Epidemiology of lung cancer: looking to the future.

In the United States, the 20th century witnessed the emergence of a lung cancer epidemic that peaked and began to decline by the century's end, a decline that continues today. However, lung cancer continues to be an unabating pandemic. In research carried out over the last half of the 20th century, many factors were causally associated with lung cancer and studies were implemented to identify determinants of susceptibility to these factors.

Inactivation of the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 gene by promoter hypermethylation in lymphoid malignancies.

The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2) is known to antagonize matrix metalloproteinase activity and to suppress tumor growth, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. We analysed the methylation status of the CpG island in the TIMP-2 promoter region by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) in hematopoietic cell lines. TIMP-2 promoter hypermethylation in the lymphoma cell line Raji and the leukemia cell line KG1a was associated with transcriptional repression.

A comparison of phenotypic plasticity in the native dandelion Taraxacum ceratophorum and its invasive congener T. officinale.

We compared plastic responses to variation in the light environment for sympatric populations of native and exotic dandelion species, Taraxacum ceratophorum and Taraxacum officinale. Plasticity in leaf size, inflorescence height, reproductive phenology and dispersal-related traits were measured under experimentally altered light quality (red : far-red light ratio, R : FR) and light intensity (photosynthetically active radiation, PAR). To test whether differences in means and reaction norms of dispersal-related traits between species affected colonization potential, we created seed-dispersal models based on seed-fall rate and release height.

CDC2/CDK1 expression in esophageal adenocarcinoma and precursor lesions serves as a diagnostic and cancer progression marker and potential novel drug target.

Esophageal adenocarcinoma arises through well-defined precursor lesions (Barrett esophagus), although only a subset of these lesions advances to invasive adenocarcinoma. The lack of markers predicting progression in Barrett esophagus, typical presentation at advanced stage, and limitations of conventional chemotherapy result in >90% mortality for Barrett-associated adenocarcinomas. To identify potential prognostic markers and therapeutic targets, we compared gene expression profiles from Barrett-associated esophageal adenocarcinoma cell lines (BIC1, SEG1, KYAE, OE33) and normal esophageal epithelial scrapings utilizing the Affymetrix U133_A gene expression platform.

Evaluation of MR imaging compatibility of a new intracranial pressure monitoring device.

We report our observations on MR imaging quality and functionality of a recently introduced intracranial pressure monitoring device. The device was tested at two different field strengths in a pig brain specimen to investigate MR imaging artifacts, probe function during and after MR data acquisition, and device-related temperature changes in the brain tissue. Image reading was not impaired, and probe function, although reduced, was not fully interrupted during data acquisition.

Surgical resection of limited disease small cell lung cancer in the new era of platinum chemotherapy: Its time has come.

Objective: Although resection is not the standard of care in treating small cell lung cancer, new platinum drugs and modern staging have allowed the role of surgery to be reevaluated.

Methods: We reviewed our institutional experience of 1415 patients with small cell lung cancer from 1976 to 2002 among whom 82 (6%) underwent surgery with curative intent.

Results: Median age at surgery was 62 years, and small cell lung cancer of mixed morphology represented 14 of 82 (17%).

Hypermethylation of the GATA genes in lung cancer.

Purpose: In lung cancer, DNA hypermethylation is known to be a common event.

Experimental Design: Gene expression and methylation status of GATA-4, GATA-5, and GATA-6 were analyzed with cell lines and primary human lung cancers. Methylation profiles of primary lung cancers were analyzed and correlated with clinical as well as histopathological data.

Prognostic value of improved intraoperative motor evoked potentials. A case report.

Unlabelled: This unusual case involves intraoperative registration of improved motor evoked potentials accompanied by postoperative improvement of the motor status.

Case Report: A 51-year-old patient undergoing surgery for a right postcentral glioma was first submitted to phase reversal of somatosensory potentials for intraoperative localization of the central sulcus. During subsequent monopolar electric stimulation of the precentral gyrus, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) could not be recorded initially but only following extirpation of the tumor fraction in the central sulcus.

Surgical aspects and outcome of delayed tethered cord release.

Out of a total of 550 children followed up at our spina bifida center, we report on 81 patients who were reoperated upon for secondary tethered cord syndrome between 1993 and 2000. In four cases with preceding severe progressive scoliosis, untethering was followed by surgical correction and stabilization of curvatures. In 77 patients, the indication for surgery was based on late progressive neurological deterioration.

Comparison of metric analysis of spinal structures, exemplarily of the ligamentum flavum, obtained with CT and MRI.

Purpose: Comparison of metric analysis of spinal structures, exemplarily of the ligamentum flavum, obtained with computed tomography (CT) (soft tissue window and bone window) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (T1 and T2 weighted images).

Material And Methods: Forty-six lumbar ligamenta flava of 46 patients (25 women and 21 men) were examined at a Somatom Plus 4 (Siemens, Erlangen, FRG) and at a 1.5 T clinical scanner (Magnetom Vision, Siemens, Erlangen, FRG).

