized that did not have any chiral center. Two of these derivatives showed stronger MAO inhibitory activities than that of (+)-cinchonaminone.

Background: Nivolumab and pembrolizumab are the standard treatments for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). While there are reports on several inflammatory indices and the prognosis of patients with cancer, no study has combined baseline medication with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) to predict clinical outcomes. This study investigated the efficacy of baseline medications plus NLR to predict the effectiveness of nivolumab and pembrolizumab in a real-world clinical setting. Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective observational study of consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC who received nivolumab or pembrolizumab as first-line, second-line, or beyond treatment between December 2015 and November 2018 at the National Cancer Center Hospital in Japan. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. The drug-based prognostic score for baseline medications plus NLR was weighed based on the regression β coefficients. The multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the association between the prognostic score-stratified groups and survival outcomes. Results: In total, 259 patients were evaluated in this study. A prognostic score calculated from the baseline medications plus NLR was used to categorize the patients into good (score 0), intermediate (scores 1–2), and poor (scores 3–6) -prognosis groups. The multivariable Cox proportional hazard model revealed a significant association between the poor-prognosis group and reduced OS. The hazard ratio of OS was 1.75 (95% confidence interval: 1.07–2.99; P = 0.031). In contrast, no association between these prognosis groups and PFS was observed. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the baseline medications with nivolumab or pembrolizumab plus NLR could lead to progressively shorter survival outcomes in patients with advanced NSCLC and could be used as a prognostic index for poor outcomes. However, to ascertain the clinical application of these findings, these concomitant medications need further validation in a large-scale multicenter study.

Background: Among patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer who were treated with nivolumab monotherapy, the association of peripheral blood count data (at baseline and 2 weeks after treatment initiation) with the early onset of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and treatment efficacy has not been clearly established. This study aimed to identify peripheral blood count data that may be predictive of the development of nivolumab-induced irAEs in a real-world clinical setting. Materials and Methods: This multicenter observational study retrospectively evaluated consecutive patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer undergoing nivolumab monotherapy in the second- or later-line setting between December 2015 and November 2018 at the National Cancer Center Hospital and Keio University Hospital in Japan. The primary endpoint was the association between peripheral blood count data and irAEs during the 6-week study period. Receiver operating characteristic curve and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Of the 171 patients evaluated, 73 (42.7%) had ≥1 irAE during the first 6 weeks following treatment initiation. The median time to irAEs from the initiation of nivolumab was 15 (interquartile range: 13–28) days. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed that the optimal cut-off values of the absolute lymphocyte count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio 2 weeks after treatment initiation for early irAE onset were 820, 4.3, and 2.2, respectively. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, absolute lymphocyte count >820 at 2 weeks after treatment initiation was significantly associated with an increased risk of early onset of any irAE. In contrast, no significant association was observed for the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (>4.3) or the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (>2.2) at 2 weeks following treatment initiation. Conclusions: The absolute lymphocyte count >820 at 2 weeks following nivolumab initiation predicts early onset of irAEs during a 6-week study period. Routinely available absolute lymphocyte count, which is measured after the initiation of nivolumab, may be useful for identifying patients at risk of early onset of irAEs.

© 2018 Nordic Association for the Publication of BCPT (former Nordic Pharmacological Society) Glycyrrhizin is used to treat chronic hepatitis, but it also plays an important role in pseudoaldosteronism. Multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 is important for glycyrrhizin excretion. Dysfunction of this transporter increases the serum levels of direct bilirubin, glycyrrhizin and its metabolites. Hence, elevated direct-bilirubin levels could predict the risk of pseudoaldosteronism. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between elevated direct-bilirubin levels and hypokalaemia, which is the most sensitive marker of pseudoaldosteronism. This retrospective cohort study was conducted in a Japanese university hospital. The occurrence of hypokalaemia is defined as a serum potassium level of ≤3.5 mEq/L after the administration of a glycyrrhizin-containing medication, and a further decline of ≥0.5 mEq/L or an increase of ≥0.5 mEq/L after discontinuing the glycyrrhizin-containing medication was examined in patients with chronic hepatitis between January 2009 and December 2015. This analysis involved 1392 patients, including 596 women. Hepatitis C virus infections were the most common cause of chronic hepatitis in this study. Seventy-nine patients received glycyrrhizin (exposed group; mean age: 60.5 ± 14.2) and 1313 did not receive glycyrrhizin (control group; mean age: 58.3 ± 15.8 years). Synergistic effects of glycyrrhizin-containing medications and elevated direct-bilirubin levels were associated with hypokalaemia. Elevated direct-bilirubin levels and hypoalbuminaemia were associated with hypokalaemia in the exposed group. Older age, female sex, high daily glycyrrhizin dosage, longer duration of glycyrrhizin intake, and potassium-lowering medications were not associated with hypokalaemia after the model adjustment. Elevated direct-bilirubin levels and hypoalbuminaemia may predict pseudoaldosteronism caused by glycyrrhizin.

