Local and systemic therapy for patients with metastatic prostate cancer: should the primary tumor be treated?

Data from well-designed, prospective clinical trials are lacking to support treatment of primary tumor in men diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that treatment of the primary tumor may enhance cancer control and survival in some men. This evidence is examined and recommendations are made for identifying patients with metastatic prostate cancer who may benefit from definitive treatment of the prostate tumor.

Preradiation chemotherapy with methotrexate, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin for pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is rare in children, accounting for <1% of all cases. Treatment most commonly includes radiotherapy but long-term side effects of such treatment can produce devastating cosmetic and functional sequelae in children. Chemotherapy may help to decrease the radiotherapy dose and limit the side effects of local therapies.

Global hypomethylation is common in prostate cancer cells: a quantitative predictor for clinical outcome?

This study was designed to determine if cytological detection of 5-methylcytosine (5MC) was feasible on prostate tumor sections and to determine if levels of 5MC differed in malignant compared to normal prostate tissue. We further sought to see if 5MC levels correlated with any clinical outcome data. Thirty prostate tumor sections were obtained from patients who underwent radical prostatectomies from 1988 to 1995; these represented a mix of low to high grade tumors.

Ligand binding is a critical requirement for plasma membrane expression of heteromeric kainate receptors.

Intracellular trafficking of ionotropic glutamate receptors is controlled by multiple discrete determinants in receptor subunits. Most such determinants have been localized to the cytoplasmic carboxyl-terminal domain, but other domains in the subunit proteins can play roles in modulating receptor surface expression. Here we demonstrate that formation of an intact glutamate binding site also acts as an additional quality-control check for surface expression of homomeric and heteromeric kainate receptors.

Design of a case management approach to enhance cancer screening trial retention among older African American men.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to enhance retention among African American men enrolled in a cancer screening trial.

Design: A telephone-based, randomized trial design was used. The intervention group included 352 African American men aged 55+.

Occupation, pesticide exposure and risk of multiple myeloma.

Objectives: This population-based case-control study examined the relationship between occupation, living or working on a farm, pesticide exposure, and the risk of multiple myeloma.

Methods: The study included 573 persons newly diagnosed with myeloma and 2131 controls. Information was obtained on sociodemographic factors, occupational history, and history of living and working on a farm.

Failure after primary radiation or surgery for prostate cancer: differences in response to androgen ablation.

Purpose: Androgen ablation is the standard treatment for recurrent and metastatic prostate cancer. Surprisingly few studies have documented the specific results for local and distant failure in patients treated primarily with radiation or radical prostatectomy. We report the long-term outcome of a series of those patients.

Attenuated plasticity of postsynaptic kainate receptors in hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons.

Kainate receptor-mediated components of postsynaptic currents at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses have markedly slower kinetics than currents arising from AMPA receptors. Here, we demonstrate that other aspects of kainate and AMPA receptor function at this synapse are distinct; in particular, kainate receptor currents are less sensitive to short- and long-term increases in presynaptic strength. EPSCs arising predominantly from AMPA receptors exhibited well characterized paired-pulse facilitation, frequency facilitation, and NMDA receptor-independent long-term potentiation, whereas isolated kainate receptor synaptic currents (KA-EPSCs) exhibited attenuated facilitation and long-term potentiation.

Long-term follow-up of radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Purpose: To determine the long-term outcome of radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Methods And Materials: A total of 136 consecutive patients with prostate cancer underwent primary radiotherapy. All but 4 patients received 6000 cGy to the prostate.

A C-terminal determinant of GluR6 kainate receptor trafficking.

Intracellular trafficking of ionotropic glutamate receptors is regulated predominantly by determinants in the cytoplasmic C-terminal domain of the subunit proteins. Although AMPA receptors are found at the vast majority of excitatory synapses, synaptic kainate receptors exhibit a much more restricted distribution, suggesting that specific mechanisms exist for selective trafficking of these receptor proteins. In this report, we define a critical forward trafficking motif that is necessary for surface expression of the glutamate receptor 6 (GluR6) kainate receptor as well as chimeric proteins containing only the GluR6 C-terminal domain.

Report from the Radiation Oncology Committee of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG): Research Objectives Workshop 2003.

To achieve the ultimate goal of cancer treatment, which is 100% cancer control with negligible toxicity, the therapeutic window must be enlarged, allowing for higher doses of beneficial treatments with reduced toxicity. The advent of image- and metabolism-guided therapy offers the best opportunity to date for combining modern radiation targeting and imaging techniques. Indeed, for the first time, it is reasonable to locally target metastatic disease with the goal of sterilization.

