Evaluation of three rapid RNA extraction reagents: relevance for use in RT-PCR's and measurement of low level gene expression in clinical samples.

Although peripheral blood and bone marrow are usually readily available from patients, present techniques of RNA extraction are tedious, require millilitres of starting material and removal of red blood cells before RNA purification. Further, successful reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplification requires the removal of haemoglobin derivatives which interfere with the PCR process. Recently, one step rapid use reagents have become available, claiming to be useful for obtaining high quality RNA from microlitre quantities of whole blood drawn directly from the patient.

The experience and satisfaction of women attending breast cancer screening.

Purpose/objectives: To determine women's satisfaction and experience with breast cancer screening and associated factors.

Design: Exploratory, descriptive design.

Setting: One center of the Ontario Breast Screening Program, a province-wide breast cancer screening program.

High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous blood cell transplantation: a safe and effective outpatient approach.

High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) followed by autologous blood cell (ABC) transplantation has been used widely for patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). It has been shown by our group and others to be an effective means of achieving very high response rates including complete remission. Therefore, further reduction in toxicity and increased patient satisfaction is necessary.

The Siemens virtual wedge.

A Siemens Virtual Wedge has recently been installed and commissioned at the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre. Measurements reported below show that 1) Virtual Wedge factors are within 1.5% of 1; 2) percentage depth doses down to 15 cm for open and virtually wedged fields are identical to within 0.

On the controversies surrounding the origins of radiation therapy.

In this study the authors analyze the documentation regarding the earliest known X-ray treatments with the objective of identifying the true origin of radiation therapy. The four most often quoted events, including X-ray treatments allegedly performed in 1896 are analyzed in the light of available published reports. From this it is concluded that Despeignes of Lyon, who in July of 1896 irradiated a patient with cancer of the stomach, is in all likelihood the first person to perform documented radiation therapy treatments with a scientific and logical basis.

A calculator based program to optimize the simulation of breast irradiation.

The simulation of breast fields using an isocentric set-up technique can be a lengthy process involving the placement of the isocentre, the determination of the gantry angles, and the selection of the lung shields, which in our center is one of six standard blocks. We show that with a body contour taken through central axis, five measurements and a calculator program, it is possible to significantly decrease the amount of time required to simulate a breast patient. We have developed a program for an HP48GX handheld calculator to determine the gantry angles, the isocentre, the field width, the standard angled block, and the couch and collimator rotation.

Hypnosis and cancer: an annotated bibliography 1985-1995.

The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to provide the reader with resources to explore the relationship between hypnosis and cancer. Items are included only if they contain explicit reference to this relationship and describe it in some detail. This bibliography includes 91 items published in English from 1985 to 1995, inclusive.

Hypnosis for children and adolescents with cancer: an annotated bibliography, 1985-1995.

This annotated bibliography reviews the professional literature published in English, from 1985 to 1995 inclusive, on the subject of the use of hypnosis with pediatric cancer patients. Books, chapters, and journal articles are included; dissertation, theses, and unpublished material are not. This bibliography contains 37 items organized into three categories: (1) General Discussions; (2) Case Reports or Case Studies: and (3) Experimental and Nonexperimental Group Designs.

Molecular strategies for the dominant inhibition of protein kinase C.

The regulatory (R) domain of PKC alpha fused to glutathione-S-transferase (GST-R alpha) competitively inhibited PKC activity associated with extracts of Y1 mouse adrenocortical tumor cells and the activities of several specific PKC isozymes. GST-R alpha did not inhibit the activities of cAMP-dependent protein kinase, cGMP-dependent protein kinase or calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase. GST-R alpha inhibited PKC activities 20 times more potently than did a synthetic peptide corresponding to the pseudosubstrate sequence of PKC alpha.

The selective uptake of benzoporphyrin derivative mono-acid ring A results in differential cell kill of multiple myeloma cells in vitro.

High-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and autologous bone marrow/blood stem cell transplantation are an effective combination for treating a number of malignant disorders. The contamination of the autograft by malignant cells may be a reason for recurrences in spite of this treatment, for instance, in multiple myeloma. Therefore, we evaluated the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) using the photosensitizer benzoporphyrin derivative mono-acid ring A (BPD-MA) on multiple myeloma cells in comparison to the components of the normal bone marrow (NBM) and peripheral blood apheresis product.

Anthropomorphic phantom measurements for the validation of a treatment planning system.

A series of eight irradiations of an anthropomorphic phantom has been performed as part of a programme of treatment planning system (TPS) validation. The "treatment' configurations used represent a realistic cross section of those carried out routinely in a radiotherapy centre. The dose distributions within the phantom were determined using 75 LiF TLD chips per irradiation and the measured dose distributions were compared with calculations performed on a TPS for three ranges of dose gradient.

Cancer incidence and mortality trends in Northeastern Ontario.

Over 629,000 people reside in the catchment area for the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre. Historically, the area was renowned for employment in mining, forestry and lumbering, agriculture, the railway, and pulp and paper. At present, it is known for mining; community, business, and personal services; trade; manufacturing; and construction.

A policy for allocating off-site continuing education funds.

Providing support for travel to conferences, workshops and other off-site continuing education activities is an expensive component of a professional development program. The authors describe a policy addressing this issue which was implemented within the multidisciplinary environment of a comprehensive cancer centre. The policy is open, easily adapted to changes in overall funding and can be used to reflect the organization's expectations regarding employee performance in service, academic, management and leadership roles.

