Dynamic changes in ABA content in water-stressed Populus nigra: effects on carbon fixation and soluble carbohydrates.

Background And Aims: Hydraulic and chemical signals operate in tandem to regulate systemic plant responses to drought. Transport of abscisic acid (ABA) through the xylem and phloem from the root to shoot has been suggested to serve as the main signal of water deficit. There is evidence that ABA and its ABA-glycosyl-ester (ABA-GE) are also formed in leaves and stems through the chloroplastic 2-C-methylerythritol-5-phosphate (MEP) pathway.

CSA and CSB proteins interact with p53 and regulate its Mdm2-dependent ubiquitination.

Mutations in Cockayne syndrome (CS) A and B genes (CSA and CSB) result in a rare genetic disease that affects the development and homeostasis of a wide range of tissues and organs. We previously correlated the degenerative phenotype of patients to the enhanced apoptotic response, exhibited by CS cells, which is associated with the exceptional induction of p53 protein, upon a variety of stress stimuli. Here we showed that the elevated and persistent levels of p53 displayed by CS cells are due to the insufficient ubiquitination of the p53 protein.

Radiation-induced bystander effect in healthy G(o) human lymphocytes: biological and clinical significance.

To study the bystander effects, G(0) human peripheral blood lymphocytes were X-irradiated with 0.1, 0.5 and 3 Gy.

Relationship between spontaneous or radiation-induced apoptosis and telomere shortening in G(0) human lymphocytes.

To examine the correlation between spontaneous or radiation-induced apoptosis and telomere shortening, G(0) human peripheral blood lymphocytes were irradiated with X-rays and analyzed for viability, apoptosis, and telomere length. Part of the lymphocytes was kept under liquid-holding conditions for 48 h, and then loaded onto Ficoll-Paque medium to separate apoptotic (high-density) from normal (normal-density) cells. Then all samples were examined for the same three end-points.

Multidisciplinary Rectal Cancer Management: 2nd European Rectal Cancer Consensus Conference (EURECA-CC2).

Background And Purpose: During the first decade of the 21st century a number of important European randomized studies were published. In order to help shape clinical practice based on best scientific evidence from the literature, the International Conference on 'Multidisciplinary Rectal Cancer Treatment: Looking for an European Consensus' (EURECA-CC2) was organized in Italy under the endorsement of European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), and European Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ESTRO).

Methods: Consensus was achieved using the Delphi method.

Frequency of sister chromatid exchanges and micronuclei monitored over time in patients with early-stage breast cancer: results of an observational study.

Spontaneous chromosomal instability correlates with a high risk of cancer. The frequency of spontaneous sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) and micronuclei (MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes was used for evaluation of spontaneous chromosomal instability in early-stage breast cancer patients to determine whether SCE and MN frequencies are biomarkers of damage from chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In 20 stage I-II breast cancer patients, SCE and MN were measured before surgery and at 4 weeks after.

CSB protein is (a direct target of HIF-1 and) a critical mediator of the hypoxic response.

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a rare genetic disease characterized by neurological problems, growth failure and premature ageing. Many of these features cannot simply be ascribed to the defect that CS cells display during transcription-coupled repair. Here, we show that CSB mutant cells are unable to react to hypoxic stimuli by properly activating the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) pathway, a defect that is further enhanced in the event of a concomitant genotoxic stress.

Partial breast irradiation with interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy in early breast cancer: results of a phase II prospective study.

Aim: To investigate, in a phase II prospective study, the efficacy of partial breast irradiation administered with high-dose-rate brachytherapy.

Methods: After conservative surgery 80 patients with low-risk early-stage breast cancer received 4 Gy twice a day for 4 days (total dose 32 Gy). Catheter implantation was performed during surgery in 15 cases and postoperatively, at a median of 8 weeks from surgery, in 65 patients.

Computed tomography for excision cavity localization and 3D-treatment planning in partial breast irradiation with high-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy.

Background And Purpose: When high-dose-rate brachytherapy is used for partial breast irradiation (PBI) precise pre-implant definition of planning target volume (PTV) and implant geometry is required. After implantation, accurate PTV localization, catheter reconstruction and optimization of dose distribution are needed for good PTV coverage and dose conformity. We applied image-guidance using computed tomography (CT) for pre-implant PTV definition and post-implant dosimetry.

