Bioremoval of copper by filamentous fungi isolated from contaminated soils of Puchuncaví-Ventanas Central Chile.

Pollution represents a high risk to plants, animals, and human beings, causing an imbalance and affecting the environment. Soil is considered a universal sink, containing the highest load of environmental pollution. Puchuncaví-Ventanas sector, decreed as a saturated contamination zone in 1993, is considered one of the most affected areas by industrial pollution and belongs to one of the 5 sacrifice zones of Chile. The localities of Puchuncaví and Ventanas have heavy metal pollution levels that exceed up to 99% of the limits allowed by Canadian standards. The objective of this study was to characterize heavy metal tolerance and removal potential of filamentous fungi isolated from polluted soils for their use in decontamination systems and in situ soil improvement. Six fungal strains were selected based on their tolerance and a high capability to accumulate heavy metals, achieving copper bioaccumulation of 84% (Mortierella sp. strain LG01), 49% (Clonostachys sp. strain CQ23) and 48-77.5% (Trichoderma sp. strain LM01A). Trichoderma sp. strain LM01A was able to remove 41% of copper from contaminated soil under ex situ conditions. Some fungal strains belong to beneficial fungal genera, which are used as bioproducts in agriculture. The results of this study highlighted the use of Trichoderma sp. in soils contaminated, which may be of special interest in agriculture due to the large amounts of copper sulfate still applied as a pesticide in Chile and the world.

Increased risk of breast cancer in women bearing a combination of large CAG and GGN repeats in the exon 1 of the androgen receptor gene.

The exon 1 of the human androgen receptor gene (AR) contains both CAG (polyglutamine) and GGN (polyglycine) repeat length polymorphisms. Large CAG repeats have been related to an increased risk of breast cancer (BC), whereas the influence of the GGN repeats is still unclear. Here, we have studied how the length of CAG and GGN repeats is associated with the risk of BC in a population from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). The study was carried out on 257 woman diagnosed with BC and 393 controls, nesting in the 'CDC of the Canary Islands' cohort study. The AR CAG and GGN genotyping was performed by means of PCR amplification with specific fluorescently labelled primers followed by a capillary electrophoresis. The allelic distribution of CAG and GGN polymorphisms was similar in cases and controls. The mean of short and long CAG and GGN alleles did not show differences between cases and controls and the same was true when the average length of both CAG alleles (CAG(n)) and GGN alleles (GGN(n)) was considered. However, when CAG(n) and GGN(n) were categorised using 22 and 24 repeats as the cut-off point, respectively, significant differences between cases and controls were observed. The CAG(n)>22 repeats were more frequent in cases than in controls, being associated with an increased risk of BC (OR=1.49; CI(95%)=1.06-2.09; p=0.021). No significant differences were found for categorised GGN(n). For CAG(n)/GGN(n) combinations, the highest BC risk was found to be associated with the CAG(n)>22/GGN(n)24 combination (OR=2.47; CI(95%)=1.37-4.46; p=0.003). In conclusion, our results indicate that longer CAG(n)/GGN(n) combinations increase the risk of BC and suggest that CAG and GGN AR polymorphisms should be considered in order to assess the BC risk.

Phase II study of UFT and oxaliplatin in first-line treatment of advanced colorectal cancer.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, assessed as response rate, and toxicity of UFT (Tegafur-Uracil) in combination with oxaliplatin as first-line treatment of advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). In all, 84 patients with recurrent or metastatic CRC with measurable disease were included. Treatment consisted of oxaliplatin 85 mg m(-2) in 120-min intravenous (i.v.) infusion on days 1 and 15; i.v. l,leucovorin (l,LV) 250 mg m(-2) given in 2 h on day 1, followed by oral UFT 390 mg m(-2) on days 1-14, and oral l,LV 7.5 mg/12 h on days 2-14. Cycles were repeated every 28 days. A total of 492 cycles of chemotherapy were delivered with a median of six per patient (range 1-12). There was one complete response (1%) and 28 partial responses (34%) for an overall response rate of 35% (95% confidence interval (CI): 24-46%). A total of 36 patients (44%) had stable disease, whereas 17 (21%) had a progression. The median time to progression was 7.3 months and the median overall survival was 16.8 months. A prescheduled preliminary analysis was performed after inclusion of 16 patients who detected a high gastrointestinal toxicity, which led to a reduction of the UFT dose to 300 mg m(-2). With this new dosage, grade 3-4 diarrhoea and grade 3-4 nausea/vomiting dropped to 21 and 14% of patients, respectively. Other grade 3-4 toxicities were stomatitis in one (1%), anaemia in three (5%), neutropenia in two (3%), thrombocytopenia in one(1%), fatigue in six (9%), peripheral sensory neuropathy in nine (14%) and laryngopharyngeal dysesthesia in two patients (2%). The combination of oxaliplatin and UFT-l,LV is an active, easy-to-administer regimen with moderate toxicity. Hence, this regimen is worthy of further investigation.

Gemcitabine/vinorelbine in metastatic breast cancer patients previously treated with anthracyclines: results of a phase II trial.

This phase II study was designed to evaluate the response rate (RR) and toxicity of gemcitabine/vinorelbine in patients with metastatic breast cancer. All patients had previously received anthracyclines. Treatment consisted of gemcitabine 1200 mg/m2 and vinorelbine 30 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8, every 3 weeks. Twenty-five patients were enrolled. Median age was 59 years (range, 33-73 years). Ten patients had received only adjuvant therapy with anthracyclines. The remaining 15 patients had received chemotherapy for metastatic disease, including taxanes in 11 cases. Four patients could not be evaluated for response. By intent-to-treat analysis, the overall RR was 44% (95% CI, 24.4%-65%). Median duration of response and median time to treatment failure were 21 and 17 weeks, respectively. The main toxicity was hematologic, with grade 3/4 neutropenia occurring in 13 patients and 1 patient developing febrile neutropenia. Two deaths from pneumonia occurred. These results reveal an encouraging activity with a reasonable toxicity profile in a patient population with an unfavorable prognosis. Our group is conducting a randomized study to compare this combination with vinorelbine alone in patients with metastatic breast cancer after failure to respond to anthracyclines and taxanes