Detection of free circulating Epstein-Barr virus DNA in plasma of patients with Hodgkin's disease.

Context And Objective: Free circulating Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA is often present in the plasma of Hodgkins disease patients. The aim here was to evaluate the prevalence of this finding, its correlation with the immunohistochemical expression of LMP-1 (latent membrane protein 1) and the influence of other clinical factors.

Design And Setting: Prospective study in two public tertiary institutions: Hematology Service, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, and Oncology Service, Instituto Nacional do Câncer, Rio de Janeiro.

Demonstration of the lapachol as a potential drug for reducing cancer metastasis.

Metastasis is the major process responsible for the death in cancer patients. In the search for more effective antineoplasic drugs, many substances are under investigation, among them lapachol. This study aims to examine the molecular and morphological alterations caused by lapachol treatment, as well as its effects on the intrinsic tissue invasive property of this cell line.

HLM/OSBP2 is expressed in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Oxysterols are oxygenated derivatives of cholesterol that have been shown to influence a wide variety of cellular processes including sterol metabolism, lipid trafficking, apoptosis and more recently, cell differentiation. The oxysterol binding proteins (OSBPs) comprise a large conserved family of proteins in eukaryotes with high affinity for oxysterols, but their precise function has not been defined yet. One member of this family in humans, HLM/OSBP2 protein, has recently been reported as a potential marker for solid tumor dissemination and worse prognosis in these cases.

Effects of perillyl alcohol in glial C6 cell line in vitro and anti-metastatic activity in chorioallantoic membrane model.

The search for new chemotherapeutic drugs has increased, especially for those that have a natural origin. The monoterpene perillyl alcohol (POH) has been shown to exert chemopreventive activity in mammary, liver, and lung tumor models. It has also been used to treat a variety of rodent cancers, including pancreatic and breast carcinomas.