Improving Detection Accuracy of Lung Cancer Serum Proteomic Profiling via Two-Stage Training Process

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Surface-Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) is a frequently used technique for cancer biomarker research. The specificity of biomarkers detected by SELDI can be influenced by concomitant inflammation. This study aimed to increase detection accuracy using a two-stage analysis process.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sera from 118 lung cancer patients, 72 healthy individuals, and 31 patients with inflammatory disease were randomly divided into training and testing groups by 3:2 ratio. In the training group, the traditional method of using SELDI profile analysis to directly distinguish lung cancer patients from sera was used. The two-stage analysis of distinguishing the healthy people and non-healthy patients (1^st-stage) and then differentiating cancer patients from inflammatory disease patients (2^nd-stage) to minimize the influence of inflammation was validated in the test group.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the test group, the one-stage method had 87.2% sensitivity, 37.5% specificity, and 64.4% accuracy. The two-stage method had lower sensitivity (> 70.1%) but statistically higher specificity (80%) and accuracy (74.7%). The predominantly expressed protein peak at 11480 Da was the primary splitter regardless of one- or two-stage analysis. This peak was suspected to be SAA (Serum Amyloid A) due to the similar m/z countered around this area. This hypothesis was further tested using an SAA ELISA assay.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Inflammatory disease can severely interfere with the detection accuracy of SELDI profiles for lung cancer. Using a two-stage training process will improve the specificity and accuracy of detecting lung cancer.</p

Cost-utility analysis of adjuvant goserelin (Zoladex) and adjuvant chemotherapy in premenopausal women with breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increased health care costs have made it incumbent on health-care facilities and physicians to demonstrate both clinical and cost efficacy when recommending treatments. Though studies have examined the cost-effectiveness of adjuvant goserelin with radiotherapy for locally advanced prostate cancer, few have compared the cost-effectiveness of adjuvant goserelin to adjuvant chemotherapy alone in premenopausal breast cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this retrospective study at one hospital, the records of 152 patients with stage Ia to IIIa ER + breast cancer who received goserelin or chemotherapy were reviewed. Survival analysis was assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Patients were interviewed to evaluate their quality of life using the European Organization for Research and Treatment Quality of Life questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30, version 4.0), and to obtain the utility value by the standard gamble (SG) and visual scale (VS) methods. Total medical cost was assessed from the (National Health Insurance) NHI payer's perspective.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Survival at 11 years was significantly better in the groserelin group (<it>P </it>< 0.0012). The lifetime lost was lower in the goserelin group (42 months vs. 66 months). The quality adjusted survival (QAS) of patients who received goserelin was longer (122.5 ± 6.3 vs. 112.2 ± 6.7 months). Total expenses of goserelin were more than cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil (CMF) or 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide (FEC) chemotherapy regimes, but less than docetaxel, epirubicin (TE) or docetaxel, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide (TEC) regimes. The quality-adjusted life-year was higher in the goserelin group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Goserelin therapy results in better survival and higher utility-weighted life-years, and is more cost-effective than TC or TEC chemotherapy.</p

Inhibition of aqueous extracts of Solanum nigrum (AESN) on oral cancer through regulation of mitochondrial fission

The present study is designed to investigate the anti-oral cancer properties of Solanum nigrum on oral squamous cell carcinoma. S. nigrum is a Chinese herb used for suppression of various cancers. However, the inhibition of S. nigrum on oral cancer is unclear. Therefore, human oral squamous cancer cells (SCC)-4 were used to evaluate the effect of aqueous extracts of S. nigrum (AESN) on cancer cell proliferation, cell cycle, mitochondrial function and apoptosis. The SCC-4 cells were treated by AESN to evaluate the inhibition of cell proliferation and mitochondrial function in vitro. Our results suggested that AESN markedly increased reactive oxygen species production. AESN also promoted caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation and subsequent triggering of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. The inhibition of glucose uptake was alleviated mediated by a dose-dependent manner in SCC-4 cells with AESN treatment for 24 h, resulting in mitochondrial fission. These results suggested that AESN has potential to be used as a functional food in adjuvant chemotherapy for treating human oral cancer by suppression of mitochondrial function

Pardaxin Promoted Differentiation and Maturation of Leukemic Cells via Regulating TLR2/MyD88 Signal against Cell Proliferation

Objective. Leukemia is a cancer of the blood cells. Leukemic THP-1 and U937 cells were used in this study as monocytic effectors cells for proliferation responses and macrophage-like cells induction in leukemia. Pardaxin is an antimicrobial peptide isolated from the marine fish species. Methods. After treatment for 5 days, pardaxin significantly suppressed cell viability and arrested cell cycle at G0/G1 phase in leukemic cells which were evaluated. Results. Pardaxin also induced cell differentiation and maturation of THP-1 and U937 cells into macrophage-like cells with phagocytotic ability. Moreover, pardaxin elevated the expression of MyD88 but not toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 in both leukemic cells. TLR-2 blocking peptide was used to confirm that pardaxin attenuated phagocytotic ability and superoxide anion production in leukemic cells via activating MyD88 protein. Conclusions. These findings suggested that pardaxin has a therapeutic potential for leukemia

Paris Polyphylla Inhibits Colorectal Cancer Cells via Inducing Autophagy and Enhancing the Efficacy of Chemotherapeutic Drug Doxorubicin

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide and chemotherapy is the main approach for the treatment of advanced and recurrent cases. Developing an effective complementary therapy could help to improve tumor suppression efficiency and control adverse effects from chemotherapy. Paris polyphylla is a folk medicine for treating various forms of cancer, but its effect on colorectal cancer is largely unexplored. The aim of the present study is to investigate the tumor suppression efficacy and the mechanism of action of the ethanolic extract from P. polyphylla (EEPP) in DLD-1 human colorectal carcinoma cells and to evaluate its combined effect with chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin. The data indicated that EEPP induced DLD-1 cell death via the upregulation of the autophagy markers, without triggering p53- and caspase-3-dependent apoptosis. Moreover, EEPP treatment in combination with doxorubicin enhanced cytotoxicity in these tumor cells. Pennogenin 3-O-beta-chacotrioside and polyphyllin VI were isolated from EEPP and identified as the main candidate active components. Our results suggest that EEPP deserves further evaluation for development as complementary chemotherapy for colorectal cancer