Prediction of intravesical recurrence of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer by evaluation of intratumoral Foxp3+ T cells in the primary transurethral resection of bladder tumor specimens.

Patients with a history of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer sometimes have recurrence of tumors after transurethral resection of bladder tumor treatment. To find factors related to the recurrence of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer, we examined tissue specimens taken at transurethral resection of bladder tumor as an initial treatment. We revealed the association between prognosis of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer and infiltration of Foxp3+ T cells that suppress anti-tumor immunity in 115 primary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients retrospectively identified and followed for at least 3 months after primary transurethral resection.

A novel immunotherapeutic modality with direct hemoperfusion targeting transforming growth factor-beta prolongs the survival of tumor-bearing rats.

Immune responses are frequently depressed in patients with cancer. One of the reasons for a poor immune response is the presence of increased levels of immunosuppressive substances associated with tumor growth. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), a representative immunosuppressive cytokine, plays various roles in the progression of cancer.

[The effects of direct hemoperfusion using the filtration column filled with the adsorption fiber for immunosuppressive substances on cell-mediated immunity in tumor-bearing rats].

The patients with advanced cancer often lose their anti-tumor immune responses due to the increase of some immunosuppressive substances in the blood, such as cytokines and proteins derived from cancer cells or immune cells. We developed the adsorption fiber in transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta for the treatment to remove immunosuppressive substances and investigated the effects of direct hemoperfusion using the filtration column filled with this adsorption fiber in tumor-bearing rats. On day 0, KDH-8 tumor cells (1 x 10(6) cells/rat) were implanted subcutaneously into the back of WKAH/Hkm rats.

Removal of endotoxin in blood by polymyxin B immobilized polystyrene-derivative fiber.

Polymyxin B, a cationic cyclic decapeptide antibiotic, is well known to bind endotoxin and to neutralize its toxicity. Based on this principle, polymyxin B was immobilized on the chloroacetamidomethylated polystyrene fiber that is reinforced by polypropylene. The adsorbing capacity of the obtained fibers (polymyxin B immobilized fiber [PMX-F]) was evaluated on endotoxin and other serum components in serum and on heparin in phosphate-buffered saline.