• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.55-67
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• 2005

Cancer vaccine is an active immunotherapy to stimulate the immune system to mount a response against the tumor specific antigen. Working as a stimulant to the body's own immune system, cancer vaccines help the body recognize and destroy targeted cancers and may help to shrink advanced tumors. Research is currently underway to develop therapeutic cancer vaccines. It is also possible to develop prophylactic vaccines in the future. The whole cell approach to eradicate cancer has used whole cancer cells to make vaccine. In an early stage of this approach, whole cell lysate or a mixture of immunoadjuvant and inactivated cancer cells has been used. Improved vaccines are being developed that utilize cytokines or costimulatory molecules to mount an attack against cancer cells. In case of melanoma, these vaccines are expected to have a therapeutic effect of vaccine. Furthermore, it is attempting to treat stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer. Other vaccines are being developing that are peptide vaccine, recombinant vaccine and dendritic cell vaccine. Out of them, reintroduction of antigen-specific dendritic cells into patient and DNA vaccine are mostly being conducted. Currently, research and development efforts are underway to develop therapeutic cancer vaccine such as DNA vaccine for the treatment of multiple forms of cancers.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.101-104
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• 2002

Schwannoma of the stomach is a rare controversial neoplasm which requires extensive studies to clarify its nature as a stromal tumor or leiomyoma. We describe the pathologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural characteristics of schwannoma of the stomach in a 33-year-old woman. The tumor was a well-circumscribed submucosal mass located in the posterior wall of the midbody of the stomach. Microscopically, the cells were made up of fasciculating bundles of spindle cells featured with peripheral lymphoid cell cuffing. The tumor cells revealed a diffuse, strong immunoreactivity to S-100 protein and vimentin, but were negative to desmin and smooth muscle actin. They also had a focal positive reaction to glial fibrillary acidic protein. Ultrastructurally, many tumor cells showed a number of thin, elongated and interdigitating dendritic-cell-like processes, distinctly uniformed basal laminae, frequent cellular attachments, and microfilaments. These findings support the schwannian nature of the tumor.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.163-166
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• 2007

The cytotoxic effects of partially purified substances from Bacillus polylfermenticus SCD toward a variety tumor cell lines were studied. Cytotoxic activity was determined with regard to the A549 (human lung carcinoma), AGS (human stomach adenocarcinoma), DLD-1 (human colon adenocarcinoma), HEC-1-B (human uterus adenocarcinoma), SW-156 (human kidney carcinoma), and NIH/3T3 (murine normal fibroblast) cell lines using the MTT assay. Cytotoxic substances were partially purified through Diaion HP-20 columns and extracted with methanol or other organic solvents (n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, and butanol). B. polyfermenticus SCD supernatant showed up to 60% inhibition of cell viability fer all five human cancer cell lines tested. When treated with 10 mg/mL of n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, and butanol extract, HEC-1-B cells showed a 25,62,35, and 63% rate of inhibition respectively, and AGS cells showed a 72, 61, 44, and 67% rate of inhibition, respectively. At a concentration of 10 mg/mL, 100% methanol Diaion HP-20 extracts showed inhibition rates of 97.0% toward A-549 cells, 98.1% toward AGS cells, 81.6% toward DLD-1 cells, 83.5% toward HEC-1-B cells, and 92.7% toward SW-156 cells. These results indicate that partially purified fractions from B. polyfermenticus SCD have the potential to inhibit not only colon cancer cells, but also lung, stomach uterus, and kidney cancer cells. Further studies are needed to characterize the cytotoxic substances released in B. polyfermenticus SCD cultures.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.290-294
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• 2015

C-kit-negative gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are uncommon, and there have been few reports about the diagnosis and treatment of c-kit-negative GISTs in the stomach. We report the case of a patient who was diagnosed with a huge and atypical GIST in the stomach. The GIST was completely resected and finally diagnosed as c-kit-negative GIST based on immunohistochemical staining of tumor cells, which were negative for CD117 and CD34 and positive for Discovered on GIST-1 (DOG1). C-kit-negative GISTs could be treated by complete resection and/or imatinib, which is the same treatment for c-kit-positive GISTs.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.64-67
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• 2015