Raltitrexed and radiotherapy as adjuvant treatment for stage II-III rectal cancer: a feasibility study.

Aims And Background: Adjuvant 5-FU chemotherapy plus radiotherapy represents the standard treatment for radically resected rectal cancer at high risk of relapse according to the NIH Consensus Conference. The therapeutic gain was obtained with a high rate of severe treatment-related toxicity and a suboptimal patient compliance with this regimen. Raltitrexed is a specific thymidylate synthase inhibitor with a convenient administration schedule, acceptable toxicity and radiosensitizing properties, as the published phase I trials in combination with radiotherapy have shown.

The multidisciplinary rectal cancer treatment: main convergences, controversial aspects and investigational areas which support the need for an European Consensus.

Background And Purpose: During the past decades staging and treatment of rectal cancer are used different in Europe and in North America. To promote a process to integrate the daily practice with the best evidence of the literature an International Conference was organized in Italy. Agreement between Experts, Centres, and specialists who participated in the Conference are reported.

Short-course versus split-course radiotherapy in metastatic spinal cord compression: results of a phase III, randomized, multicenter trial.

Purpose: Hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) is often used in the treatment of metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC). This randomized trial was planned to assess the clinical outcome and toxicity of two different hypofractionated RT regimens in MSCC.

Patients And Methods: Three hundred patients with MSCC were randomly assigned to a short-course RT (8 Gy x 2 days) or to a split-course RT (5 Gy x 3; 3 Gy x 5).

T1-T2 breast cancer with four or more positive axillary lymph nodes: adjuvant locoregional radiotherapy with high-dose or standard-dose chemotherapy. Results of an observational study.

Aim And Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of postoperative locoregional radiotherapy in patients with T1-T2 breast cancer and four or more positive axillary lymph nodes submitted to mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery followed by standard-dose or high-dose adjuvant chemotherapy. The incidence of locoregional relapses and the survival correlated with the number of positive nodes were recorded for each treatment arm.

Patients And Methods: From August 1992 to August 1999 86 breast cancer patients (median age, 54 years, T1-T2, N+ > or = 4) submitted to surgery were treated.

Breast-conserving therapy for stage I-II breast cancer in elderly women.

Purpose: To assess breast-conserving therapy results in elderly patients with early-stage breast cancer (clinical Stage I-II).

Methods And Materials: Between 1979 and 1998, 196 women (200 treated breasts) aged > or =70 years (median age, 72.5 years) were treated with breast-conserving therapy (lumpectomy or quadrantectomy with axillary lymph node dissection and radiotherapy).

Transcription coupled repair efficiency determines the cell cycle progression and apoptosis after UV exposure in hamster cells.

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a major pathway for the removal of bulky adducts and helix distorting lesions from the genomic DNA. NER is highly heterogeneous across the genome and operates principally at different levels of hierarchy. Transcription coupled repair (TCR), a special sub-pathway of NER and base excision repair (BER), is critical for cellular resistance after UV irradiation in mammalian cells.

Long-term results of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemotherapy and thoracic irradiation in limited small cell lung cancer.

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a chemoresponsive tumor but overall survival remains poor even in limited disease (LD). With the aim of eradicating chemoresistant tumor cells and reducing toxicity, we investigated in this phase II trial the feasibility and outcome of a sequential approach of induction chemotherapy (CT) followed, in responding patients with LD-SCLC, by intensified platinum-based CT and concurrent thoracic irradiation (TI).

Materials And Methods: We treated 55 consecutive LD-SCLC patients with three 21-day cycles of cyclophosphamide, epiadriamycin and vincristine (CEV) as induction CT.

The role of total body irradiation in the conditioning of patients receiving haploidentical stem cell transplantation.

Background: Nearly 40% of patients requiring a hematopoietic stem cell transplant lack a suitable donor. However, virtually all these patients have a potential family donor with whom they share one HLA haplotype.

Methods: We report the rationale for making hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from haploidentical related donors feasible, as well as the method followed to achieve this.

Cataracts in patients receiving stem cell transplantation after conditioning with total body irradiation.

