Evidence for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Atypical Antipsychotics.

Second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), also known as atypical antipsychotics, are a newer class of antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and related psychiatric conditions. The plasma concentration of antipsychotic drugs is a valid measure of the drug at its primary target structure in the brain, and therefore determines the efficacy and safety of these drugs. However, despite the well-known high variability in pharmacokinetics of these substances, psychiatric medication is usually administered in uniform dosage schedules.

[Do we care enough about the medication in the elderly? (Case of the geriatric care facility at Military University Hospital Prague)].

Objective: The aim of this paper is a complex evaluation of clients medication in the geriatric care facility Domov Vlčí mák (DVM) with regard to the most common drug related risk factors in elderly. The paper shows ways of identification, resolution and prevention of drug related problems from the perspective of a clinical pharmacist.

Methods: The medication was evaluated in 74 DVM clients.

Correlation between BRCA1 expression and clinicopathological factors including brain metastases in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

Background: Previously identified as a breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA1 has gained major scientific interest as a potential prognostic and/or predictive marker for various tumors, including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the leading cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. BRCA1 plays a central role in DNA damage response (DDR. It undergoes phosphorylation by various DDR kinases at different serine residues, of which ser1524 is known to be specifically phosphorylated by ATM in response to genotoxic stress.

Identification of CD133+/nestin+ putative cancer stem cells in non-small cell lung cancer.

Aims: No effective treatment for lung cancer exists currently. One reason for this, is the development of drug resistance, assumed to be associated with cancer stem cell (CSCs) emergence within the tumour. This pilot study aimed to identify CSCs in 121 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient samples via detection of the expression of stem cell markers - CD133 and nestin.

The immunohistochemical expression of BNIP3 protein in non-small-cell lung cancer: a tissue microarray study.

Drug resistance is one of the reasons for chemotherapy failure in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). One of the major mechanisms of drug resistance is the inhibition of chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Therefore, the study of novel cell death pathways could possibly enable us to overcome resistance to apoptosis in NSCLC.

Tpl-2/Cot and COX-2 in breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and although mortality (129,000/year) stagnates, incidence (370,000/year) is increasing. In addition to histological type, grade, stage, hormonal and c-erbB2 status there is therefore a strong need for new and reliable prognostic and predictive factors.

Methods And Results: This minireview focuses on two potential prognostic and predictive candidates Tpl2/Cot and COX-2 and summarise information about them.

Immunohistochemical assessment of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in trichofolliculomas and trichoepitheliomas.

Background: Trichofolliculomas and trichoepitheliomas are benign skin neoplasms originating from hair follicle cells. They result from defects in the signaling pathways that regulate hair follicle morphogenesis and regeneration. Thus they seem to be an excellent model of these processes.