Negative association of pretreatment cigarette use with smoking-induced striatal dopamine release in smokers receiving bupropion treatment.

Background And Objectives: In an effort to help identify factors that maintain heavy smoking, this study tested the association of pretreatment cigarette use (cigarettes per day) with striatal dopamine release during smoking-cessation treatment.

Methods: Thirteen regular smokers (≥10 cigarettes per day) were evaluated on parameters of smoking behavior, and they entered a smoking cessation treatment protocol, including bupropion administration and individual counseling for 2 months. On week 7 of treatment, 10 of the participants underwent brain scans using [(11) C]raclopride with positron emission tomography to assess smoking-induced dopamine release in the caudate nucleus and putamen, inferred from changes in dopamine D2 -type receptor availability.

Computerized analysis of cytology and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in induced sputum for lung cancer detection.

Background: Lung cancer results from a multistep process, whereby genetic and epigenetic alterations lead to a malignant phenotype. Somatic mutations, deletions, and amplifications can be detected in the tumor itself, but they can also be found in histologically normal bronchial epithelium as a result of field cancerization. The present feasibility study describes a computer-assisted analysis of induced sputum employing morphology and fluorescence in situ hybridization (target-FISH), using 2 biomarkers located at chromosomes 3p22.