Charles W. Boone

Spectroscopic detection and evaluation of morphologic and biochemical changes in early human oral carcinoma

Understanding the development and progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is key in the quest for the early diagnosis and prevention of this type of malignancy. The current study correlated early biochemical and histologic changes in oral tissue with spectral features in fluorescence, reflectance, and light scattering spectra acquired in vivo to diagnose early stages of oral malignancies.

Cellular organization and substructure measured using angle-resolved low-coherence interferometry.

We measure the organization and substructure of HT29 epithelial cells in a monolayer using angle-resolved low-coherence interferometry. This new technique probes cellular structure by measuring scattered light, as in flow cytometry, but offers an advantage in that the structure can be examined in situ, avoiding the need to disrupt the cell monolayer. We determine the size distribution of the cell nuclei by fitting measured light-scattering spectra to the predictions of Mie theory. In addition, we obtain information about the cellular organization and substructure by examining the spatial correlations within the monolayer. A remarkable finding is that the spatial correlations over small length scales take the form of an inverse power law, indicating the fractal nature of the packing of the subcellular structures. We also identify spatial correlations on a scale large compared with the size of a cell, indicating an overlying order within the monolayer.

Progress in cancer chemoprevention.

ABSTRACT More than 40 promising agents and agent combinations are being evaluated clinically as chemopreventive drugs for major cancer targets. A few have been in vanguard, large‐scale intervention trials‐for example, the studies of tamoxifen and fenretinide in breast, 13‐cis‐retinoic acid in head and neck, vitamin E and selenium in prostate, and calcium in colon. These and other agents are currently in phase II chemoprevention trials to establish the scope of their chemopreventive efficacy and to develop intermediate biomarkers as surrogate end points for cancer incidence in future studies. In this group are fenretinide, 2‐difluoromethylornithine, and oltipraz. Nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatories (NSAID) are also in this group because of their colon cancer chemopreventive effects in clinical intervention, epidemiological, and animal studies. New agents are continually considered for development as chemopreventive drugs. Preventive strategies with antiandrogens are evolving for prostate cancer. Anti‐inflammatories that selectively inhibit inducible cyclooxygenase (COX)‐2 are being investigated in colon as alternatives to the NSAID, which inhibit both COX‐1 and COX‐2 and derive their toxicity from COX‐1 inhibition. Newer retinoids with reduced toxicity, increased efficacy, or both (e.g., 9‐cis‐retinoic acid) are being investigated. Promising chemopreventive drugs are also being developed from dietary substances (e.g., green and black tea polyphenols, soy isoflavones, curcumin, phenethyl isothiocyanate, sulforaphane, lycopene, indole‐3‐carbinol, perillyl alcohol). Basic and translational research necessary to progress in chemopreventive agent development includes, for example, (1) molecular and genomic biomarkers that can be used for risk assessment and as surrogate end points in clinical studies, (2) animal carcinogenesis models that mimic human disease (including transgenic and gene knockout mice), and (3) novel agent treatment regimens (e.g., local delivery to cancer targets, agent combinations, and pharmacodynamically guided dosing).

Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer: Concepts and Strategies

Chemoprevention is the administration of agents to prevent induction and inhibit or delay progression of cancers. For prostate, as for other cancer targets, successful chemopreventive strategies require well-characterized agents, suitable cohorts, and reliable intermediate biomarkers of cancer for evaluating chemopreventive efficacy. Agent requirements are experimental or epidemiological data showing chemopreventive efficacy, safety on chronic administration, and a mechanistic rationale for the observed chemopreventive activity. On this basis, promising chemopreventive drugs in prostate include retinoids, antiandrogens, antiestrogens, steroid aromatase inhibitors, 5α-reductase inhibitors, vitamins D and E, selenium, lycopene, and 2-difluoromethylornithine. Phase II trials are critical for evaluating chemopreventive efficacy. Cohorts in these trials should be suitable for measuring the chemopreventive activity of the agent and the intermediate biomarkers chosen as endpoints. Many cohorts proposed for phase II trials are patients with previous cancers or premalignant lesions. For such patients, trials should be conducted within the context of standard treatment. Two cohorts currently used in phase II prostate cancer chemoprevention trials are patients with PIN and patients scheduled for prostate cancer surgery. Biomarkers should fit expected biological mechanisms, be assayed reliably and quantitatively, measured easily, and correlate to decreased cancer incidence. Protocols for adequately sampling tissue are essential. Changes in PIN provide prostate biomarkers with the ability to be quantified and a high correlation to cancer. PIN measurements include nuclear polymorphism, nucleolar size and number of nucleoli/nuclei, and DNA ploidy. Other potentially useful biomarkers are associated with cellular proliferation kinetics (e.g. PCNA and apoptosis), differentiation (e.g. blood group antigens, vimentin), genetic damage (e.g. LOH on chromosome 8), signal transduction (e.g. TGFα, TGFβ, IGF-I, c-erbB-2 expression), angiogenesis, and biochemical changes (e.g. PSA levels).

