Pyrazine, 2-ethylpyridine, and 3-ethylpyridine are cigarette smoke components that alter the growth of normal and malignant human lung cells, and play a role in multidrug resistance development.

Lung cancer is one of the few human diseases for which the primary etiological agent, cigarette smoke (CS), has been described; however, the precise role of individual cigarette smoke toxicant in tumor development and progression remains to be elusive. The purpose of this study was to assess in vitro the effects of previously identified cigarette smoke components, pyrazine, 2-ethylpyridine, and 3-ethylpyridine, on non-tumorigenic (MRC5) and adenocarcinomic (A549) human lung cell lines. Our data showed that the administration of three cigarette smoke components in combination perturbed the proliferation of both normal and adenocarcinomic cells.

In vitro assessment of Macleaya cordata crude extract bioactivity and anticancer properties in normal and cancerous human lung cells.

The purpose of this study is to assess the bioactivity and anticancer properties of Macleaya cordata crude extract in vitro using normal fetal lung fibroblast MRC5 and adenocarcinomic epithelial cell A549 as model systems,. Treatment of extract induced cell detachment, rounding, and irregularity in shape, in both normal and adenocarcinomic human lung cells, in accompanied of significant reduction in cell proliferation. The data indicated that necrosis appeared to be involved in compromising cell growth in both types of lung cells since membrane permeability and cell granularity were elevated.

The predictive value of lymphoscintigraphy for nodal metastases of cutaneous melanoma.

Lymphoscintigraphy is used to identify ambiguous drainage patterns in cutaneous melanoma of the head, neck and trunk. This study evaluated the efficacy and reliability of lymphoscintigraphy to identify the drainage nodes in 51 patients undergoing both elective and therapeutic lymphadenectomy over a seven-year period. All 13 patients who had lymph node metastases during this follow-up period had the metastatic disease in the very lymph node basins identified by lymphoscintigraphy.

Safety and efficacy of isolated perfusion of extremities for recurrent tumor in elderly patients.

Background: The treatment of bulky recurrent melanotic lesions of extremities with isolated limb perfusion with high dose chemotherapy offers palliation in a number of patients. However, the question is raised whether these major surgical procedures are too risky to warrant performing them in elderly patients.

Methods: Sixty-seven limbs were perfused in 60 patients with various drugs from 1976 through 1996 (35, imidazole carboxamide; 7, cisplatin; 20, carboplatin; 5, thiotepa).