Background: Routine lung cancer surveillance has resulted in early detection of pulmonary nodules and masses. Combined endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and trans-esophageal endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) are approved methods for sampling lymph nodes or masses. Furthermore, EUS allows for adrenal sampling as part of staging, and can assist with fiducial placement for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCrizotinib was approved for the treatment of ROS1-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in the US on 11 March, 2016. Interestingly no one companion diagnostic test (CDx) has been approved simultaneously with this approval of crizotinib. Hence, an ideal and adequate CDx will have to be able to identify ROS1 fusions without the knowledge of the fusion partners to ROS1, and as to date there are 13 fusion partners reported for ROS1 in NSCLC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the present study, we showed the correlation of EZH2, SUV39H1 or G9a expression and histone modifications with the urethane induced mouse lung tumorigenesis in the presence or absence of antitumor agent, inositol hexaphosphate (IP6). Tumorigenesis and the molecular events involved therein were studied at 1, 4, 12 or 36 weeks after the exposure. There were no tumors at 1 or 4 weeks but tumors started appearing at 12 weeks and grew further till 36 weeks after urethane exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol
November 2013
Inhalation of particulate matter has presented a challenge to human health for thousands of years. The underlying mechanism for biological effect following particle exposure is incompletely understood. We tested the postulate that particle sequestration of cell and mitochondrial iron is a pivotal event mediating oxidant generation and biological effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a relatively uncommon malignant epithelial cancer seen worldwide. The treatment of NPC has evolved toward combined modality treatment with radiation therapy and chemotherapy. However, chemotherapeutic agents currently have a secondary role, due to their lack of efficacy as curative agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory airway disorder that is characterized by variable and recurring airflow obstruction, chronic airway inflammation and bronchial hyper-responsiveness. The etiopathogenesis of asthma remains a complex issue. The intricacy in developing a more effective therapeutic strategy may be due to a large diversity in causative agents and a lack of understanding of the precise molecular mechanism involved in asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOtolaryngol Head Neck Surg
June 2011
Objective: To determine if statins induce anti-inflammatory effects in upper airway inflammation. Mediators of innate and adaptive immunity regulate airway inflammation. Release of these mediators involves enzymatic conversion of polyunsaturated fatty acids into biologically active mediators, which can be blocked by statins.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Rhinol Allergy
September 2010
Background: Epidemiological and clinical data implicate that in patients with cancer, continued smoking causes progression of cancer growth and resistance to therapy. The carcinogens possess the ability to block apoptosis, an important mechanism in the development of tumors and resistance to chemotherapy. We previously showed that nicotine enhances growth and proliferation in lung cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a poorly understood progressive disease characterized by the accumulation of scar tissue in the lung interstitium. A hallmark of the disease is areas of injury to type II alveolar epithelial cells with attendant accumulation of fibroblasts in areas called fibroblastic foci. In an effort to better characterize the lung fibroblast phenotype in IPF patients, we isolated fibroblasts from patients with IPF and looked for activation of signaling proteins, which could help explain the exaggerated fibrogenic response in IPF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Respir Cell Mol Biol
February 2009
Continued smoking causes tumor progression and resistance to therapy in lung cancer. Carcinogens possess the ability to block apoptosis, and thus may induce development of cancers and resistance to therapy. Tobacco carcinogens have been studied widely; however, little is known about the agents that inhibit apoptosis, such as nicotine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOrbital emphysema is usually a benign, self-limited condition. Intraorbital extension of the entrapped air in the absence of an orbital fracture is extremely rare. Although benign, a careful periodic monitoring of intraocular pressure, optic nerve examinations, and prompt management are warranted in order to prevent tension pneumoobitus secondary to increasing intraorbital pressure by the orbital air.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe hypothesized that the ambient air pollution particles (particulate matter; PM) induce cell cycle arrest in alveolar epithelial cells (AEC). Exposure of PM (25microg/cm(2)) to AEC induced cells cycle arrest in G1 phase, inhibited DNA synthesis, blocked cell proliferation and caused decrease in cyclin E, A, D1 and Cyclin E- cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-2 kinase activity after 4h. PM induced upregulation of CDK inhibitor, p21 protein and p21 activity in AEC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedical intensivists make heterogenous decisions using pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) data in medical intensive care unit patients. The object was to determine if cardiologists given PAC data from critically ill cardiology patients make uniform management choices. A survey questionnaire containing 3 coronary care unit (CCU) clinical vignettes was designed and mailed to board-certified cardiologists who are members of the American College of Cardiology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary intravascular bronchoalveolar tumor (IVBAT) also recognized as pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, is a rare malignant vascular tumor of unknown etiology. IVBAT is a tumor of multicentric origin and the lungs are rarely involved, with only about 60 cases of pulmonary IVBAT described in the literature. The prognosis is unpredictable, with life expectancy ranging from 1 to 15 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung surfactant lowers surface tension and adjusts interfacial rheology to facilitate breathing. A novel instrument, the interfacial stress rheometer (ISR), uses an oscillating magnetic needle to measure the shear viscosity and elasticity of a surfactant monolayer at the air-water interface. The ISR reveals that calf lung surfactant, Infasurf, exhibits remarkable fluidity, even when exposed to air pollution residual oil fly ash (ROFA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), or conditioned media from resting A549 alveolar epithelial cells (AEC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAsbestos induces alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) DNA damage and apoptosis by the mitochondria-regulated death pathway and oxidative stress. Fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10), an alveolar epithelial type II cell mitogen that is required for the lung development, prevents H(2)O(2)-induced AEC DNA damage by a mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent mechanism. In this study, we show that FGF-10 attenuates asbestos-induced AEC DNA strand break formation and apoptosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10), an alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) mitogen that is critical for lung development, may promote AEC repair. We determined whether FGF-10 attenuates H2O2-induced, A549 and rat alveolar type II cell DNA damage. We show that FGF-10 prevents H2O2-induced DNA damage assessed by an alkaline elution, ethidium bromide fluorescence as well as by a comet assay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To determine if intensivists given PAC data from critically ill patients make uniform management choices.
Design: Cross-sectional survey of board-certified intensivists.
Setting: Medical intensive care unit.
Exp Biol Med (Maywood)
June 2003
Asbestos causes asbestosis and various malignancies by mechanisms that are not clearly defined. Here, we review the accumulating evidence showing that asbestos is directly genotoxic by inducing DNA strand breaks (DNA-SB) and apoptosis in relevant lung target cells. Although the exact mechanisms by which asbestos causes DNA damage and apoptosis are not firmly established, some of the implicated mechanisms include the generation of iron-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as reactive nitrogen species (RNS), alteration in the mitochondrial function, and activation of the death receptor pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAirborne particulate matter (PM) increases morbidity and mortality resulting from cardiopulmonary diseases including cancer. We hypothesized that PM is genotoxic to alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) by causing DNA damage and apoptosis. PM caused dose-dependent AEC DNA strand break formation, reductions in mitochondrial membrane potential (Delta psi m), caspase 9 activation, and apoptosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol
February 2003
Cyclic stretch of alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) can alter normal lung barrier function. Fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10), an alveolar type II cell mitogen that is critical for lung development, may have a role in promoting AEC repair. We studied whether cyclic stretch induces AEC DNA damage and whether FGF-10 would be protective.
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