J Biol Reg Homeos Ag
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J Biol Reg Homeos Ag · Oct 2017
Targeted muscle reinnervation for improved control of myoelectric upper limb prostheses.
Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is a novel surgical technique developed to improve the control of myoelectric upper limb prostheses. Nerves transected by the amputation, which retain their original motor pathways even after being severed, are redirected to residual denervated muscles that serve as target for consequent reinnervation. Once the process is complete, reinnervated muscles will contract upon voluntary activation of transferred nerves while attempting to move missing regions of the amputated limb, generating EMG signals that can be recorded and used to control a prosthetic device. ⋯ TMR has been widely performed in individuals who underwent shoulder disarticulation amputation and transhumeral amputation since proximal amputations do not leave enough functional muscles exploitable to control independent degree of freedoms of multi-articulated prostheses. TMR application is currently under investigation in patients suffering further distal amputations, as well as for treating and preventing painful post-amputation neuromas. The purpose of this paper is to describe the physiologic basis and the surgical technique of TMR, reporting current knowledge on the clinical results.
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Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) has always been an ideal model to understand the molecular pathogenesis of human leukaemias and the way to cure them. This can be ascribed to the fact that CML was the first human cancer demonstrated to be strongly associated to the presence of a recurrent chromosomal translocation (the t(9;22)(q34;q11) that creates the Philadelphia (Ph)-chromosome) and to a specific molecular defect, the formation of a hybrid BCR-ABL gene that generates new fusion proteins endowed with a constitutive tyrosine-kinase (TK) activity, strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of the disease. The introduction into clinical practice of imatinib, (Glivec, Gleevec, Novartis), a potent tyrosine kinase inhibitor of the Bcr-Abl protein as well as of a restricted number of other TKs, has not only produced a substantial improvement in the treatment of CML, but represents a major break-through in the perspective of opening a new era, that of molecularly targeted therapy, in the management of other types of leukemia, lymphoma and cancer in general.
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J Biol Reg Homeos Ag · Apr 2004
ReviewThe role of adhesion molecules and chemokine receptor CXCR4 (CD184) in small cell lung cancer.
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a particularly aggressive form of lung cancer. Responsible for this highly malignant phenotype is an early and widespread metastasis with a high propensity of SCLC cells for bone marrow involvement and the ability to develop resistance against chemotherapeutic agents. Tumor cell migration and metastasis share many similarities with leukocyte trafficking, which is critically regulated by chemokines and adhesion molecules. ⋯ Activation of CXCR4 chemokine receptors and integrins on SCLC cells promotes adhesion to accessory cells (such as stromal cells) and extracellular matrix molecules within the tumor microenvironment. These adhesive interactions result in an increased resistance of SCLC cells to chemotherapy. As such, inhibitors of the CXCR4/CXCL12 axis and/or integrin activation may increase the chemosensitivity of SCLC cells and lead to new therapeutic avenues for patients with SCLC.
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J Biol Reg Homeos Ag · Jan 1993
ReviewMistletoe (viscum album) lectins as cytokine inducers and immunoadjuvant in tumor therapy. A review.
Therapy of cancer with a Viscum extract has been carried out in Europe for over six decades in thousands of patients with uncertain advantages. This approach has been bedeviled by major problems such as variable composition of the extract, lack of knowledge of active component(s) and mechanism of action, to cite a few. ⋯ Merits and demerits of this approach have been reviewed and although the active component has probably not unique immunoenhancing properties, it may be useful as an adjuvant in the biological therapy of cancer and it should not be ignored any longer. As usual, medical progress depends upon experimentation and not exclusively on intuition and emotion.