• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.263-269
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• 2007

Chitosan is a depolymerized and partially deacetylated derivative of chitin. We investigated the cytotoxicity of chitosan in cancer cell lines, such as P388, L1210, HCT-15, SK-HepG-1 and mouse splenocytes as a normal cell by MTT assay. To clarify whether chitosan enhances cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs, we also examined the cytotoxicity of combined treatment with chitosan and anticancer drugs, such as cisplatin, mitomycin C, and 5-fluorouracil in cancer cell lines in vitro. Chitosan ($37.5\;{\mu}g/mL,\;75\;{\mu}g/mL,\;112.5\;{\mu}g/mL,\;and\;150\;{\mu}g/mL$) showed concentration-dependent cytotoxicity in the cancer cell lines. In addition, chitosan showed relatively lower cytotoxicity in normal cells than in the cancer cell lines. Particularly, this trend was significant at high doses of chitosan, i.e. $112.5\;{\mu}g/mL,\;and\;150\;{\mu}g/mL$. Thus, these results suggest that chitosan may selectively induce the growth inhibition in cancer cell lines, compared to normal cells. Furthermore. the co-treatment of chitosan and anticancer drugs exhibited an apparant synergistic cytotoxicity in murine lymphoma cell lines, i.e. P388 and L1210 at $37.5\;{\mu}g/mL$ of chitosan rather than at $75\;{\mu}g/mL$ of chitosan, but such phenomenon could not be observed in solid tumor cell lines, i.e. HCT-15 and SK-HepG-1. However, chitosan did'nt reduced the cytotoxicity against normal mouse splenocytes induced by anticancer drugs. Therefore, it is concluded that the combination of chitosan and anticancer drugs might be useful for the cancer chemotherapy.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2003

Recent studies indicated that cancer cells become resistant to ionizing radiation (IR) and chemotherapy drugs by enhanced DNA repair of the lesions. Therefore, it is expected to increase the killing of cancer cells and reduce drug resistance by inhibiting DNA repair pathways that tumor cells rely on to escape chemotherapy. There are a number of key human DNA repair pathways which depend on multimeric polypeptide activities. For example, Ku heterodimer regulatory DNA binding subunits (Ku70/Ku80) on binding to double strand DNA breaks (DSBs) are able to interact with 470-kDa DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs), and are essential for DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. It has been known that DNA-PK is an important factor for DNA repair and also is a sensor-transmitting damage signal to downstream targets, leading to cell cycles arrest. Our ultimate goal is to develop a treatment of breast tumors by targeting proteins involved in damage-signaling pathway and/or DNA repair. This would greatly facilitate tumor cell cytotoxic activity and programmed cell death through DNA damaging drug treatment. Therefore, we designed a domain of Ku80 mutants that binds to Ku70 but not DNA end binding activity and used the peptide in co-therapy strategy to see whether the targeted inhibition of DNA-PK activity sensitized breast cancer cells to irradiation or chemotherapy drug. We observed that the synthesized peptide (HNI-38) prevented DNA-PKcs from binding to Ku70/Ku80, thus resulting in inactivation of DNA-PK activity. Consequently, the peptide treated cells exhibited poor to no DNA repair, and became highly sensitive to IR or chemotherapy drugs, and the growth of breast cancer cells was inhibited. Additionally, the results obtained in the present study also support the physiological role of resistance of cancer cells to IR or chemotherapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.283-289
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• 1998

Purpose : This study was performed to analyze the efficacy of induction chemotherapy fellowed by radiation therapy in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer Materials and Methods : Eighty patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer treated from 1989 to 1995 at Pusan Paik hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Twenty-one patients were treated with induction chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy and Fifty-nine Patients were treated with radiation therapy alone. Chemotherapy regimen consisted of cisplatin-based combination (2 or 3 drugs). All patients were treated by Co-60 or 6 MV linear accelerators. Radiation dose ranged from 50 Gy to 80 Gy (median 64.8 Gy). We evaluated response rate, survival rate, and pattern of failure in both treatment groups. Results : Overall response rate in induction chemotherapy group and radiotherapy alone group were 48% and 45%, respectively. Of the 80 patients, 46 patients were evaluable for pattern of failure. Initial failure pattern in induction chemotherapy group was as follows: 8 (67%) at locoregional, 4 (33) in distant metastasis. Radiation alone group was 21 (71%) and 5 (29%), respectively. Results showed no difference of distant failure between induction chemotherapy group and radiation alone group. The 1 and 2 year survival rate in induction chemotherapy group were 43% and 14%, respectively and in radiotherapy alone group, 31% and 7%, respectively (p=0.135). Conclusion : In stage III non-small cell lung cancer, induction chemotherapy and radiation therapy showed increased tendency in survival with no statistical significance Induction chemotherapy seems to have no effect of decreasing distant failure and no survival advantage compared with radiotherapy alone.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.4855-4860
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• 2012

