Apoptosis and p53 status predict the efficacy of postoperative administration of UFT in non-small cell lung cancer

To examine whether efficacy of postoperative oral administration of UFT, a 5-fluorouracil derivative chemotherapeutic agent, may be influenced by incidence of apoptosis (apoptosis index) or apoptosis-related gene status (p53 and bcl-2) of the tumour, a total of 162 patients with pathologic stage I non-small cell lung cancer were retrospectively reviewed. UFT was administrated postoperatively to 44 patients (UFT group), and not to the other 118 patients (Control group). For all patients, 5-year survival rate of the UFT group (79.9%) seemed higher than that of the Control group (69.8%), although without significant difference (P = 0.054). For patients with higher apoptotic index, 5-year survival rate of the UFT group (83.3%) was significantly higher than that of the Control group (67.6%, P = 0.039); for patients with lower apoptotic index, however, there was no difference in the prognosis between these two groups. Similarly, UFT was effective for patients without p53 aberrant expression (5-year survival rates: 95.2% for the UFT group and 74.3% for the Control group, P = 0.022), whereas not effective for patients with p53 aberrant expression. Bcl-2 status did not influence the efficacy of UFT. In conclusion, apoptotic index and p53 status are useful factors to predict the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant therapy using UFT. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Electronic structure of MgB2_2: X-ray emission and absorption studies

Measurements of x-ray emission and absorption spectra of the constituents of MgB$_2$ are presented. The results obtained are in good agreement with calculated x-ray spectra, with dipole matrix elements taken into account. The comparison of x-ray emission spectra of graphite, AlB$_2$, and MgB$_2$ in the binding energy scale supports the idea of charge transfer from $\sigma$ to $\pi$ bands, which creates holes at the top of the bonding $\sigma$ bands and drives the high-T$_c$Comment: final version as published in PR

Phytoestrogens

Collectively, plants contain several different families of natural products among which are compounds with weak estrogenic or antiestrogenic activity toward mammals. These compounds, termed phytoestrogens, include certain isoflavonoids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans. The best-studied dietary phytoestrogens are the soy isoflavones and the flaxseed lignans. Their perceived health beneficial properties extend beyond hormone-dependent breast and prostate cancers and osteoporosis to include cognitive function, cardiovascular disease, immunity and inflammation, and reproduction and fertility. In the future, metabolic engineering of plants could generate novel and exquisitely controlled dietary sources with which to better assess the potential health beneficial effects of phytoestrogens