COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients with Cancer

Patients with cancer are concerned about the effects of the COVID-19 vaccination. We conducted an online survey on the COVID-19 vaccination status and side effects among patients with cancer in Japan between 8 and 14 August 2021. We included 1182 female patients with cancer aged 20–70 years and registered on an online patient website. Of the patients, 944 had breast cancer, 216 had gynecological cancer, 798 were undergoing drug/radiation therapy, and 370 were in follow-up. At the time of the survey, 885 patients had already received at least one dose. Of these, 580 had also received their second dose. The incidence rate of side effects was equivalent to previous reports. In patients with breast cancer, problems such as the onset or worsening of lymphedema or axillary lymphadenopathy metastasis requiring differential diagnosis were encountered following vaccination. A total of 768 patients were concerned about the vaccine at some point, and 726 consulted with their attending physicians about the timing or side effects of the vaccination. Of the 110 patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy, 75 adjusted the timing of the vaccination based on their therapy. The cross-analysis revealed that 81% of those who consulted their physician had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination compared with 65% of those who had not consulted their physician. Consulting with a physician about the COVID-19 vaccination was found to alleviate the concerns of patients with cancer and encourage them to get vaccinated

Galectin 3 regulates HCC cell invasion by RhoA and MLCK activation

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) carries a poor prognosis with no effective treatment available other than liver transplantation for selected patients. Vascular invasion of HCC is one of the most important negative predictor of survival. As the regulation of invasion of HCC cells is not well understood, our aim was to study the mechanisms by which galectin 3, a β-galactosidase binding lectin mediates HCC cell migration. HCC was induced by N-diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in wild type and galectin 3(−/−) mice, and tumor formation, histology, and tumor cell invasion were assessed. The galectin 3(−/−) mice developed significantly smaller tumor burden with a less invasive phenotype than the wild type animals. Galectin 3 was upregulated in the wild type HCC tumor tissue, but not in the surrounding parenchyma. Galectin 3 expression in HCC was induced by NF-κB transactivation as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. In vitro studies assessed the pro-migratory effects of galectin 3. The migration of hepatoma cells was significantly decreased after transfection by the galectin 3 siRNA and also after using the Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632. The reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, RhoA GTP ase activity and the phosphorylation of MLC2 were decreased in the galectin 3 siRNA-transfected cells. In addition, in vitro and in vivo evidence showed that galectin 3 deficiency reduced hepatoma cell proliferation and increased their apoptosis rate. In conclusion, galectin 3 is an important lectin that is induced in HCC cells, and promotes hepatoma cell motility and invasion by an autocrine pathway. Targeting galectin 3 therefore could be an important novel treatment strategy to halt disease progression