• BMB Reports
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2001

To investigate the mechanism of adriamycin (ADM) resistance in the ADM resistant subline PC-14/ADM, we examined the expressions of p-glycoprotein (P-gp), topoisomerase I (Topo I) and II (Topo II), glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs), tissue transglutaminase (t-TG), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and E-cadherin and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in PC-14 and PC-14/ADM cells. There was no change in the cellular levels of P-gp, Topo I, Topo II, and the two isoforms of GSTs. However, SOD activity in PC-14/ADM cells was 2.38 fold higher than that in PC-14 cells. A marked induction of the t-TG expression was also observed in PC-14/ADM cells. In addition to those changes, expressions of EGFR and E-cadherin were down regulated in PC-14/ADM cells. Therefore, molecular modifications such as an increase in SOD activity, induction of the t-TG expression, and down regulation of EGFR and E-cadherin expressions may play important roles in PC-14/ADM cells during the development of ADM resistance.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.997-1000
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• 2015

Esophageal cancer represents the fourth most common gastrointestinal cancer and generally confers a poor prognosis. Prostaglandin-producing cyclo-oxygenase has been implicated in the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer growth. Here we report that prostaglandin dehydrogenase, the major enzyme responsible for prostaglandin degradation, is significantly reduced in expression in esophageal cancer in comparison to normal esophageal tissue. Reconstitution of PGDH expression in esophageal cancer cells suppresses cancer cell growth, at least in part through preventing cell proliferation and promoting cell apoptosis. The tumor suppressive role of PGDH applies equally to both squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, which enriches our understanding of the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer and may provide an important therapeutic target.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6761-6763
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• 2015

Aims: To investigate the role of swelling anesthesia in repairing facial soft tissue defects after tumor resection and temporal superficial artery frontal branch of narrow pedicle flap. Materials and Methods: From January 2008 to June 2008, 16 patients from Department of Ophthalmology with eye or eyelid tumors after eyeball removal of eye and part resection of surrounding soft tissue, undergoing postoperative swelling anesthesia with superficial temporal artery flap repair to prevent facial soft tissue defect formation and bone exposure, were recruited. Results: In all 16 patients facial soft tissue defect repair had good effects, with limited bleeding, and short operation times. Seven days after surgery, all flaps were in good repair. On postoperative follow-up after 3 months, flaps showed a similar appearance as with facial tissue. Conclusions: Swelling anesthesia for superficial temporoparietal artery frontal branch of narrow pedicle flap to repair soft tissue defect after facial tumor resection is feasible, and is linked with good analgesic effects, high postoperative survival of skin flaps, and good cosmetic effects.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6549-6556
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• 2013

Leukemia stem cells (LSCs) play important roles in leukemia initiation, progression and relapse, and thus represent a critical target for therapeutic intervention. Hence, it is extremely urgent to explore new therapeutic strategies directly targeting LSCs for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) therapy. We show here that Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP), a major active component in Dong quai (Chinese Angelica sinensis), effectively inhibited human AML $CD34^+CD38^-$ cell proliferation in vitro culture in a dose-dependent manner while sparing normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells at physiologically achievable concentrations. Furthermore, ASP exerted cytotoxic effects on AML K562 cells, especially LSC-enriched $CD34^+CD38^-$ cells. Colony formation assays further showed that ASP significantly suppressed the formation of colonies derived from AML $CD34^+CD38^-$ cells but not those from normal $CD34^+CD38^-$ cells. Examination of the underlying mechanisms revealed that ASP induced $CD34^+CD38^-$ cell senescence, which was strongly associated with a series of characteristic events, including up-regulation of p53, p16, p21, and Rb genes and changes of related cell cycle regulation proteins P16, P21, cyclin E and CDK4, telomere end attrition as well as repression of telomerase activity. On the basis of these findings, we propose that ASP represents a potentially important agent for leukemia stem cell-targeted therapy.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2021