Molecular margin analysis predicts local recurrence after sublobar resection of lung cancer.

Sublobar resection for early-stage lung cancer has been used for patients who are not candidates for lobar resection. However, sublobar resection is associated with high local recurrence rates in the context of tumor-free parenchymal margins. The mechanism underlying this high recurrence rate is not well understood.

Connection of propionyl-CoA metabolism to polyketide biosynthesis in Aspergillus nidulans.

Propionyl-CoA is an intermediate metabolite produced through a variety of pathways including thioesterification of propionate and catabolism of odd chain fatty acids and select amino acids. Previously, we found that disruption of the methylcitrate synthase gene, mcsA, which blocks propionyl-CoA utilization, as well as growth on propionate impaired production of several polyketides-molecules typically derived from acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA-including sterigmatocystin (ST), a potent carcinogen, and the conidiospore pigment. Here we describe three lines of evidence that demonstrate that excessive propionyl-CoA levels in the cell can inhibit polyketide synthesis.

Dynamic posturography in humans imagining a fixed spatial reference.

Objective: To investigate the effect of imagining a fixed spatial reference on balance control.

Material And Methods: Twenty-one healthy subjects were asked to remain as stable as possible while standing on a sway-referenced platform (NeuroCom Equitest posturography system). Subjects were instructed to keep their eyes open in the dark and to either look far into the distance without fixating on any particular point in space or to direct their gaze towards a remembered earth-fixed target (25-cm distant).

Giant intracerebral choroid plexus calcification.

While small calcifications of the choroid plexus are frequent, a large, single intracerebral calcification originating from the choroid plexus is rare. This report presents a 27-year-old woman who was admitted because of right temporal headache which had persisted for months. There was no neurological deficit.

Camel bite: an unusual type of head injury in an infant.

Small children are predisposed for animal bite wounds in the craniofacial region, because the likelihood of sustaining trunk and extremity injuries increases with height. The clinical picture of animal bite wounds is highly variable. Depending on the dental anatomy of the biting animal, such wounds may range from sharp stitch wounds to extensive lacerations with or without tissue loss.

Long-term suppression of extrapyramidal motor symptoms with deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) was investigated for the treatment of extrapyramidal motor symptoms. Both tremor and rigidity as well as akinesia are known to be permanently suppressed by applying a high-frequency current to different basal ganglia nuclei. Chronic DBS was performed in 113 patients using stereotactically implanted quadripolar electrodes in the ventrolateral thalamus (n = 43), the globus pallidus internus (n = 15), or the subthalamic nucleus (n = 55).

Promoter hypermethylation of resected bronchial margins: a field defect of changes?

Purpose: Histologically positive bronchial margins after resection for non-small cell lung cancer are associated with shortened patient survival due to local recurrence. We hypothesized that DNA promoter hypermethylation changes at bronchial margins could be detected in patients with no histological evidence of malignancy and that they would reflect epigenetic events in the primary tumor.

Experimental Design: Bronchial margins, primary tumor, bronchoalveolar fluid, and paired nonmalignant lung were obtained from 20 non-small cell lung cancer patients who underwent a lobectomy or greater resection.

On the mechanism of action of the antifungal agent propionate.

Propionate is used to protect bread and animal feed from moulds. The mode of action of this short-chain fatty acid was studied using Aspergillus nidulans as a model organism. The filamentous fungus is able to grow slowly on propionate, which is oxidized to acetyl-CoA via propionyl-CoA, methylcitrate and pyruvate.

Female genital schistosomiasis: case report and review of the literature.

A 37-year-old woman, originally from South Africa, presented for a gynecologic examination. Speculum examination revealed a friable cervical lesion. Both the cervical smear and biopsy contained intact, viable schistosome eggs consistent with those of Schistosoma haematobium.

Treatment of glioblastoma with intravenous taurolidine. First clinical experience.

Background: Despite progress in diagnosis and therapy, the prognosis of patients with glioblastoma remains poor. Recently it has been found that the antibacterial agent taurolidine has a direct and selective antineoplastic effect on brain tumor cells by the induction of programmed cell death. This paper reports on intravenous taurolidine treatment in two patients with a progressive glioblastoma despite conventional therapy.

The potential for genetic assimilation of a native dandelion species, Taraxacum ceratophorum (Asteraceae), by the exotic congener T. officinale.

Exotic plant species can threaten closely related native congeners through asymmetric hybridization and subsequent backcrossing, the process known as genetic assimilation. I explore the initial stages of this process in Taraxacum ceratophorum (Asteraceae), the native alpine dandelion, and the invasive apomict T. officinale.

Technical aspects and results of surgery for craniosynostosis.

Background: The timing and extent of surgery continue to be a matter of discussion in current craniosynostosis management.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the first 159 children seen from 1996 to 2000 of a total of 243 patients presenting with suspected craniosynostosis. We did not establish a surgical indication in 74 children (47%), either because their malformations were of different origin without associated craniosynostosis (11/7%) or they presented with only mild clinical manifestations of sutural synostosis (63/40%).