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) of the stomach are extremely rare in adults, and their oncologic prognosis is not well understood. We present a 28-year-old man with a proximal gastric IMT. The patient visited the emergency department of Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital with syncope and hematemesis. Hemoglobin levels were <5.5 g/dl. Gastric fibroscopy showed a protruding mass $4{\times}4cm$ in size, with central ulceration on the posterior wall of the fundus and diffuse wall thickening throughout the cardia and anterior wall of the upper body. Endoscopic biopsy revealed indeterminate spindle cells, along with inflammation. Given the risk of rebleeding, an operation was performed despite the uncertain diagnosis. Because the mass was circumferential, laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy and double-tract anastomosis were performed to ensure a safe resection margin. The pathological diagnosis was consistent with an IMT originating from the stomach, although the tumor was negative for anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene mutation.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.210-215
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• 2011

It is already known that high concentration of vitamin C induces apoptosis on tumor cells. However, there is no report regarding the function of vitamin C on the modulation of immune susceptibility of cancer. Therefore, we investigated whether vitamin C can modulate immune susceptibility of tumor cells, especially on the induction of Fas-mediated apoptosis. First, the optimal concentration of vitamin C, which cannot induce damages on tumor cells for 36 hrs. We found that 2 mM of vitamin C did not show harmful effect. In addition, the optimal concentration of agonistic anti-Fas Abs for 18 hrs was examined. As a result, 400 ng/ml of agonistic anti-Fas Abs did not induce apoptosis on tumor cells. Next, we tried to find the effect of 2 mM of vitamin C on the modulation of the susceptibility to agonistic anti-Fas Abs. When tumor cells were cultured with 400 ng/ml of agonistic anti-Fas Abs for 18 hrs, after pre-treatment with 2 mM of vitamin C for 24 hrs, viability of cells was decreased. Interestingly, we found that the expression of Fas (CD95) and MHC class I was increased by the treatment of vitamin C. Taken together, vitamin C increases the susceptibility of tumor cells to anti-Fas Abs and the expression of Fas (CD95) and MHC class I on tumor cells.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.273-280
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• 1999

This is a report of gastric metastases secondary from a primary small cell carcinoma of the lung in two men. Blood-borne metastatic involvement of the stomach by cancer is a rare entity. According to the reports in the literature the prevalence of metastasis to the stomach occurs in 0.4% and the most common cell type of the primary lung carcinoma is large cell type(3.7%) followed by adenocarcinoma(2.4%), small cell carcinoma(1.7%) and squamous cell carcinoma(0.7%). The most common tumors that spread to the stomach through the blood stream are malignant melanoma, breast carcinoma and lung carcinoma. Most of the gastrointestinal tract metastases had no specific symptoms because of its submucosal involvement. The prognosis was poor and the mean survival period from the onset of symptoms was 49 days. The first patient was a 56-year-old man who had primary lung carcinoma with brain metastasis. Gastroscopic findings showed two elevated mass lesions in the anterior wall of the mid body with central ulcer and the posterior wall of the fundus with intact surface mucosa. Pathologic examination of stomach tissue revealed small cell type tumor cells infiltrate in the stomach wall segmentally without destruction of the glands. The second patient was a 67-year-old man who had no other evidence of the distant metastasis. Gastroscopic findings showed a huge, oval shaped, ulcerofungating mass with deep penetrating central ulcer coated with dirty exudate in the anterior wall from mid to upper body of the stomach, and thickened elevated rugal folds in the posterior wall of the fundus. Pathologic examination of stomach tissues revealed the small cell type tumor cells showing small smudged nucleus infiltrate into the mucosa of the stomach and the architecture of mucosa intact. We report the two cases of metastatic gastric cancer from the primary small cell lung carcinoma with the literature review.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.501-509
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• 2016