Since cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and there is an urgent need to find better treatment. In recent years remarkable progress has been made towards the understanding of proposed hallmarks of cancer development and treatment. Treatment modalities comprise radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and hormonal therapy. Currently, the use of chemotherapeutics remains the predominant option for clinical control. However, one of the major problems with successful cancer therapy using chemotherapeutics is that patients often do not respond or eventually develop resistance after initial treatment. This has led to the increased use of anticancer drugs developed from natural resources. The biodiversity of venoms and toxins makes them a unique source from which novel therapeutics may be developed. In this review, the anticancer potential of snake venom is discussed. Some of the included molecules are under clinical trial and may find application for anticancer drug development in the near future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.585-588
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• 2014

Colorectal cancer is one of the most prevalent diseases all over the world. Early screening and start of chemotherapy is effective in decreasing mortality. This type of cancer can be controlled to some extent via a healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables. Ginseng is a plant which has been consumed as a herbal medicine for thousands of years in Asian countries. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that this plant not only reduces the incidence of colorectal cancer, but also improves patient's status by enhancing the effects of chemotherapy drugs. However, further studies are needed to prove this relationship. We briefly review ginseng and its components such as ginsenosides reported anticancer effects and their mechanisms of action. Understanding these relationships may produce insights into chemical and pharmacological approaches for enhancing the chemo preventive effects of ginsenosides and for developing novel anticancer agents.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.293-301
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• 2019

Combination chemotherapy is more effective than mono-chemotherapy and is widely used in clinical practice for enhanced cancer treatment. In this study, we investigated the potential synergistic effects of acetaminophen, a common component in many cold medicines, and romidepsin, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, in the A549 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line. The combination of acetaminophen and romidepsin also exerted significant cytotoxicity and apoptosis induced by activation of caspase-3 on tumor cells in vitro. Moreover, combination therapy significantly induced increased production of chemokines that stimulate migration of activated T-cells into tumor cells. This mechanism can lead to active T-cell mediated anti-tumor immunity in addition to the direct cytotoxic chemotherapeutic effect. Activated T-cells led to enhanced cytotoxicity in drug-treated A549 cells through interaction with tumor cells. These results suggested that the interaction between the two drugs is synergistic and significant. In conclusion, our data showed that the use of romidepsin and low concentrations acetaminophen could induce effective anti-tumor effects via enhanced tumor immune and direct cytotoxic chemotherapeutic responses. The combination of acetaminophen with romidepsin should be considered as a promising strategy for the treatment of lung cancer.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.87-93
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• 1982

Two cases of pulmonary disease in a 54 year-old female and a 70 year-old male patient due to Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex(MAIC) and a case of pulmonary infection ina 69 year-old male patient due to M. fortuitum(MF) were found recently in this institute. All three patients had a long history of anti-tuberculous chemotherapy because they were initially diagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis. A 70 year-old male patient infected with MAIC had an unsuccessful chemotherapy history of isoniazid(INH), para-aminosalicylic acid(PAS) and streptomycin(SM) with an incomplete, temporary, symptomatic improvement, for three years since 1964 when he was first diagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis on physical examination. A 54 year-old female patient infected with MAIC also had an unsuccessful chemotherapy history with the various anti-tuberculous drugs since 1958. Both patients discharged large number of MAIC in their sputum specimens for at least more than one year, but no M. tuberculosis at all. A 69 year-old male patient infected with MF was diagnosed as moderately advanced pulmonary tuberculsis in 1977. Combined chemotherapy with INH+PAS+pyrazinamide(PZA) improved his clinical symptoms, however, his chest radiograph was deteriorated again in 1980 one year after he stopped therapy. Therefore he started chemotherapy again with INH+ethionamide(TH)+cycloserine(CS) but no improvement was noticed. MF was cultured from his sputum in August 1981 and he continuously discharged the same bacilli until last examination of January 1982. Whether all three patients were initially !infected with nontuberculous mycobacteria or complicated with predisposing tuberculosis was not clear because there were no reliable bacteriological examination records.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1381-1387
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• 2001

