Understanding nanomedicine treatment in an aggressive spontaneous brain cancer model at the stage of early blood brain barrier disruption.

Personalised nanomedicine is an advancing field which has developed significant improvements for targeting therapeutics to aggressive cancer and with fewer side effects. The treatment of gliomas such as glioblastoma (or other brain tumours), with nanomedicine is complicated by a commonly poor accumulation of drugs in tumour tissue owing to the partially intact blood-brain barrier (BBB). Nonetheless, the BBB becomes compromised following surgical intervention, and gradually with disease progression.

Dopamine transporter neuroimaging accurately assesses the maturation of dopamine neurons in a preclinical model of Parkinson's disease.

Background: Significant developments in stem cell therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD) have already been achieved; however, methods for reliable assessment of dopamine neuron maturation in vivo are lacking. Establishing the efficacy of new cellular therapies using non-invasive methodologies will be critical for future regulatory approval and application. The current study examines the utility of neuroimaging to characterise the in vivo maturation, innervation and functional dopamine release of transplanted human embryonic stem cell-derived midbrain dopaminergic neurons (hESC-mDAs) in a preclinical model of PD.

Identifying nonsmall-cell lung tumours bearing the T790M EGFR TKI resistance mutation using PET imaging.

Specific mutations significantly affect response to epidermal growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) treatment in lung cancer patients. Identifying patients with these mutations remains a major clinical challenge. EGFR T790M mutation, which conveys resistance to in the present study, [ F]FEWZ was assessed in vitro to determine efficacy relative to the starting compound and in vivo to measure the biodistribution and specificity of binding to EGFR wild-type, L858R and T790M bearing tumours.

Quality indices in a cervicovaginal cytology service: before and after laboratory accreditation.

Context: Quality assurance practices contribute to the effectiveness of cervical screening and are formalized by participation in a laboratory accreditation program.

Objective: To identify changes in the quality indices of our cervicovaginal cytology service preceding and following laboratory accreditation by the College of American Pathologists in 2000.

Design: Cervicovaginal cytology quality indices for 2001 (postaccreditation) were compared with those of 1997 (preaccreditation).