Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Kontroversen in der adjuvanten System- und Radiotherapie des Endometriumkarzinoms

Adjuvant treatment of patients with endometrial cancer depends on clinical and pathological risk factors. For low risk endometrial cancer the standard treatment is surgery alone without any adjuvant therapy. For intermediate risk endometrial cancer the use of postoperative radiation therapy should be limited to the group of patients with a sufficiently high risk of locoregional recurrence (15% or more) to warrant the risk of treatment-associated morbidity and in order to maximize initial local control and relapse-free survival. Recent data suggest that vaginal brachytherapy alone should preferably be used to reduce the risk of vaginal relapse with less morbidity and better quality of life. For high risk disease the combination of platin-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy is the most effective adjuvant treatment. Unanswered questions currently remaining are the selection of drugs for combination with platin, how many cycles and the sequence of chemotherapy in relation to radiation therapy. For the answers to these questions the results of ongoing randomized trials must be awaited.     

Plant cytokinin analogues with inhibitory activity on cyclin-dependent kinases exert their antiproliferative effect through induction of apoptosis initiated by the mitochondrial pathway: determination by a multiparametric flow cytometric analysis

OBJECTIVE: Regulation of the cell cycle by cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity occurs at multiple levels and is often altered in human cancers. Therefore, CDK activity has been targeted for drug discovery, and a number of small molecules have now been identified as CDK inhibitors. Plant cytokinin analogues with CDK inhibitory activity and antiproliferative effects were studied to characterize the cellular basis of the cytotoxic effect. METHODS: The IC(50) value (concentration at which 50% of the cell proliferation is inhibited) and AC(50) value (concentration at which 50% of the cell population is apoptotic) were determined by flow cytometry and microscopy, respectively. A new multiparametric flow cytometric analysis was used to study the sequence of different apoptotic events. In this assay, analysis of phosphatidylserine exposure, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, activation of caspases and DNA condensation were combined. RESULTS: Treatment of Jurkat and KG1 cells with the CDK inhibitors results in a decrease of viable cells and a parallel increase in percentage of apoptotic cells. Apoptosis was accompanied by a rapid decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential, which precedes DNA condensation, exposure of phosphatidylserine and activation of caspases. CONCLUSIONS: The main cellular mechanism of the antiproliferative effect of plant cytokinin analogues with CDK inhibitory activity is the induction of apoptosis. The multiparametric flow cytometric technique allowed to follow the kinetics of various aspects of apoptotic cell changes and demonstrated that cytokinin analogue-induced apoptosis starts through the mitochondrial pathway. This technique could also become of value for the rapid screening of pro-apoptotic properties of chemotherapeutic compounds.     

Age-specific prevalence,transmission and phylogeny of TT virus in the Czech Republic

Background  

TT virus is prevalent worldwide, but its prevalence and genotype distribution in Central and East-Europe has not been determined. The high prevalence of TTV in multiply-transfused patients points to the importance of a parenteral mode of transmission, but since more than half of the general population is infected other possible routes of transmission must be considered.