• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.357-367
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• 2017

The study investigated information about the effects of message framing on colorectal cancer(CRC) screening related health beliefs and compliance with the CRC screening test within the theoretical framework of the prospect theory and the Health belief model (HBM). This study was using a non-randomized controlled quasi-experimental design. One hundred and sixty-four in the industrial workers who were currently nonadherent to guidelines for receiving screening were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: (a) gain-framed message, (b) loss-framed message, and (c) general-framed message. CRC screening-related health beliefs was self-reported after the intervention. And the immunoassay Fecal Occult Blood Test (iFOBT) kit was collected at 1 week. The research finding were analyzed by $x^2$ test and one-way ANOVA using SPSS 21.0. The loss-framed message group had higher perceived susceptibility, severity and benefit than the gain-framed message and general message. The participation rate for the immunoassay Fecal Occult Blood Test(iFOBT) was highest in the loss-framed message group. The loss framed messages more effective to enhance screening behavior. The present results provide a theoretical basis for developing educational guidelines for CRC testing and could be used for performing comprehensive approach by predicting and suggesting the practical effects according to message type in advance.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7149-7153
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• 2015

Background: Inflammation plays a major role in the development and progression of gastric and other gastrointestinal tumors. The IL-17 family of cytokines has been under investigation as targets of immunotherapy. Materials and Methods: We investigated the levels of IL-17A inflammatory cytokine in the sera of 57 patients with gastric cancer (GC) and 90 healthy age/sex matched controls using ELISA methods. Results: In only 5 (8.8%) of the patients' sera was IL-17A detectable. No IL-17A was apparent in the sera of healthy controls. The maximum concentration of IL-17A in patients was 7.004 pg/ml. Vascular and lymphatic invasions were only seen in one of the 5 positive cases. Although all of them were in the age group >60 years, no correlation was seen between age and IL-17A level. These results are somewhat different from our findings for colorectal cancer (CRC) in the same population. Conclusions: It is possible that the inflammopathology of CRC and GC are rather different, at least in Fars, a southern province of Iran.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1845-1849
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• 2014

Background: There is no standard treatment for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) progressing after irinotecan and oxaliplatin treatment. Here we aimed to retrospectively evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of raltitrexed in combination with oral 5-fluoropyrimidine (uracil tegafur-UFT) or mitomycin C as salvage therapy in mCRC patients. Materials and Methods: A total of 62 patients who had received raltitrexed combined with UFT or mitomycin C were identified between December 2008 and June 2013. They were given raltitrexed 2.6 $mg/m^2$ (max 5 mg) i.v. on day 1 in combination with either oral UFT 500 mg/day on days 1-14 every 3 weeks (group A) or mitomycin C 6 $mg/m^2$ i.v. on day every 3 weeks (group B). Results: Forty-two patients (67.7%) were in group A and 20 (32.2%) in group B. In 15 patients (24%) grade 3/4 toxicity was observed, resulting in dose reduction, and in 13 patients (20.9%) dose delay was necessary. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 3 months (95%CI 2.65-3.34) and median overall survival (OS) was 6 months (95%CI 2.09-9.90) in the whole group. Median PFS was 3 months (95%CI 2.60-3.39) in group A vs 3 months (95%CI 1.64-4.35) in group B (p=0.90). Median OS was 6 months (95%CI 2.47-9.53) in group A vs 12 months (95%CI 2.83-21.1) in group B (p=0.46). Conclusions: The combination of raltitrexed with UFT or mitomycin C seem to be a salvage therapy option due to safety profile and moderate clinical activity in heavily-pretreated mCRC patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3811-3815
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the worldwide disease which causes enormous losses every year. Recent studies suggested that environmental and gene factors might be the etiologies in increasing the risk of morbidity. Nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3) gene polymorphisms are said to be associated with CRC risk but the conclusion is still controversial. Materials and Methods: Pubmed and HuGENet databases up to December 2013 were used in this meta-analysis. Three different certain genotypic models were applied, namely dominant (AA+AC versus CC), recessive (AA versus AC+CC), per-allele analysis (A vs C). In addition, information on tumor sites and pathologic stages was collected. The strength of associations was assessed through combining odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Finally, five and three studies about the rs1799983 and rs2070744 were covered in the analysis with 2,745 cases and 2,478 controls. Three models were applied, but no significant association was found for NOS3 G894T/rs1799983 (dominant: OR=0.999, 95%CI=0.797-1.253, $I^2$=63.8%; recessive: OR=0.924, 95%CI=0.589-1.450, $I^2$=59.3%; allele analysis: OR=0.979, 95%CI=0.788-1.216, $I^2$=74.9%) and T-786C/rs2070744 (dominant: OR=1.138, 95%CI=0.846-1.530, $I^2$=67.9%; recessive: OR=0.956, 95%CI=0.708-1.291, $I^2$=0.0%; allele analysis: OR=1.110, 95%CI=0.865-1.425, $I^2$=69.4%). The same results were also obtained for tumor sites and pathologic stage subgroups. After further analyzing the NOS3 gene, rs1799983 as the tag- and functional SNP was presented. Conclusions: On the basis of this meta-analysis and the characteristics of the NOS3 gene, we suggested rs1799983 might be a key locus associated with CRC risk. Further prospective studies were needed to make more comprehensive explanation of the associations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1947-1959
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• 2016

