Poly(I:C) potentiates Bacillus Calmette-Guérin immunotherapy for bladder cancer.

Non-specific immunotherapy consisting of intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is currently the best available treatment to prevent non-muscle-invasive bladder tumor recurrence and progression. This treatment however is suboptimal, and more effective immunotherapeutic approaches are needed. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a major role in the activation of the immune system in response to pathogens and danger signals but also in anti-tumor responses.

IL-8 secretion in primary cultures of prostate cells is associated with prostate cancer aggressiveness.

Background: Chronic inflammation is believed to be a major factor in prostate cancer initiation and promotion and has been studied using prostate cancer cells and immortalized cell lines. However, little is known about the contribution of normal cells to the prostatic microenvironment and inflammation. We aim to study the contribution of normal prostate epithelial cells to prostate inflammation and to link the inflammatory status of normal cells to prostate cancer aggressiveness.

Toll-like receptors in urothelial cells--targets for cancer immunotherapy.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have an important role in the activation of both innate and adaptive immunity in response to pathogens and danger signals. These receptors are expressed in immune cells and in some epithelia. They are expressed in the epithelium of the urinary bladder, where they actively participate in the fight against infection by uropathogens.

High level of mature tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells predicts progression to muscle invasion in bladder cancer.

A prognostic value for tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells (TIDCs) has been reported in many human cancers. The objective of this study is to determine the prognostic value of CD83(+) mature TIDCs and CD68(+) TAMs in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer at first diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry staining was performed with anti-CD68 and anti-CD83 monoclonal antibodies on tissue sections from 93 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from pTa and pT1 bladder tumors.

Toll-like receptors in normal and malignant human bladders.

Purpose: Toll-like receptors have a major role in the innate immune response. They are expressed by immune cells and some epithelial cells. To study the role of urothelial cells in the intrabladder innate immune response we analyzed toll-like receptor expression and functionality in normal and malignant urothelial cells.

Refractoriness of hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site to processing by Dicer in vivo.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive-strand RNA virus harboring a highly structured internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in the 5' nontranslated region of its genome. Important for initiating translation of viral RNAs into proteins, the HCV IRES is composed of RNA structures reminiscent of microRNA precursors that may be targeted by the host RNA silencing machinery.

Results: We report that HCV IRES can be recognized and processed into small RNAs by the human ribonuclease Dicer in vitro.

Bladder tumor infiltrating mature dendritic cells and macrophages as predictors of response to bacillus Calmette-Guérin immunotherapy.

Background: The clinical significance of tumor-infiltrating dendritic cells (TIDCs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) as markers of immune response has been reported for many cancers.

Objective: To measure tumor infiltration by CD83(+) dendritic cells (DCs) and CD68(+) macrophages in non-muscle-invasive urothelial cancer (NMIUC) prior to bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy and to evaluate their significance in the response to immunotherapy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Patients with NMIUC at high risk of recurrence and progression were recruited for a study on markers of the response to BCG.