Sarcoma of the Larynx: Treatment Results and Literature Review

BackgroundSarcomas of the larynx are rare neoplasms that constitute less than 1% of laryngeal malignancies. A Medline search found no large series focusing on laryngeal sarcomas. We reviewed the cases of laryngeal sarcomas treated in our cancer center and compared our experiences and treatment results with those from other centers.MethodsA retrospective review of 10 patients with laryngeal sarcoma treated in our institute between 1980 and 2000 was done to identify tumor characteristics, therapeutic modalities, and treatment outcomes.ResultsThe patients showed a male predominance (9/10) and presented 8 types of pathology. Nine patients underwent surgery, including 2 total laryngectomy, 4 partial laryngectomy, and 3 endoscopic laser cordectomy. During a median follow-up of 92 months, the 5-year overall survival and disease-specific survival were 76% and 90%, respectively. Two patients developed recurrence, including 1 local recurrence and 1 distant metastasis.ConclusionSurgical intervention was the first choice in the treatment of laryngeal sarcomas. The prognosis is relatively good when compared with sarcoma originating from other anatomic sites

Treatment selection for tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma

AbstractBackgroundThe optimal treatment for tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate long-term treatment outcomes of patients with tonsillar SCC, in order to aid in appropriate treatment selection.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective chart review of 105 patients with curatively treated tonsillar SCC between January 1996 and December 2005. Forty-three patients (41.0%) underwent primary surgery with or without adjuvant therapy (primary surgery group), and 62 patients (59.0%) were treated with radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy (RT/CRT, organ preservation group). Twenty patients (19%) received tumor tonsillectomy before definitive RT/CRT and were grouped into the organ preservation group.ResultsNo significant differences were observed between the primary surgery and organ preservation groups in terms of local control (p = 0.212), regional control (p = 0.684), distant metastasis (p = 0.627), 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS, p = 0.774), and overall survival rates (OS, p = 0.667). The rates of major complication (p = 0.216), long-term dependency on feeding tubes (p = 0.876), and tracheostomy (p = 0.401) were also similar. Advanced T classification (T3–4) was the only factor associated with significantly worse DSS (p = 0.007) and OS (p = 0.012). However, there was also no difference in final treatment outcomes in T3–4 patients regardless of whether they were treated with primary surgery or RT/CRT. In the organ preservation group, tumor tonsillectomy before RT/CRT did not improve local control (p = 0.520) or other treatment outcomes, including 5-year DSS (p = 0.707) and OS (p = 0.745).ConclusionBoth primary surgery and RT/CRT organ preservation are effective treatments for tonsillar SCC. Single modality treatment, either surgery or RT/CRT, can typically be provided for stage I–II diseases. Although RT/CRT organ preservation is used more frequently for stage III–IV tonsillar SCC in recent years, primary surgery combined with adjuvant therapy still achieves equivalent outcomes. Multidisciplinary pretreatment counseling and the facilities and personnel available are therefore important for decision-making. In addition, if RT/CRT organ preservation is selected as the primary treatment, tumor tonsillectomy is not indicated

Ligand-Activated Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor- Protects Against Ischemic Cerebral Infarction and Neuronal Apoptosis by 14-3-3 Upregulation

Thiazolidinediones (TZD) were reported to protect against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Their protective actions are considered to be PPAR-γ (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ)-dependent. However, it is unclear how PPAR-γ activation confers resistance to I/R

Assessment of the Effects of Surface Potential on the Kinetics of HEK293T Cell Adhesion Behavior Using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring

Cell adhesion plays a key role in biomaterial development. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) provide a convenient and versatile means of modifying surface properties to study how environmental cues affect the cell adhesion process. Serial ζ-potential surfaces can be realized by introducing various ratios of oppositely charged functional groups on a gold surface. A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) has advantages for examining real-time viscoelastic changes on surfaces. This surface-sensitive technique can be applied in cell adhesion studies to investigate the cell–surface interactions. In this work, HEK293T epithelial cells were used to examine the adhesion kinetics of semiadherent cells on NH₂–COOH binary SAM-modified surfaces with serial surface potential. Immunofluorescence staining was used to examine focal adhesion sites after a 4-h cell adhesion process. Combined with optical microscopy, QCM-D was used to record in situ and real-time viscoelastic and morphological changes. It was found that HEK293T cells were prone to spread and form more focal adhesion sites on surfaces with more positive charge (more NH₂ groups) but aggregated and remained highly mobile on surfaces with more negative charge (more COOH groups). On NH₂-rich surfaces, cells underwent three-phase kinetics during the adhesion process. Initially, cells adhered and spread quickly on the NH₂-rich surfaces with little or no extracellular matrix (ECM) by the attractive interaction between the positively charged amine groups and negatively charged cell membrane. The epithelial cells then shrank their filopodia in the second phase to normalize their size. In the final phase, cells underwent ECM remodeling and formed matured ECM. On COOH-rich surfaces, four phases were identified during the cell adhesion process. Initially, due to electrostatic repulsion between the negatively charged cell membrane and surfaces, direct cell adhesion and spreading were restricted. However, ECM was quickly deposited. In the second phase, cells adhered on and interacted with the surface through the ECM layer. In the third phase, cells underwent ECM remodeling, and additional ECM was deposited on the surfaces. Finally, instead of cell–surface interactions, the cells aggregated to form cell–cell junctions. In summary, the cell adhesion process shifted from direct cell–surface interaction to cell–ECM–surface interaction and cell–cell junctions when the surface potential shifted from positive to negative

Effect of Surface Potential on the Adhesion Behavior of NIH3T3 Cells Revealed by Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring (QCM-D)

