Cancer-testis genes are coordinately expressed and are markers of poor outcome in non-small cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE: Cancer-testis genes mapping to the X chromosome have common expression patterns and show similar responses to modulators of epigenetic mechanisms. We asked whether cancer-testis gene expression occurred coordinately, and whether it correlated with variables of disease and clinical outcome of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Tumors from 523 NSCLC patients undergoing surgery were evaluated for the expression of nine cancer-testis genes (NY-ESO-1, LAGE-1, MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, MAGE-A4, MAGE-A10, CT7/MAGE-C1, SSX2, and SSX4) by semiquantitative PCR. Clinical data available for 447 patients were used to correlate cancer-testis expression to variables of disease and clinical outcome. RESULTS: At least one cancer-testis gene was expressed by 90% of squamous carcinoma, 62% of bronchioloalveolar cancer, and 67% of adenocarcinoma samples. Statistically significant coexpression was observed for 34 of the 36 possible cancer-testis combinations. Cancer-testis gene expression, either cumulatively or individually, showed significant associations with male sex, smoking history, advanced tumor, nodal and pathologic stages, pleural invasion, and the absence of ground glass opacity. Cox regression analysis revealed the expression of NY-ESO-1 and MAGE-A3 as markers of poor prognosis, independent of confounding variables for adenocarcinoma of the lung. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer-testis genes are coordinately expressed in NSCLC, and their expression is associated with advanced disease and poor outcome.     

Heparin octasaccharides inhibit angiogenesis in vivo.

BACKGROUND: In previous experiments, we showed that heparin oligosaccharides inhibit the angiogenic cytokine fibroblast growth factor-2. Here, we present the first in vivo study of size-fractionated heparin oligosaccharides in four models of angiogenesis that are progressively less dependent on fibroblast growth factor-2. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Heparin oligosaccharides were prepared using size-exclusion gel filtration chromatography and characterized through depolymerization and strong anion exchange high-performance liquid chromatography. Size-defined oligosaccharides (20 mg/kg/d) were given to mice bearing s.c. sponges that were injected with fibroblast growth factor-2 (100 ng/d). After 14 days, octasaccharides and decasaccharides reduced the microvessel density to levels below control. In a second experiment, HEC-FGF2 human endometrial cancer cells that overexpress fibroblast growth factor-2 were implanted in a hollow fiber placed s.c. in vivo. Oligosaccharides were given at 20 mg/kg/d for 2 weeks and the data again showed that octasaccharides significantly reduced microvessel density around the fiber (P = 0.03). In a more complex model, where angiogenesis was induced by a broad spectrum of growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor, we implanted H460 lung carcinoma cells in hollow fibers and treated the animals with oligosaccharides at 20 mg/kg/d over 3 weeks. Octasaccharides reduced the microvessel density to that of control. Preliminary investigation of 6-O-desulfated heparins showed that these also had antiangiogenic activity. RESULTS: Finally, we examined the inhibitory potential of hexasaccharides and octasaccharides given at 20 mg/kg/d and these inhibited the growth of H460 lung carcinoma in vivo. At clinically attainable concentrations, significant anticoagulation (activated partial thromboplastin time, anti-factor Xa, and anti-factor IIa) was not observed in vitro unless species containing > or =16 saccharide residues were investigated. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, our preclinical data show that heparin octasaccharides represent novel antiangiogenic compounds that can be given without the anticoagulant effects of low molecular weight heparin.     

Allogeneic stem-cell transplantation using a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen has the capacity to produce durable remissions and long-term disease-free survival in patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplasia.

PURPOSE: The toxicity of allogeneic stem-cell transplantation can be substantially reduced using a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen. This has increased the proportion of patients with myeloid malignancies eligible for allogeneic transplantation. However, the capacity of RIC allografts to produce durable remissions in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplasia (MDS) has not yet been defined, and consequently, the role of RIC allografts in the management of these diseases remains conjectural. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-six patients with high-risk AML or MDS received an allograft using a fludarabine/melphalan RIC regimen incorporating alemtuzumab. The median age of the cohort was 52 years (range, 18 to 71 years). RESULTS: The 100-day transplantation-related mortality rate was 9%, and no patient developed greater than grade 2 graft-versus-host disease. With a median follow-up of 36 months (range, 13 to 70 months), 27 patients were alive and in remission, with 3-year actuarial overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rates of 41% and 37%, respectively. The 3-year OS and DFS rates of patients with AML in complete remission at the time of transplantation were 48% and 42%, respectively. Disease relapse was the most common cause of treatment failure and occurred at a median time of 6 months after transplantation. All but one patient destined to relapse did so within 24 months of transplantation. CONCLUSION: The extended follow-up in this series identifies a high risk of early disease relapse but provides evidence that RIC allografts can produce sustained DFS in a significant number of patients with AML who would be ineligible for allogeneic transplantation with myeloablative conditioning.     

