Glycoconjugate expression in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands: up-regulation of L1 predicts fatal prognosis.

Aims:  The up-regulation of the cell adhesion molecule L1 has been associated with impaired prognosis in several cancers. This study aimed to identify potential prognostic markers, including L1, in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands (ACCs), which might give additional insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying malignant progression.

Methods And Results: The expression of L1 was analysed in 34 primary ACCs (nine tubular, 15 cribriform, nine solid, one mixed) and correlated with recurrence, metastasis, overall survival and clinicopathological parameters.

Mistletoe lectin-I augments antiproliferative effects of the PPARgamma agonist rosiglitazone on human malignant melanoma cells.

As malignant melanoma cells are highly resistant to conventional chemotherapy, survival rates after tumor spread remain poor and hence there is an urgent need for new therapeutic options. For both mistletoe lectin-I (ML-I) and the thiazolidinediones as synthetic ligands of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) an antiproliferative effect on malignant melanoma cells has previously been shown. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the combination of ML-I and the PPARgamma ligand rosiglitazone is more efficacious in the treatment of malignant melanoma cells than either agent alone.