Observation of propagation of surface plasmon polaritons along line defects in a periodically corrugated metal surface.

Propagation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excited in the wavelength range 720-830 nm at a corrugated gold-film surface with areas of 150-nm-wide and 45-nm-high scatterers arranged in a 380-nm-period triangular lattice containing line defects is investigated by use of near-field optical microscopy. We demonstrate that the SPP at 740-750 nm propagates along 2.2-microm -wide and 16-microm -long line defects with ~50% loss, whereas its propagation along narrower line defects is strongly damped and in periodically corrugated areas is inhibited.

Paclitaxel/carboplatin/etoposide versus paclitaxel/topotecan for extensive-stage small cell lung cancer: a Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network randomized, prospective phase II trial.

Purpose: To compare the combination of paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, http://www.bms.com) and topotecan (Hycamtin; Glaxo SmithKline, Philadelphia, http://www.

Carcinoma of unknown primary site: sequential treatment with paclitaxel/carboplatin/etoposide and gemcitabine/irinotecan: a Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network phase II trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the sequential administration of paclitaxel (Taxol; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Princeton, NJ), carboplatin (Paraplatin; Bristol-Myers Squibb), and oral etoposide (VePesid; Bristol-Myers Squibb) followed by gemcitabine (Gemzar; Eli Lilly; Indianapolis, IN) and irinotecan (Campostar; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; New York, NY) in the first-line treatment of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site.

Patients And Methods: One hundred thirty-two patients were treated with sequential combination chemotherapy for a maximum of six cycles. All patients had relatively poor prognostic features.

Combination treatment with weekly docetaxel and gemcitabine for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer in elderly patients and patients with poor performance status: results of a Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network phase II trial.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy of the combination of weekly docetaxel and gemcitabine in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are either elderly or have poor performance status (PS). Patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC who had received no previous chemotherapy and were = 70 years of age were eligible for this clinical trial. Patients < 70 years of age were also eligible if they had poor PS or were considered poor candidates for standard platinum-based combination chemotherapy regimens.

Combination chemotherapy with gemcitabine and vinorelbine in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory small cell lung cancer: a phase II trial of the Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the combination of gemcitabine and vinorelbine in the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory small cell lung cancer. Between March 1998 and February 1999, 30 patients with relapsed or refractory small cell lung cancer who had received treatment with one previous combination chemotherapy regimen entered this multicenter, community-based clinical trial. All patients had received previous platinum/etoposide combination chemotherapy; in addition, 12 patients had received paclitaxel as part of their first-line therapy.

Prospective randomized study of four novel chemotherapy regimens in patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma: a minnie pearl cancer research network trial.

Background: The authors compared the toxicity, response rate, and progression free survival of four chemotherapy regimens for patients with advanced (Stage IIIB and IV) nonsmall cell lung carcinoma.

Methods: A total of 267 patients entered this randomized Phase II trial on one of four arms: paclitaxel, carboplatin, and gemcitabine (Arm A); paclitaxel, carboplatin, and vinorelbine (Arm B); paclitaxel and gemcitabine (Arm C); and gemcitabine and vinorelbine (Arm D). Patient characteristics were similar in all treatment arms.

Gemcitabine, carboplatin, and paclitaxel for patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site: a Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network study.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of the novel chemotherapy combination that includes gemcitabine, carboplatin, and paclitaxel in the treatment of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site.

Patients And Methods: One hundred twenty patients were treated with the following regimen, administered every 21 days for a planned four courses: gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) intravenously (i.v.

Paclitaxel and carboplatin adjuvant therapy alone or with radiotherapy for resected nonsmall cell lung carcinoma: a feasibility study of the Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and toxicity of paclitaxel and carboplatin given in the adjuvant setting alone for patients with resected Stage IB disease and combined with radiotherapy for patients with resected Stages II and IIIA disease and selected patients with Stage IIIB and IV disease (Revised International System for Staging of Lung Cancer).

Methods: One hundred two patients with resected nonsmall cell lung carcinoma were treated in the postoperative period with 3 courses of paclitaxel 200 mg/m(2) intravenously (i.v.

Weekly docetaxel in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced breast cancer: a Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network phase II trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of docetaxel administered weekly to elderly or poor-performance status patients with advanced breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Forty-one patients with advanced breast cancer who were either over the age of 65 or considered to be poor candidates for combination chemotherapy received docetaxel 36 mg/m2 weekly for 6 consecutive weeks, followed by 2 weeks without treatment. The median age of patients in this trial was 74 years, and 73% of patients had one or more visceral sites of metastases.

Taxane-based chemotherapy for patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term follow-up on survival of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site treated with taxane-based chemotherapy in a multicenter community-based setting.

Patients And Methods: Patients were treated with three sequential phase II trials between 1995 and 1998 as follows: Study I: paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 intravenously (i.v.

Stimulated secondary emission from semiconductor microcavities.