A polygon matching algorithm and its applications to verification of radiation field placement in radiotherapy.

An automated method for quantitative evaluation of geometric accuracy of radiation field placement during radiation therapy treatments has been developed and is presented in this article. The method is based on matching polygons representing the boundaries of the prescribed and treated radiation fields. An efficient algorithm for finding the intersection of two arbitrary simple polygons has been developed for that purpose.

Radiotherapy portal verification: an observer study.

In many radiotherapy facilities radiotherapy portal verification is currently a subjective process based on the visual comparison of a treatment or portal image with a prescription or simulation image. The reliability of this process is unknown. We describe here a study in which 16 observers (oncologists, physicists and therapists) independently evaluated the geometric accuracy of 530 treatment fields on 45 patients.

Segmented chamfer matching for the registration of field borders in radiotherapy images.

Optimum conformity between treated and prescribed radiotherapy fields is likely to be achieved when the full versatility of modern therapy equipment is reflected in the field registration method. To allow for independent jaws and custom shielding, chamfer matching has been used to register selected segments of field borders independently. In a study involving 50 clinical prescription-treatment field pairs it is shown that segmented chamfer matching is superior not only to conventional unsegmented chamfer matching but also to several other methods.

Neutropenic fever in patients after high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation and human recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor.

Neutropenic fever has been one of the most difficult complications in the recovery period following high-dose chemotherapy and autologous haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation. The differentiation between human recombinant GM-CSF (sargramostim)-related fever and active infection can be difficult during this observation time. In 7 of 17 patients treated for metastatic breast cancer with HDCT and PBPC within 6 consecutive months, neutropenic fever without signs of infection was observed, which may be sargramostim-related fever.

C-C chemokines induce the chemotaxis of NK and IL-2-activated NK cells. Role for G proteins.

The C-C chemokines MIP-1 alpha, MCP-1, and RANTES, but not MIP-1 beta, induce the chemotaxis of NK and IL-2-activated NK (IANK) cells, as determined in microchemotaxis assay. Only RANTES and MCP-1, but not MIP-1 alpha were able to induce the chemokinesis of NK cells. In contrast, none of the C-C chemokines tested was able to induce the chemokinesis of IANK cells.

Technical note: an aid to radiation therapy simulation.

We have mounted a transmission liquid crystal display unit on the head of a radiotherapy simulator and projected, using the field light, a digitized fluoroscopic image with treatment prescription overlay. It is suggested that this approach (i) can aid visualization on the patient of complex field borders including those defined by multileaf collimators; (ii) could play a role in computed tomography or magnetic resonance based treatment planning and (iii) contributes to configuring non-coplanar beams.

Radiation dose associated with spiral computed tomography.

Spiral computed tomography (CT) has recently become available as a practical diagnostic tool; its introduction has created the need for a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude and distribution of the radiation dose to the patient. Dose distributions for conventional and spiral CT were measured with thermoluminescent dosimeters loaded in standard phantoms and then compared to determine the validity of using standard dose descriptors for assessing the dose delivered during spiral CT. Two dose descriptors applied to conventional CT, the CT dose index and the multiple-scan average dose, were found to be adequate for quantifying the dose delivered by spiral CT.

Gs is the major G protein involved in interleukin-2-activated natural killer (IANK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Successful introduction of anti-G protein antibodies inside streptolysin O-permeabilized IANK cells.

In the present work, anti-G protein antibodies were introduced inside streptolysin permeabilized O interleukin-2-activated natural killer (IANK) cells. Successful entry of the antibodies was determined by flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy. Permeabilized cells showed typical large granular lymphocyte morphology and remained functional, significantly lysing both NK-sensitive K562 cells and NK-resistant/IANK-sensitive RAJI target cells.

Priming effects of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor are coupled to cholera toxin-sensitive guanine nucleotide binding protein in human T lymphocytes.

In addition to the mobilization of neutrophils and monocytes, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) also mobilizes lymphocytes into peripheral blood. We examined the ability of GM-CSF to induce the proliferation of purified human T cells (CD3+ CD4+ CD56- CD16- B1- MO2-) in two major aspects: (1) the mechanisms of GM-CSF interaction with interleukin-2 (IL-2) causing T-cell proliferation, and (2) the intracellular signals transmitted by GM-CSF in T lymphocytes. We observed that concentrations of GM-CSF between 0.

The HOX-11 (TCL-3) homeobox proto-oncogene encodes a nuclear protein that undergoes cell cycle-dependent regulation.

Molecular analysis of the t(10;14) chromosomal translocation found in pediatric patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia has led to the identification of the HOX-11 (TCL-3) protooncogene. The HOX-11 cDNA contains an open reading frame encoding a homeoprotein with features of DNA-binding. The majority of the t(10;14) chromosomal translocation breakpoints have been mapped to the 5' end of the HOX-11 gene, supporting the notion that deregulation of the HOX-11 gene by the t(10;14) chromosomal translocation contributed importantly to leukemia formation.

Jaws 2: a description of in-air beam profiles for half blocked and dynamically wedged radiation fields.

In a recent paper [Med. Phys. 19, 1441 (1992)] it was shown that the field size dependence of on-axis relative output from a linear accelerator can be well described by a model comprising two components.