The Variation in Arrestees' Disclosure of Recent Drug Use Across Locations, Drugs, and Demographic Characteristics

This study provides a comprehensive multivariate analysis of drug use disclosure among arrestees interviewed between 2000 and 2001 at 37 sites across the U.S. served by the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program. Rates varied widely by drug and across sites. The marijuana disclosure rate varied from 68% in Fort Lauderdale to 93% in Spokane. The cocaine/crack disclosure rate varied from 28% in Chicago to 70% in Kansas City. Moreover, covariates of disclosure differed across drugs. This wide variation in disclosure suggests extreme caution be used when comparing self-reports of prevalence across drugs, locations, and individual characteristics - certainly at least for arrestees.     

Simulated apoptosis/neurogenesis regulates learning and memory capabilities of adaptive neural networks.

Characterization of neuronal death and neurogenesis in the adult brain of birds, humans, and other mammals raises the possibility that neuronal turnover represents a special form of neuroplasticity associated with stress responses, cognition, and the pathophysiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders. Multilayer neural network models capable of learning alphabetic character representations via incremental synaptic connection strength changes were used to assess additional learning and memory effects incurred by simulation of coordinated apoptotic and neurogenic events in the middle layer. Using a consistent incremental learning capability across all neurons and experimental conditions, increasing the number of middle layer neurons undergoing turnover increased network learning capacity for new information, and increased forgetting of old information. Simulations also showed that specific patterns of neural turnover based on individual neuronal connection characteristics, or the temporal-spatial pattern of neurons chosen for turnover during new learning impacts new learning performance. These simulations predict that apoptotic and neurogenic events could act together to produce specific learning and memory effects beyond those provided by ongoing mechanisms of connection plasticity in neuronal populations. Regulation of rates as well as patterns of neuronal turnover may serve an important function in tuning the informatic properties of plastic networks according to novel informational demands. Analogous regulation in the hippocampus may provide for adaptive cognitive and emotional responses to novel and stressful contexts, or operate suboptimally as a basis for psychiatric disorders. The implications of these elementary simulations for future biological and neural modeling research on apoptosis and neurogenesis are discussed.     

High affinity for the rat brain sodium channel of newly discovered hydroxybenzoate saxitoxin analogues from the dinoflagellate Gymnodinium catenatum.

The paralytic shellfish poison family has been recently extended by the discovery of several analogues possessing a hydoxybenzoate moiety instead of the carbamoyl group one finds in saxitoxin, the parent molecule of this toxin family. We have investigated the potency of these new analogues on a representative isoform of the pharmacological target of these toxins, the voltage gated sodium channel. These toxins were found to have K1's in the low nanomolar range, only slightly less potent than saxitoxin. The hydroxybenzoate group may increase the lipophilicity of these toxins and improve their ability to pass through epithelia and therefore its uptake and elimination in both intoxication victims and animals that bioaccumulate paralytic shellfish toxins.     

Chronic inhalation exposure to mainstream cigarette smoke increases lung and nasal tumor incidence in rats.

An animal model of lung carcinogenicity induced by chronic inhalation of mainstream cigarette smoke would be useful for research on carcinogenic mechanisms, smoke composition-response relationships, co-carcinogenicity, and chemoprevention. A study was conducted to determine if chronic whole-body exposures of rats would significantly increase lung tumor incidence. Male and female F344 rats (n = 81 to 178/gender) were exposed whole-body 6 h/day, 5 days/week for up to 30 months to smoke from 1R3 research cigarettes diluted to 100 (LS) or 250 (HS) mg total particulate matter/m(3), or sham-exposed to clean air (C). Gross respiratory tract lesions and standard lung and nasal sections were evaluated by light microscopy. A slight reduction of survival suggested that the HS level was at the maximum tolerated dose as commonly defined. Cigarette smoke exposure significantly increased the incidences of non-neoplastic and neoplastic proliferative lung lesions in females, while nonsignificant increases were observed in males. The combined incidence of bronchioloalveolar adenomas and carcinomas in females were: HS = 14%; LS = 6%; and C = 0%. These incidences represented minima because only standard lung sections and gross lesions were evaluated. Mutations in codon 12 of the K-ras gene occurred in 4 of 23 (17%) tumors. Three mutations were G to A transitions and one was a G to T transversion. The incidence of neoplasia of the nasal cavity was significantly increased at the HS, but not the LS level in both males and females (HS = 6%, LS = 0.3%, C = 0.4% for combined genders). These results demonstrate that chronic whole-body exposure of rats to cigarette smoke can induce lung cancer.