Cell adhesion is crucial to cell behaviors including survival, growth, and differentiation. In recent years, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) has exhibited advantages in examining real-time viscoelastic changes of surface interactions. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are known for their convenience and versatility in modifying surfaces. A series of ζ-potentials can be obtained by introducing two functional groups of opposite charge to gold surfaces, namely, 6-amino-1-hexanethiol and 6-mercapto­hexanoic acid. In this work, NIH3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts were chosen for examining the cell–surface, extracellular matrix (ECM)–surface, and cell–ECM interactions of these binary SAM-modified surfaces of serial surface potentials. The effect of surface potential on focal adhesion was also characterized by immunofluorescence staining. Combining an optical microscope with the QCM-D system, in-situ and real-time cell morphology and corresponding viscoelastic changes were obtained in order to understand how the surface potential affected the cell adhesion process. After 4 h of the cell adhesion process, cells were also fixed and then dehydrated for scanning electron microscope observation. The morphological results indicated that cells were prone to spread on surfaces of more positive potential, while more negative potentials led to more cell movement on the surface. The QCM-D results indicated that with more positive charge on the surface, soft and elastic cell bodies can adhere to the surface with little or no ECM layer and spread more quickly owing to electrostatic attraction. The shift in resonant frequency and energy dissipation of the quartz substrate can be described using a film resonance model, and a single-phase adhesion process was observed. On the other hand, for surfaces of more negative potential, round cells were observed and behave similarly to coupled oscillators on the QCM-D sensor. Furthermore, three phases were observed during the cell adhesion process. Initially, round cells interact with the surface weakly with a point contact due to the repulsive interaction between negatively charged cell membranes and the surface. Because the higher magnitude of surface charge also promoted the adsorption of ECM proteins, a more rigid ECM layer was quickly deposited on the surface in the second phase of cell adhesion. Finally, cells then adhered on the surface through the ECM layer. In other words, the mechanism of cell adhesion changed from an electrostatic cell–surface interaction to a cell–ECM–surface composite

Assessment of the Effects of Surface Potential on the Kinetics of HEK293T Cell Adhesion Behavior Using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation Monitoring

Cell adhesion plays a key role in biomaterial development. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) provide a convenient and versatile means of modifying surface properties to study how environmental cues affect the cell adhesion process. Serial ζ-potential surfaces can be realized by introducing various ratios of oppositely charged functional groups on a gold surface. A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) has advantages for examining real-time viscoelastic changes on surfaces. This surface-sensitive technique can be applied in cell adhesion studies to investigate the cell–surface interactions. In this work, HEK293T epithelial cells were used to examine the adhesion kinetics of semiadherent cells on NH₂–COOH binary SAM-modified surfaces with serial surface potential. Immunofluorescence staining was used to examine focal adhesion sites after a 4-h cell adhesion process. Combined with optical microscopy, QCM-D was used to record in situ and real-time viscoelastic and morphological changes. It was found that HEK293T cells were prone to spread and form more focal adhesion sites on surfaces with more positive charge (more NH₂ groups) but aggregated and remained highly mobile on surfaces with more negative charge (more COOH groups). On NH₂-rich surfaces, cells underwent three-phase kinetics during the adhesion process. Initially, cells adhered and spread quickly on the NH₂-rich surfaces with little or no extracellular matrix (ECM) by the attractive interaction between the positively charged amine groups and negatively charged cell membrane. The epithelial cells then shrank their filopodia in the second phase to normalize their size. In the final phase, cells underwent ECM remodeling and formed matured ECM. On COOH-rich surfaces, four phases were identified during the cell adhesion process. Initially, due to electrostatic repulsion between the negatively charged cell membrane and surfaces, direct cell adhesion and spreading were restricted. However, ECM was quickly deposited. In the second phase, cells adhered on and interacted with the surface through the ECM layer. In the third phase, cells underwent ECM remodeling, and additional ECM was deposited on the surfaces. Finally, instead of cell–surface interactions, the cells aggregated to form cell–cell junctions. In summary, the cell adhesion process shifted from direct cell–surface interaction to cell–ECM–surface interaction and cell–cell junctions when the surface potential shifted from positive to negative

Cyclooxygenase-2 expression in oral precancerous and cancerous conditions and its inhibition by caffeic acid phenyl ester-enriched propolis in human oral epidermal carcinoma KB cells

Oral cancer accounts for 3-5% of all cancers worldwide. The present study was undertaken to investigate the correlation between overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and various grades of oral cancer, and to ascertain the inhibitory effect of propolis in the human oral carcinoma cell line. For ex vivo studies, 45 patients with oral submucous fibrosis (OSF; n=15), oral leukoplakia (OLP; n=18) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC; n=18) were recruited, and a biopsy was done to determine COX-2 protein expression by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC). For the in vitro study, COX-2 levels were measured in human oral epidermal carcinoma cell line by immune blotting and IHC. The results of ex vivo studies by Western blotting revealed that COX-2 protein levels were highly upregulated in OSCC tissue, followed by OLP and OSF. The levels of COX-2 expression also showed a positive correlation with the grade (severity) of each oral precancerous and cancerous condition. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed the presence of intense COX-2 staining in the cells of OSCC tissue, equivalent to the OLP and OSF specimens. In the in vitro study of oral carcinoma KB cells, Western blotting and IHC analysis showed that caffeic acid phenyl ester (CAPE)-rich propolis and celecoxib, a standard COX-2 inhibitor, markedly downregulated COX-2 expression. These results suggest that propolis exhibits a chemopreventive potential by lowering COX-2 expression in the oral carcinoma KB cell line. Hence, propolis might be used as an adjuvant therapy for treating oral cancer with standard chemotherapy drugs