1
|
Coverdale JPC, Bedford RA, Carter OWL, Cao S, Wills M, Sadler PJ. In-cell Catalysis by Tethered Organo-Osmium Complexes Generates Selectivity for Breast Cancer Cells. Chembiochem 2024; 25:e202400374. [PMID: 38785030 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202400374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2024] [Revised: 05/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Anticancer agents that exhibit catalytic mechanisms of action offer a unique multi-targeting strategy to overcome drug resistance. Nonetheless, many in-cell catalysts in development are hindered by deactivation by endogenous nucleophiles. We have synthesised a highly potent, stable Os-based 16-electron half-sandwich ('piano stool') catalyst by introducing a permanent covalent tether between the arene and chelated diamine ligand. This catalyst exhibits antiproliferative activity comparable to the clinical drug cisplatin towards triple-negative breast cancer cells and can overcome tamoxifen resistance. Speciation experiments revealed Os to be almost exclusively albumin-bound in the extracellular medium, while cellular accumulation studies identified an energy-dependent, protein-mediated Os accumulation pathway, consistent with albumin-mediated uptake. Importantly, the tethered Os complex was active for in-cell transfer hydrogenation catalysis, initiated by co-administration of a non-toxic dose of sodium formate as a source of hydride, indicating that the Os catalyst is delivered to the cytosol of cancer cells intact. The mechanism of action involves the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus exploiting the inherent redox vulnerability of cancer cells, accompanied by selectivity for cancerous cells over non-tumorigenic cells.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J P C Coverdale
- School of Pharmacy, Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT, UK
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - R A Bedford
- School of Pharmacy, Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT, UK
| | - O W L Carter
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - S Cao
- School of Pharmacy, Institute of Clinical Sciences, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT, UK
| | - M Wills
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - P J Sadler
- Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Galindo García C, Díaz Acedo R, Artacho Criado S, Rodríguez de la Borbolla Artacho M. Effectiveness and safety of neoadjuvant therapy in triple-negative breast cancer in a real-world population. FARMACIA HOSPITALARIA 2024:S1130-6343(24)00112-0. [PMID: 39004532 DOI: 10.1016/j.farma.2024.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/16/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Triple-negative breast cancer is a subtype of aggressive breast cancer. Our aim is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of neoadjuvant treatment in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer and to identify predictors of pathological complete response. METHODS This is a single-center, retrospective study involving 79 patients with triple-negative breast cancer who initiated neoadjuvant treatment between January 2017 and October 2022. Descriptive analyses were performed as appropriate. Statistical analysis utilized bivariate logistic regression to explore the presence of factors related to pathological complete response, and the Kaplan-Meier method was employed for survival analysis. RESULTS In the overall population, 27 patients (n = 78; 34.6%) achieved pathological complete response in the breast and axillary lymph nodes, and 31 (n = 73; 42.5%) achieved a grade 5 pathological complete response in the breast, according to the Miller and Payne classification. The addition of platinum to standard therapy improved both breast and axillary lymph node pathological complete response rates. Age less than 40 years was identified as a predictor of pathological complete response in our study population through bivariate analysis, while Ki67 levels lower than 70% were associated with a lower pathological complete response rate. Adverse events were reported in 72 patients (91.1%), with grade 3-5 adverse events observed in 33 (41.8%). There was a particularly notable increase in gastrointestinal and hematological adverse events when platinum was added. CONCLUSIONS In this population, we observed moderate rates of pathological complete response with acceptable chemotherapy tolerance. Platinum-based chemotherapy appears to enhance the likelihood of achieving pathological complete response, albeit with a less favorable safety profile. Therefore, evaluating the benefit-risk balance is crucial when selecting the optimal chemotherapy regimen for individual patients.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Rocío Díaz Acedo
- Servicio de Farmacia, Hospital Universitario Virgen de Valme, Sevilla, España
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Zhang C, Zhu J, Yuan X, Yan Z, Ye H, Xiong T, Xu A, Li C, Ji D, Yang S, Zhang J, Zhang Y, Wu J, Huang Z. Development of Integrated Bioorthogonal Self-Catalyzed NO Donor/Platinum(IV) Prodrugs for Synergistical Intervention against Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. J Med Chem 2024; 67:479-491. [PMID: 38110353 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c01693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
