Patients were eligible if they had been enrolled at diagnosis in the HR-NBL1/SIOPEN trial, had completed the multidrug induction regimen (cisplatin, carboplatin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and etoposide, with or without topotecan, vincristine, and doxorubicin), had achieved a disease response that fulfilled prespecified criteria, had received high-dose therapy (busulfan and melphalan or carboplatin, etoposide, and melphalan) and had received radiotherapy to the primary tumour site.
The mutation of codon 12 and 13, located in exon1 and exon 2 of k-RAS gene were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DAN sequencing in tumor samples of the included 45 NSCLC patients.
Depending on three major morphologic phenotypes of tumor cell xenotransplants (ductal (YAPC), ductal/solid (DAN-G, CAPAN-1), solid (PANC-1, MIA PaCa-2)), a decrease of CK7/CK19 was found, accompanied by an increase of CK8/18 and vimentin.
It belongs to a novel family of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) antagonists that includes the head-inducing factor Cerberus and the tumour suppressor DAN.
When DAN-transfected neuroblastoma cells were treated with a tumor promoter phorbol ester, TPA, neurite-like processes appeared within 2 h whereas no apparent change was observed in the parent and vector-transfected cells up to 8 h. This suggests some difference in TPA-receptor, protein kinase C (PKC), between DAN-transfectants and the control cells.