One hundred and ninety-three patients with hematological malignancies and a follow-up > or =1 year, treated with stem cell transplantation (45 autologous, 99 allogeneic T cell-depleted matched, 49 allogeneic T cell-depleted mismatched) from July 1985 to May 1998, were considered evaluable for the development of cataracts. Total body irradiation (TBI), administered either according to a hyperfractionated scheme (HTBI) or in a single dose (STBI), was employed in the conditioning regimens. HTBI was prescribed in 94% of patients undergoing allogeneic matched transplant, while STBI was used in 71% of patients receiving allogeneic mismatched and in all patients undergoing autologous transplant.

Adjuvant radiochemotherapy in high-risk rectal cancer results of a prospective non-randomized study.

Aims And Background: In 1990 the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference recommended adjuvant combined therapy for patients with radically resected rectal cancer at high risk for relapse (ie, stage II-III). The purpose of our prospective non-randomized study was to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of postoperative radiochemotherapy in terms of improvement in disease-free and overall survival in this patient subgroup.

Study Design: From January 1990 to October 1998, 191 consecutive patients with radically resected stage II-III rectal cancer were treated.

Evaluation of level I and II axillary nodes included in the standard breast tangential fields and calculation of the administered dose: results of a prospective study.

Purpose: To evaluate if Level I and II axillary nodes are included in the standard breast tangential fields, and to calculate the dose administered.

Methods And Materials: In 35 patients treated with conservative surgery and axillary dissection, three clips were surgically positioned: one at the beginning of Level I, one between Level I and II, and another at the end of Level II. The breast was irradiated with two tangential fields.

Radiation-induced myelopathy in long-term surviving metastatic spinal cord compression patients after hypofractionated radiotherapy: a clinical and magnetic resonance imaging analysis.

Background And Purpose: Hypofractionated radiotherapy is often administered in metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC), but no studies have been published on the incidence of radiation-induced myelopathy (RIM) in long-term surviving patients. Our report addresses this topic.

Patients And Methods: Of 465 consecutive MSCC patients submitted to radiotherapy between 1988 and 1997, 13 live patients (seven females, six males, median age 69 years, median follow-up 69 months) surviving for 2 years or more were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate RIM.

Results of a prospective study with high-dose etoposide, thiotepa and carboplatin and peripheral blood stem cell rescue for high-risk stage II-IIIA and selected stage IV breast cancer patients.

Aims And Background: To investigate the safety and efficacy of a high-dose chemotherapy regimen with etoposide, carboplatin and thiotepa in high-risk stage II-IIIA breast cancer and in responsive metastatic patients.

Study Design: From April 1992 to December 1998, 24 patients with high-risk stage II-IIIA breast cancer (> or = 9 positive nodes) and 9 responsive metastatic patients were enrolled in the trial. After induction chemotherapy with an anthracycline-based regimen, peripheral blood stem cells were mobilized with cyclophosphamide (7 g/m2) and G-CSF (5-16 microg/kg/s.

Total body irradiation-based regimen in the conditioning of patients submitted to haploidentical stem cell transplantation.

Background And Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of a highly immuno- and myelo-suppressive conditioning regimen followed by the infusion of large numbers of T-cell-depleted mismatched haematopoietic stem cells in 43 high-risk acute leukaemia patients.

Results: A high rate of engraftment (95%) and no graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) were observed. The 4-year probability of event-free survival was 0.

Short-course palliative radiotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer: results of a prospective study.

From February 1993 to October 1997, 91 consecutive patients with inoperable (stage IIIB-IV) histologically confirmed non-small-cell lung cancer underwent palliative hypofractionated radiotherapy. Recently, the Medical Research Council studies on hypofractionated short-course radiotherapy (8.5 Gy x 2) have reported high control of symptoms caused by thoracic disease without toxicity.

Improved outcome with T-cell-depleted bone marrow transplantation for acute leukemia.

Purpose: To eliminate the risk of rejection and lower the risk of relapse after T-cell-depleted bone marrow transplants in acute leukemia patients, we enhanced pretransplant immunosuppression and myeloablation.

Patients And Methods: Antithymocyte globulin and thiotepa were added to standard total-body irradiation/cyclophosphamide conditioning. Donor bone marrows were depleted ex vivo of T lymphocytes by soybean agglutination and E-rosetting.