Recently it was discovered that a transient activation of transcription factor NF-κB can give cells properties essential for invasiveness and cancer initiating potential. In contrast, most oncogenes to date were characterized on the basis of mutations or by their constitutive overexpression. Study of NF-κB actually leads to a far more dynamic perspective on cancer: tumors caused by diverse oncogenes apparently evolve into cancer after loss of feedback regulation for NF-κB. This event alters the cellular phenotype and the expression of hormonal mediators, modifying signals between diverse cell types in a tissue. The result is a disruption of stem cell hierarchy in the tissue, and pervasive changes in the microenvironment and immune response to the malignant cells.

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After intravenous and oral administration of theophylline to four healthy subjects, the plasma concentration-time curve of theophylline could be described by linear pharmacokinetics, although total clearance in all subjects decreased when the dose was increased; the doses were theophylline 193.2 mg and 386.4 mg i.v. and 161 mg and 322 mg p.o. Total clearance was 65.5 +/- 11.3 ml/min. Renal clearance changed from 15.2 +/- 9.5 ml/min in the first two hours after administration to 4.9 +/- 5.5 ml/min between 16 and 24 h (p less than 0.001). 1,3-dimethyluric acid (DMU), the major metabolite of theophylline, was determined in urine and in plasma. The renal clearance of DMU was constant at 496.7 +/- 180 ml/min. There was some evidence that at high plasma concentrations of theophylline the formation of DMU might be a zero-order process. The renal excretion rate of 1-methyluric acid (1-MU) paralleled that of DMU, which is in accordance with the assumption that DMU is demethylated to 1-MU. 3-methylxanthine (3-MX) was excreted in urine at a constant rate over 10 h, the rate being equivalent to the dose, which is contrary to the assumption of Michaelis-Menten-kinetics. 3-methyluric acid was found to be a minor metabolite of theophylline and 1-methylxanthine (1-MX) could not be detected. The cumulative amounts excreted in urine, expressed as a percentage of the dose and corrected for molecular weight, were theophylline 16.6 +/- 6.5%, DMU 44.3 +/- 7.0%, 1-MU 24.3 +/- 4.8%, 3-MX 12.9 +/- 3.4% and 3-MU 2.2 +/- 1.8%.