Background Reconstruction after removal of a malignant tumor in the head and neck region is crucial for restoring tissue integrity, function, and aesthetics. We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent intraoral reconstruction surgery using radial forearm free flaps (RFFF) and anterolateral thigh free flaps (ALT) at a single institution to provide more information supporting the choice of a reconstruction method after removal of head and neck cancer. Methods The charts of 708 patients who underwent head and neck reconstruction between 1998 and 2018 at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. Patients' age, sex, and history of radiation therapy, diabetes mellitus, and smoking were retrieved. The primary cancer site, types of defects, and complications were investigated. Results Overall, 473 and 95 patients underwent reconstruction surgery with RFFF and ALT, respectively. RFFF was more often used in patients with cancers of the pharynx, larynx, esophagus, or tonsil, while ALT was more frequently used in patients with cancers of the mouth floor with tonsil or tongue involvement. The proportion of patients undergoing ALT increased gradually. Flap failure and donor site morbidities did not show significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions RFFF and ALT flaps resulted in similar outcomes in terms of flap survival and donor site morbidity. ALT can be an option for head and neck reconstruction surgery in patients with large and complex defects or for young patients who want to hide their donor site scars.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.7-17
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• 2014

Objectives: Condurango is widely used in various systems of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) against oesophageal and stomach ailments including certain types of cancer. However, until now no systematic study has been conducted to verify its efficacy and dose with proper experimental support. Therefore, we examined if ethanolic extract of Condurango could ameliorate benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)-induced lung cancer in rats, in vivo to validate its use as traditional medicine. Methods: Fifteen male and 15 female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were treated with 0.28 mg/kg of Sweet Bee Venom (SBV) (high-dosage group) and the same numbers of male and female SD rats were treated with 0.2 mL/kg of normal saline (control group) for 13 weeks. We selected five male and five female SD rats from the high-dosage group and the same numbers of male and female SD rats from the control group, and we observed these rats for four weeks. We conducted body-weight measurements, ophthalmic examinations, urinalyses and hematology, biochemistry, histology tests. Results: A histological study revealed gradual progress in lung tissue-repair activity in Condurango-fed cancer-bearing rats, showing gradual tissue recovery after three months of drug administration. Condurango has the capacity to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which may contribute to a reduction in anti-oxidative activity and to an induction of oxidative stress-mediated cancer cell-death. Condurango-activated pro-apoptotic genes (Bax, caspase-3, caspase-9, p53, cytochrome-c, apaf-1, ICAD and PARP) and down-regulated antiapoptotic-Bcl-2 expression were noted both at mRNA and protein levels. Studies on caspase-3 activation and PARP cleavage by western blot analysis revealed that Condurango induced apoptosis through a caspase-3-dependent pathway. Conclusion: The anticancer efficacy of an ethanolic extract of Condurango for treating BaP-induced lung cancer in rats lends support for its use in various traditional systems of medicine.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.513-517
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• 2015

Background: Growing evidence suggests that the members of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) are important for tumorigenesis. HERC4, one component, is a recently identified ubiqutin ligase. However, the expression level and function role of HERC4 in lung cancer remain unknown. Our objective was to investigate any correlation between HERC4 and development of lung cancer and its clinical significance. Materials and Methods: To determine HERC4 expression in lung cancer, an immunohistochemistry analysis of a tissue microarray containing samples of 10 lung normal tissues, 15 pulmonary neuroendocrine carcinomas, 45 squamous epithelial cancers and 50 adenocarcinomas was conducted. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to obtain a cut-off point of 52.5%, above which the expression of HERC4 was regarded as "positive". Results: On the basis of ROC curve analysis, positive expression of HERC4 was detected in 0/10 (0.0%) of lung normal tissues, in 4/15 (26.7%) of pulmonary neuroendocrine carcinomas, in 13/45 (28.9%) of squamous epithelial cancers and in 19/50 (38.0%) of adenocarcinomas. It showed that lung tumors expressed more HERC4 protein than adjacent normal tissues (${\chi}^2$=4.675, p=0.031). Furthermore, HERC4 positive expression had positive correlation with pT status (${\chi}^2$=44.894, p=0.000), pN status (${\chi}^2$=43.628, p=0.000), histological grade (${\chi}^2$=7.083, p=0.029) and clinical stage (${\chi}^2$=72.484, p=0.000), but not age (${\chi}^2$=0.910, p=0.340). Conclusions: Our analysis suggested that HERC4 is likely to be a diagnostic biomarker for lung cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.2987-2991
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• 2014

