The influence of long-term treadmill exercise on bone mass and articular cartilage in ovariectomized rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Loss of bone quality and deterioration of articular cartilage are commonly seen after menopause. While exercise may protect against tissue degeneration, a clear link has yet to be established. The aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of long-term treadmill exercise on changes in bone mass and articular cartilage in ovariectomized rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups: ovariectomized (OVX), ovariectomized plus treadmill exercise (OVX-RUN), treadmill exercise alone (RUN), and control (CON) groups. After 36 weeks, the following variables were compared among the 4 groups. Bone mass was evaluated by trabecular bone volume and bone mineral density (BMD). Articular cartilage in the knee joints was evaluated by histology analysis and a modified Mankin score.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Rats in the ovariectomized groups (OVX and OVX-RUN) had significantly lower BMD and bone mass than the non-ovariectomized rats (CON and RUN), indicating that exercise did little to preserve bone mass. However, the sedentary OVX group had a significantly worse modified Mankin score (7.7 ± 1.4) than the OVX-RUN group (4.8 ± 1.0), whose scores did not differ significantly from the other 2 non-operated groups. The articular cartilage in the sedentary OVX rats was relatively thinner, hypocellular, and had more clefts than in the other 3 groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that long-term exercise protects articular cartilage in OVX rats but does not retard the loss of bone mass seen in after menopause.</p

NF-κB: a new player in angiostatic therapy

Angiogenesis is considered a promising target in the treatment of cancer. Most of the angiogenesis inhibitors in late-stage clinical testing or approved for the treatment of cancer act indirectly on endothelial cells. They either neutralize angiogenic growth factors from the circulation or block the signaling pathways activated by these growth factors. Another group of angiogenesis inhibitors are the direct angiostatic compounds. These agents have a direct effect on the endothelium, affecting cellular regulatory pathways, independently of the tumor cells. The reason that this category of agents is lagging behind regarding their translation to the clinic may be the lack of sufficient knowledge on the mechanism of action of these compounds. The transcription factor NF-κB has been recently connected with multiple aspects of angiogenesis. In addition, several recent studies report that angiogenesis inhibition is associated to NF-κB activation. This is of special interest since in tumor cells NF-κB activation has been associated to inhibition of apoptosis and currently novel treatment strategies are being developed based on inhibition of NF-κB. The paradigm that systemic NF-κB inhibition can serve as an anti-cancer strategy, therefore, might need to be re-evaluated. Based on recent data, it might be speculated that NF-κB activation, when performed specifically in endothelial cells, could be an efficient strategy for the treatment of cancer

Is increased time to diagnosis and treatment in symptomatic cancer associated with poorer outcomes?:Systematic review

background: It is unclear whether more timely cancer diagnosis brings favourable outcomes, with much of the previous evidence, in some cancers, being equivocal. We set out to determine whether there is an association between time to diagnosis, treatment and clinical outcomes, across all cancers for symptomatic presentations. methods: Systematic review of the literature and narrative synthesis. results: We included 177 articles reporting 209 studies. These studies varied in study design, the time intervals assessed and the outcomes reported. Study quality was variable, with a small number of higher-quality studies. Heterogeneity precluded definitive findings. The cancers with more reports of an association between shorter times to diagnosis and more favourable outcomes were breast, colorectal, head and neck, testicular and melanoma. conclusions: This is the first review encompassing many cancer types, and we have demonstrated those cancers in which more evidence of an association between shorter times to diagnosis and more favourable outcomes exists, and where it is lacking. We believe that it is reasonable to assume that efforts to expedite the diagnosis of symptomatic cancer are likely to have benefits for patients in terms of improved survival, earlier-stage diagnosis and improved quality of life, although these benefits vary between cancers

The C-Reactive Protein to Albumin Ratio as a Predictor of Severe Side Effects of Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Stage III Colorectal Cancer Patients

Background/Aims: Adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) has been reported to improve the prognosis for patients with Stage III colorectal cancer (CRC). However, some patients experience severe side effects and must stop AC. The C-reactive protein (CRP) to albumin ratio (CAR) is a novel inflammation- based score that could reflect the patient\u27s general condition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of the CAR for side effects of AC in CRC. Methods: A total of 136 CRC patients who received AC were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were subdivided into two groups by the CAR level (CAR ?0.1, n = 30; CD < 0.1, n = 106). Results: The presence of lymphatic invasion, severe side effects, and discontinuation of AC were associated with high CAR levels (p = 0.02, <0.01, and 0.02; respectively). High levels of the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS) and the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) appeared to be associated with the CAR (p = 0.04, p<0.01; respectively). Multivariate analysis identified CAR?0.1 (HR: 7.06, 95% CI: 2.51±19.88, p<0.01) as a significant determinant of severe side effects of AC. CAR had the highest area under the curve (0.79) among several inflammation- based scores. Conclusion: The present study showed that the CAR is a novel and promising inflammation-based score for ? grade 3 side effects of AC in node-positive CRC