A randomized phase II trial of efficacy and safety of the immunotherapy ALECSAT as an adjunct to radiotherapy and temozolomide for newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Background: There is an urgent need for effective treatments against glioblastoma (GBM). In this trial, we investigated the efficacy and safety of an adoptive cell-based immunotherapy.

Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed GBM were recruited at 4 study sites in Sweden.

Long-term outcomes among localized prostate cancer survivors: prospective predictors for return-to-work three years after cancer rehabilitation.

Purpose: This study aimed at (1) investigating the work status of men treated by radical prostatectomy due to diagnosis of localized prostate cancer (LPCa) three years after having attended a cancer rehabilitation program and (2) identifying prospective risk factors for not working at this time point.

Methods: In a longitudinal, questionnaire-based multicenter study, 519 working-age LPCa survivors reported on their work status 12 and 36 months following rehabilitation. Chi-square tests/t tests and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to identify prospective factors associated with not working at 36 months follow-up.

Does a Train-the-Trainer Approach for Enhancing Healthcare Professionals' Skills in Patient Education during Inpatient Medical Rehabilitation Improve Patient Outcomes?

This study is aimed at identifying the impact of a team-based train-the-trainer program (TTT-P) to enhance healthcare professional (HCP) skills in patient education during medical rehabilitation. Focusing on patient-reported outcomes, a prospective, sequential two-cohort study was conducted in the fields of psychosomatic and oncological rehabilitation. Two hundred fifteen patients were evaluated before (Cohort 1) and 196 post implementation of TTT-P (Cohort 2).

Identifying Expectations of Delayed Return to Work in Patients with Prostate Cancer at the Beginning of a Cancer Rehabilitation Program.

Purpose To investigate factors associated with expectations of delayed return to work (RTW) in patients with prostate cancer recently admitted to a cancer rehabilitation program. Methods In this multicenter study, data about expected time until RTW and potential correlates (personal, medical, psychosocial and work-related factors) were obtained from 822 employed cancer rehabilitation participants at the beginning of the program. Participants expecting early RTW (≤ 3 months) and delayed RTW (> 3 months) were compared.

Return to work in prostate cancer survivors - findings from a prospective study on occupational reintegration following a cancer rehabilitation program.

Background: This prospective multicentre-study aimed to analyze return to work (RTW) among prostate cancer survivors 12 months after having attended a cancer rehabilitation program and to identify risk factors for no and late RTW.

Methods: Seven hundred eleven employed prostate cancer survivors treated with radical prostatectomy completed validated self-rating questionnaires at the beginning, the end, and 12 months post rehabilitation. Disease-related data was obtained from physicians and medical records.

Outcomes across the return-to-work process in PC survivors attending a rehabilitation measure-results from a prospective study.

Purpose: Approximately 60% of patients are able to work following a cancer diagnosis. The return-to-work (RTW) process after disability can be conceptualized as a multi-phase construct. This study investigated RTW outcomes throughout the RTW process among survivors of prostate cancer (PC) attending a cancer rehabilitation measure.

Psychosocial and physical outcomes of in- and outpatient rehabilitation in prostate cancer patients treated with radical prostatectomy.

Purpose: A radical prostatectomy might lead to an impaired quality of life. Aim of the study was to analyse the impact of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation on psychosocial and physical outcomes in patients after surgery.

Methods: Six hundred nineteen inpatients and 95 outpatients, treated for localized prostate cancer by prostatectomy, completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and two quality-of-life questionnaires (EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-PR25) at the beginning and end of rehabilitation as well as 12 months after rehabilitation.

Global 3D imaging of Yersinia ruckeri bacterin uptake in rainbow trout fry.

Yersinia ruckeri is the causative agent of enteric redmouth disease (ERM) in rainbow trout, and the first commercially available fish vaccine was an immersion vaccine against ERM consisting of Y. ruckeri bacterin. The ERM immersion vaccine has been successfully used in aquaculture farming of salmonids for more than 35 years.

Adverse and long-term protective effects following oil-adjuvanted vaccination against Aeromonas salmonicida in rainbow trout.

Prophylactic measures against Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida, the causative agent of furunculosis, have been an active field of research for decades, with studies mainly focused on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). In the present study we have examined the protective and adverse effects of mineral oil-adjuvanted injection vaccines on rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

3D visualization of the initial Yersinia ruckeri infection route in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by optical projection tomography.

Despite the fact that enteric redmouth disease (ERM) in farmed rainbow trout is one of the most devastating disease problems, little is known about the initial route of infection and pathogenicity of the aetiological agent, Yersinia ruckeri. In order to determine the initially infected organs, optical projection tomography (OPT), a novel three-dimensional (3D) bio-imaging technique, was applied. OPT not only enables the visualization of Y.

Long-lasting protection induced by bath vaccination against Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida in rainbow trout.

For decades Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida (from here referred to as A. salmonicida) has been recognized as the causative agent of typical furunculosis.

Potential role of specific antibodies as important vaccine induced protective mechanism against Aeromonas salmonicida in rainbow trout.

Furunculosis caused by infection with Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. salmonicida has been a known threat to aquaculture for more than a century. Efficient prophylactic approaches against this disease are essential for continued growth of salmonid aquaculture.