Cell surface expression of GluR5 kainate receptors is regulated by an endoplasmic reticulum retention signal.

Kainate receptors (KARs) are mediators of excitatory neurotransmission in the mammalian central nervous system, and their efficient targeting and trafficking is critical for normal synaptic function. A key step in the delivery of KARs to the neuronal plasma membrane is the exit of newly assembled receptors from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here we report the identification of a novel ER retention signal in the alternatively spliced C-terminal domain of the GluR5-2b subunit, which controls receptor trafficking in both heterologous cells and neurons.

Comparing disability survey questions in five countries: a study using ICF to guide comparisons.

This paper describes an international effort to compare disability survey questions using the ICF framework. The process included backcoding survey questions to ICF. To establish a meaningful basis for comparison, the original 14 functioning areas were scaled to seven: hearing, seeing, speaking, mobility, body movement, gripping and personal care.

Distribution of kainate receptor subunits at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses.

Kainate receptors function as mediators of postsynaptic currents and as presynaptic modulators of synaptic transmission at mossy fiber synapses. Despite intense research into the physiological properties of mossy fiber kainate receptors, their subunit composition in the presynaptic and postsynaptic compartments is unclear. Here we describe the distribution of kainate receptor subunits in mossy fiber synapses using subunit-selective antibodies and knock-out mice.

Multiple trafficking signals regulate kainate receptor KA2 subunit surface expression.

The kainate receptor subunit KA2 does not form functional homomeric channels despite its structural similarity to the functional glutamate receptor 5-7subunits and high agonist binding affinity in in vitro assays. In this study, we first demonstrate that homomeric KA2 receptors fail to reach the plasma membrane and then identify the molecular mechanisms preventing surface expression. Specifically, we show that KA2 subunits form homooligomeric receptors that are confined to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).

Loss of kainate receptor-mediated heterosynaptic facilitation of mossy-fiber synapses in KA2-/- mice.

Multimeric assemblies of kainate (KA) receptor subunits form glutamate-gated ion channels that mediate EPSCs and function as presynaptic modulators of neurotransmitter release at some central synapses. The KA2 subunit is a likely constituent of many neuronal kainate receptors, because it is widely expressed in most neurons in the CNS. We have studied the effect of genetic ablation of this receptor subunit on synaptic transmission at the mossy-fiber-CA3 pyramidal cell synapse in hippocampal slices, where kainate receptors are localized to both presynaptic and postsynaptic sites.

Voltage-gated Ca2+ channel Ca(V)1.3 subunit expressed in the hair cell epithelium of the sacculus of the trout Oncorhynchus mykiss: cloning and comparison across vertebrate classes.

Full-length sequence (>6.5 kb) has been determined for the Ca(V)1.3 pore-forming subunit of the voltage-gated Ca(2+) channel from the saccular hair cells of the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Why do Black Americans have a higher risk of pancreatic cancer than White Americans?

Background: For several decades, the incidence of pancreatic cancer has been 50% to 90% higher among blacks than among whites in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that may contribute to this racial disparity.

Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study of pancreatic cancer diagnosed in Atlanta (GA), Detroit (MI), and 10 New Jersey counties from August 1986 through April 1989.

Serum selenium and risk of prostate cancer in U.S. blacks and whites.

Prostate cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men worldwide and the most common cancer in men in the United States, with reported incidence rates for U.S. blacks being the highest in the world.

Incontinence Quality of Life Instrument in a survey of primary care physicians.

Objective: To assess the performance of the Incontinence Quality of Life (I-QOL) Instrument in measuring the impact of urinary incontinence on the quality of life of family medicine patients.

Study Design: Postal survey. Multiple imputations of missing answers.

Naturally Developing Virus-Induced Lethal Pneumonia in Two Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus).

Two guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) were affected by an acute naturally developing lethal pneumonitis. One guinea pig was found dead and had not had clinical signs of disease, whereas the second guinea pig was dyspneic and tachypneic. Necropsy revealed well-demarcated areas of pulmonary consolidation in the cranial and ventral areas of the lungs.

The utility of chest radiography following percutaneous dilational tracheotomy.

Objective: To determine the need for routine chest radiography following percutaneous dilational tracheotomy (PDT).

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Tertiary care academic medical center.