The activity of the enzyme O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkytransferase (AGAT) protects cells from the cytotoxic effects of alkylating
agents. This Phase II trial was designed to assess the efficacy of a ...strategy designed to modulate the resistance to carmustine
(BCNU) mediated by AGAT using streptozocin (STZ) in patients with advanced refractory melanoma. Seventeen patients who had
failed prior chemotherapy were treated with STZ at 500 mg/m2 daily for 4 days with BCNU at 150 mg/m2 on day 3. Peripheral
blood lymphocytes for assay of AGAT activity levels were collected prior to therapy and following the third dose of STZ. There
were two partial responses in the 15 patients evaluable for response (13%). Most patients received only a single cycle of
therapy due to rapidly progressive disease. Two patients developed fatal pulmonary toxicity, and one developed myelodysplasia.
Other toxicities included transient rises in liver function tests. AGAT levels decreased by a mean of 53% in 9 patients but
actually increased over baseline in 3 patients while on therapy. Based on these data, BCNU and STZ are not an effective combination
for the therapy of advanced refractory melanoma, and pulmonary toxicity due to this combination appears to be increased compared
with BCNU alone. STZ is not an effective modulator of AGAT activity when given on this schedule. New strategies designed to
deplete AGAT activity using O6-benzylguanine or temozolomide should be explored with careful attention to the possibility
that this approach may potentiate both the toxicity and efficacy of BCNU.
High-dose IFNalpha-2b therapy (HDI) is the standard of adjuvant therapy for patients with high-risk melanoma, but toxicities of this regimen have limited its application. IFNs affect cytochrome P450 ...(CYP) enzymes, which metabolize many endogenous (e.g., steroids, fatty acids) and exogenous (e.g., drugs) substrates. No systematic studies have been performed to evaluate the effect of HDI on CYP enzymes. A significant inhibitory effect of HDI on CYP enzymes would increase the potential for adverse drug reactions and altered homeostasis through effects on hormone metabolism.
To evaluate the potential effect of HDI on CYP enzymes, 17 patients with high-risk melanoma were treated with HDI, and CYP enzyme activity was measured by administration of selectively metabolized probe drugs over time (days -6, +1, +26, and +52 of HDI). Probe drugs and/or metabolites were quantified and used to derive indexes of enzyme activity.
The results indicate that HDI differentially impairs CYP-mediated metabolism, having no effect on some enzymes (CYP2E1) and substantial effects on others (CYP1A2; median 60% decrease). A significant association was found between the magnitude of CYP inhibition and the occurrence of side effects including fever and neurological toxicity, which may form a novel basis of the underlying pathophysiology of some IFNalpha-2b-induced toxicity.
These data suggest that strategies to minimize the impairment of CYP enzymes could alter the toxicity profile of HDI and augment its therapeutic utility, and that recognition of these potential interactions is important in the therapeutic application of IFNs.
The microbial immunostimulant OK-432 has been studied intensively in preclinical systems and has shown promise as an anticancer agent in trials that have been conducted over the past 20 years in ...Japan. To date, no systematic dose response evaluation of this agent has defined its dose-limiting toxicity or immunobiological activity. A phase IA study has been conducted in 25 patients with metastatic cancer at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Melanoma Center, establishing 30 KE as the maximal tolerable dosage, on the basis of cutaneous reactions. Subsequently, 48 patients with resected high-risk melanoma participated in a phase IB study of OK-432. This study has evaluated the immunomodulatory activity of OK-432 at five dosages ranging from 1 KE to 20 KE, administered ID twice weekly for 3 months. A formal analysis of the treated population in comparison to the randomized control group has been conducted, and profound immunological effects have been defined in the group of patients treated with OK-432. Patients who participated in this trial had a significant depression of OK-432-inducible cytokine production (interleukin-1 beta, interferon gamma, and tumor necrosis factor alpha) at baseline. Treatment with OK-432 reversed this deficit for interferon gamma (IFN gamma) production in a dose-dependent manner, and mitigated the inhibition for interleukin-1 (IL-1) across all dosage groups. The impact of OK-432 upon other immunological functions of the treated cohorts is more variable, with durable suppression of mononuclear cell superoxide production, and in vitro cytotoxicity to tumor. Immunological characteristics of the entire cohort demonstrate a strong and significant correlation of elevated blood CD16+ cell counts and natural killer activity with early tumor progression and death due to melanoma. Favorable prognosis is associated with monocyte capacity to produce tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and polymorphonuclear leukocyte formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine-inducible superoxide release. This study reveals several new immunological correlates of tumor progression and lethal outcome in resected high-risk melanoma. It demonstrates that the depressed IL-1, TNF, and IFN gamma release associated with melanoma may be mitigated by treatment with OK-432. This study has defined treatment and dose response patterns of immunomodulation associated with one of the most complex immunological agents yet evaluated in phase IB trials, in a well-defined population of high-risk patients with resected melanoma.