Measuring cellular structure at submicrometer scale with light scattering spectroscopy

We present a novel instrument for imaging the angular distributions of light backscattered by biological cells and tissues. The intensities in different regions of the image are due to scatterers of different sizes. We exploit this to study scattering from particles smaller than the wavelength of light used, even when they are mixed with larger particles. We show that the scattering from subcellular structure in both normal and cancerous human cells is best fitted to inverse power-law distributions for the sizes of the scattering objects, and propose that the distribution of scattering objects may be different in normal versus cancerous cells.

Risk biomarkers and current strategies for cancer chemoprevention.

Quantifiable, well‐characterized cancer risk factors demonstrate the need for chemoprevention and define cohorts for chemopreventive intervention. For chemoprevention, the important cancer risk factors are those that can be measured quantitatively in the subject at risk. These factors, called risk biomarkers, can be used to identify cohorts for chemoprevention. Those modulated by chemopreventive agents may also be used as endpoints in chemoprevention studies. Generally, the risk biomarkers fit into categories based on those previously defined by Hulka: 1) carcinogen exposure, 2) carcinogen exposure/effect, 3) genetic predisposition, 4) intermediate biomarkers of cancer, and 5) previous cancers.

Screening for chemopreventive (anticarcinogenic) compounds in rodents

The Chemoprevention Branch is testing dozens of candidate chemopreventive compounds in the following rodent model carcinogenesis systems: mouse skin papillomas, DMBA/TPA induced, rat mammary adenocarcinoma, DMBA and MNU induced, hamster tracheal squamous cell carcinoma, MNU induced, and lung adenocarcinoma, DEN induced, rat and mouse colon adenocarcinoma, AOM and MAM acetate induced, respectively, and mouse bladder carcinoma, hydroxy BBN induced. Significant chemopreventive (i.e., anticancer) effects have been produced with 4-hydroxy-phenylretinamide, difluoromethylornithine, piroxicam, oltipraz (a dithiolthione), calcium glucarate, N-acetylcysteine, beta-carotene, ibuprofen, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and a 16-fluoro DHEA analog, 8354, tamoxifen, glycyrrhetinic acid, molybdate, selenite, curcumin, and fumaric acid.

Prospective grading of neoplastic change in rat esophagus epithelium using angle-resolved low-coherence interferometry

Angle-resolved low-coherence interferometry (a/LCI) is used to obtain quantitative, depth-resolved nuclear morphology measurements. We compare the average diameter and texture of cell nuclei in rat esophagus epithelial tissue to grading criteria established in a previous a/LCI study to prospectively grade neoplastic progression. We exploit the depth resolution of a/LCI to exclusively examine the basal layer of the epithelium, approximately 50 to 100 microm beneath the tissue surface, without the need for exogenous contrast agents, tissue sectioning, or fixation. The results of two studies are presented that compare the performance of two a/LCI modalities. Overall, the combined studies show 91% sensitivity and 97% specificity for detecting dysplasia, using histopathology as the standard. In addition, the studies enable the effects of dietary chemopreventive agents, difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) and curcumin, to be assessed by observing modulation in the incidence of neoplastic change. We demonstrate that a/LCI is highly effective for monitoring neoplastic change and can be applied to assessing the efficacy of chemopreventive agents in the rat esophagus.

Virus Augmentation of The Antigenicity of Tumor Cell

Publisher Summary The membranes of tumor cells actively infected with the virus exhibit augmented immunogenicity. Many animal tumor cells possess tumor-associated transplantation antigen (TATA) on their surface membrane; their immunogenicity is lost when the tumor cells are disrupted. This chapter discusses the enhanced immunogenicity of tumor cell extracts. Infection of tumor cells with a lytic virus that induces viral cell-surface antigens augment the TATA activity of the tumor cell homogenate or oncolysate. The mechanism of virus augmentation operates through the hosts immune system. Positive results in immunoprophylaxis and immunotherapy with virus-augmented TATA in animal model systems lead to the initiation of several attempts at immunotherapy with virus-augmented TATA in human cancer patients. In addition, virus-augmented crude membrane extracts of cultured human tumor cells elicit enhanced delayed hypersensitivity skin tests without any loss of skin test specificity. The augmented immunogenicity of virus-infected tumor cell extracts is evaluated by animal model studies, immunotherapy of human cancer, and immunodiagnosis of human cancer with virus-augmented skin test antigens.

Separation of mammalian cells using programmed gradient sedimentation

Abstract A method is described for the sterile separation of viable, mammalian cells on density gradients of Ficoll in tissue culture medium. The gradients are contained in cylindrical tubes which are centrifuged at low speed at 4.0°C. A computer program is described which permits the rapid determination (during an experiment) of the optimal conditions (Ficoll concentration, gradient slope, and speed and duration of centrifugation) for obtaining the widest possible separation of cell types. The described method theoretically permits separation of cells which differ from each other by as little as one micron in diameter or 0.010 gm/ml in density. Experimental verification of the computer predicted cell sedimentation behavior is presented.