Efficacy and tolerability of toremifene and tamoxifen therapy in premenopausal patients with operable breast cancer: a retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND

Given the use of tamoxifen as standard treatment for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, the use of toremifene as an adjuvant endocrine therapy has not been widely examined. The present retrospective study compared the efficacy and safety of toremifene and tamoxifen in the treatment of operable hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in premenopausal women.

METHODS

Premenopausal patients with hormone receptor- positive operable breast cancer were eligible. Enrolled patients (n = 1847) received either 60 mg toremifene (n = 396) or 20 mg tamoxifen (n = 1451) daily for a minimum of 5 years after surgery. Disease-free survival (dfs) was the primary endpoint. Overall survival (os) and time to distant recurrence were secondary endpoints.

RESULTS

Treatment with toremifene and tamoxifen resulted in no between-group differences in dfs (p = 0.659) or os (p = 0.364). Mean dfs was 10.3 years for both groups. Mean os was 11.2 years for the toremifene group and 11.1 years for tamoxifen group. The 5-year dfs rate was 87.0% in the toremifene group and 85.0% in the tamoxifen group. The 5-year survival rate was 94.3% in the toremifene group and 93.5% in the tamoxifen group. Adverse events rates were similar in the two groups, with the exception of irregular menses, which occurred at a higher rate in the tamoxifen group than in the toremifene group (10.0% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.025).

CONCLUSIONS

In this retrospective study, the efficacy and safety profiles of toremifene and tamoxifen for the treatment of operable hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in premenopausal women were similar.

Role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha in the regulation of plasminogen activator activity in rat knee joint chondrocytes

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) on the plasminogen activator's (PA) activity and on the expression of components of PA system in articular chondrocytes of rats.

METHODS

Chondrocytes from rat knee joint cartilage were cultured under normoxic, hypoxic, CoCl(2) simulated hypoxic, and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)-stimulated conditions. siRNA targeting HIF-1alpha was transfected into cells cultured under hypoxic, simulated hypoxic, and IL-1beta-stimulated conditions to silence HIF-1alpha. PA activity was determined by the hydrolysis of the chromogenic substrate H-D-Val-Leu-Lys-pNA (S-2251). The mRNA levels were measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The intracellular/matrix-associate protein levels were detected by Western blot and the soluble protein levels were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) assay was performed to determine whether HIF-1alpha binds to the hypoxia response element (HRE) of target genes.

RESULTS

The enhancement of HIF-1alpha by CoCl(2) resulted in a decrease of PA activity, and the silence of HIF-1alpha by siRNA led to an increase of PA activity. The PA inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) mRNA and protein were increased by hypoxia or simulated hypoxia, which was reversed by the siRNA2-mediated silencing of HIF-1alpha. CHIP assay further confirmed that the induction of PAI-1 involved the binding of HIF-1alpha to the PAI-1 promoter, while the enhancement or silencing of HIF-1alpha did not affect the expression of urokinase type PA (uPA), tissue type PA (tPA) or uPA receptor (uPAR). Additionally, IL-1beta stimulated both HIF-1alpha and PAI-1 in articular chondrocytes, and the IL-1beta-mediated induction of PAI-1 was inhibited partly by HIF-1alpha silencing.

CONCLUSION

HIF-1alpha may inhibit the PA activity through stimulating the expression of PAI-1 in normal articular chondrocytes. The inhibition of HIF-1alpha in the PA activity of articular chondrocytes probably plays an important role in the maintenance of articular cartilage matrix.

Surface tension of liquid ternary Fe-Cu-Mo alloys measured by electromagnetic levitation oscillating drop method

For the liquid Fe-Cu-Mo ternary system, the surface tensions of three selected alloys, i.e., three typical monotectic alloys, were measured by the electromagnetic levitation oscillating drop method over a broad temperature range, including both superheated and undercooled states. The maximum undercooling attained is up to 173 K. The experimental results show a good linear correlation between the surface tension and the temperature. By applying on the Butler equation, the surface tensions were also calculated and they are in good agreement with the measured ones, except that in the undercooled state, the calculated value is slightly larger than the measured results. Interestingly, both the measured and calculated results indicate that the enriched element on the droplet surface is much more conspicuous than other elements in influencing the surface tension. Besides, the viscosity and the density of the liquid Fe-Cu-Mo ternary alloys are also derived on the grounds of the experimentally measured surface tensions.