© 2018, The Author(s). This study aimed to compare the antiemetic efficacy and safety of a four-drug combination with those of a standard three-drug combination in Japanese patients with breast cancer treated with anthracycline. We retrospectively analyzed data from Japanese patients with breast cancer, who had received their first cycle of anthracycline and were treated with aprepitant, palonosetron, and dexamethasone with or without olanzapine. This retrospective observational study was performed at Ehime University Hospital using the electronic medical records. Multivariable and propensity score-adjusted analyses were performed to compare the onset of complete response (CR) failure between the groups. One-hundred and thirty patients were included in this study and the four- and three-drug group had 22 and 108 patients, respectively. Similar to multivariable logistic regression analysis, propensity-adjusted logistic regression analysis revealed that the four-drug group was markedly associated with a decreased odds of CR failure in the overall, acute, and delayed phases (odds ratio [OR]: 0.27, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.10–0.73; OR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.10–0.76; and OR: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.04–0.57, respectively). Additionally, treatment-related adverse events were well tolerated in both the groups. These findings suggest that the antiemetic efficacy of the four-drug combination is superior to that of the standard three-drug combination.

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify a high-risk or low-risk population for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting among patients with breast cancer treated with a current standard 3-drug antiemetic regimen and receiving anthracycline. Methods: We analyzed data from chemotherapy-naive Japanese patients with breast cancer, who had received the first cycle of anthracycline-based regimen and were treated with a 3-drug combination of aprepitant, palonosetron, and dexamethasone. This study was carried out at Ehime University Hospital (Toon, Japan) using electronic medical records from May 2011 to June 2017. The primary end point was complete response (CR), which was defined as no emesis and no use of rescue medication. Findings: A total of 103 patients were included in this study. The percentages of patients who had a CR in the overall, acute, and delayed phases were 35.0%, 40.8%, and 50.5%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age <55 years and body mass index <27.5 kg/m2 were significantly associated with an increased risk for CR failure in the overall and acute phases. In contrast, a history of alcohol habit was significantly associated with a decreased risk for CR failure in overall phase. Implications: The present findings suggest that, among patients with breast cancer receiving anthracycline and treated with aprepitant, palonosetron, and dexamethasone, patients younger than 55 years and having a body mass index <27.5 kg/m2 are high-risk populations for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, whereas those with a history of habitual alcohol consumption is a low-risk one.

© 2019 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. Long-term practical training in the 6-year course of pharmaceutical education is a program for students after acquiring basic knowledge on pharmaceutical sciences and preclinical training. However, it remains unproved whether practical training affects students' robust acquisition and reconstruction of pharmaceutical expertise which they had learned before starting practical training. To address this issue, we administered survey questionnaires to 5th-year students (n=149) of Keio University in 2016 both before and after practical training. From the viewpoint of self-efficacy, psychological approach was applied to evaluate respondents' psychological state "to do well" on a 7-point Likert scale (1=disagree, 4=neither, 7=agree) for specific subjects C1-C18 (18 core units of pharmaceutical expertise in the current Model Core Curriculum for Pharmaceutical Education), mainly including basic pharmaceutical sciences, public health, clinical pharmacology and pharmacotherapy. C1-C18 total score values, which reflect the strength of certainty to acquire expertise, were significantly higher after the first term of practical training compared to before training, regardless of the pharmacy and the hospital (p<0.001), but not after the second term. Specific factors associated with increased score values for "to do well" were not extracted from other questionnaire answers concerning students' mentors or their self-learning during practical training. These results demonstrated that practical training at least partly reinforced students' feeling of "to do well", contributing to their robust acquisition and reconstruction of pharmaceutical expertise. Giving students recognition individually of their learning process themselves encourages more effective practical training toward their development of resources as a pharmacist.

