Transductal fluxes of water and monovalent ions in ferret salivary glands

The net transductal fluxes of water and monovalent ions were measured in the parotid and submandibular salivary glands of the ferret, Mustela putorius furo, during stimulation of secretion with pilocarpine. The duct systems of these glands were found to be impermeable to water using the split-oil droplet method for stationary microperfusion of lobular and main ducts. The net transductal fluxes of Na+, K+, Cl-, and HCO3- were characterized by analysis of ductal fluid samples obtained simultaneously from the intercalated, lobular, and main ducts of these glands.

Metastatic bronchogenic carcinoma to the bones of the hand

A case of bronchogenic carcinoma with polyostotic metastatasis to the phalanges is presented. The literature has also been extensively reviewed.

Systemic cancer and the metastatic process

Various known and presumed characteristics of malignant cells that permit metastasis and factors that contribute to the establishment of secondary tumor foci are reviewed. The potential for therapeutic control with and the limitations of chemotherapy are discussed briefly.

Cancer metastasis: a product of tumor-host interactions

Metastasis continues to be the most devastating event for the patient with an established primary cancer. The most significant therapeutic problems are: (1) treatment of patients with established macrometastases, (2) identification of patients who have micrometastases and (3) the development of adequate adjunctive therapies for micrometastases. It is hoped that our evolving understanding of the biology of experimental metastasis and the high level of premium quality laboratory research ongoing in this area will result in further resolution of this clinical problem or, at least, a better understanding of this most extreme expression of the malignant phenotype.

Rationale for the use of bone scans in selected metastatic and primary bone tumors

Since the introduction of bone scans in 1951, there have been many studies comparing biologic and physical characteristics of new bone-imaging agents and the results of scintigraphy and radiology in large numbers of patients. Relatively speaking, there have been fewer studies detailing the health benefits and financial cost associated with the use of skeletal scintigraphy. This review concerns these aspects in patients with malignancies of various sites and stages. About 2% of patients with stage I or II breast cancer have bone metastases at the time they first present, whereas nearly 28% of patients with stage III disease have bone metastases. A large percentage of patients with initially negative scans develop bone metastases during the first 3--4 yr; many of them develop them within the first 12--18 mo after initial diagnosis. For patients with lung cancer, the use of bone scans in staging their disease is somewhat controversial. Several studies indicate that the yield of positive bone scans may range from as low as 2% to as high as 35%. Data on the use of bone scans in staging prostatic cancer initially are similar to those in patients with breast cancer, that is, yields of 7% in patients with stage I or II disease and a yield of about 20% with stage III disease. Children with osteosarcoma or Ewing's sarcoma rarely have bone disease distant from the site of their primary bone lesion at presentation. However, a large percentage of them (30%--40% or so) develop bone metastases during the follow-up period. As in the case with patients with breast cancer, about half of these bone metastases are evident by 12--18 mo.

Metastatic cystosarcoma phyllodes. A report of 2 cases presenting with neurological symptoms

Two cases of cystosarcoma phyllodes of the breast are presented with central nervous system (CNS) metastases appearing several years after mastectomy for the primary lesion. Unusual features in these cases include the widespread metastases themselves, neurologic symptomatology and CNS involvement, metastases into a uterine leiomyoma and into an area of hepatic adenomatous hyperplasia, and glomus-like structures in one of the primaries with similar structures resembling glomus cells in metastases. The distant metastases were of stromal cells only and frequently surrounded epithelial cells to isolate the indigenous glandular structures. The concept that cytosarcoma is a peculiar stromal neoplasm rather than a tumor of dual neoplastic origin is discussed.

Carcinoma of the breast: analysis of total lymph node involvement versus level of metastasis

The histologic presence of axillary lymph node metastasis is the most commonly used indicator or prognosis for patients with operable breast cancer. The record of 385 patients treated by 380 radical mastectomies between the years 1944 and 1972 were reviewed to clarify this. The axillary nodes recovered were evenly distributed. The median number of positive lymph nodes at each level was two; 50% had involvement of only one level. The number of lymph nodes identified increased with the number of positive nodes. When compared with similar patients, survival curves for those having a single involved node and also those having multiple metastatic nodes were similar whether the node were in the proximal, middle, or distal levels. The 10-year determinate survival for patients with fewer than five positive positive nodes was just under 50%. High positive nodal counts, or involvement of more than one level, were associated with local recurrence of disease.

Metastatic tumors to the bones of the foot

Information on lesions that are metastatic to the bones of the feet is limited. Review of the literature revealed only 17 cases, nine of which were confirmed histologically. Our series involved the clinical records, roentgenograms, and pathologic specimens in eight cases of biopsy-proven metastatic involvement of the bones of the foot. In three additional cases, there was clinical and roentgenographic evidence of metastatic osseous foot lesion but biopsy was not done to provide histiolgic confirmation. Genitourinary malignancies tended to be associated with metastasis to the bones of the feet, the calcaneus being the commonest site of involvement. Although metastatic lesions of the foot are rare, foot pain may be suggestive of an occult carcinoma. Foot pain was the initial presenting complaint in five of our eight cases. The pathogenesis of these distal metastatic lesions remains obscure. Specific problems in management are associated with osseous metastases of the foot.

