Support for UNRWA's survival

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides life-saving humanitarian aid for 5·4 million Palestine refugees now entering their eighth decade of statelessness and conflict. About a third of Palestine refugees still live in 58 recognised camps. UNRWA operates 702 schools and 144 health centres, some of which are affected by the ongoing humanitarian disasters in Syria and the Gaza Strip. It has dramatically reduced the prevalence of infectious diseases, mortality, and illiteracy. Its social services include rebuilding infrastructure and homes that have been destroyed by conflict and providing cash assistance and micro-finance loans for Palestinians whose rights are curtailed and who are denied the right of return to their homeland

Successful treatment of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma in a patient with gastric and rectal lesions with metachronous and ectopic development

A 75-year-old female, who had an abnormal stomach x-ray finding, was admitted to the hospital for further examination and therapy. Upper GI endoscopy showed reddish and swollen folds on the greater curvature of the gastric body and a biopsy was of this lesion revealed malignant lymphoma (small cell type or mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma suspected). The patient was infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), however, in response to the patient's wishes, a total gastrectomy, omentectomy and splenectomy were performed and the histological diagnosis was gastric MALT lymphoma. Two courses of CHOP therapy (cyclophosphamide (CPM) 750 mg/m2/day, day 1, adriamycin (ADM) 50 mg/m2/day, day 1, vincristine sulfate (VCR) 1.4 mg/m2/day, day 1, prednisolone 100 mg/body, day 1–5) were administered as adjuvant chemotherapy. A colonoscopic examination performed about 4.5 yr after the operation revealed rectal submucosal tumors and the biopsied specimens were diagnosed as malignant lymphoma. A transanal focal resection was performed and the histological diagnosis was metachronous and ectopic development of MALT lymphoma. The histological finding was similar to the gastric lesion. About 4 and 7 yr after the first development of rectal MALT lymphoma, MALT lymphomas developed repeatedly in the rectal lesion, however, these were resected repeatedly and no developmenthas occurred during the past two years. This report presents a very rare case of metachronous and ectopic MALT lymphoma development in the gastric and rectal lesions

Relationship between the Regulation of Caspase-8-Mediated Apoptosis and Radioresistance in Human THP-1-Derived Macrophages

Radiosensitivity varies depending on the cell type; highly differentiated cells typically exhibit greater radioresistance. We recently demonstrated that human macrophages derived from THP-1 monocytic cells, which lack TP53, are highly resistant to radiation-induced apoptosis compared with undifferentiated THP-1 cells. However, the mechanisms by which THP-1 cells acquire radioresistance during differentiation remain unknown. Herein, we investigated the mechanisms by which THP-1-derived macrophages develop p53-independent radioresistance by analyzing DNA damage responses and apoptotic pathways. Analysis of γ-H2AX foci, which indicates the formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB), suggested that a capacity to repair DSB of macrophages is comparable to that of radiosensitive THP-1 cells. Furthermore, treatment with inhibitors against DSB repair-related proteins failed to enhance radiation-induced apoptosis in THP-1-derrived macrophages. Analysis of the apoptotic pathways showed that radiosensitive THP-1 cells undergo apoptosis through the caspase-8/caspase-3 cascade after irradiation, whereas this was not observed in the macrophages. Caspase-8 protein expression was lower in macrophages than in THP-1 cells, whereas mRNA expressions were comparable between both cell types. Co-treatment with a proteasome inhibitor and ionizing radiation effectively induced apoptosis in macrophages in a caspase-8-dependent manner. Results suggest that the regulation of caspase-8-mediated apoptosis during differentiation plays a role in the p53-independent radioresistance of THP-1-derived macrophages