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality, being the second most common type of cancer worldwide in both men and women. It accounts yearly for approximately 9% of all new cases of cancers. Furthermore, the current chemotherapeutic regimens seem unsatisfactory, so that exploration of novel therapeutic modalities is needed. The present study was undertaken to investigate the inhibitory effects of a crude alkaloid extract (CAERS) of a medicinal herb, Rhazya stricta, on proliferation of CRC HCT116 cells and to elucidate mechanisms of action. To achieve these aims, we utilized MTT, comet, DNA laddering and gene reporter assays, along with Western blot and RT-PCR analyses. Results: We found that CAERS inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptotic cell death in HCT116 cells. Hallmarks of morphological and biochemical signs of apoptosis were clearly evident. CAERS down-regulated DNA-binding and transcriptional activities of NF-${\kappa}B$ and AP-1 proteins, while up-regulating expression of the Nrf-2 protein. It also down-regulated expression levels of the ERK MAPK, Bcl-2, cyclin D1, CDK-4, survivin and VEGF and up-regulated levels of Bax, caspase-3/7 and -9, p53, p21, Nrf-2. Markedly, it promoted mRNA expression levels of cytoprotective genes including the hemeoxygenase-1, NAD(P)H quinine oxidoreductase 1 and UDP-glucuronyltransferase. Conclusions: These findings indicate that CAERS exerts antiproliferative action on CRC cells through induction of apoptotic mechanisms, and suggest CAERS could be a promising agent for studying and developing novel chemotherapeutic agents aimed at novel molecular targets for the treatment of CRC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8247-8252
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• 2016

Background: The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) degrades a variety of proteins which attach to specific signals. The ubiquitination pathway facilitates degradation of damaged proteins and regulates growth and stress responses. This pathway is altered in various cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and breast cancer. Recently it has been reported that expression of newly characterized human genes, UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2, putative members of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family (E2), has been also changed in colorectal cancer. Epigenetics is one of the fastest-growing areas of science and nowadays has become a central issue in biological studies of diseases. According to the lack of information about the role of epigenetic changes on gene expression profiling of UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2, and the presence of CpG islands in the promoter of these two human genes, we decided to evaluate the promoter methylation status of these genes as a first step. Materials and Methods: The promoter methylation status of UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2 was studied by methylation-specific PCR (MSP) in tumor samples of 60 colorectal cancer patients compared to adjacent normal tissues and 20 non-malignant controls. The frequency of the methylation for each gene was analyzed by chi-square method. Results: MSP results revealed that UBE2Q2 gene promoter were more unmethylated, while a higher level of methylated allele was observed for UBE2Q1 in tumor tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissues and the non malignant controls. Conclusions: UBE2Q1 and UBE2Q2 genes show different methylation profiles in CRC cases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5833-5837
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• 2013

Roles of the vitamin D receptor in etiology of cancers, including colorectal cancer, have been repeatedly stressed in different parts of the world. A case control study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the two was therefore initiated in Kashmir, known both for its increasing incidence of gastrointestinal cancers and deficiency of micro-nutrients especially vitamin D. The study included a total of 617 subjects (312 colorectal cancer cases and 305 controls), with sampling carried out over a period of 5 years. DNA samples from the blood of the subjects were analyzed for start codon Fok I VDR polymorphism. We obtained a 1.3 fold increased risk among individuals homozygous for f variants as compared to subjects homozygous for F allele (odds ratio OR 1.3, 95%CI, 0.861-1.65). Our study also showed statistically significant results when dwelling and tumor location characteristics were stratified with Fok I polymorphism, all of which suggests a possible role of Fok I polymorphism in the etiology of CRC in Kashmir.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4151-4155
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• 2013

