Optimising intratumoral treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma models with the diterpene ester Tigilanol tiglate.

The five-year survival rate for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has remained at ~50% for the past 30 years despite advances in treatment. Tigilanol tiglate (TT, also known as EBC-46) is a novel diterpene ester that induces cell death in HNSCC in vitro and in mouse models, and has recently completed Phase I human clinical trials. The aim of this study was to optimise efficacy of TT treatment by altering different administration parameters.

Expression of innate resistance factors in mammary secretion from periparturient dairy heifers and their association with subsequent infection status.

Mastitis in dairy heifers in the peripartum period is a common and costly problem for producers, and mammary innate resistance is of key importance in defense of the gland from bacterial invasion. A prospective observational study was undertaken in 97 dairy heifers to measure associations between expression of eight innate resistance factors in mammary secretions collected from the same animals within 14 days prior to calving and at calving, and intramammary infection (IMI) status at calving, and to describe changes in expression of these factors over time. Relative expression (RE) of eight candidate resistance mediator genes from cells from intramammary secretion was measured by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction.