Radiation Therapy for Local Cutaneous Melanoma.

While primary treatment for melanoma consists of surgical resection and chemotherapeutics, radiation can be used as either definitive or adjuvant therapy in certain clinical scenarios. This chapter aims to explore the indications for primary definitive radiotherapy as well as adjuvant treatment following resection. Delivery, dose, fractionation, and toxicity of radiation treatment will be discussed.

The influence of ethnicity and length of time since immigration on physical activity.

Objective: This study investigates whether ethnicity and length of time since immigration influence levels of leisure-time physical activity in Sweden.

Design/setting/participants: This cross-sectional study analyses data from the Swedish Survey of Living Conditions from the years 1996, 1997 and 1999, which is conducted annually and is a simple, random sample drawn from the register of the total population in Sweden. The total sample was 14,485 men and women aged 20-74 years, who were categorised according to country of origin: born in Sweden, Western Europe, Finland, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe or all other countries.

FLT3 ligand administration after hematopoietic cell transplantation increases circulating dendritic cell precursors that can be activated by CpG oligodeoxynucleotides to enhance T-cell and natural killer cell function.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key effectors in innate immunity and play critical roles in triggering adaptive immune responses. FLT3 ligand (FLT3-L) is essential for DC development from hematopoietic progenitors. In a phase I clinical trial, we demonstrated that immunotherapy with subcutaneous injection of FLT3-L is safe and well tolerated in cancer patients recovering from autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).

Human plasmacytoid dendritic cells activated by CpG oligodeoxynucleotides induce the generation of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells.

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) are key effectors in host innate immunity and orchestrate adaptive immune responses. CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) have potent immunostimulatory effects on PDCs through TLR9 recognition and signaling. Little is known about the effects of CpG ODN on human PDC-mediated T cell priming.

Surfactant protein D inhibition of human macrophage uptake of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is independent of bacterial agglutination.

The innate immune system in the lung is essential for controlling infections due to inhaled pathogens. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) encounters components of the innate immune system when inhaled into the lung, but the consequences of these interactions are poorly understood.