Background: To compare response evaluation criteria in solid tumours (RECIST) and volumetric evaluation (VE) for colorectal cancer with liver-limited metastasis. Patients and Methods: VE of liver metastases was performed by manual contouring before and after chemotherapy on 45 pairs of computed tomography (CT) images in 36 patients who suffered from metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) with liver metastasis only. Cohen kappa was used to compare the agreement between VE and RECIST. Pearson correlation was performed for their comparison after cubic root transformation of the aggregate tumor volumes. Logistic regression was done to identify clinical and radiographic factors to account for the difference which may be predictive in overall response (OR). Results: There were 16 partial response (PR), 23 stable disease (SD) and 6 progressive disease (PD) cases with VE, and 14 PR, 23 SD and 8 PD with RECIST. VE demonstrated good agreement with RECIST (${\chi}$=0.779). Discordant objective responses were noted in 6 pairs of comparisons (13.3%). Pearson correlation also showed excellent correlation between VE and RECIST ($r^2$=0.966, p<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that VE was in slightly better agreement with RECIST for enlarging lesions than for shrinking lesions ($r^2$=0.935 and $r^2$=0.780 respectively). No factor was found predictive of the difference in OR between VE and RECIST. Conclusions: VE exhibited good agreement with RECIST. It might be more useful than RECIST in evaluation shrinking lesions in cases of numerous and conglomerate liver metastases.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.164-171
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• 2019

Radiation therapy has many side effects, such as digestive mucosal ulcers, without regard to its efficacy. The purpose of this study is to address an alternative method to replace the limitation of radiation therapy using radiomimetic microbial ribotoxins. In the evaluation of cancer therapy, we analyzed the formation of colorectal cancer (CRC) cell spheroids, which can take into account the heterogeneous cellular constitution, tumor stem cells, and the surrounding microenvironment. Ribotoxic stress interfered with the spheroid structure composed of relatively small clusters. Spheroids under ribotoxic stress were structurally sparse and their shrinkage was very slow. In the control group, the clusters of strongly aggregated cells were resistant to physical stress, but the ribotoxic stress-exposed spheroids were easily broken up by the physical stress. Moreover, the ribosome-insulted CRC cells slowly migrated to form clusters and the cell-cell junctional points in the ribosome-insulted spheroids were rarer than those in the control CRC spheroid. Moreover, levels of the cell-to-cell junctional protein E-cadherin were suppressed by ribotoxic stress in both allograft and xenograft spheroids. In conclusion, the radiomimetic microbial ribotoxins induced structural defects in CRC cell spheroids via retardation of migration and cell-cell junction in the formation of three-dimensional structures, and provides a basis for the mechanism of pharmacological radiomimetic anticancer actions as an alternate to radiotherapy against cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4839-4842
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• 2013

Aims and Background: To improve understanding of the relationship between schistosome-related enteropathy and colorectal carcinoma with particular focus on endoscopic findings and clinicopathological characteristics of colonic schistosomiasis. Materials and Methods: All cases of intestinal schistosomiasis diagnosed at West China Hospital, Chengdu, China, between October 2006 and October 2012 were included in this study. A total of 179 cases of colonic schistosomiasis diagnosed through colonoscopy and pathological examinations were collected for analysis and the demographics, symptoms, endoscopic findings and clinicopathological characteristics were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Of the 179 colonic schistosomiasis patients, 32 combined with colorectal cancer (CRC) were found, between the ages of 44 and 85 years (24 males, 75%). These 32 lesions were classified as 12 endophytic/ulcerative (37.5%), 10 exophytic/fungating (31.2%), 4 annular (12.5%), 3 giant polypus (9.4%), and 3 IIc (superficial depressed type) (9.4%). The segments of rectum and sigmoid colon were involved in 19 patients (59.4%) and 6 patients (18.8%), respectively. The histopathologic types were classified as follows: 30 welldifferentiated adenocarcinomas, one mucinous adenocarcinoma and one poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. The pathological findings suggest colorectal malignancy with deposited schistosome ova. Conclusions: Chronic schistosomal infestation has a probable etiological role in promoting genesis of colorectal neoplasms.