No abstract

An early phase II study of a new camptothecin analog and an inhibitor of topoisomerase I, CPT-11, was conducted in 62 patients with refractory leukemia and lymphoma by four different treatment schedules in a multiinstitutional cooperative study. CPT-11 therapy resulted in four complete remissions (CRs) and three partial remissions (PRs) in 29 assessable non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients, one PR in three Hodgkin's disease (HD), one CR and one PR in 11 acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and one PR in 15 acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) patients. Single infusion of 200 mg/m2 every 3 to 4 weeks produced no response in both leukemia and lymphoma patients. Sixty-minute infusions of 40 mg/m2/d for 5 days every 3 to 4 weeks or for 3 days weekly produced four CRs (17%) and four PRs (17%) in 24 patients with malignant lymphoma. Sixty-minute infusions of 20 mg/m2 twice a day for 7 days every 3 to 4 weeks resulted in one CR and two PRs in 12 patients with acute leukemia. No response was seen in an acute leukemia patient by another treatment schedule. CPT-11 was effective in two (15%) of 13 primarily refractory leukemia and lymphoma cases, in two of four relapsed cases, and in seven (17%) of 41 relapsed and refractory cases. Major side effects were leukopenia (91%) and gastrointestinal (GI) (76%). CPT-11 was shown to be effective against refractory leukemia and lymphoma, and thus deserves further clinical study; the novel antitumor activity mode of this drug predicts no cross-resistance to presently available antitumor drugs.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a complex process involving numerous intracellular signaling pathways, mediators, cells, and pathophysiological disturbances; its prevention during liver surgery is of utmost importance. In this review, we divide hepatic I/R injury into two phases, intracellular and extracellular, for a better understanding of the processes involved. Ca2+ and Ca2+-dependent reactions play an important role as a trigger in the former phase, while the subsequent generation of bioactive substances plays a predominant role in the latter phase. These findings indicate that a combination of different therapeutic approaches against Ca2+-dependent steps may help prevent I/R injury of the liver.

No abstract

These findings suggested the principal involvement of 12(S)HETE in cancer cell derived microparticles in cancer cell mediated vEC retraction.