Objective : Endodermal sinus tumor or yolk sac tumor is an uncommon malignant germ-cell neoplasm. This tumor was originally described as a germ cell tumor of the ovary or the testis. Intracranial endodermal sinus tumor is extremely rare and usually develop in the pineal or suprasellar regions. The authors evaluated the effect of adjuvant therapy(chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy) and radical removal of intracranial endodermal sinus tumors. Material and Methods : Between 1996 and 2001, four patients of intracranial endodermal sinus tumor were diagnosed with tumor marker(AFP) and biopsy. Three patients were treated with surgical removal and chemotherapy with cisplatin($20mg/m^2$), etoposide($100mg/m^2$) and bleomycin($15mg/m^2$) as well as external beam radiation therapy. We compared the management problems for these tumors. Result : In all three patients the tumor size and the level of tumor marker decresed during initial adjuvant therapy. However, Tumors showed regrowth with elevated AFP of serum and CSF possibly related to delayed chemotherapeutic treatment or inadequate administration of chemotherapeutic drugs due to severe bone marrow suppression. An additional chemotherapy and external radiation therapy were given, but tumors could not be controlled with leptomeningeal seeding. Conclusion : Radiotherapy is considered to be less effective. The combination chemotherapy with PVB(cisplatin, vinblastine, bleomycine) or PE(cisplatin, etoposide) is considered to be value in prolongation of the survival rate. But the role of chemotherapy in this tumor has not yet been clarified due to bone marrow suppression and drug resistance. Further study with large series of this tumor is necessary to establish the optimal management.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 2002

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of nausea, vomiting, anorexia, fatigue and quality of life as well as to determine the relationship between those variables and identify the influencing factors on fatigue and quality of life in stomach cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Method: Subjects were 94 stomach cancer patients undergoing postoperational chemotherapy in a general hospital in Seoul. Nausea and vomiting were measured with Rhodes et al(1984) and anorexia with one 5-point item. Fatigue was measured using Lee's tool(1999) except open questions. The tool for quality of life was modified based on the Quality of Life Index by Padilla et al(1983). Result: Subjects reported low level of fatigue(mean=3.86, range=0-10) compared with the results of previous researches and moderate quality of life(mean=2.64, range=1-4). Fatigue was positively correlated with nausea, vomiting and anorexia(r=.21 ~ .55, p<.05). Quality of life was negatively correlated with nausea, vomiting, anorexia(r= -.24 ~ -.45, p<.05) and fatigue (r=-.61, p<.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that activity level, vomiting before admission, anorexia during chemotherapy and age explained 52.8% of the variance in fatigue. Fatigue, anorexia before admission, age and sex explained 50.5% of the variance in quality of life. Fatigue and quality of life were not influenced by the stage of disease, nor weight change. Conclusion: These results may contribute to a better understanding of how much the side effects of anticancer drugs can affect fatigue and quality of life in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Also it is the remarkable fact that symptoms remaining after discharge such as vomiting or anorexia continued until re-admission, contributing to patients fatigue and lowered their quality of life.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3447-3450
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• 2015

Objective: To explore the sensitivity of gastric cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs in elderly patients and its correlation with cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in cancer tissue. Materials and Methods: Forty-three elderly patients with gastric cancer (observation group) and 31 young patients with gastrointestinal tumors (control group) who were all diagnosed by pathology and underwent surgery in the 89th Hospital of Chinese People's Liberation Army were selected. Drug sensitivity testing of tumor cells in primary culture was carried out in both groups using a methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) method, and the expression of COX-2 and the factors related to multi-drug resistance (MDR) in cancer tissue were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Results: The inhibition rates (IR) of vincristine (VCR), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), oxaliplatin (L-OHP), mitomycin (MMC) and epirubicin (eADM) on tumor cells in the observation group were dramatically lower than in the control group, with statistical significance (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The positive rates of COX-2, glutathione s-transferase-${\pi}$ (GST-${\pi}$) and P glycoprotein (P-gp) expression in cancer tissue in the observation group were all higher than in control group (P<0.05), while that of DNA topoisomerase $II{\alpha}$ ($TopoII{\alpha}$) expression lower than in the control group (P<0.01). In the observation group, COX-2 expression in cancer tissue had a significantly-positive correlation with GST-${\pi}$ and P-gp (r=0.855, P=0.000; r=0.240, P=0.026), but a negative correlation with $TopoII{\alpha}$ (r=-0.328, P=0.002). In the control group, COX-2 expression in cancer tissue was only correlated with P-gp positively (r=0.320, P=0.011). Bivariate correlation analysis displayed that COX-2 expression in cancer tissue in the observation group had a significantly-negative correlation with the IRs of 5-FU, L-OHP, paclitaxel (PTX) and eADM in tumor cells (r=-0.723, P=0.000; r=-0.570, P=0.000; r=-0.919, P=0.000; r=-0.781, P=0.000), but with hydroxycamptothecine (HCPT), VCR and 5-FU in the control group (r=-0.915, P=0.000; r=-0.890, P=0.000; r=-0.949, P=0.000). Conclusions: Gastric cancer cells in elderly patients feature stronger MDR, which may be related to high COX-2 expression.