Shikonin, which derives from Lithospermum erythrorhizon, has been traditionally used against a variety of diseases, including cancer, in Eastern Asia. Here we determined that shikonin inhibits proliferation of gastric cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. Shikonin's biological activity was validated by observing cell viability, caspase 3 activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and apoptotic marker expressions in AGS stomach cancer cells. The concentration range of shikonin was 35-250 nM with the incubation time of 6 h. Protein levels of Nrf2 and p53 were evaluated by western blotting and confirmed by real-time PCR. Our results revealed that shikonin induced the generation of ROS as well as caspase 3-dependent apoptosis. c-Jun-N-terminal kinases (JNK) activity was significantly elevated in shikonin-treated cells, thereby linking JNK to apoptosis. Furthermore, our results revealed that shikonin induced p53 expression but repressed Nrf2 expression. Moreover, our results suggested that there may be a co-regulation between p53 and Nrf2, in which transfection with siNrf2 induced the p53 expression. We demonstrated for the first time that shikonin activated cell apoptosis in AGS cells via caspase 3- and JNK-dependent pathways, as well as through the p53-Nrf2 mediated signal pathway. Our study validates in partly the contribution of shikonin as a new therapeutic approaches/agent for cancer chemotherapy.

• CELLMED
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.9.1-9.10
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• 2013

In traditional systems of medicine including homeopathy, the Condurango extract (Con) is often used to cure stomach cancer mainly, without having any scientific validation of its anti-cancer ability. Con has therefore been tested against non-small-cell lung cancer cells (NSCLC) A549 and NCI-H522 (H522) known to contain the KRAS mutation, making them resistant to most chemotherapeutic agents. As cancer cells generally defy cytotoxicity developed by chemopreventive agents and escape cell death, any drug showing the capability of preferentially killing cancer cells through apoptosis is worth consideration for judicious application. A549 and H522 cells were exposed to $0.35{\mu}g/{\mu}l$ and $0.25{\mu}g/{\mu}l$ of Con, respectively, for 48 h and analysed based on various protocols associated with apoptosis and DNA damage, such as MTT assay to determine cell viability, LDH assay, DNA fragmentation assay, comet assay, and microscopical examinations of DNA binding fluorescence stains like DAPI, Hoechst 33258 and acridine orange/ethidium bromide to determine the extent of DNA damage made in drug-treated and untreated cells and the results compared. Changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and the generation of reactive oxygen species were also documented through standard techniques. Con killed almost 50% of the cancer cells but spared normal cells significantly. Fluorescence studies revealed increased DNA nick formation and depolarized membrane potentials after drug treatment in both cell types. Caspase-3 expression levels confirmed the apoptosis-inducing potential of Con in both the NSCLC lines. Thus, overall results suggest considerable anticancer potential of Con against NSCLC in vitro, validating its use against lung cancer by practitioners of traditional medicine including homeopathy.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.86-86
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• 2003

In a continuous effort to develop novel anticancer agents we newly synthesized and evaluated the antitumor activity of nucleoside analogues. One analogue, 4 - ［2-Chlor-6- (3-iodo- benzy lamino) -purin -9-yl］- 2,3-dihydroxy-cyclopentanecarbo xylic acid methylamide (LJ-331), has been shown to exert a potent inhibition of human cancer cell growth in vitro including human lung (A549), stomach (SNU-638) and leukemia (HL-60) cancer cells. Following mechanism of action study revealed that LJ - 331induces cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase in HL-60 cells and evokes apoptotic phenomena such as an increase in DNA ladder intensity and chromatin condensation by a dose- and time-dependent manner. LJ-331 also activated the caspase-3 activity in HL-60. This result suggests that the growth inhibition of human cancer cells by LJ-331 might be related to the cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis.