Cancer Metastasis: Building a Framework

In the screening group, 82% of men accepted at least one offer of screening. During a median follow-up of 9 years, the cumulative incidence of prostate cancer was 8.2% in the screening group and 4.8% in the control group. The rate ratio for death from prostate cancer in the screening group, as compared with the control group, was 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65 to 0.98; adjusted P = 0.04). The absolute risk difference was 0.71 death per 1000 men. This means that 1410 men would need to be screened and 48 additional cases of prostate cancer would need to be treated to prevent one death from prostate cancer. The analysis of men who were actually screened during the first round (excluding subjects with noncompliance) provided a rate ratio for death from prostate cancer of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.56 to 0.90). Conclusions PSA-based screening reduced the rate of death from prostate cancer by 20% but was associated with a high risk of overdiagnosis. (Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN49127736.)

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Screening and Prostate-Cancer Mortality in a Randomized European Study

In multicellular organisms, communication between cells mainly involves the secretion of proteins that then bind to receptors on neighbouring cells But another mode of intercellular communication - the release of membrane vesicles - has recently become the subject of increasing interest Membrane vesicles are complex structures composed of a lipid bilayer that contains transmembrane proteins and encloses soluble hydrophilic components derived from the cytosol of the donor cell These vesicles have been shown to affect the physiology of neighbouring recipient cells in various ways, from inducing intracellular signalling following binding to receptors to conferring new properties after the acquisition of new receptors, enzymes or even genetic material from the vesicles This Review focuses on the role of membrane vesicles, in particular exosomes, in the communication between immune cells, and between tumour and immune cells

Membrane vesicles as conveyors of immune responses

Stromal Fibroblasts Present in Invasive Human Breast Carcinomas Promote Tumor Growth and Angiogenesis through Elevated SDF-1/CXCL12 Secretion

TGFβ in Cancer

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin and superficial bladder cancer. Clinical experience and mechanism of action.

Targeting the Hsp90 C-terminal domain to induce allosteric inhibition and selective client downregulation

Animal models provide a vehicle for understanding basic biological questions. Through the use of animal models, adequate control of experimental design is possible so that rigorous experiments can be performed to test a hypothesis. In the case of testing therapeutic mechanisms, it is important to select a model that is most analogous to the clinical setting so that observations can be readily transferred to clinical studies for validation. In mechanistic studies of Mycobacterium bovis strain (bacille Calmette-Guerin) therapy for bladder cancer, the orthotopic animal model most closely mimics the clinical treatment of bladder cancer.

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Timothy L. Ratliff

Papers

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin and superficial bladder cancer. Clinical experience and mechanism of action.

Targeting the Hsp90 C-terminal domain to induce allosteric inhibition and selective client downregulation

Role of Animal Models in Understanding Intravesical Therapy with Bacille Calmette-Guérin

Inhibition of adherence of Mycobacterium avium complex and Mycobacterium tuberculosis to fibronectin on the respiratory mucosa.

Ureteral Cell Cultures II: Collagen Production and Response to Pharmacologic Agents