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We have collected lab notebooks from Rod Wither's many years of experimentation, from laboratories in Houston and Los Angeles, as well as from several of his collaborators in the USA and overseas. The contents have been digitized, and in this note we explain the mechanism that has been set up to make the 'Withers Archive' available online.

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PURPOSE: To investigate differences in tumor histotype, incidence, latency, and strain susceptibility in mice exposed to single-dose or clinically relevant, fractioned-dose γ-ray radiation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: C3Hf/Kam and C57BL/6J mice were locally irradiated to the right hindlimb with either single large doses between 10 and 70 Gy or fractionated doses totaling 40 to 80 Gy delivered at 2-Gy/d fractions, 5 d/wk, for 4 to 8 weeks. The mice were closely evaluated for tumor development in the irradiated field for 800 days after irradiation, and all tumors were characterized histologically. RESULTS: A total of 210 tumors were induced within the radiation field in 788 mice. An overall decrease in tumor incidence was observed after fractionated irradiation (16.4%) in comparison with single-dose irradiation (36.1%). Sarcomas were the predominant postirradiation tumor observed (n=201), with carcinomas occurring less frequently (n=9). The proportion of mice developing tumors increased significantly with total dose for both single-dose and fractionated schedules, and latencies were significantly decreased in mice exposed to larger total doses. C3Hf/Kam mice were more susceptible to tumor induction than C57BL/6J mice after single-dose irradiation; however, significant differences in tumor susceptibilities after fractionated radiation were not observed. For both strains of mice, osteosarcomas and hemangiosarcomas were significantly more common after fractionated irradiation, whereas fibrosarcomas and malignant fibrous histiocytomas were significantly more common after single-dose irradiation. CONCLUSIONS: This study investigated the tumorigenic effect of acute large doses in comparison with fractionated radiation in which both the dose and delivery schedule were similar to those used in clinical radiation therapy. Differences in tumor histotype after single-dose or fractionated radiation exposures provide novel in vivo evidence for differences in tumor susceptibility among stromal cell populations.

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PURPOSE: To test whether a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor (celecoxib) could reduce mortality resulting from radiation-induced pneumonitis. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Celecoxib was given to mice twice daily for 40 consecutive days starting on the day of local thoracic irradiation (LTI) or 40 or 80 days later. C3Hf/KamLaw mice were observed for morbidity, and time to death was determined. Results were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Timing of celecoxib relative to LTI determined efficacy. A significant reduction in time to death was achieved only when celecoxib was started 80 days after LTI, corresponding to the time when pneumonitis is expressed. For these mice the reduction in mortality was quantified as a hazard ratio for mortality of treated vs untreated of 0.36 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.24-0.53), thus significantly less than 1.0. Correspondingly, the median lethal dose for treated mice (12.9 Gy; 95% CI 12.55-13.25 Gy) was significantly (P=.026) higher than for untreated mice (12.4 Gy; 95% CI 12.2-12.65 Gy). CONCLUSIONS: Celecoxib significantly reduced lung toxicity when administered months after LTI when the deleterious effects of radiation were expressed. The schedule-dependent reduction in fatal pneumonitis suggests that celecoxib could be clinically useful by reintroduction of treatment months after completion of radiation therapy. These findings may be important for designing clinical trials using cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors to treat radiation-induced lung toxicity as a complement to concurrent radiation therapy of lung cancers.

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Studies performed three decades ago in our laboratory supported the hypothesis that radiation efficacy may be augmented by bacterial extracts that stimulate non-specific systemic antitumor immune responses. Application to the clinic was halted by unacceptable side effects and toxicities resulting from exposure to whole bacterial pathogens. Later scientific advances demonstrated that DNA isolated from bacteria was immunostimulatory and could be reproduced with synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), thus fueling the transition from bugs to drugs. Unmethylated CpG motifs within bacterial DNA induce activation of Toll-like receptor 9 and subsequently activate antigen-specific cellular immune responses. CpG ODNs have demonstrated favorable toxicity profiles in phase I clinical trials. We showed that this potent immunoadjuvant can be used in combination with radiation therapy to enhance local and systemic responses of several murine tumors. Studies demonstrated that enhanced tumor response is mediated in part by the host immune system. Antitumor efficacy was diminished in immunocompromised mice. Animals cured by combination of radiation and CpG ODN were resistant to subsequent tumor rechallenge. This body of work contributes to our understanding of the dynamic interplay between tumor irradiation and the host immune system and may facilitate translation to clinical trials.

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Poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase inhibitor, INO-1001, is known to sensitize cells to radiation in vitro by inhibiting the repair of DNA damage. Recent evidence has suggested that PARP inhibition may also be a way of selectively targeting p53 deficient cancer cells. The present study tested INO-1001 for its in vivo effect on the chemoresponse of two p53 deficient tumors, human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 and murine mammary carcinoma MCa-K. Doxorubicin was used as the DNA damaging agent and tumor growth delay assay was used as the endpoint. Results showed that INO-1001 was highly effective in enhancing the anti-tumor effects of Doxorubicin for both MDA-MB-231 (EF=1.88) and MCa-K (EF=1.64). We conclude that PARP inhibitor INO-1001 has high potential for enhancing the anti-tumor effects of chemotherapy agents such as Doxorubicin against p53 deficient breast cancer.