The platinum(IV) prodrug strategy is attractive for the synergistic antitumor effect. High levels (>400 nM) of nitric oxide (NO) exert promising cancer inhibition effects via multiple mechanisms. Herein, we designed and synthesized a new group of integrated bioorthogonal self-catalyzed NO donor/Pt(IV) prodrugs bearing long alkyl chains to enhance the stability in circulation, while the cytoplasmic reductants trigger cascade activation to release Pt and NO in tumor cells. Specifically, compound 10c exhibited an improved stability, favorable pharmacokinetic properties (AUC(0-t) of 2210.10 h*ng/mL), potent anti-triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) effects (71.08% tumor growth inhibition (TGI) against the MDA-MB-231 xenograft model), potent in vivo anti-TNBC lung metastasis activity, and acceptable low toxicity. Importantly, NO released from 10c leads to the S-nitrosation of metal transporters Atox1&ATP7a in TNBC cells, which increases the Pt retention and inhibits lysyl oxidase, generating synergistic tumoricidal and antimetastatic activity. These results may inspire further study on the synergistical therapy of Pt and NO for the treatment of TNBC.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chen Zhang
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Jie Zhu
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Xun Yuan
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Zhengsheng Yan
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Hui Ye
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Tao Xiong
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Anning Xu
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Cunrui Li
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Duorui Ji
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Shan Yang
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Neurological Disorder Research, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830028, P. R. China
| | - Juan Zhang
- School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009, P. R. China
| | - Yihua Zhang
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Jianbing Wu
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
| | - Zhangjian Huang
- Center of Drug Discovery, State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, P. R. China
- School of Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Active Components of Xinjiang Natural Medicine and Drug Release Technology, Engineering Research Center of Xinjiang and Central Asian Medicine Resources, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830054, P. R. China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Zhang W, He Y, Tang Y, Dai W, Si Y, Mao F, Xu J, Yu C, Sun X. A meta-analysis of application of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-based immunotherapy in unresectable locally advanced triple-negative breast cancer. Immunotherapy 2023; 15:1073-1088. [PMID: 37337734 DOI: 10.2217/imt-2023-0023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of immunotherapy for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Materials & methods: Randomized clinical trials comparing immunotherapy with chemotherapy for advanced TNBC patients were included. Results: A total of six articles (3183 patients) were eligible for this meta-analysis. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor-based immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy can significantly increase the progression-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.82; 95% CI = 0.76-1.14; p < 0.001) of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic TNBC patients without effect on overall survival, compared with chemotherapy. Conclusion: PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors-based immunotherapy can safely improve progression-free survival in patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic TNBC, but has no effect on overall survival.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zhang
- Department of Breast Surgery, Ningbo No. 2 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315010, China
| | - Yujing He
- The Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, China
| | - Yuning Tang
- The Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, China
| | - Wei Dai
- The Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, China
| | - Yuexiu Si
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, China
| | - Feiyan Mao
- Department of General Surgery, Ningbo No. 2 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315010, China
| | - Jiaxuan Xu
- The Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, China
| | - Chiyuan Yu
- The Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, China
| | - Xing Sun
- Department of General Surgery, Ningbo No. 2 Hospital, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315010, China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Xia W, Chen W, Ni C, Meng X, Wu J, Yang Q, Tang H, Yuan H, Fang S. Chemotherapy-induced exosomal circBACH1 promotes breast cancer resistance and stemness via miR-217/G3BP2 signaling pathway. Breast Cancer Res 2023; 25:85. [PMID: 37461019 PMCID: PMC10351125 DOI: 10.1186/s13058-023-01672-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chemoresistance involves metastasis and aggressiveness of breast cancer (BC). Chemotherapy-elicited exosomes have been reported to be associated with drug resistance and pro-metastatic capacity of BC cells. