It Is Tough and Tiring but It Works--Children's Experiences of Undergoing Radiotherapy.

Approximately 300 children ages 0 to 18 are diagnosed with cancer in Sweden every year, and 80 to 90 of them undergo radiotherapy treatment. The aim was to describe children's experiences of preparing for and undergoing radiotherapy, and furthermore to describe children's suggestions for improvement. Thirteen children between the ages of 5 and 15 with various cancer diagnoses were interviewed.

Iodinated contrast media inhibit oxygen consumption in freshly isolated proximal tubular cells from elderly humans and diabetic rats: Influence of nitric oxide.

Objectives Mechanisms underlying contrast medium (CM)-induced nephropathy remain elusive, but recent attention has been directed to oxygen availability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the low-osmolar CM iopromide and the iso-osmolar CM iodixanol on oxygen consumption (QO2) in freshly isolated proximal tubular cells (PTC) from kidneys ablated from elderly humans undergoing nephrectomy for renal carcinomas and from normoglycemic or streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Materials PTC were isolated from human kidneys, or kidneys of normoglycemic or streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

Children Undergoing Radiotherapy: Swedish Parents' Experiences and Suggestions for Improvement.

Approximately 300 children, from 0 to 18 years old, are diagnosed with cancer in Sweden every year. Of these children, 80-90 of them undergo radiotherapy treatment for their cancer. Although radiotherapy is an encounter with advanced technology, few studies have investigated the child's and the parent's view of the procedure.

Alternative cytotoxic effects of the postulated IGF-IR inhibitor picropodophyllin in vitro.

The insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) and its receptors play an important role in transformation and progression of several malignancies. Inhibitors of this pathway have been developed and evaluated but generally performed poorly in clinical trials, and several drug candidates have been abandoned. The cyclolignan picropodophyllin (PPP) has been described as a potent and selective IGF-IR inhibitor and is currently undergoing clinical trials.

A hydrophilic dental implant surface exhibits thrombogenic properties in vitro.

Background: Surface modifications of dental implants have gained attention during several years and the thrombotic response from blood components with these materials has become more important during recent years.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to evaluate the thrombogenic response of whole blood, in contact with clinically used dental surfaces, Sandblasted Large grit Acid etched titanium (SLA) and Sandblasted Large grit Acid etched, and chemically modified titanium with hydrophilic properties (SLActive).

Methods: An in vitro slide chamber model, furnished with heparin, was used in which whole blood came in contact with slides of the test surfaces.

Intraoperative hyperthermic versus postoperative normothermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for colonic peritoneal carcinomatosis: a case-control study.

Background: Cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy has improved prognosis in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis. The main modes of intraperitoneal chemotherapy treatment are peroperative hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) and normothermic sequential postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (SPIC). The aim of this study was to compare HIPEC and SPIC with respect to overall survival, disease-free survival, morbidity, and mortality in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis from colon cancer.

Manifestations of small bowel disease in pediatric Crohn's disease on magnetic resonance enterography.

Background: We report the manifestations of Crohn's disease (CD) observed on magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) in a pediatric population at the time of CD diagnosis.

Methods: MRE of 95 consecutive pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) examined in 2006-2009 were retrospectively analyzed, with documentation of findings based on type and location of the small bowel (SB) disease.

Results: In all, 51 were boys and 44 girls.

The value of intravascular phased-array imaging in endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic pathology.

Background: Careful pre-, intra- and postoperative diagnostics in endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic pathology is crucial for a favourable outcome. Computer tomography (CT) and digitally subtracted angiography (DSA) do not always provide sufficient diagnostic information.

Purpose: To report our primary experiences of using intraluminal phased-array imaging (IPAI) as an additive tool for diagnostics and endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic pathology.

Expression of EGFR and LRIG proteins in oesophageal carcinoma with emphasis on patient survival and cellular chemosensitivity.

Background: Leucine-rich and immunoglobulin-like domains 1-3 (LRIG1-3) proteins have been implicated in the regulation of EGFR signalling. In the present study, we investigated the clinical implications of the expression of EGFR and LRIG1-3 in oesophageal carcinoma, as well as the correlation between their expression levels and the chemosensitivity of oesophageal carcinoma cell lines.

Patients And Methods: Tumours from 80 patients with oesophageal carcinoma were investigated for the expression of EGFR and LRIG proteins by immunohistochemistry.

Window-of-opportunity trials to evaluate clinical activity of new molecular entities in oncology.

Background: The introduction of molecular targeted agents (e.g., monoclonal antibodies or kinase inhibitors) and cancer vaccines has raised the question whether alternate clinical trial designs, including window trials, are better suited to evaluate such new molecular entities (NMEs) and improve their approval rates.

Differences according to educational level in the management and survival of colorectal cancer in Sweden.

