Journal of Cancer Science & Therapy

OBJECTIVE: Ovarian cancer is a gynecological malignancy that has a high mortality rate in women due to metastatic progression and recurrence. miRNAs are small, endogenous, noncoding RNAs that function as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in various human cancers by selectively suppressing the expression of target genes. The objective of this study is to investigate the role of miR-203 in ovarian cancer. METHODS: miR-203 was expressed in ovarian cancer SKOV3 and OVCAR3 cells using lentiviral vector and cell proliferation, migration, invasion were examined using MTT, transwell and Matrigel assays, respectively...

OBJECTIVE: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a lethal disease with disappointing results from current treatment modalities, suggesting that novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Since microRNAs (miRNAs) are important player in biology, the clinical utility of miRNAs for designing novel therapeutics is an active area of research. The objective of the present study was to examine differentially expressed miRNAs between normal and tumor tissues, and in plasma samples obtained from PC patients, chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients and healthy subjects (HC)...

OBJECTIVES: LEC chemokine promotes TH1 responses and recruits immune cells to inflammatory sites. By linking LEC to an antibody targeting tumor necrosis, LEC/chTNT-3 can be used for the immunotherapeutic treatment of tumors. The primary objective of this study was to determine the safety profile of LEC/chTNT-3 and toceranib phosphate (Palladia(®)) combination therapy in dogs with spontaneous malignancies. Secondary purpose was to determine objective responses to treatment. METHODS: Twenty-three dogs with cancer were enrolled, covering nine different malignancies...

Substantial data from cell culture and animal studies evidence the preventive effect of statins, cholesterol lowering-drugs, in regulation of cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. Various clinical studies also support this correlation between use of statin and the reduction of cancer incidence. However, in some cases, statins have failed to decrease the risk of cancer. Since, instead of serum cholesterol, intracellular cholesterol may play a crucial role in the regulation of tumorigenesis and metastasis...

BACKGROUND: The cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) pathway has been implicated in the molecular pathogenesis of many malignancies, including lung cancer. Apricoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, has been described to inhibit epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human malignancies. The mechanism by which apricoxib may alter the tumor microenvironment by affecting EMT through other important signaling pathways is poorly defined. IL-27 has been shown to have anti-tumor activity and our recent study showed that IL-27 inhibited EMT through a STAT1 dominant pathway...

Glioma is a brain tumor that arises from glial cells or glial progenitor cells, and represents 80% of malignant brain tumor incidence in the United States. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive primary brain tumor malignancy with fewer than 8% of patients with GBM surviving for more than 3 years. Over the past 10 years, despite improvement in diagnosis and therapies for cancer, the survival rate for high-grade glioma patients remains dismal. The main focus of our research is to identify potent novel antiglioma small molecules...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the most challenging tumors to treat due to high proliferation rate, early metastatic dissemination and rapid development of chemotherapy resistance. The current treatment protocols involve the use of topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) poisons such as irinotecan and topotecan in combination with platinum-based compounds. TOP1 poisons kill cancer cells by trapping TOP1 on DNA, generating lethal DNA double-strand breaks. A potential mechanism employed by cancer cells to resist killing by TOP1 poisons is to overexpress enzymes involved in the repair of TOP1-DNA breaks...

BACKGROUND: Published data suggest that diabetes influences survival of patients with lung cancer. The anti-cancer effect of metformin confounds this association. We sought to study the association of diabetes and metformin with survival in patients undergoing resection of stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: Pathologic stage I NSCLC patients undergoing anatomic resection from 2002 to 2011 were studied. A diagnosis of diabetes and diabetic medication use were identified through records...

Breast cancer is leading cause of mortality among women, resulting in more than half a million deaths worldwide each year. Unfortunately, the recovery rate of advanced breast cancer by current available drug treatment is till unacceptably low. Chemotherapy is the main stay of cancer treatment and most of the drugs cause general toxicity to any non-proliferating cells, which can severely limit the therapeutic values of these drugs. Tetrahydroisoqinoline derivatives (THIQs) were identified as subtype selective estrogen receptor antagonists/agonists hence, potential therapeutic agents for breast cancer...

INTRODUCTION: Glucose is a simple sugar that plays an important role in energy production in biological systems. However, it has been linked to many long-term health problems including the risk of heart disease and stroke, erectile dysfunction in men and pregnancy complications in women, and damage to the kidneys, nerves, eye and vision. Also, the underlying mechanisms of diabetic complications are poorly understood. METHODS: In the present study, D-glucose-induced cytotoxic, genotoxic, and apoptotic effects were studied using MCF-7 cells as an in vitro test model...