[Effects of surface pattern of polymers on adhesion characteristics of transformed human embryonic tendon cells]

Effects of surface pattern of polymers on adhesion characteristics of transformed human embryonic tendon cells (THETCs) have been examined by using a micropipette aspiration technique, which is a cellular mechanical method. The results showed that the adhesion characteristics of THETCs depend on the surface pattern of polymers, and the adhesion force of THETCs to porous films is higher than that to non-porous films and fibers. The adhesion force bears relationships with the aperture of porous films and has a stronger dependence on the large aperture (150-500 microns) than on the small aperture (< 150 microns) of porous films. The adhesion force of THETCs to fibers is increased slightly with the diameter of fibers (P > 0.05). These demonstrate that the tissue-engineered tendon scaffolds made of porous polymer foam with specially designated aperture, or of polymer fiber with specially designated diameter, may serve as a good attachment substrate for THETCs.

[A study on adhesive properties of transformed human embryonic tendon cells to PLA and PLGA]

To study the adhesive properties of transformed human embryonic tendon cells (THETCs) to polylactic acid(PLA) and polylactic-co-glycolic acid 85/15 (PLGA 85/15), the adhesive mechanical properties of single THETCs to PLA films (average thickness 18.6 microns) and PLGA 85/15 films (average thickness 17.3 microns) were measured by means of micropipet aspirating technique. The rsults showed that the attachment rate and adhesive force for two polymer groups(PLA precoated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and PLGA 85/15 precoated with BSA) were significantly lower than those for two control groups(PLA and PLGA 85/15), respectively, while the attachment rate and adhesive force for other two polymer groups (PLA precoated with poly-D-lysine (PDL) and PLGA 85/15 precoated with PDL) were significantly higher than those for two control groups, respectively, and that the adhesive properties of THETCs to PLGA 85/15 films were better than those of THETCs to PLA films. These demonstrate that BSA can inhibit THETCs attachment to polymer, and PDL can promote THETCs attachment to polymer, and suggest that PLGA 85/15 films were better than those of THETCs to PLA films. These demonstrate that BSA can inhibit THETCs attachment to polymer, and PDL can promote THETCs attachment to polymer, and suggest that PLGA 85/15 coated with PDL may be used as a new type attachment substrate for THETCs.

[A new viscoelastic model for granulocytes]

In this paper, a new viscoelastic model for granulocytes was introduced. The stress was placed on the theory and its experimental results of three-parameter viscous model with micropipette aspirating technique. The small deformation of single rat granulocyte into the micropipette was analyzed by the model. Within the small deformation, the fit of the experiment data using the three-parameter viscous model was more satisfactory than that using the standard solid model, and the former suggested that cytoplasm of granulocyte was treated as a liquid rather than a solid.

[Interaction of cell adhesion to materials in tissue engineering]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the adhesive interactions of cells with materials and the effects of material properties on cell adhesion in tissue engineering.

METHODS

By looking up the recent literatures dealt with adhesive interactions of cells with materials and reviewing previous work on the adhesion of tissue-derived cells to materials.

RESULTS

The adhesion characteristics of cells to materials not only depend on the nature of materials, including bulk and surface properties, surface modification, surface morphology, net charge, porosity and degradation rate, but also on the expression of cell surface molecules and their interaction with the material.

CONCLUSION

The quantitative measure and biophysical mechanisms of cell adhesion to materials might be very important in tissue engineering.

[The recent advances in the study of tissue engineering tendon]

This paper reviewed the main achievements in the research on tissue engineering tendon, focusing on major problems concerning the substitute for extracellular matrix (ECM) of tendon, biological characteristics of tendon cells, and tendon cells compounding with ECM substitute. It was concluded the important problems in the study of the tissue engineering having specific reparative functions could be: to prepare the ECM materials suitable for the tendon cells to attach, grow, and function; to establish the tendon cell line whose growth, proliferation, and immunological antigenicity could be modulated and controlled, and simulating the mechanical environment of tendon in vivo, to adopt three-dimensional tendon cell culture method.

[The prognostic significance of regular bone marrow aspirations during induction chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia]

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the prognostic significance of regular aspirations during induction chemotherapy in acute myeloid leukemia.

METHODS

Regular bone marrow aspirations were performed during the first course of induction chemotherapy in 96 cases of de novo AML.

RESULTS

Complete remission (CR) rate after the first course in patients with < or = 0.10 bone marrow blasts at the 7th day on chemotherapy was higher than that in patients with > 0.10 blasts (64.6% vs 40.0%, P < 0.05). Prolonged the chemotherapy course for a few more days in the latter group of patients increased CR rate from 25.0% to 50.0%. CR rate in patients with < or = 0.10 bone marrow blasts at the nadir of white blood cell count after chemotherapy was higher than that in patients with > 0.10 blasts (66.0% vs 25.8%, P < 0.005), and the refractory cases were significantly fewer in the former group of patients (7.5% vs 45.2%, P < 0.005).

CONCLUSION

Regular bone marrow aspirations during induction chemotherapy were helpful in predicting the prognosis and guiding the treatment in AML.