Socioeconomic status (SES) affects survival after a cancer diagnosis. The extent to which differences in management can explain this is not known. Record-linkage between two Swedish Regional Clinical Quality Registers of colorectal cancer and a socio-economic database generated a dataset with information on diagnostic procedures, treatment and survival in patients of different educational background.

Large-scale bioreactor expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate an improved technique for expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on the WAVE Bioreactor system with perfusion and tube-welding techniques. Our hypothesis was that the bioreactor would allow for optimized provision of nutrients and removal of spent media while minimizing culture volumes. These refinements might lead to a better quality of expanded cells with lower amounts of exhausted cells compared to static expansions in culture bags.

Modeling silicon diode dose response factors for small photon fields.

The dosimetry of small fields is important for the use of high resolution photon radiotherapy. Silicon diodes yield a high signal from a small detecting volume which makes them suitable for use in small fields and high dose gradients. Unshielded diodes used in large fields are known to give a varying dose response depending on the proportion of low energy scattered photons in the field.

Preparatory studies of composite mesenchymal stem cell islets for application in intraportal islet transplantation.

Background: Low engraftment and adverse immune reactions hamper the success rate of clinical islet transplantation. In this study, we investigated the capacity of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to adhere to human islets of Langerhans and their effects in immune modulation and during blood interactions in vitro.

Methods: Composite MSC-islets were formed by suspension co-culture, and the phenotype was evaluated by confocal microscopy.

A genome-wide association study of Hodgkin's lymphoma identifies new susceptibility loci at 2p16.1 (REL), 8q24.21 and 10p14 (GATA3).

To identify susceptibility loci for classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL), we conducted a genome-wide association study of 589 individuals with cHL (cases) and 5,199 controls with validation in four independent samples totaling 2,057 cases and 3,416 controls. We identified three new susceptibility loci at 2p16.1 (rs1432295, REL, odds ratio (OR) = 1.

Quantitative evaluation of p16(INK4a) promoter methylation using pyrosequencing in de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

The p16(INK4a) tumor suppressor gene can be inactivated by a variety of events including promoter hypermethylation. In diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), p16(INK4a) methylation has been associated with advanced disease stage and higher IPI. The prognostic impact of p16(INK4a) methylation in DLBCL remains unclear; however, it has been suggested to correlate with inferior outcome.

TP53 Mutations are infrequent in newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

TP53 mutations in the absence of 17p-deletion correlate with rapid disease progression and poor survival in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Herein, we determined the TP53 mutation frequency in 268 newly diagnosed CLL patients from a population-based material. Overall, we detected TP53 mutations in 3.

Real-time immunohistochemistry analysis of embedded tissue.

We present a novel analysis of membrane-protein expression in tissue sections based on semi-automatic real-time measurement using LigandTracer(®) technology. A commercial antiHER2 antibody developed for immunohistochemistry used in this setup was revealed to have sub-optimal interaction with tissue when analyzed as recommended for immunohistochemistry. We therefore think that real-time measurement of tissue, offering direct and quantitative membrane-protein interaction analysis, can lead to improved reproducibility and eliminate the subjective operator dependences that classical immunohistochemsitry suffers from.

Clinical Phase I study with an Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 receptor inhibitor: experiences in patients with squamous non-small cell lung carcinoma.

Background: Inhibition of the Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) has resulted in extensive anti-tumor effects. Picropdophyllin (PPP, AXL1717) is a small-molecule inhibitor of the IGF-1R without inhibition of closely related receptors including the insulin receptor and has shown extensive effects against a wide range of tumors in animals. PPP is currently tested as an orally administrated single agent treatment in an open-label combined Phase I/II clinical study in advanced cancer patients with solid tumors which progress in spite of several lines of treatment.

Enterovirus markers and serum CXCL10 in children with type 1 diabetes.

Most patients with type 1 diabetes are considered to have a T-cell mediated autoimmune disease. The chemokine CXCL10 promotes the migration of activated T-cells. Virus infections might contribute to the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and enterovirus protein and/or genome have been detected in beta-cells from a majority of tested newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes.

In vivo and in vitro characterization of [18F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ as a tracer for beta-cell mass.

Introduction: The positron emission tomography (PET) tracer 9-[(18)F]fluoroethyl-(+)-dihydrotetrabenazine ([(18)F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ) is a potential candidate for quantifying beta-cell mass in vivo. The purpose was to investigate in vitro and in vivo utility of this tracer for the assessment of beta-cell mass.

Methods: Three pigs were intravenously administered [(18)F]-FE-(+)-DTBZ and examined by PET/computed tomography.

Cyclin B is an immunohistochemical proliferation marker which can predict for breast cancer death in low-risk node negative breast cancer.

Unlabelled: Patients with low-risk node negative breast cancer have an excellent prognosis with 5% breast cancer mortality at 10 years. However, prognostic factors are needed to identify poor prognostic patients who might benefit from adjuvant systemic therapy. Proliferation has been identified as the most important component of gene expression profiles.