© 2019, Japanese Society of Hematology. Knowledge of the toxicity profile of long-term treatment with imatinib is limited. In the present study, we sought to evaluate renal function and hemoglobin levels during long-term imatinib treatment. Eighty-two patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase who had been on imatinib for over 5 years were retrospectively analyzed. The mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was significantly decreased over 5 years (77 ± 17 to 62 ± 14 ml/min/1.73m², P < 0.001). Higher age and lower eGFR value at initiation of imatinib were significantly associated with development of renal dysfunction by multivariate analyses. Mean hemoglobin levels also significantly decreased over the 5-year period (12.9 ± 1.7 to 12.4 ± 1.3 g/dl, P < 0.01). The rate of decrease in eGFR correlated significantly with hemoglobin levels (correlation coefficient = − 0.249, P < 0.05). Serum erythropoietin (EPO) levels did not increase in 16 patients with both renal dysfunction and anemia (median, 31.9 mIU/ml). In patients who participated in a clinical trial of imatinib discontinuation, mean eGFR (50.0 ± 6.5 to 56.0 ± 10.2 ml/min/1.73m², P < 0.05) and hemoglobin levels (12.0 ± 1.7 to 14.0 ± 1.6 g/dl, P < 0.01) improved significantly at 1 year after discontinuation. These findings suggest that long-term imatinib results in a partially reversible continuous decline in renal function and decreased hemoglobin levels.

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Objective: The purpose of the present study was to compare important patient questionnaire items by creating a random forest model for predicting deficiency-excess pattern diagnosis in six Kampo specialty clinics. Design: A multi-centre prospective observational study. Setting: Participants who visited six Kampo specialty clinics in Japan from 2012 to 2015. Main outcome measure: Deficiency-excess pattern diagnosis made by board-certified Kampo experts. Methods: To predict the deficiency-excess pattern diagnosis by Kampo experts, we used 153 items as independent variables, namely, age, sex, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and 148 subjective symptoms recorded through a questionnaire. We extracted the 30 most important items in each clinic's random forest model and selected items that were common among the clinics. We integrated participating clinics’ data to construct a prediction model in the same manner. We calculated the discriminant ratio using this prediction model for the total six clinics’ data and each clinic's independent data. Results: Fifteen items were commonly listed in top 30 items in each random forest model. The discriminant ratio of the total six clinics’ data was 82.3%; moreover, with the exception of one clinic, the independent discriminant ratio of each clinic was approximately 80% each. Conclusions: We identified common important items in diagnosing a deficiency-excess pattern among six Japanese Kampo clinics. We constructed the integrated prediction model of deficiency-excess pattern.

© 2019, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Liquorice [main ingredient, glycyrrhizin (GL)] is widely used as a food sweetener and herbal medicine. Occasionally, liquorice consumption causes pseudoaldosteronism as a side effect which causes oedema, hypokalaemia, and hypertension due to hyperactivity of mineral corticoid receptor. We aimed to detect GL metabolites in human blood and urine samples and to determine the pathological relationship between GL metabolites and pseudoaldosteronism. For this multi-centre, retrospective, cross-sectional study, we recruited patients who had visited Center for Kampo Medicine in Keio University Hospital, Department of Japanese Oriental (Kampo) Medicine in Chiba University Hospital, Clinic of Japanese Oriental (Kampo) Medicine in Kanazawa University Hospital, and Department of Oriental Medicine in Kameda Medical Center from November 2011 to July 2018. We collected laboratory data including concentration of serum potassium, plasma activity of renin and aldosterone, and residual blood and/or urine samples of participants who had experienced symptoms/signs of pseudoaldosteronism in the form of increase in blood pressure and occurrence or aggregation of oedema while taking liquorice-containing herbal preparations, and measured GL metabolites using a highly selective liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometer system. We registered 97 participants (mean age 60 ± 15 years; male:female 14:83). 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) was detected in 67 serum samples (median 122 nM, range 5 nM–1.8 µM) and 18β-glycyrrhetyl-3-O-sulfate (compound 3) in 68 samples (median 239 nM, range 2 nM–4.2 µM). 3-Monoglucuronyl 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid, 22α-hydroxy-18β-glycyrrhetyl-3-O-sulfate-30-glucuronide, 22α-hydroxy-18β-glycyrrhetyl-3-O-sulfate, and GL itself were not or rarely detected. We could not find any correlation between blood pressure or peripheral oedema and serum concentration of GL metabolites. Sulfotransferase 2A1 catalysed the metabolic reaction of GA to compound 3, a major GL metabolite in human blood. High serum concentration of compound 3 was related to lower renin, aldosterone, and potassium levels, suggesting a pathological relationship between compound 3 and liquorice-induced pseudoaldosteronism. This is the first study to identify the association between a novel metabolite, compound 3, and the incidence of pseudoaldosteronism, highlighting it as a promising biomarker.