We find strong influence of final-state stimulation on the time-resolved light emission dynamics from semiconductor microcavities after pulsed excitation allowing angle-resonant polariton-polariton scattering on the lower-polariton branch. The polariton dynamics can be controlled by injection of final-state polaritons at densities below a polariton saturation density of 5x10(8) cm(-2). A bosonic enhancement factor in the dynamics of up to 700 is evaluated.

Waveguiding in surface plasmon polariton band gap structures.

Using near-field optical microscopy, we investigate propagation and scattering of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP's) excited in the wavelength range of 780-820 nm at nanostructured gold-film surfaces with areas of 200-nm-wide scatterers arranged in a 400-nm-period triangular lattice containing line defects. We observe the SPP reflection by such an area and SPP guiding along line defects at 782 nm, as well as significant deterioration of these effects is 815 nm, thereby directly demonstrating the SPP band gap effect and showing first examples of SPP channel waveguides in surface band gap structures.

Carcinoma of unknown primary site.

Background: The long term survival and toxicity associated with the chemotherapy combination of paclitaxel, carboplatin, and extended-schedule etoposide used for the treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary site were evaluated.

Methods: Seventy-one patients were treated between March 1995 and November 1996 with paclitaxel, carboplatin, and oral etoposide every 21 days. Stable or responding patients received four to eight courses of therapy.

Paclitaxel, carboplatin, and vinorelbine in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a phase II trial of the Minnie Pearl Cancer Research Network.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy of adding vinorelbine to the paclitaxel/carboplatin combination in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) non-small cell lung cancer who had received no previous chemotherapy were treated with the following three-drug regimen: paclitaxel, 200 mg/m2, 1-hour i.v.

Carcinoma of unknown primary site: phase II trials with docetaxel plus cisplatin or carboplatin.

Purpose: To evaluate the toxicity, response rate and short-term survival associated with the chemotherapy combinations of docetaxel plus cisplatin or carboplatin when used for the treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary site.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-six patients were treated with docetaxel 75 mg/m2 i.v.

Gemcitabine and vinorelbine in the second-line treatment of nonsmall cell lung carcinoma patients: a minnie pearl cancer research network phase II trial.

Background: Second-line chemotherapy for patients with nonsmall cell lung carcinoma has been ineffective due to the lack of activity of older agents following platinum-based therapy. This Phase II trial evaluated the feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy of two active new agents, gemcitabine and vinorelbine, used in combination as second-line therapy for patients with nonsmall cell lung carcinoma.

Methods: Patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma who had progressive disease after previous chemotherapy or combined-modality therapy were eligible for this trial.

Phase II trial evaluating triplet chemotherapy using gemcitabine, paclitaxel, and carboplatin in the treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combination of gemcitabine, paclitaxel, and carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Previously untreated patients with stage IIIB or IV non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled into this trial. Sixty-nine patients from the phase II portion and eight patients from the phase I portion were treated with gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 intravenously on days I and 8, paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 as a 1-hour infusion on day 1, and carboplatin at an area under the curve of 5.

Phase I/II trial of paclitaxel by 1-hour infusion, carboplatin, and gemcitabine in the treatment of patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma.

Background: The combination of paclitaxel and carboplatin is widely used in the treatment of patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma. In this Phase I/II study the authors evaluated the feasibility, toxicity, and efficacy of adding a third active antineoplastic agent, gemcitabine, to the paclitaxel/carboplatin combination for the treatment of patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung carcinoma.

Methods: Patients with advanced (AJCC Stage IIIB or IV) nonsmall cell lung carcinoma previously untreated with chemotherapy were eligible for this trial.

Coherent optical control of the quantum state of a single quantum Dot.

Picosecond optical excitation was used to coherently control the excitation in a single quantum dot on a time scale that is short compared with the time scale for loss of quantum coherence. The excitonic wave function was manipulated by controlling the optical phase of the two-pulse sequence through timing and polarization. Wave function engineering techniques, developed in atomic and molecular systems, were used to monitor and control a nonstationary quantum mechanical state composed of a superposition of eigenstates.

Phase I trial of docetaxel administered by weekly infusion in patients with advanced refractory cancer.

Purpose: Docetaxel is a highly active antineoplastic agent; however, grade IV leukopenia occurs in the large majority of patients treated with a dose of 100 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. Recent experience with weekly paclitaxel has demonstrated a bone marrow-sparing effect when a weekly administration schedule is used. We investigated a weekly schedule of docetaxel in an attempt to alter the toxicity profile and improve the therapeutic index.

Carcinoma of unknown primary site: treatment with 1-hour paclitaxel, carboplatin, and extended-schedule etoposide.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a novel chemotherapy combination that includes paclitaxel, carboplatin, and extended-schedule etoposide in the treatment of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary tumor site.

Patients And Methods: Fifty-five patients with carcinoma of unknown primary tumor site were treated with the following regimen, administered every 21 days: paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 by 1-hour intravenous (I.V.