We evaluated whether hyaluronan (HA) levels in the sputum could be used as a noninvasive tool to predict progressive disease and treatment response, as detected in a computed tomography scan in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Sputum samples were collected from 84 patients with histological confirmation of NSCLC, 33 of which were in early-stage and 51 in advanced-stage disease. Patients received systemic chemotherapy (CT) after surgery (n=36), combined CT and immunotherapy (IO) (n=15), or targeted therapy for driver mutation and disease relapse (N=4). The primary end-point was to compare sputum HA levels in two different concentrations of hypertonic saline solution with overall survival (OS) and the secondary and exploratory end-points were radiologic responses to treatment and patient outcome. Higher concentrations of HA in the sputum were significantly associated to factors related to tumor stage, phenotype, response to treatment, and outcome. In the early stage, patients with lower sputum HA levels before treatment achieved a complete tumor response after systemic CT with better progression-free survival (PFS) than those with high HA levels. We also examined the importance of the sputum HA concentration and tumor response in the 51 patients who developed metastatic disease and received CT+IO. Patients with low levels of sputum HA showed a complete tumor response in the computed tomography scan and stable disease after CT+IO treatment, as well as a better PFS than those receiving CT alone. HA levels in sputum of NSCLC patients may serve as a candidate biomarker to detect progressive disease and monitor treatment response in computed tomography scans.

Os objetivos do experimento foram avaliar a eficácia do imazapic+imazapyr sobre a tiririca e a influência desta planta daninha sobre a população de desnitrificadores em solo cultivado com milho. O experimento foi realizado em caixas de 0,70 x 0,30 x 0,30 m, onde foram semeados o milho tolerante às imidazolinonas (C-901CL) e plantados 50 bulbos de tiririca. O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado, com seis repetições. Os tratamentos foram constituídos por: 1. milho sem tiririca; 2. milho com tiririca; 3. milho com tiririca capinada; 4. milho com tiririca e imazapic+imazapyr (63+21g ha-1 de i.a.) em pós-emergência; e 5. milho com tiririca e imazapic+imazapyr (63+21g ha-1 de i.a.) em pré-emergência. O herbicida foi eficiente em pós-emergência, diminuindo as manifestações epígeas da tiririca em 41% e proporcionando controle visual de 88% aos 21 dias após a aplicação. Os desnitrificadores do solo aumentaram em seis e dez vezes aos 24 e 54 dias após a semeadura do milho, respectivamente, com a presença de tiririca. A aplicação do herbicida em pós-emergência reduziu a população de desnitrificadores para 1,91x10(5) NMP (número mais provável), 89% menor que a testemunha capinada (16,78x10(5) NMP).

The objective of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of imazapic+imazapyr in controling purple nutsedge and its effect on the population of denitrifying bacteria in soil cultivated with corn. The trial was set up in 0.70 x 0.30 x 0.30 m boxes where imidazolinone tolerant corn (C901CL) was seeded together with 50 purple nutsedge bulbs. The experimental design was randomized with six replications. The treatments were: 1) corn without nutsedge; 2) corn with nutsedge; 3) corn with cut nutsedge; 4) corn with nutsedge treated with imazapic+imazapyr (63+21 g ha-1 i.a) applied in post-emergence and 5) corn with nutsedge treated with imazapic+imazapyr (63+21 g ha-1 i.a), applied in pre-emergence. The herbicide was efficient when applied in post-emergence, reducing in 41% the setting of aerial parts of the nutsedge with visual control effect of 88%, twenty-one days after spraying. The soil denitrifying bacteria increased six and ten-fold, 24 and 54 days after corn seeding, respectively, in the presence of purple nutsedge. The application in post-emergence reduced the denitrifying population to 1.91x10(5) MPN (most probable number) , 89% less than the non-weeded check (16.78x10(5) MPN).