© 2020 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan Pharmacy practice experience (PPE) is essential in the six-year course of pharmaceutical education in Japan. We previously found that PPE reinforced students' self-efficacy for curriculums (SECs), leading robust acquisition and reconstruction of pharmaceutical expertise. In this study, we aimed to clarify whether students' SECs aŠect successful experiences as enactive attainments in PPE. We distributed survey questionnaires to the fifth-year students in Keio University in 2016-2017 before and after PPE. The students made a self-assessment of their psychological state ``expect to do well'' on a seven-point Likert scale for each curriculum (C1 to C18), and their successful experiences were also collected from free description type questionnaire. We could follow up 139 students. The SEC scores increased from prePPE to post I (p ＜ 0.001) and II terms (p ＜ 0.01). The increase in SEC scores during PPE was associated with the rate of students' successful experiences in the first-term PPE (p ＝ 0.04). The path analysis revealed the following as significant predictive factors of SECs for successful experiences: basic sciences (C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, and C6) with standardizing coefficient 0.35, health and environmental sciences (C11 and C12) with 0.39, and pharmaceutical sciences (C7, C8, C9, C10, C13, and C14) with － 0.51. Students in the first-term PPE tended to experience successful performance in medical professions by using their pharmaceutical expertise that they had learned. In this study, for the first time, we demonstrated that Japanese students' SECs for pharmaceutical expertise affected successful experiences, leading better outcomes of PPE.

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Purpose: Venous pain induced by peripheral intravenous infusion of gemcitabine has remained an unresolved issue in clinical practice. This study aimed to identify differences between gemcitabine formulations as well as risk factors associated with gemcitabine-induced venous pain in patients with cancer. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from consecutive patients with cancer who had received chemotherapy including a lyophilized or liquid formulation of gemcitabine diluted with 5% glucose solution via a peripheral vein. The study was conducted at Ehime University Hospital using electronic medical records dated between January 2015 and July 2017. The primary end point was the prevalence of venous pain at the administration site during gemcitabine infusion, classified as injection site reaction of grade ≥2 according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 4.0. A multivariate logistic regression analysis with generalized estimating equations for longitudinal data was used to identify risk factors for venous pain during all courses of gemcitabine treatment. Findings: A total of 1150 treatment courses in 141 Japanese patients were evaluated in this study. Venous pain occurred in 115 courses (10.0%) and in 49 patients (34.8%). The multivariate logistic regression analysis with generalized estimating equations revealed that a dose increase of gemcitabine and use of the liquid formulation of gemcitabine were significantly associated with an increased risk for venous pain (dose increase, adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.11–1.40 [P < 0.001]; and liquid formulation, adjusted OR = 12.43, 95% CI, 5.61–27.51 [P < 0.001]), whereas age, course number of gemcitabine, and use of the soft-back product of 5% glucose solution were significantly associated with a reduced risk for venous pain (age, adjusted OR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.57–0.98 [P = 0.037]; course number, adjusted OR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.92–0.99 [P = 0.023]; and soft back, adjusted OR = 0.39; 95% CI, 0.21–0.74 [P = 0.004]). Implications: The use of the liquid formulation of gemcitabine was associated with a significant increase in the frequency of gemcitabine-induced venous pain despite dilution with 5% glucose solution compared to that with the lyophilized formulation. The lyophilized formulation of gemcitabine should hence be used in peripheral intravenous infusion for the treatment of patients with cancer.

