BACKGROUND:The increasing incidence of radiation-induced sarcoma (RIS) has become a significant problem that can limit long-term survival. The objective of the current study was to analyze the clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment outcomes, and prognostic factors of RIS after radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METH-ODS: Institutional electronic medical records of patients with NPC who received definitive radiotherapy between February 1964 and 2003 were reviewed. Fifty-three patients who developed RIS and fulfilled the study criteria were included. RESULTS: The median follow-up after a diagnosis of RIS was 15.5 months (range, 0.4-90.3 months), and the median latency between radiotherapy for NPC and an RIS diagnosis was 9.3 years (range, 3.2-26.6 years). Fibrosarcoma was the most frequent histologic type observed, followed by osteosarcoma, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The 3-year overall survival (OS) rate for 49 patients who received treatment was 32.4%, and the median survival was 21.2 months (95% confidence interval, 8.7-33.8 months). The median OS was 41.3 months, 8.4 months, and 11 months for the complete resection group, the incomplete resection group, and the chemotherapy group, respectively (P<.0001). The only independent predictive factor that was associated with better OS was complete surgical resection. CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study confirmed the rarity and poor prognosis of RIS in patients with NPC. Complete surgical resection was a significant prognostic factor for survival. The authors concluded that long-term follow-up is necessary for the early detection of RIS in patients with NPC. Cancer 2010;116:5479-86.

The fast detection of terahertz radiation is of great importance for various applications such as fast imaging, high speed communications, and spectroscopy. Most commercial products capable of sensitively responding the terahertz radiation are thermal detectors, i.e., pyroelectric sensors and bolometers. This class of terahertz detectors is normally characterized by low modulation frequency (dozens or hundreds of Hz). Here we demonstrate the first fast semiconductor-based terahertz quantum well photodetectors by carefully designing the device structure and microwave transmission line for high frequency signal extraction. Modulation response bandwidth of gigahertz level is obtained. As an example, the 6.2-GHz modulated terahertz light emitted from a Fabry-Pérot terahertz quantum cascade laser is successfully detected using the fast terahertz quantum well photodetector. In addition to the fast terahertz detection, the technique presented in this work can also be used for optically characterizing the frequency stability of terahertz quantum cascade lasers, heterodyne detections and photomixing applications.

No abstract

The Bcr-Abl oncoprotein is the cause of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Crystal structure analysis suggests that Bcr30-63 is the core of the Bcr-Abl oligomerization interface for aberrant kinase activity; however, the precise role of other residues of Bcr1-72 excluding Bcr30-63 have not been evaluated. In this study, Bcr30-63 was named OD2 and other residues of Bcr1-72 were named OD1. Cytoplasmic transduction peptide (CTP) was used to carry molecules into cytoplasm. CTP-OD1 and CTP-OD2 fusion peptides were expressed from a cold-inducible expression system. Our results demonstrated that both fusion peptides could localize into the cytoplasm, specifically interact with the Bcr-Abl protein and further inhibit growth, induce apoptosis, and decrease the phosphorylation of Bcr-Abl in K562 cell lines. However, the viability of THP-1, a Bcr-Abl negative cell line, was unaffected. These results suggested that CTP-OD1 and CTP-OD2 may be an attractive therapeutic option to inhibit the activation of Bcr-Abl kinase in CML.

No abstract