Psychological Impact of Nuclear Disasters in Children and Adolescents.

Although much has been written about the psychological impact of natural disasters, the impact of nuclear disasters has not been extensively studied in children. Nuclear disasters are unique because they are man-made and represent a failure of the safety systems put in place to contain dangerous radioactive materials. This article summarizes the available literature on 3 of the biggest nuclear disasters in history.

Control of cancers by combining antiangiogenesis and cancer immunotherapy.

Ideally, cancer therapy would eliminate tumor growth at multiple sites in the body without damaging normal cells. In this regard, antiangiogenesis and immunotherapy may represent two potential approaches for control of cancers. Inhibition of tumor-specific angiogenesis restrains neoplastic growth by sequestering cancerous cells from an adequate blood supply, while activation of cancer-specific T cell-mediated immune responses can initiate attacks on tumors associated with a specific antigen.

Development of a DNA vaccine targeting human papillomavirus type 16 oncoprotein E6.

Human papillomavirus (HPV), particularly type 16 (HPV-16), is present in more than 99% of cervical cancers. The HPV oncoproteins E6 and E7 are constantly expressed and therefore represent ideal targets for HPV vaccine development. We previously developed DNA vaccines encoding calreticulin (CRT) linked to HPV-16 E7 and generated potent E7-specific CD8(+) T-cell immune responses and antitumor effects against an E7-expressing tumor.