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Objective: The purpose of this study was to extract important patient questionnaire items by creating random forest models for predicting pattern diagnosis considering an interaction between deficiency-excess and cold-heat patterns. Design: A multi-centre prospective observational study. Setting: Participants visiting six Kampo speciality clinics in Japan from 2012 to 2015. Main outcome measure: Deficiency–excess pattern diagnosis made by board-certified Kampo experts. Methods: We used 153 items as independent variables including, age, sex, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and 148 subjective symptoms recorded through a questionnaire. We sampled training data with an equal number of the different patterns from a 2 × 2 factorial combination of deficiency–excess and cold–heat patterns. We constructed the prediction models of deficiency–excess and cold–heat patterns using the random forest algorithm, extracted the top 10 essential items, and calculated the discriminant ratio using this prediction model. Results: BMI and blood pressure, and subjective symptoms of cold or heat sensations were the most important items in the prediction models of deficiency–excess pattern and of cold–heat patterns, respectively. The discriminant ratio was not inferior compared with the result ignoring the interaction between the diagnoses. Conclusions: We revised deficiency–excess and cold–heat pattern prediction models, based on balanced training sample data obtained from six Kampo speciality clinics in Japan. The revised important items for diagnosing a deficiency–excess pattern and cold–heat pattern were compatible with the definition in the 11th version of international classification of diseases.

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Purpose: This study aimed to identify patient-related risk factors for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients with cancer receiving carboplatin in addition to standard antiemetics, using real-world data. Methods: In this single-center, observational study, data from electronic medical records of consecutive patients with solid tumors who had received their first cycle of a carboplatin-based regimen and were treated with a 2- or 3-drug combination of antiemetics from January 2014 to January 2019 at Toranomon Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The primary end point was the occurrence of a complete response (CR) within 5 days after the first cycle, which was defined as no vomiting and no use of rescue medication for CINV. A receiver operating characteristic curve, univariable, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used. Findings: A total of 314 patients were evaluated in this study. The proportion of patients who had a CR in the overall, acute, and delayed phases was 76.8% (n = 241), 98.7% (n = 310), and 77.4% (n = 243), respectively. Similar to univariable logistic regression analysis, multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that age ≥70 years and total dexamethasone dose ≥14.6 mg were significantly associated with a non-CR in the overall phase, whereas female sex, history of habitual alcohol intake, and history of smoking were not associated with a non-CR in the overall phase. Implications: Our study findings suggest that a patient age of <70 years and a total dexamethasone dose of <14.6 mg are high-risk factors for carboplatin-induced CINV

Background: Pembrolizumab is currently the standard treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the association between immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and peripheral blood cell counts remains unclear. We aimed at identifying peripheral blood cell counts that may predict the development of pembrolizumab-induced irAEs. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data on consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC who received pembrolizumab monotherapy as first-line or later-line therapy at the National Cancer Center Hospital and Keio University Hospital. We used data between December 2015 and November 2018. The primary endpoint was the relationship between peripheral blood cell count data and early-onset irAEs during the 6-weeks study period. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: In total, 92 patients were evaluated, of whom 45 (48.9%) had at least one irAE during the first 6-weeks after treatment initiation. The ROC curves revealed that the optimal cutoff of pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) for onset of irAEs were 1459, 2.320, 1.538, and 165, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that pretreatment ALC>1450 and LMR>1.6 were significantly associated with a reduced risk for onset of any irAEs, whereas pretreatment NLR>2.3 and PLR>165 were significantly associated with an increased risk. Conclusions: The findings suggest that considering the routine availability of blood cell count data before the initiation of treatment with pembrolizumab, it may be useful in identifying early-onset irAEs during the 6-weeks study period in clinical practice.

© 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Purpose: The clinical efficacies of some antiretroviral drugs are known to not depend on its concentration in blood. To establish a method of dosage adjustment for darunavir (DRV) based on pharmacokinetic theory, we analyzed the correlation between DRV levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma. Methods: The concentrations of DRV and ritonavir (RTV) in plasma and PBMCs of 31 samples obtained from 19 patients were analyzed. An in vitro kinetic study using MOLT-4 cells was performed to assess the contribution of RTV to the intracellular accumulation of DRV. Results: DRV levels in PBMCs varied between 7.91 and 29.36 ng/106 cells (CV 37.5%), while those in plasma were greater. No significant correlation was found between the trough level of DRV in plasma and that in PBMCs (p = 0.575). The inter-day difference in DRV levels in PBMCs seemed smaller than that in plasma (− 41.6–23.0% vs − 83.3–109.1%). In the in vitro study, the elimination half-life of cellular efflux of DRV was 15.7 h in the absence of RTV and extended to 47.6 h in the presence of RTV. Conclusions: We found a poor correlation between intracellular DRV and plasma DRV levels in patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy. The efflux rate of DRV from cells was slow; therefore, the concentration of DRV in PBMCs may reflect average exposure to the drug and clinical efficacy.