Connexin 43 is an important gap junction protein in vertebrates and is known for its tumor suppressive properties. Cx43 is abundantly expressed in the human intestinal epithelial cells and muscularis mucosae. To explore the role of Cx43 in the genesis of human colon cancer, we performed the expression analysis of Cx43 in 80 cases of histopathologically confirmed and clinically diagnosed human colon cancer samples and adjacent control tissue and assessed correlations with clinicopathological variables. Western blotting using anti-Cx43 antibody indicated that the expression of Cx43 was significantly down regulated (75%) in the cancer samples as compared to the adjacent control samples. Moreover, immunohistochemical analysis of the tissue samples confirmed the down regulation of the Cx43 in the intestinal epithelial cells. Cx43 down regulation showed significant association (p<0.05) with the histological type and tumor invasion properties of the cancer. Our data demonstrated that loss of Cx43 may be an important event in colon carcinogenesis and tumor progression, providing significant insights about the tumor suppressive properties of the Cx43 and its potential as a diagnostic marker for colon cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1349-1353
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• 2015

Background: Cervical cancer (CeCa) is the second most common cancer in women in developing countries, and human papilloma virus (HPV) is the primary etiological factor. Aberrant expression of HOX transcription factors has been observed in several types of cancer. To date, however, no reports exist on the expression of HOXB2 and HOXB13 proteins during neoplastic progression in CeCa and its correlation with HPV infection. Materials and Methods: Expression of HOXB2 and HOXB13 proteins was assessed in tissue microarrays from normal cervical epithelium, cervical intraepithelial neoplasias grade 1-3, and CeCa. HPV was detected by PCR and sequencing. Expression of HOX-positive cells was determined in each diagnostic group. Results: Percentage of HOXB2- and HOXB13-positive cells gradually increased from means of 10.9% and 16.7%, respectively, in samples from healthy women, to 75.2% and 88.6% in those from CeCa patients. Frequency of HPV infection also increased from 13% in healthy tissue samples to 92.3% in CeCa. Both HOXB2 and HOXB13 proteins were preferentially expressed in HPV+ samples. Conclusions: The present study represents the first report on the expression of both HOXB2 and HOXB13 proteins through cervix tumorigenesis, providing evidence that increased expression of such proteins is a common event during progression to CeCa.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.645-649
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• 2013

Objective: The prognostic role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in bladder cancer remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to explore any association between overexpression and survival outcomes. Methods: We systematically searched for studies investigating the relationships between VEGF expression and outcome of bladder cancer patients. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. After careful review, survival data were extracted from eligible studies. A meta-analysis was performed to generate combined hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS). Results: A total of 1,285 patients from 11 studies were included in the analysis. Our results showed that tissue VEGF overexpression in patients with bladder cancer was associated with poor prognosis in terms of OS (HR, 1.843; 95% CI, 1.231-2.759; P = 0.003), DFS (HR, 1.498; 95% CI, 1.255-1.787; P = 0.000) and DSS (HR, 1.562; 95% CI, 0.996-1.00; P = 0.052), though the difference for DSS was not statistically significant. In addition, there was no evidence of publication bias as suggested by Begg's and Egger's tests except for DFS (Begg's test, P = 0.221; Egger's test, P = 0.018). Conclusion: The present meta-analysis indicated elevated VEGF expression to be associated with a poor prognosis in patients with bladder cancer.