Whole-Brain Radiotherapy vs. Localized Radiotherapy after Resection of Brain Metastases in the Era of Targeted Therapy: A Retrospective Study.

Whether targeted therapy (TT) and radiotherapy impact survival after resection of brain metastases (BM) is unknown. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting overall survival (OS), local control (LC), distant control (DC), and leptomeningeal metastases (LMM) in patients who had undergone resection of BM. We retrospectively analyzed 124 consecutive patients who had undergone resection of BM between 2004 and 2020.

A Simple and Practical Scoring System for Radiosurgical Treatment in Patients with Brain Metastases.

Background: The study aimed to investigate the prognostic factors for patients with brain metastases undergoing radiosurgical treatment and to introduce a simple and practical scoring system for the prediction of survival time.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data for 311 patients treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery at a single institute. The mean age at time of treatment was 60 years (range 23-86 years), and the median Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score was 90 (range 60-100).

Identifying candidates for gamma knife radiosurgery among elderly patients with brain metastases.

We investigated the outcomes of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for elderly patients (≥ 65 years) with brain metastases, and identified survival-associated factors. We retrospectively analyzed data from 115 patients treated with GKRS for 1-15 brain metastases. The median patient age was 72 years; most primary tumors were pulmonary (n = 83).

Neurological Change after Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Brain Metastases Involving the Motor Cortex.

Background: Although Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) can provide beneficial therapeutic effects for patients with brain metastases, lesions involving the eloquent areas carry a higher risk of neurologic deterioration after treatment, compared to those located in the non-eloquent areas. We aimed to investigate neurological change of the patients with brain metastases involving the motor cortex (MC) and the relevant factors related to neurological deterioration after GKRS.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinical, radiological and dosimetry data of 51 patients who underwent GKRS for 60 brain metastases involving the MC.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery for cystic brain metastases.

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the treatment results of Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for cystic brain metastases and relevant factors associated with local tumor control.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical, radiological, and dosimetry data of 37 cystic brain metastases of 28 patients who were treated with GKRS. Cyst drainage was performed in 8 large lesions before GKRS to decrease the target volume.

Radiation-induced intratumoral necrosis and peritumoral edema after gamma knife radiosurgery for intracranial meningiomas.

Objective: To study the clinical significance and relevant factors of radiation-induced intratumoral necrosis (RIN) and peritumoral edema (PTE) after Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) for intracranial meningiomas.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 64 patients who underwent GKRS for intracranial meningioma. The mean lesion volume was 4.

Receptor cross-talk spatially restricts p-ERK during TLR4 stimulation of autoreactive B cells.

To maintain tolerance, autoreactive B cells must regulate signal transduction from the BCR and TLRs. We recently identified that dendritic cells and macrophages regulate autoreactive cells during TLR4 activation by releasing IL-6 and soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L). These cytokines selectively repress Ab secretion from autoreactive, but not antigenically naive, B cells.

Autoreactive preplasma cells break tolerance in the absence of regulation by dendritic cells and macrophages.

The ability to induce Ab responses to pathogens while maintaining the quiescence of autoreactive cells is an important aspect of immune tolerance. During activation of TLR4, dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages (MFs) repress autoantibody production through their secretion of IL-6 and soluble CD40L (sCD40L). These soluble mediators selectively repress B cells chronically exposed to Ag, but not naive cells, suggesting a means to maintain tolerance during TLR4 stimulation, yet allow immunity.

Therapeutic effect of gamma knife radiosurgery for multiple brain metastases.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the therapeutic effects of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) in patients with multiple brain metastases and to investigate prognostic factors related to treatment outcome.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinico-radiological and dosimetric data of 36 patients with 4-14 brain metastases who underwent GKRS for 264 lesions between August 2008 and April 2011. The most common primary tumor site was the lung (n=22), followed by breast (n=7).

[The usefulness of endoscopic ultrasonography in the diagnosis of choledocholithiasis without common bile duct dilatation].

Background/aims: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is the most accurate modality in diagnosis of choledocholithiasis. However, it carries some complications. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is less invasive than ERCP and used for the diagnosis of choledocholithiasis.

Zebrafish kidney phagocytes utilize macropinocytosis and Ca+-dependent endocytic mechanisms.

Background: The innate immune response constitutes the first line of defense against invading pathogens and consists of a variety of immune defense mechanisms including active endocytosis by macrophages and granulocytes. Endocytosis can be used as a reliable measure of selective and non-selective mechanisms of antigen uptake in the early phase of an immune response. Numerous assays have been developed to measure this response in a variety of mammalian and fish species.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus infection affects the expression of proteins related to professional antigen presentation in bovine monocytes.

The complete annotation of the cattle genome allows reliable protein identification by tandem mass spectrometry (MS(2)) and greatly facilitates proteomics. Previously, we reported that differential detergent fractionation (DDF) analysis of bovine monocytes reveals proteins related to antigen pattern recognition, uptake and presentation to immunocompetent lymphocytes. Here we have identified 47 bovine proteins, involved in immune function of professional antigen-presenting cells (APC) that have been significantly altered after cytopathic (cp) Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) infection.

Bovine viral diarrhea viruses differentially alter the expression of the protein kinases and related proteins affecting the development of infection and anti-viral mechanisms in bovine monocytes.

Using a proteomics approach, we evaluated the effect of cytopathic (cp), and non-cytopathic (ncp) bovine viral diarrhea viruses (BVDV) on the expression of protein kinases and related proteins in bovine monocytes. Proteins were isolated from membrane and cytosolic fractions with the differential detergent fractionation (DDF) method and identified with 2D-LC ESI MS2. Of approximately 10,000 proteins identified, 378 proteins had homology with known protein kinases or related proteins.

In vitro atrazine exposure affects the phenotypic and functional maturation of dendritic cells.

Recent data suggest that some of the immunotoxic effects of the herbicide atrazine, a very widely used pesticide, may be due to perturbations in dendritic cell (DC) function. As consequences of atrazine exposure on the phenotypic and functional maturation of DC have not been studied, our objective was, using the murine DC line, JAWSII, to determine whether atrazine will interfere with DC maturation. First, we characterized the maturation of JAWSII cells in vitro by inducing them to mature in the presence of growth factors and selected maturational stimuli in vitro.