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are enriched in exosomes, which participated in generation, progression, and resistance of BC. However, the mechanism underlying the chemoresistance and metastasis in BC cells mediated by the BC-derived exosomal ncRNAs remained to be elucidated. METHODS The effects of PTX-induced exosomal circBACH1 on BC cell function were assessed using RNA Binding Protein Immunoprecipitation (RIP), dual luciferase reporter gene, tube formation, CCK-8, and Western Blot assays. The circBACH1 and miR-217 expression levels were detected using quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and Immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays in BC tissues and precancerous tissues of BC patients. RESULTS CircBACH1 expression was increased in paclitaxel-treated BC-derived exosomes (PTX-EXO) and BC tissue. PTX-EXO was shown to promote PTX-resistance and angiogenesis through upregulation circBACH1. Downregulation of circBACH1 improved PTX-sensitiveness by suppressing the cell viability, stemness, migration, and angiogenesis of BC cells. Moreover, we found that miR-217 interacted with circBACH1 and targeted GTPase-activating SH3 domain-binding protein 2 (G3BP2) in BC cells. CircBACH1 combined miR-217 cotransfection suppressed the expression of G3BP2 proteins compared with circBACH1 treatment in MCF-7 cells. In addition, downregulation of G3BP2 suppressed BC cell migration. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrated that PTX-induced exosomal circBACH1 promoted stemness and migration of BC cells by sponging miR-217 to upregulate the expression of G3BP2, which provided a new therapeutic target for PTX-resistance and progression of BC via circBACH1/miR-217/G3BP2 axis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wenjie Xia
- General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Breast Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Wuzhen Chen
- Department of Breast Surgery (Surgical Oncology), Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Chao Ni
- Department of Breast Surgery (Surgical Oncology), Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xuli Meng
- General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Breast Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Jun Wu
- General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Breast Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Qiong Yang
- General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Breast Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Hongchao Tang
- General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Breast Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China
| | - Hongjun Yuan
- General Surgery, Cancer Center, Department of Breast Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Shan Fang
- Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Research Institute of Zhejiang Province, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, 158 Shangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang, China.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Moment of truth-adding carboplatin to neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy in triple negative breast cancer improves overall survival: An individual participant data and trial-level Meta-analysis. Breast 2022; 64:7-18. [PMID: 35462344 PMCID: PMC9039877 DOI: 10.1016/j.breast.2022.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Importance Carboplatin increases the pathological complete remission (pCR) rate in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) when added to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, however, evidence on its effect on survival outcomes is controversial. Methods The study was prospectively registered at PROSPERO (CRD42021228386). We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials, and conference proceedings from January 1, 2004 to January 30, 2022 for relevant randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy in TNBC patients, with carboplatin in the intervention arm and standard anthracycline taxane (AT) in the control arm. PRISMA guidelines were used for this review. Data were pooled using fixed and random effects models as appropriate on extracted hazard ratios (HR). Individual patient data (IPD)for disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were extracted from published survival curves of included RCTs; DFS and OS curves for each trial and the combined population were reconstructed, and HR estimated. The primary outcome was DFS; OS, pCR, and toxicity were secondary outcomes. Results Eight trials with 2425 patients were included. Carboplatin improved DFS (HR 0.60; 95% CI 0.47 to 0.78; I2 45%, p < 0.001) compared with AT at trial level and IPD level (HR 0.66; 95%CI, 0.55 to 0.80, p < 0.001) analysis. The OS also improved with carboplatin at both trial level (HR 0.69, 95%CI 0.50 to 0.95, I2 41%, p = 0.02) and IPD level (HR 0.68; 95%CI, 0.54 to 0.87, p = 0.002) analysis. The pCR as expected, was better in the carboplatin arm (OR 2.11; 95% CI = 1.44–3.08; I2 67%, p = 0.009). Anaemia and thrombocytopaenia were higher in the carboplatin arm. Conclusion and relevance: Carboplatin added to (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy in TNBC improves survival, as shown in both trial level and IPD analysis. Carboplatin in (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy improves disease-free and overall survival in TNBC. Individual participant data analysis confirms this result. Expected increase in myelosuppression seen with carboplatin. These results have practice-changing implications in how we treat TNBC.
