Stem cells for bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants: A randomized controlled phase II trial.

We previously demonstrated the safety and feasibility of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants in a phase I clinical trial. We thus investigated the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs for BPD in premature infants. A phase II double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted on preterm infants at 23 to 28 gestational weeks (GW) receiving mechanical ventilator support with respiratory deterioration between postnatal days 5 and 14.

Association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and risk of hematologic malignancy.

This study investigated the relationships between HDL-C and major types of blood cancers. Competing risks regression was used to examine the hazard ratios of hematologic malignancies in 9,596,145 individuals (≥20 years) using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (2009-2017). The incidence of the following hematologic cancers was determined based on the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision: Multiple Myeloma (MM), Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL), Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL), Lymphoid Leukemia (LL), and Myeloid Leukemia (ML).

Efficacy and Safety of Transvenous Embolization of Type II Renal Arteriovenous Malformations with Coils.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of transvenous coil embolization of the venous sac for type II renal arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of 8 patients (5 women and 3 men; mean age, 57 years; age range, 41-69 years) who underwent transvenous coil embolization for type II congenital renal AVM at 5 different hospitals between 2012 and 2018. Additional intra-arterial ethanol injection was performed if shunt flow persisted after venous sac coiling.

Effects of lymphocyte profile on development of EBV-induced lymphoma subtypes in humanized mice.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection causes both Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). The present study reveals that EBV-induced HL and NHL are intriguingly associated with a repopulated immune cell profile in humanized mice. Newborn immunodeficient NSG mice were engrafted with human cord blood CD34(+) hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for a 8- or 15-wk reconstitution period (denoted (8w)hN and (15w)hN, respectively), resulting in human B-cell and T-cell predominance in peripheral blood cells, respectively.

Glioblastoma specific antigens, GD2 and CD90, are not involved in cancer stemness.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant World Health Organization grade IV brain tumor. GBM patients have a poor prognosis because of its resistance to standard therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation. Since stem-like cells have been associated with the treatment resistance of GBM, novel therapies targeting the cancer stem cell (CSC) population is critically required.

KML001, a telomere-targeting drug, sensitizes glioblastoma cells to temozolomide chemotherapy and radiotherapy through DNA damage and apoptosis.

Standard treatment for glioblastoma comprises surgical resection, chemotherapy with temozolomide, and radiotherapy. Nevertheless, majority of glioblastoma patients have recurrence from resistance to the cytotoxic conventional therapies. We examined combinational effects of KML001, an arsenic compound targeting telomeres of chromosomes with temozolomide or irradiation, in glioblastoma cell lines and xenograft models, to overcome the therapeutic limitation of chemoradiation therapy for glioblastoma.

Combined therapy of temozolomide and ZD6474 (vandetanib) effectively reduces glioblastoma tumor volume through anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative mechanisms.

Currently, clinically available options for treating glioblastoma (GBM) are quite limited, and there is a clear need to develop novel treatment strategies that can more effectively manage tumors. Here, we present a combination treatment of temozolomide (TMZ), a blood-brain barrier penetrating DNA alkylating agent, and ZD6474 (vandetanib), a VEGFR2 and EGFR dual-targeting anti-angiogenic agent, as a novel treatment strategy for GBM. In a U-87MG orthotopic xenograft model, the combination treatment provided a marked 94% tumor volume reduction.

Wnt activation is implicated in glioblastoma radioresistance.

Glioblastoma (GBM) patients have dismal median survival even with the most rigorous treatments currently available. Radiotherapy is the most effective non-surgical therapy for GBM patients; however, patients succumb due to tumor recurrence within a year. To develop a curative therapeutic approach, we need to better understand the underlying molecular mechanism of radiation resistance in GBM.

Heterogeneous spectrum of CFTR gene mutations in Korean patients with cystic fibrosis.

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common hereditary disorders among Caucasians. The most common mutations of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene have been well established among Caucasian populations. In Koreans, however, there are very few cases of genetically confirmed CF thus far, and the spectrum of mutations seems quite different from that observed in Caucasians.

Ethanol embolization of arteriovenous malformations: interim results.

Purpose: To assess retrospectively the interim results and the complications of ethanol embolization treatment of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained for a retrospective review of patient medical and imaging records. Informed consent was not required by the institutional review board.

Arsenic trioxide represses constitutive activation of NF-kappaB and COX-2 expression in human acute myeloid leukemia, HL-60.

It has been proposed that eukaryotic nuclear factor nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kappaB) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) are implicated in the pathogenesis of many human diseases including cancer. Arsenic has been widely used in medicine in Oriental countries. Recent studies have shown that arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)) could induce in vitro growth inhibition and apoptosis of malignant lymphocytes, and myeloma cells.

Activation of Raf1 and the ERK pathway in response to l-ascorbic acid in acute myeloid leukemia cells.

L-ascorbic acid (LAA) shows cytotoxicity and induces apoptosis of malignant cells in vitro, but the mechanisms by which such effects occur have not been elucidated. In the present study, we provide evidence that the ERK MAP kinase pathway is activated in response to LAA (< 1 mM) in acute myeloid leukemia cell lines. LAA treatment of cells induces a dose-dependent phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) and results in activation of its catalytic domain.