IRIDIUM-192: A LITERATURE REVIEW FOR FURTHER REFERENCING THE ISOTOPE, ITS ACTIVITY UNITS, AND DOSIMETRY TECHNIQUES

The individual embarking on an iridium-192 brachytherapy program is faced with an abundance of concepts, terms and dosimetry techniques. This article introduces the beginning brachytherapist to the basic physical parameters of iridium-192, to the potential units for source strength and to the general concepts of the various dosimetry techniques. Multiple literature references are listed for more in-depth study.     

Continuous positive airway pressure administered via face mask in tranquilized dogs

Objective – To evaluate the tolerance of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask in tranquilized dogs and compare PaO₂ in arterial blood in dogs receiving oxygen with a regular face mask or CPAP mask set to maintain a pressure of 2.5 or 5 cm H₂O. Design – Prospective, randomized clinical study. Setting – University teaching hospital. Animals – Sixteen client‐owned dogs without evidence of cardiopulmonary disease were studied. Interventions – Eight animals were randomly assigned to each of 2 treatment groups: group A received 2.5 cm H₂O CPAP and group B received 5 cm H₂O CPAP after first receiving oxygen (5 L/min) by a regular face mask. Animals were tranquilized with acepromazine 0.05 mg/kg, IV and morphine 0.2 mg/kg, IM. An arterial catheter was then placed to facilitate blood sampling for pHa, PaO₂, and PaCO₂ determinations before and after treatments. Direct mean arterial pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature were also recorded after each treatment. Measurements and Main Results – CPAP administration was well tolerated by all animals. The mean arterial pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, PaCO₂, and pHa, did not differ at any time point between groups. Differences were seen in oxygenation; in group A, PaO₂ significantly increased from a mean of 288.3±47.5 mm Hg with a standard mask to a mean of 390.3±65.5 mm Hg with the CPAP mask and in group B, PaO₂ increased similarly from 325.0±70.5 to 425.2±63.4 mm Hg (P<0.05); no differences were detected between the 2 CPAP treatments. Conclusions – In healthy tranquilized dogs noninvasive CPAP is well tolerated and increases PaO₂ above values obtained when using a regular face mask.     

上皮间质转化促乳腺癌机制及药物干预治疗研究进展

乳腺癌是犬、猫等伴侣动物与人类常发疾病,作为人类及动物常患恶性肿瘤和主要致死肿瘤之一,其疾病负担仍呈逐步加重趋势,乳腺癌的预防及治疗形势愈加严峻。上皮间质转化(EMT)是乳腺癌发生发展中重要的生物学过程。EMT还可促进恶性肿瘤的侵袭、扩散及耐药,因此它在肿瘤的研究中日益受到关注,靶向于EMT是治疗乳腺癌的重要研究方向与热点。文章就EMT发生过程中细胞形态功能及标志物的变化、EMT分类及EMT与乳腺癌的关系分别展开论述,详细解析了EMT相关TGF-β/Smad、NF-κB及Wnt信号通路转导途径;随后对乳腺癌治疗药物研究进展,包括TGF-β/Smad通路抑制剂开发,相关药物、基因及细胞因子治疗前景、NF-κB通路与Wnt通路抑制剂的动物试验研究结果进行了详细论述;最后对乳腺癌的治疗发展与趋势进行了展望。深入认识信号通路调控乳腺癌EMT的生物学过程,明确其发生发展机制,寻找关键靶点及开发靶向药物,将为乳腺癌的精准治疗带来曙光。     

Canine oral melanoma

Melanoma is the most common oral malignancy in the dog. Oral and/or mucosal melanoma has been routinely considered an extremely malignant tumor with a high degree of local invasiveness and high metastatic propensity. Primary tumor size has been found to be extremely prognostic. The World Health Organization staging scheme for dogs with oral melanoma is based on size, with stage I = <2-cm-diameter tumor, stage II = 2- to <4-cm-diameter tumor, stage III = > or = 4cm tumor and/or lymph node metastasis, and stage IV = distant metastasis. Median survival times for dogs with oral melanoma treated with surgery are approximately 17 to 18, 5 to 6, and 3 months with stage I, II, and III disease, respectively. Significant negative prognostic factors include stage, size, evidence of metastasis, and a variety of histologic criteria. Standardized treatments such as surgery, coarse-fractionation radiation therapy, and chemotherapy have afforded minimal to modest stage-dependent clinical benefits and death is usually due to systemic metastasis. Numerous immunotherapeutic strategies have been employed to date with limited clinical efficacy; however, the use of xenogeneic DNA vaccines may represent a leap forward in clinical efficacy. Oral melanoma is a spontaneous syngeneic cancer occurring in outbred, immunocompetent dogs and appears to be a more clinically faithful therapeutic model for human melanoma; further use of canine melanoma as a therapeutic model for human melanoma is strongly encouraged. In addition, the development of an expanded but clinically relevant staging system incorporating the aforementioned prognostic factors is also strongly encouraged.