Collapse
|
7
|
Yao W, Li S, Liu R, Jiang M, Gao L, Lu Y, Liang X, Zhang H. Long non-coding RNA PVT1: A promising chemotherapy and radiotherapy sensitizer. Front Oncol 2022; 12:959208. [PMID: 35965522 PMCID: PMC9373174 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.959208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) PVT1 was first found to activate variant translocations in the plasmacytoma of mice. Human lncPVT1 is located on chromosome 8q24.21, at the same locus as the well-known MYC oncogene. LncPVT1 has been found to promote the progression of various malignancies. Chemoresistance and radioresistance seriously affect tumor treatment efficacy and are associated with the dysregulation of physiological processes in cancer cells, including apoptosis, autophagy, stemness (for cancer stem cells, CSC), hypoxia, epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), and DNA damage repair. Previous studies have also implicated lncPVT1 in the regulation of these physiological mechanisms. In recent years, lncPVT1 was found to modulate chemoresistance and radioresistance in some cancers. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of lncPVT1-mediated regulation of cellular chemoresistance and radioresistance. Due to its high expression in malignant tumors and sensitization effect in chemotherapy and radiotherapy, lncPVT1 is expected to become an effective antitumor target and chemotherapy and radiotherapy sensitizer, which requires further study.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Weiping Yao
- Graduate Department, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China
- Cancer Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shuang Li
- Cancer Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- Graduate Department, Jinzhou Medical University, Jinzhou, China
| | - Ruiqi Liu
- Graduate Department, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China
- Cancer Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Mingyun Jiang
- Graduate Department, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China
- Cancer Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Liang Gao
- Cancer Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yanwei Lu
- Cancer Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xiaodong Liang
- Graduate Department, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China
- Cancer Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Haibo Zhang, zhbdoctor @163.com; Xiaodong Liang,
| | - Haibo Zhang
- Cancer Center, Department of Radiation Oncology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Haibo Zhang, zhbdoctor @163.com; Xiaodong Liang,
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Mutinda FW, Liew K, Yada S, Wakamiya S, Aramaki E. Automatic data extraction to support meta-analysis statistical analysis: a case study on breast cancer. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2022; 22:158. [PMID: 35717167 PMCID: PMC9206132 DOI: 10.1186/s12911-022-01897-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Meta-analyses aggregate results of different clinical studies to assess the effectiveness of a treatment. Despite their importance, meta-analyses are time-consuming and labor-intensive as they involve reading hundreds of research articles and extracting data. The number of research articles is increasing rapidly and most meta-analyses are outdated shortly after publication as new evidence has not been included. Automatic extraction of data from research articles can expedite the meta-analysis process and allow for automatic updates when new results become available. In this study, we propose a system for automatically extracting data from research abstracts and performing statistical analysis. Materials and methods Our corpus consists of 1011 PubMed abstracts of breast cancer randomized controlled trials annotated with the core elements of clinical trials: Participants, Intervention, Control, and Outcomes (PICO). We proposed a BERT-based named entity recognition (NER) model to identify PICO information from research abstracts. After extracting the PICO information, we parse numeric outcomes to identify the number of patients having certain outcomes for statistical analysis. Results The NER model extracted PICO elements with relatively high accuracy, achieving F1-scores greater than 0.80 in most entities. We assessed the performance of the proposed system by reproducing the results of an existing meta-analysis. The data extraction step achieved high accuracy, however the statistical analysis step achieved low performance because abstracts sometimes lack all the required information. Conclusion We proposed a system for automatically extracting data from research abstracts and performing statistical analysis. We evaluated the performance of the system by reproducing an existing meta-analysis and the system achieved a relatively good performance, though more substantiation is required.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Faith Wavinya Mutinda
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan
| | - Kongmeng Liew
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan
| | - Shuntaro Yada
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan
| | - Shoko Wakamiya
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan
| | - Eiji Aramaki
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|