Alternative remedies for cancer treatment is a multi-billion dollar industry. In particular, breast cancer (BC) patients use alternative and natural remedies more frequently than patients with other malignancies. Propolis is an example of a honeybee-produced naturopathic formulation, contents of which differ by geographic location. It is readily available, affordable, and in use safely since ancient times globally. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is a major active component in propolis and is thought to be responsible for its varied properties, including antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer...

Modification of the tumor microenvironment by inflammatory cells represents a newly recognized driving force in cancer with critical roles in tumor invasion, growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Increased thrombolytic cascade serine proteases, specifically urokinase-type plasminogen activator and its receptor, correlate with inflammatory cell migration, pancreatic cancer growth, invasion and unfavorable outcomes. Inflammation in pancreatic cancer is linked with myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) activity and cancer progression...

STUDY BACKGROUND: Studies on p-glycoprotein was carried out world vide with cell lines like Caco2, MDR1-LLC-PK1 and MDR1-MDCK in-vitro, but most of the results were failed to produce similar results in-vivo. In the present study curcumin inhibitory action on p-glycoprotein increased permeability of irinotecan, so in the colon cancer it would be beneficial if curcumin used as add on therapy. METHODS: Intra-rectal administered of N-Nitroso N-methyl urea (2 mg/Kg) induced colon cancer...

Angiogenesis is the process of neovascularization from parent blood vessels, which is a prerequisite for many physiological and pathological conditions and is regulated by a balance between endogenous angioinhibitors and angioactivators or angiogenic factors. Imbalance between angioinhibitors and angioactivators is associated with neovascularization capacity during progression of tumor development and Choroidal Neovascularization (CNV). Normalization of pathological angiogenesis is considered as an alternative strategy to prevent the tumor growth in cancer progression or retinal damage in CNV...

Cancer is comprised of a multitude of epigenetic abnormalities, including the global loss and regional gain of DNA methylation as well as alterations in histone methylation. Here, we characterize a new methyltransferase, SET domain-containing protein 4 (SETD4), which is involved in breast carcinogenesis. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) showed elevated expression levels of SETD4 in several breast cancer cell lines. SETD4 overexpression was confirmed by western blot analysis suggesting a correlation between high expression of SETD4 and a lack of the estrogen receptor (ER) in breast cancer...

Doxorubicin (Dox) is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents; however, it causes dose-dependent cardiotoxicity. Evaluation of left ventricular function relies on measurements based on M-mode echocardiography. A new technique based on quantification of myocardial motion and deformation, strain echocardiography, has been showed promising profile for early detection of cardiac dysfunction. Different therapy strategies, such as flavonoid plant extracts and stem cells, have been investigated to improve heart function in toxic cardiomyopathy...

Cisplatin is one of the most widely used anti-cancer drugs due to its ability to damage DNA and induce apoptosis. However, increasing reports of side effects and drug resistance indicate the limitation of cisplatin in cancer therapeutics. Recent studies showed that inhibition of gap junctions diminishes the cytotoxic effect and contributes to drug resistance. Therefore, identification of molecules that counteract gap junctional inhibition without decreasing the anti-cancer effect of cisplatin could be used in combinational treatment, potentiating cisplatin efficacy and preventing resistance...

The number of voxels with low signal intensity (Low DCE voxels) might be potentially related to treatment failure, which might be associated with the tumor oxygenation status. Our goal was to investigate whether at-risk voxels can be used to predict treatment outcome during radiation therapy for cervical cancer. 80 patients with Stage IB2-IVB cervical cancer were included. Four sequential MRI scans were performed at pre-RT, every 2-2.5 weeks during RT, and post-radiotherapy. 3D volumetric data including tumor regression and tumor perfusion from dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) were analyzed...

Bladder Cancer (BCa) is the most common malignancy arising from the urinary tract. One of the mainstays of diagnosis, staging, and therapeutic decision-making for BCa is accurate and appropriate imaging. The ability to identify metastatic disease preoperatively is of utmost importance in determining treatment. Advances in standard cross sectional imaging techniques like Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have improved imaging of bladder cancer. Over the last decade, 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) in combination with CT (18 F-FDG PET/CT) has become an important non-invasive imaging modality for the preoperative staging of various malignancies...

Breast Cancer Stem (BCS) cells play critical roles in self-renewal, Multi Drug Resistance (MDR), differentiation and generation of secondary tumors. Conventional chemotherapy may efficiently kill the bulk of differentiated drug sensitive breast cancer cells, but not the MDR self-renewable BCS cells, leading to enrichment of the MDR BCS cells. In order to target the MDR BCS cells, we have isolated: 1) BCS cells from either breast cancer cell lines or fresh breast cancer specimens; 2) ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter group G number 2 (ABCG2)-specific aptamers; and 3) BCS cell-binding aptamers...