Although newer combined modality approaches, including neoadjuvant cytotoxic chemotherapy, for patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA) of the head and neck have produced high initial complete response rates, they have not improved overall survival for patients with advanced disease. Vitamin A plays an essential role in the normal differentiation of epithelial tissues. Retinoids, analogs of...

OBJECTIVE Intimal smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are dedifferentiated SMCs that have a powerful ability to proliferate and migrate. This cell-type is responsible for the development of intimal hyperplasia after vascular angioplasty. Retinoids, especially all-trans retinoid acid, are known to regulate many processes activated at sites of vascular injury, including modulation of SMC phenotype and inh...

Two melanoma cell lines, each derived from a different patient with metastatic disease, were very similar in their ap pearance, their growth characteristics, and their tendency to differentiate and to pigment in culture as they become con fluent. These lines, UCT-Mel 1 and UCT-Mel 2, were used to study the effects of retinoic acid and other derivatives of vitamin A. When added to UCT-Mel 1 cell...

The development of most glandular organs begins with the invagination of an existing epithelial sheet into the underlying mesenchyme. The primary bud thus generated subsequently undergoes a series of morphogenetic events that culminate in the formation of branching tubes (excretory ducts) and hollow spheres (follicles, alveoli or acini). A crucial step in the development of glandular units is l...