Serum endostatin and bFGF as predictive factors in advanced breast cancer patients treated with letrozole

Diosgenin improves functional recovery from sciatic crushed nerve injury in rats

Peripheral nerve injuries are commonly encountered clinical problem and often result in chronic pain and severe functional deficit. Diosgenin is a plant steroidal saponin and has anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. In the present study, we investigated the effect of diosgenin on functional recovery following sciatic crushed nerve injury in rats. Walking track analysis for the functional recovery which can be quantified with the sciatic function index (SFI) was conducted. Immunohistochemistry for c-Fos in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) and paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and western blot for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthesis (iNOS) in the sciatic nerve were performed. The right sciatic nerve was crushed for 30 sec using a surgical clip. The animals in the diosgenin-treated groups received orally once a day at the respective doses for 7 consecutive days, starting one day after surgery. Sciatic crushed nerve injury showed characteristic gait changes showing decrease of SFI value. Diosgenin treatment increased the SFI value and suppressed nerve injury-induced c-Fos expression in the vlPAG and PVN. Diosgenin treatment inhibited nerve injury-induced increase of BDNF, TrkB, COX-2, and iNOS expressions. It is possible that diosgenin can be used as the new therapeutic agent for pain control and functional recovery following peripheral nerve injury.

The -553 T/A polymorphism in the promoter region of the FGF2 gene is associated with increased breast cancer risk in Polish women

INTRODUCTION

Fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) is an important signalling molecule contributing to angiogenesis, tumour growth and progression and its expression is implicated in breast cancer (BC) development. We investigated whether -553 T/A FGF2 gene polymorphism is associated with the risk and progression of BC in Polish women.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The -553 T/A polymorphism was genotyped in 230 breast cancer patients and 245 control subjects, using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) approach. Moreover, FastQuant human angiogenesis array was used to measure FGF2 levels in tumour (n = 127) and serum (n = 76) samples.

RESULTS

The T/A genotypes (OR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.20-3.74) (p = 0.08) and the combined heterozygotes T/A and homozygote A/A (OR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.24-3.83) (p = 0.006) had an increased risk of BC. The median FGF2 levels in the tumours of A allele carriers were significantly increased compared to T/T patients, whereas in serum FGF2 levels were hardly altered among different genotype carriers. Significantly higher frequency of A allele was found in patients with lymph node metastases (OR = 2.53; 95% CI: 1.23-5.17) (p = 0.009) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive tumour (OR = 3.22, 95% CI: 1.49-6.99) (p = 0.002). Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the A allele predicted worse disease-free survival (DFS) in BC patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows for the first time that the -553 T/A FGF2 gene polymorphism may be associated with a risk of BC developing and progression in Polish women and may have prognostic value for the assessment of BC high-risk groups.

Elevated serum endostatin levels are associated with poor survival in patients with advanced-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma

AIMS

To evaluate the prognostic value of serum endostatin levels in patients with advanced-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between August 2003 and March 2005, 218 patients with advanced-stage NPC were enrolled in this study, including 70 patients in the training cohort and 148 in the validation cohort. The pre-treatment serum endostatin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels were measured using competitive enzyme immunoassays. For the normal control, serums samples from 20 healthy individuals were also collected.

RESULTS

Serum endostatin levels in the patients with advanced-stage NPC were significantly higher than those of controls, but VEGF levels were similar in the two groups. Univariate analysis revealed significant differences between the high and low endostatin level groups regarding 5 year overall survival (63.9% versus 90.5%; P = 0.003), progression-free survival (PFS) (50.2% versus 79.3%; P = 0.003) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) (59.1% versus 85.3%; P = 0.01) in the training cohort. Using the same cut-off value generated from the training cohort, there were also significant unfavourable correlations between serum endostatin levels and overall survival (P = 0.001), PFS (P = 0.001) and DMFS (P = 0.002) in the second independent validation cohort. Multivariate analysis using the entire group (n = 218) revealed that the serum endostatin level was an independent unfavourable prognostic factor for overall survival (hazard ratio 4.8; 95% confidence interval 2.48-9.23; P < 0.0001), PFS (hazard ratio 3.44; 95% confidence interval 2.06-5.74; P < 0.0001) and DMFS (hazard ratio 3.65; 95% confidence interval 1.92-6.94; P < 0.0001) in patients with advanced-stage NPC. No associations were observed between the outcomes and the serum VEGF levels in patients with advanced-stage NPC.

CONCLUSIONS

High endostatin levels are associated with poor survival and this knowledge may improve the risk stratification of patients with advanced-stage NPC.

An evolutionary explanation for the perturbation of the dynamics of metastatic tumors induced by surgery and acute inflammation

Surgery has contributed to unveil a tumor behavior that is difficult to reconcile with the models of tumorigenesis based on gradualism. The postsurgical patterns of progression include unexpected features such as distant interactions and variable rhythms. The underlying evidence can be summarized as follows: (1) the resection of the primary tumor is able to accelerate the evolution of micrometastasis in early stages, and (2) the outcome is transiently opposed in advanced tumors. The objective of this paper is to give some insight into tumorigenesis and surgery-related effects, by applying the concepts of the evolutionary theory in those tumor behaviors that gompertzian and tissular-centered models are unable to explain. According to this view, tumors are the consequence of natural selection operating at the somatic level, which is the basic mechanism of tumorigenesis, notwithstanding the complementary role of the intrinsic constrictions of complex networks. A tumor is a complicated phenomenon that entails growth, evolution and development simultaneously. So, an evo-devo perspective can explain how and why tumor subclones are able to translate competition from a metabolic level into neoangiogenesis and the immune response. The paper proposes that distant interactions are an extension of the ecological events at the local level. This notion explains the evolutionary basis for tumor dormancy, and warns against the teleological view of tumorigenesis as a process directed towards the maximization of a concrete trait such as aggressiveness.

Antitumor and antiangiogenic activity of soy phytoestrogen on 7,12-dimethylbenz[alpha]anthracene-induced mammary tumors following ovariectomy in Sprague-Dawley rats

Soy phytoestrogen is often used as hormone replacement therapy to alleviate the symptoms of menopause in postmenopausal women. Since estrogen has been considered as an important risk factor for the development of breast carcinoma, we need to know whether it is safe for these postmenopausal women with breast cancer to take soy foods that are rich in phytoestrogen. In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of soy phytoestrogen on tumor proliferation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis in mammary tumors that had already formed in ovariectomized rats. We found that soy phytochemical extraction inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in vitro and in vivo, and it demonstrated better antitumor effects than single phytoestrogen. Soy phytochemical extraction also produced surprisingly good antiangiogenic effects, which were evidenced by lower microvascular density, reduced plasma vascular endothelial growth factor, and increased plasma endostatin levels. Our findings suggest that soy phytochemical extraction exerts significant antitumor and antiangiogenic activity in a postmenopausal animal model with breast cancer.