Dr. K.C. Chaudhuri--reminiscences

There has been a high local recurrence rate in rectal cancer. Besides improvements in surgical techniques, both neoadjuvant short-course radiotherapy and long-course chemoradiation improve oncological results. Approximately 40–60% of rectal cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation achieve some degree of pathologic response. However, there is no effective method of predicting which patients will respond to neoadjuvant treatment. Recent studies have evaluated the potential of genetic biomarkers to predict outcome in locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation. The articles produced by the PubMed search were reviewed for those specifically addressing a genetic profile’s ability to predict response to neoadjuvant treatment in rectal cancer. Although tissue gene microarray profiling has led to promising data in cancer, to date, none of the identified signatures or molecular markers in locally advanced rectal cancer has been successfully validated as a diagnostic or prognostic tool applicable to routine clinical practice.

Techniques for inhibiting tumor metastases

Of the four major biological mechanisms of cancer spread, hematogenous dissemination is perhaps the most significant, as it usually heralds a fatal outcome for the patient. Recent experimental approaches have shown ways of altering the metastatic process and even totally inhibiting it in some animal models. It appears that these models may be applicable to certain human cancers. To prevent hematogenous metastasis formation the process must be inhibited at any one of four levels: 1) growth of the primary; 2) invasion of vessel walls; 3) release of viable tumor cells; or 4) entrapment and growth in distant organs. Judicious handling of the primary can decrease metastasis by minimizing the shedding of tumor cells. New experimental agents prevent the release of tumor cells from the primary by normalizing the blood vessels of the tumor. Warfarin, heparin, and fibrinolytic agents inhibit the entrapment of circulating tumor cells, presumably by their effect on coagulative mechanisms. A better understanding of the benefits of combined approaches to cancer using chemotherapy, irradiation, and immunotherapy, alone and as adjuncts to surgery, offers new opportunity to study methods of controlling metastatic disease.

[Sleep and its pharmacologic treatment]

Background

The discovery of novel anticancer drugs is critical for the pharmaceutical research and development, and patient treatment. Repurposing existing drugs that may have unanticipated effects as potential candidates is one way to meet this important goal. Systematic investigation of efficient anticancer drugs could provide valuable insights into trends in the discovery of anticancer drugs, which may contribute to the systematic discovery of new anticancer drugs.

Results

In this study, we collected and analyzed 150 anticancer drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Based on drug mechanism of action, these agents are divided into two groups: 61 cytotoxic-based drugs and 89 target-based drugs. We found that in the recent years, the proportion of targeted agents tended to be increasing, and the targeted drugs tended to be delivered as signal drugs. For 89 target-based drugs, we collected 102 effect-mediating drug targets in the human genome and found that most targets located on the plasma membrane and most of them belonged to the enzyme, especially tyrosine kinase. From above 150 drugs, we built a drug-cancer network, which contained 183 nodes (150 drugs and 33 cancer types) and 248 drug-cancer associations. The network indicated that the cytotoxic drugs tended to be used to treat more cancer types than targeted drugs. From 89 targeted drugs, we built a cancer-drug-target network, which contained 214 nodes (23 cancer types, 89 drugs, and 102 targets) and 313 edges (118 drug-cancer associations and 195 drug-target associations). Starting from the network, we discovered 133 novel drug-cancer associations among 52 drugs and 16 cancer types by applying the common target-based approach. Most novel drug-cancer associations (116, 87%) are supported by at least one clinical trial study.

Conclusions

In this study, we provided a comprehensive data source, including anticancer drugs and their targets and performed a detailed analysis in term of historical tendency and networks. Its application to identify novel drug-cancer associations demonstrated that the data collected in this study is promising to serve as a fundamental for anticancer drug repurposing and development.

Protein-losing enteropathy and intestinal bleeding. The role of lymphatic-venous connections

The existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has profound implications for cancer therapy. In this study, a disulfiram/copper (DSF/Cu) complex was evaluated in vitro and in vivo for its efficacy to inhibit CSCs, which drive recurrence of NSCLC. First, we investigated whether DSF/Cu could inhibit ALDH-positive NSCLC stem cells in vitro and tumors derived from sorted ALDH-positive CSCs in vivo. DSF/Cu (0.5/1 μmol/l) significantly inhibited the expression of stem cell transcription factors (Sox2, Oct-4 and Nanog) and reduced the capacities of NSCLC stem cells for self-renewal, proliferation and invasion in vitro. Regular injections with DSF/Cu (60/2.4 mg/kg) reduced the size of tumors derived from sorted ALDH-positive stem cells. Two other NOD/SCID xenograft models were used to determine whether DSF/Cu could target NSCLC stem cells and inhibit tumor recurrence in vivo. DSF/Cu treatment eliminated ALDH-positive cells and inhibited tumor recurrence, which was reflected by reduced tumor growth in recipient mice that were inoculated with tumor cells derived from DSF/Cu-treated cells or primary xenografts. RNA interference and overexpression of ALDH isozymes suggested that ALDH1A1, which plays a key role in ALDH-positive NSCLC stem cells, might be the target of the DSF/Cu complex. Collectively, our data demonstrate that DSF/Cu targets ALDH1A1 to inhibit NSCLC recurrence driven by ALDH-positive CSCs. Thus, the DSF/Cu complex may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for NSCLC patients.