Targeting neurokinin-3 receptor: a novel anti-angiogenesis strategy for cancer treatment

Hyperthermia Reduces Irradiation-Induced Tumor Repopulation in an In Vivo Pancreatic Carcinoma Model

Pancreatic cancer has a poor prognosis due to its aggressive nature and ability to metastasize at an early stage. Currently, its management is still a challenge because this neoplasm is resistant to conventional treatment approaches, among which is chemo-radiotherapy (CRT), due to the abundant stromal compartment involved in the mechanism of hypoxia. Hyperthermia, among other effects, counteracts hypoxia by promoting blood perfusion and thereby can enhance the therapeutic effect of radiotherapy (RT). Therefore, the establishment of integrated treatments would be a promising strategy for the management of pancreatic carcinoma. Here, the effects of joint radiotherapy/hyperthermia (RT/HT) on optimized chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) pancreatic tumor models are investigated. This model enables a thorough assessment of the tumor-arresting effect of the combined approach as well as the quantitative evaluation of hypoxia and cell cycle-associated mechanisms by both gene expression analysis and histology. The analysis of the lower CAM allows to investigate the variation of the metastatic behaviors of the cancer cells associated with the treatments. Overall, this study provides a potentially effective combined strategy for the non-invasive management of pancreatic carcinoma.

Synergistic Antitumor Effect of Grifola frondose Polysaccharide—Protein Complex in Combination with Cyclophosphamide in H22 Tumor-Bearing Mice

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver malignancy and remains a global health threat. The objective of the current study was to determine whether the combination of a cold-water extracted polysaccharide-protein complex from Grifolia frondosa (GFG) and cyclophosphamide (CTX) could inhibit tumor growth by suppressing the expression of angiogenesis-related proteins in H22 tumor-bearing mice. The results showed that the inhibition rate of GFG combined with CTX on H22 tumors was 65.29%, which was significantly higher than that of GFG treatment alone (24.82%). GFG combined with CTX significantly increased the expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, matrix metalloproteinase 2, and matrix metalloproteinase 9. Additionally, thymus index, spleen index, natural killer (NK) cell activity, interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) levels increased significantly after GFG treatment, especially after high-doses of GFG combined with CTX treatment (p < 0.05). The thymus index, spleen index, NK cell activity, IFN-γ, IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-2 levels were 1.90, 1.46, 1.30, 2.13, 1.64, 2.03, and 1.24 times of those treated with CTX alone. Thus, we proposed that GFG can alleviate the side effects of CTX by relieving the immunosuppressive effect, liver/renal injury, and oxidative stress. In conclusion, the combination of GFG and CTX for cancer treatment may be a promising strategy, and GFG is expected to be a potential adjuvant alternative for the treatment of HCC.

Expression of Neurokinin B Receptor in the Gingival Squamous Cell Carcinoma Bone Microenvironment

Gingival squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) frequently invades the maxillary or mandibular bone, and bone destruction is known as a key prognostic factor in gingival SCCs. Recently, Neurokinin 3 receptor (NK-3R), the receptor ligand for NK-3, which is a member of the tachykinin family expressed in the central nervous system, was identified through pathway analysis as a molecule expressed in osteoclasts induced by the hedgehog signal. Although the expression of NK-3R has been detected in osteoclast and SCC cells at the bone invasion front, the relationship between NK-3R expression and the prognosis of gingival SCC patients remains unclear. In the present study, we retrospectively reviewed 27 patients with gingival SCC who had undergone surgery with curative intent. Significantly higher NK-3R expression in tumor cells was found in a case of jawbone invasion than in a case of exophytic poor jawbone invasion. On the other hand, no significant association was observed between NK-3R tumor-positive cases and tumor size, TNM stage, or tumor differentiation. The survival rate tended to be lower in NK-3R tumor-positive cases, but not significantly. However, the disease-specific survival rate was significantly lower in patients with a large number of NK-3R-positive osteoclasts than in those with a small number of them at the tumor bone invasion front. Our results suggest that NK-3R signaling in the gingival SCC bone microenvironment plays an important role in tumor bone destruction and should be considered a potential therapeutic target in advanced gingival SCC with bone destruction.

Effects and possible mechanism of Ruyiping formula application to breast cancer based on network prediction

Ruyiping (RYP), a Chinese herbal formula, can remove toxin and clear nodular, showing ability of preventing postoperative recurrence of breast cancer. In this study, network was performed to predict possible targets, genes and pathways associated with RYP and breast cancer. Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) were used to quantitatively study RYP formula and its single herbs. MTT methods, Luciferase reporter systems, zebrafish model and western blotting were respectively adopted to verify network prediction. Results showed that the quality of RYP could be controlled and icariin could be selected as mark ingredient; RYP expressed anti-breast tumor effects, which could be associated with inhibiting expression of Transforming Growth Factor β (TGFβ), promoting cells apoptosis and anti-angiogenesis. Parts of these results were consistent with network predictions in some degree, but not all. Network can help us narrow areas, focus on crucial factors, save money as well as time, but the results predicted by network should be confirmed by further experiments.

Synergistic antitumor effect of polysaccharide from Lachnum sp. in combination with cyclophosphamide in hepatocellular carcinoma

Combination therapy with chemotherapeutics is attracting increasing attention as an important treatment option for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to its complex pathological characteristics. In this study, as a new therapy strategy, combination treatment of LEP-2a (a non-toxic polysaccharide from Lachnum sp.) with cyclophosphamide (CTX) was investigated. Results showed that combination treatment with LEP-2a and CTX processed a significantly synergistic anti-tumor effect in H22 tumor-bearing mice through Fas/FasL mediated caspase-dependent death pathway and mitochondria apoptosis pathway. Moreover, our study indicated that LEP-2a played a crucial role in enhancement of immune response, inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and down-regulation of survival associated proteins. Notably, side effects induced by CTX were relieved after LEP-2a treatment. These results support the conception that LEP-2a has the potential as an ideal adjuvant agent for a more effective combination therapy with CTX against HCC.