Cholesterol Lowering in Cancer Prevention and Therapy

The accumulation of cholesterol in cancer cells and tumor tissues promotes cell growth, proliferation, and migration as well as tumor progression. Cholesterol synthesis is catalyzed by a series of enzymatic reactions. Regulation of these key enzymes can control cholesterol synthesis and modulate cellular cholesterol levels in the cells. Meanwhile, controlling cholesterol transportation, absorption, and depletion could also significantly reduce cellular cholesterol levels. The current evidence supports that cholesterol lowering agents, beyond the expected cholesterol-lowering properties, also display an important anticancer activity in reducing cancer cell growth, proliferation and migration, and inducing apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells. Understanding the mechanisms of cholesterol metabolism and cholesterol lowering could potentially benefit cancer patients in cancer prevention and treatment

IJCEP1108001

Abstract: A diagnosis of lung cancer at its early stages is vital for improving the survival rate of patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a family of 19-to 25-nucleotide non-coding small RNAs, are frequently dysregulated in lung cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential of circulating miRNAs for early detection of lung cancer. We searched the published literature for the miRNA microarray data of primary lung cancer and selected 15 miRNAs that were most frequently up-regulated in lung cancer tissues. Total plasma RNA including miRNAs was isolated, polyadenylated and reverse-transcribed into cDNAs. The levels of miRNAs were determined by real-time RT-PCR in 74 lung cancer patients and 68 age-matched cancer-free controls. We found that the levels of miR-155, miR-197, and miR-182 in the plasma of lung cancer including stage I patients were significantly elevated compared with controls (P<0.001). The combination of these 3 miRNAs yielded 81.33% sensitivity and 86.76% specificity in discriminating lung cancer patients from controls. The levels of miR-155 and miR-197 were higher in the plasma from lung cancer patients with metastasis than in those without metastasis (P<0.05) and were significantly decreased in responsive patients during chemotherapy (P<0.001). These results indicate that miR-155, miR-197, and miR-182 can be potential non-invasive biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer