The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) (also called extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK]) pathway has been implicated in malignant transformation and in the regulation of cellular growth and proliferation of several tumor types, but its expression and function in Hodgkin disease (HD) are unknown. We report here that the active phosphorylated form of MAPK/ERK is aberrantly expressed in cultured and primary HD cells. Inhibition of the upstream MAPK kinase (also called MEK) by the small molecule UO126 inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK and demonstrated a dose-and time-dependent antiproliferative activity in HD cell lines. UO126 modulated the levels of several intracellular proteins including B-cell lymphoma protein 2 (Bcl-2), myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) and caspase 8 ho-molog FLICE-inhibitory protein (cFLIP), and induced G 2 M cell-cycle arrest or apo-ptosis. Furthermore, UO126 potentiated the activity of apoliprotein 2/tumor necro-sis factor-related apoptosis-inducing li-gand (APO2L/TRAIL) and chemotherapy-induced cell death. Activation of CD30, CD40, and receptor activator of nuclear kappa (RANK) receptors in HD cells by their respective ligands increased ERK phosphorylation above the basal level and promoted HD cell survival. UO126 inhibited basal and ligand-induced ERK phosphorylation, and inhibited ligand-induced cell survival of HD cell lines. These findings provide a proof-of-principle that inhibition of the MEK/ERK pathway may have therapeutic value in HD.

A method is developed for model predictive control of nonlinear stochastic partial differential equations (PDEs) to regulate the state variance, which physically represents the roughness of a surface in a thin film growth process, to a desired level. Initially a nonlinear stochastic PDE is formulated into a system of infinite nonlinear stochastic ordinary differential equations by using Galerkin's method. A finite‐dimensional approximation is then derived that captures the dominant mode contribution to the state variance. A model predictive control problem is formulated, based on the finite‐dimensional approximation, so that the future state variance can be predicted in a computationally efficient way. To demonstrate the method, the model predictive controller is applied to the stochastic Kuramoto‐Sivashinsky equation, and the kinetic Monte Carlo model of a sputtering process to regulate the surface roughness at a desired level. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical activity and toxicity of recombinant human Interleukin (IL)-12 in patients with relapsed and refractory nonHodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) or Hodgkin's disease (HD).Experimental Design: Forty-two previously treated patients (32 patients with NHL and 10 patients with HD) were enrolled on the study. Patients were treated with either intravenous (n ‫؍‬ 11) or subcutaneous (n ‫؍‬ 31) administration of IL-12. The patients had received a median of three prior treatment regimens, and 16 patients had undergone prior autologous stem cell transplantation.Results: All patients were assessable for toxicity, and 39 of 42 (93%) patients were assessable for response. Six of 29 (21%) patients with NHL had a partial or complete response, whereas none of the 10 patients with HD responded. Furthermore, 15 patients had stable disease that lasted for up to 54 months. Progression-free survival in patients with indolent NHL, aggressive NHL, and HD was 6, 2, and 2.5 months, respectively. Treatment was well tolerated, and the most common toxicity was flu-like symptoms. Reversible grade 3 hepatic toxicity was observed in three patients requiring dose reduction. IL-12 therapy increased the median number of peripheral blood CD8 T lymphocytes from 423/l to 576/l (P ‫؍‬ 0.0019). Furthermore, IL-12 therapy decreased serum vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor concentrations in 37% of the patients.Conclusions: The ability of recombinant human IL-12 therapy to increase the number of circulating CD8؉ cells and induce clinical remissions in patients with relapsed NHL warrants further investigation of the drug.

Although the length of follow-up cannot exclude late relapse, we think that in restaging and follow-up of gastric lymphoma, EUS seems not to be a reliable tool if it is abnormal and E-Bx still remains the gold standard. Therefore, after conventional conservative treatment, persistence of EUS abnormality with a negative histology should not be considered as a clinically relevant persistence of disease and should not be a reason for further treatment.

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Summary. We evaluated the presence of P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-170, multidrug resistance protein (MRP), lung resistance protein (LRP)-56 and Bcl-2 in CD19-positive cells from 100 cases of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). P-gp-170 was found in 73% of the CLL cases with no significant difference regarding stage or previous treatment. LRP-56 protein was homogeneously distributed with no differences for stage or treatment. MRP protein was detected at a low level of expression in 49AE4% of CLL patients with no differences for stage or treatment. Bcl-2 protein was expressed at a high level in all CLL patients and higher levels were found in the advanced stage. This leads us to conclude that P-gp, MRP, LRP-56 and Bcl-2 are frequently expressed in CLL. P-gp, MRP and LRP are not correlated to stage or previous treatment. Bcl-2 is higher in advanced-stage patients. The clinical and biological significance of these zMDR mechanisms in CLL remains to be fully explained.

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