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In order to find informative salivary biomarkers specific to oral cancer we examined expression of 4 kinds of cytokine in saliva. Levels of interleukins (IL-1␤, -6, -8) and osteopontin were measured by ELISA using whole saliva samples collected from 19 patients with oral cancer (9 men, 10 women; mean age, 60.9 years) and 20 healthy persons (15 men, 5 women; mean age, 32 years). Expression of the 4 cytokines was higher in patients with oral cancer than in healthy controls. The difference was significant in IL-6, in particular.The results suggest that saliva offers a potential target for a screening test aimed at detection of precancerous lesions.

Neoplastic cancer cells and cancer stroma (including infiltrating immune cells) determine the biology and prognosis of cancer. Various types of adaptive and innate immune cells are known to infiltrate the cancer stroma. However, the patterns and spatial distribution of immune cell infiltration as well as its association with tumor histology remain poorly understood. To address these issues, we comprehensively analyzed the infiltrating immune cells present in lung adenocarcinoma. The principal types of both adaptive and innate infiltrating immune cells were immunohistochemically evaluated in the predominant histologic components of 111 lung adenocarcinomas. The same analysis was also carried out on 143 samples of histologic subtypes making up more than 20% of tumors. As a result, plasma cells and B cells with interfollicular distribution were almost exclusively observed in invasive histologic subtypes, while an increased number of mast cells were observed in noninvasive histologic subtypes. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct immunosubtypes (CD8, mast cell, macrophage/dendritic cell, and plasma cell subtypes) based on the infiltrating immune cell profiles. These immunosubtypes correlated with histologic subtypes, and univariate and multivariate analyses identified the plasma cell subtype as an independent negative prognostic factor. These plasma cells may be one of the major producers of the immunosuppressive cytokine IL35 in cancer stroma.

A hemoglobin (Hb) wrapped covalently by human serum albumins (HSAs), a core–shell structured hemoglobin-albumin cluster designated as “HemoAct”, is an O2-carrier designed for use as a red blood cell (RBC) substitute. This report describes the blood compatibility, hemodynamic response, and pharmacokinetic properties of HemoAct, and then explains its preclinical safety. Viscosity and blood cell counting measurements revealed that HemoAct has good compatibility with whole blood. Intravenous administration of HemoAct into anesthetized rats elicited no unfavorable increase in systemic blood pressure by vasoconstriction. The half-life of 125I-labeled HemoAct in circulating blood is markedly longer than that of HSA. Serum biochemical tests conducted 7 days after HemoAct infusion yielded equivalent values to those observed in the control group with HSA. Histopathologic inspections of the vital organs revealed no marked abnormality in their tissues. All results indicate that HemoAct has sufficient preclinical safety as an alternative material for RBC transfusion.