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PURPOSE: Clinical trials of antiangiogenic agents used alone for advanced malignancy have been disappointing but preclinical studies suggest that the addition of radiation therapy could improve antitumor efficacy. To test the hypothesis that antiangiogenic therapy combined with radiation therapy can overcome the limitations of antiangiogenic monotherapy, we studied the effects of endostatin combined with radiation on the growth and vascularization of A431 human epidermoid carcinomas growing intramuscularly in the legs of mice. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Mice with established A431 human epidermoid leg tumors were treated with radiation, endostatin, both radiation and endostatin, or vehicle control. The experiment was repeated and mice from each group were killed at 2, 7, and 10 days after irradiation so that tumor tissue could be obtained to further analyze the kinetics of the antitumor, antivascular, and antiangiogenic response to therapy. RESULTS: Endostatin enhanced the antitumor effects of radiation, and prolonged disease-free survival was observed in the combined treatment group. Endothelial cell proliferation was increased in tumors after irradiation but was blocked by the concurrent administration of endostatin, and the combination of endostatin with radiation enhanced endothelial cell apoptosis within 48 h after irradiation. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin-8, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 were increased in tumors after irradiation, and this increase was blocked by concurrent administration of endostatin. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that endostatin can block tumor revascularization after radiation therapy and thereby augment radioresponse.

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PURPOSE: Recently we reported that inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) by flavopiridol enhanced the radiation response of murine ovarian carcinoma cells in culture. The purpose of this investigation was to extend these studies to in vivo tumor models and test whether flavopiridol increases the therapeutic ratio of radiotherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Three transplantable syngeneic mouse tumors were used: mammary carcinoma (MCa-29), ovarian carcinoma (OCa-I), and a lymphoma (Ly-TH). Tumor treatment endpoints included growth delay, cure, and spontaneous lung metastases (OCa-I tumor). The normal tissue endpoint was survival of jejunal crypt cells quantified microscopically. A range of flavopiridol doses from 0.625 to 5.0 mg/kg were given systemically once or twice daily over 5, 10, or 20 days. Combined therapy flavopiridol treatments were initiated either several days before or shortly after the start of single dose or daily fractionated radiotherapy. RESULTS: The major findings of this study are that all three tumors treated with flavopiridol alone responded by tumor growth delay. Two of the tumors (MCa-29 and Ly-TH) responded in a schedule-dependent manner with larger radiation enhancement factors when flavopiridol treatment was started a few hours after irradiation (radioenhancement factors [EF] Ly-TH = 2.04, EF MCa-29 = 1.50 for single dose irradiation). When combined with fractionated irradiation (2.6 Gy daily for 10 or 20 days), flavopiridol enhanced the response of the MCa-29 tumor by a factor of 1.25-1.46. A fractional radiation dose of 6 Gy in combination with flavopiridol produced a 62.5% cure rate compared with 25% tumor cure for radiation alone. A novel finding of this study was the demonstration of antimetastatic activity of flavopiridol in addition to its effect on the local primary tumor. Both the incidence and absolute number of lung metastasis were reduced when flavopiridol followed surgical removal of the large (10 mm) primary leg tumor. The normal jejunum treated with flavopiridol and radiation responded in a schedule independent manner and the degree of radioenhancement (EF, 1.05-1.06) was much less than for any of the tumors studied. CONCLUSIONS: Therapeutic gain was achieved when flavopiridol treatment was initiated either before or after the start of radiotherapy. Flavopiridol shows promising clinical potential administered alone or in combination with other cytotoxic agents, including both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

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PURPOSE: We recently reported that overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) positively correlated with radioresistance of murine carcinomas. Because cyclin D1 is a downstream sensor of EGFR activation, the present study investigated whether a relationship exists between the extent of cyclin D1 expression and in vivo radiocurability of murine tumors. We further investigated the influence of radiation on cyclin D1 expression and the expression of p27, an inhibitor of the cyclin D1 downstream pathway, as well as the relationship of these molecular determinants to cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in tumors exposed to radiation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Cyclin D1 expression was assayed in nine carcinomas syngeneic to C3Hf/Kam mice using Western blot analysis. These tumors greatly differed in their radioresponse as assessed by TCD(50). The expression of cyclin D1 and p27 proteins was determined by Western blotting. Cell proliferative activity in tumors was determined by proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunochemistry. The effect of irradiation on the expression of cyclin D1 or p27 proteins and on PCNA positivity was determined in the radiosensitive OCa-I and in the radioresistant SCC-VII tumors. RESULTS: Cyclin D1 expression varied among tumors by 40-fold, and its magnitude positively correlated with poorer tumor radioresponse (higher TCD(50) values). The level of cyclin D1 expression paralleled that of EGFR. A 15-Gy dose reduced constitutive expression of cyclin D1 in the radiosensitive OCa-I tumors, but had no influence on expression of cyclin D1 in the radioresistant SCC-VII tumors. In contrast, 15 Gy increased the expression of p27 in radiosensitive tumors and reduced it in radioresistant tumors. Radiation induced no significant apoptosis or change in the percentage of PCNA-positive (proliferating) cells in SCC-VII tumors with high cyclin D1 levels, but it induced significant apoptosis and a decrease in the percentage of proliferating cells in OCa-I tumors with low cyclin D1 expression. CONCLUSION: Our findings show a positive correlation between cyclin D1 expression and tumor radioresistance. The expression of cyclin D1 and p27 was modified by radiation and was associated with cellular response to radiation, but this depended on the pretreatment level of cyclin D1 expression. These findings may have important clinical implications: The pretreatment assessment of cyclin D1 expression could serve as a useful predictor of radiotherapy outcome and assist in selecting an effective treatment modality.

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