An elevated plasma pH and bicarbonate are the clinical hallmarks of metabolic alkalosis. Nevertheless, to fully define its pathophysiology, one needs a quantitative interpretation of events in 3 ...areas - the ECF, ICF, and urine. Accordingly, our purpose was to study mass balance in Cl--depletion metabolic alkalosis with normal initial balance for Na+ and K+. In the 20 h following the "exchange" of Cl- (loss, 2455 mumol) and HCO(3-) (gain, 2455 mumol), only 334 mumol HCO(3-) remained in the ECF and 337 mumol were excreted. The remaining 1784 mumol disappeared primarily via titration because 3051 mueq of endogenous anions were produced and excreted largely with K+. Accordingly, metabolic alkalosis was associated with a deficit rather than a surplus of HCO(3-). To reflect the shift of H+ into cells driven by the exit of K+, the cumulative deficit of Cl- was replaced as KCl or NaCl. The fall in plasma HCO(3-) was larger in the KCl group (13.2 vs. 9.4 mmol/L); it was largely due to H+ exit from cells; in contrast, disappearance of HCO(3-) from the ECF was due to new endogenous acid production in the NaCl group. Thus, there was an overall deficit of HCO(3-) in metabolic alkalosis associated with KCl depletion (extracellular alkalosis and intracellular acidosis); processes in the ICF were not corrected by NaCl.
Incomplete renal tubular acidosis (RTA) and overt distal RTA may be different stages of the same underlying pathophysiology in certain individuals. The rationale that draws these conditions together ...is the relatively alkaline pH of the urine, hypocitraturia, and a possible familial association. The rate of excretion of ammonium (NH4+), on the other hand, suggests that these conditions stem from fundamentally different lesions. To explain this difference, we suggest that two possible disorders may result in the evolution from incomplete RTA to overt distal RTA. One subgroup could have gradient-limited distal RTA, while the other subgroup may have a lower pH of the intracellular fluid of the proximal convoluted tubular epithelium. Indices of proximal intracellular pH (rates of excretion of NH4+, NH3, and citrate) were culled from the literature spanning the years 1959 to 1991 on patients with incomplete RTA and overt distal RTA. Three points emerge: (1) the rate of excretion of NH4+ was lower in patients with overt distal RTA than in normals following an acute acid load (23 +/- 1 v 49 +/- 3 mumol/min); (2) the concentration of NH3 in the urine was almost 25-fold higher in incomplete RTA than in normals (69 +/- 14 v 3 +/- 0.4 nmol/min); and (3) in incomplete RTA, the pH of the urine fell to very low values (4.9 +/- 0.1) when high urine flows were induced with furosemide. The low pH of the urine would therefore suggest that many of these patients do not gradient-limited distal RTA, but more likely have proximal renal epithelial cell acidosis. We hypothesize that this high rate of excretion of NH4+ and low rate of excretion of citrate in the absence of acidosis or hypokalemia is consistent with proximal cell acidosis. To explain a transition from incomplete RTA to overt distal RTA, we speculate that toxicity of high concentrations of NH3 in the medullary interstitium as well as nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis due to low urinary citrate and possibly an alkaline medullary interstitium may lead to damage of structures in this region.
Atypical (dysplastic) nevi are melanocytic lesions, which are precursors of melanoma as well as markers of increased melanoma risk. Although these lesions exhibit distinct clinical and histological ...features, their molecular features are largely unknown. To determine whether atypical, compared to benign nevi, from patients with a clinical history of malignant melanoma reveal molecular changes, we analyzed these lesions for the expression of two growth factors (basic fibroblast growth factor and transforming growth factor alpha), their receptors (fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 and epidermal growth factor receptor), and two cell adhesion molecules (MUC18 and alpha v beta 3 integrin), all of which are expressed in primary and metastatic melanomas. The results demonstrated a statistically significant correlation (P = 0.02) between increasing degrees of histological atypia and expression of epidermal growth factor receptor in the epidermal keratinocytes of atypical melanocytic lesions. Furthermore, both atypical and benign nevi revealed considerably high levels of overall gene activity in their dermal melanocytic and epidermal keratinocytic compartments. In contrast, the epidermal-dermal junction wherein melanoma evolves showed little gene activity, suggesting that molecular events occurring adjacent to this junction may be important for melanocytic transformation.
The emotional impact of a stillbirth on a family has only recently begun to be appreciated. Literature regarding the grieving process in these families has been relatively scant and does not often ...facilitate applied approaches. The Perinatal Mortality Counseling Program (PMCP) at Shands Teaching Hospital, Gainesville, Florida, provides crisis intervention and support for these families as well as serving a research function. This article outlines the program, including its history, composition, procedures, and research.