Differential immune response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at early developmental stages (larvae and fry) against the bacterial pathogen Yersinia ruckeri.

Innate immune factors play a crucial role in survival of young fish especially during early stages of life when adaptive immunity is not fully developed. In the present study, we investigated the immune response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) larvae and fry at an early stage of development. We exposed 17 and 87° days post hatch larvae and fry (152 and 1118 degree days post hatch; avg.

Association between plasma antibody response and protection in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss immersion vaccinated against Yersinia ruckeri.

A key hallmark of the vertebrate adaptive immune system is the generation of antigen-specific antibodies from B cells. Fish are the most primitive gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) possessing an adaptive immune system. Vaccination of rainbow trout against enteric redmouth disease (ERM) by immersion in Yersinia ruckeri bacterin confers a high degree of protection to the fish.

Association between Yersinia ruckeri infection, cytokine expression and survival in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

The immune response against bacterial pathogens has been widely studied in teleosts and it is evident that survival chances differ significantly within a host population. Identification of indicators for susceptibility and responsiveness will improve our understanding of this host-pathogen interaction. The present work shows that the transcripts of cytokine genes in blood cells sampled three days post-infection was significantly higher in fish which obtained a high bacteriemia and died at later time points when compared to both non-infected control fish and infected fish that survived the infection.

PAMP induced expression of immune relevant genes in head kidney leukocytes of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Host immune responses elicited by invading pathogens depend on recognition of the pathogen by specific receptors present on phagocytic cells. However, the reactions to viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal pathogens vary according to the pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on the surface of the invader. Phagocytic cells are known to initiate a respiratory burst following an exposure to the pathogen, but the underlying and associated specific elements are poorly elucidated in fish.

Antigen-sampling cells in the salmonid intestinal epithelium.

Antigen uptake has been shown to occur in the teleost intestine, but so far, limited information is available on the distribution and nature of cells involved in the process, and M cells, known for their antigen-sampling abilities in mammals, have not been identified. Here, different intestinal segments from salmonid fish were exposed to gold-BSA to identify antigen-sampling cells. Sections from exposed intestine were examined by light and electron microscopy.

Response of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in skin and fin tissue during infection with a variant of Gyrodactylus salaris (Monogenea: Gyrodactylidae).

Response mechanisms of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), experimentally infected with a Danish strain of Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957 were investigated using molecular tools (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry. Expression of ten immune-relevant genes and reactivity with five different antibodies in the epidermis of skin and fin tissue were analysed in susceptible but responding rainbow trout. Rainbow trout were susceptible with regard to the parasite strain which initially colonised fins but relocated to the body region as infection progressed.

Immune-relevant genes expressed in rainbow trout following immunisation with a live vaccine against Ichthyophthirius multifiliis.

Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were immunised by intra-peritoneal injection using a live vaccine based on Ichthyophthirius multifiliis (Ich) theronts, which previously has shown protection against white spot disease. Samples were taken pre-vaccination and on Day 1, 7, 21 and 28 post-immunisation (p.i.

Innate immune response in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) against primary and secondary infections with Yersinia ruckeri O1.

Response mechanisms in teleosts against bacterial pathogens have been widely studied following injection procedures applying preparations of killed bacteria. In contrast, investigations on immune reactions in fish which have survived a primary infection and subsequently have been challenged are few or lacking. However, knowledge on these factors during infection and re-infection could provide the basis for development of improved vaccines.

Development of adaptive immunity in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) surviving an infection with Yersinia ruckeri.

Development of adaptive immunity in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) surviving a primary infection with 5x10(5)CFU Yersinia ruckeri O1 (LD(50) dose) was investigated by transcriptome analysis of spleen tissue. These fish surviving a primary infection showed also a significantly increased survival following a secondary infection (same dose) when compared to naïve trout. The weight of the rainbow trout spleen doubled during the first 14 days of the primary infection but the affected organs subsequently recovered normal weight which remained constant during the re-infection period.

Temperature-dependent expression of immune-relevant genes in rainbow trout following Yersinia ruckeri vaccination.

The gene expression of immune-relevant genes in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss following vaccination with a bacterin of Yersinia ruckeri, a bacterial pathogen causing enteric red mouth disease (ERM), was investigated at 5, 15, and 25 degrees C. Rainbow trout were immunized by i.p.

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) following reduced-intensity conditioning in patients with acute leukemias.

The majority of patients with acute leukemia enter complete remission following induction therapy, but relapse despite consolidation and maintenance chemotherapy. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the most effective consolidation therapy but unfortunately associated with high transplant-related mortality (TRM). In order to decrease TRM but still apply a graft-versus-tumor effect, allogeneic HCT protocols with reduced-intensity conditioning were developed and more than 5000 HCT, of which 1500 for acute leukemia, performed.

Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) and induction of tumor angiogenesis.

Purpose: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are members of the transforming growth factor-beta family and play an important role in the regulation of embryonic vasculogenesis but their role in postnatal angiogenesis remains to be clarified. In this study we investigated a possible role of BMP-2 in the promotion of tumor angiogenesis.

Methods: We studied the effect of BMP-2 on human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs) and examined a possible angiogenic activity of BMP-2 with the mouse sponge assay.