A review of clinical practice guidelines for lung cancer

Pulmonary route of administration is instrumental in developing therapeutic interventions against respiratory diseases

Pulmonary route of drug delivery has drawn significant attention due to the limitations associated with conventional routes and available treatment options. Drugs administered through pulmonary route has been an important research area that focuses on to developing effective therapeutic interventions for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, lung cancer etc. The intravenous route has been a natural route of delivery of proteins and peptides but associated with several issues including high cost, needle-phobia, pain, sterility issues etc. These issues might be addressed by the pulmonary administration of macromolecules to achieving an effective delivery and efficacious therapeutic impact. Efforts have been made to develop novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) such as nanoparticles, microparticles, liposomes and their engineered versions, polymerosomes, micelles etc to achieving targeted and sustained delivery of drug(s) through pulmonary route. Further, novel approaches such as polymer-drug conjugates, mucoadhesive particles and mucus penetrating particles have attracted significant attention due to their unique features for an effective delivery of drugs. Also, use of semi flourinated alkanes is in use for improvising the pulmonary delivery of lipophilic drugs. Present review focuses on to unravel the mechanism of pulmonary absorption of drugs for major pulmonary diseases. It summarizes the development of interventional approaches using various particulate and vesicular drug delivery systems. In essence, the orchestrated attempt presents an inflammatory narrative on the advancements in the field of pulmonary drug delivery.

Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of the Herbal Formula PM014 in a Cisplatin- and Paclitaxel-Treated Tumor-Bearing Mouse Model

PM014 (HL301) is a standardized herbal mixture derived from a traditional Korean medicine, Chung-Sang-Bo-Ha-Tang. Previously, we reported that PM014 treatment significantly suppressed pulmonary fibrosis, one of the frequent adverse effects of anticancer therapy in lung cancer. Before the clinical application of PM014 in anticancer therapy, the safety and efficacy of PM014 in combination with conventional anticancer drugs should be addressed to determine whether PM014 can be used in lung cancer. Lewis lung cancer–bearing mice were injected with 10 mg/kg of cisplatin or paclitaxel on day 5. Starting on day 7, the mice were administered 200 mg/kg PM014 every 2 days. On day 15, all mice were assessed by biochemical and histological analyses. PM014 did not block the antitumor activity of cisplatin and paclitaxel. Coadministration of PM014 and antitumor agents did not elevate the aspartate transaminase/alanine transaminase ratio or the blood urea nitrogen/creatinine ratio. Histopathological analysis also showed that PM014 did not induce hepatic or renal injury. Moreover, PM014 had no apparent inhibitory effects on drug metabolizing enzymes, indicating that PM014 did not alter the pharmacokinetics of chemotherapeutic drugs. Overall, these data show the safety and compatibility of combination therapy of PM014 and chemotherapies for the treatment of lung cancer.

Prediction of Treatment Response for Combined Chemo- and Radiation Therapy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Using a Bio-Mathematical Model

The goal of this work was to develop a mathematical model to predict Kaplan-Meier survival curves for chemotherapy combined with radiation in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients for use in clinical trial design. The Gompertz model was used to describe tumor growth, radiation effect was simulated by the linear-quadratic model with an α/β-ratio of 10, and chemotherapy effect was based on the log-cell kill model. To account for repopulation during treatment, we considered two independent methods: 1) kickoff-repopulation using exponential growth with a decreased volume doubling time, or 2) Gompertz-repopulation using the gradually accelerating growth rate with tumor shrinkage. The input parameters were independently estimated by fitting to the SEER database for untreated tumors, RTOG-8808 for radiation only, and RTOG-9410 for sequential chemo-radiation. Applying the model, the benefit from concurrent chemo-radiation comparing to sequential for stage III patients was predicted to be a 6.6% and 6.2% improvement in overall survival for 3 and 5-years respectively, comparing well to the 5.3% and 4.5% observed in RTOG-9410. In summary, a mathematical model was developed to model tumor growth over extended periods of time, and can be used for the optimization of combined chemo-radiation scheduling and sequencing.

Strategies for Translating Evidence-Based Medicine in Lung Cancer into Community Practice

The landscape of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment has rapidly evolved over the past decade. This is exemplified by the use of molecular targeted agents, immunotherapies, and newer technologies such as stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). As the translation of preclinical discoveries into clinical practice continues, the effective dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatment of NSCLC will remain a foremost challenge for oncologists. To further extend evidence-based medicine into the community setting, community oncologists are being engaged on multiple fronts including leadership and participation in national clinical trials and utilization of internet-based resources.

Hypoxia-induced microRNA-301b regulates apoptosis by targeting Bim in lung cancer

OBJECTIVES

Worldwide, lung cancer accounts for the majority of cancer-related deaths. Aberrant expression of miRNAs has increasingly been reported to be associated with tumour progression. This study aimed to explore the role of miR-301b in regulating apoptosis in lung cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Expression of miR-301b was assessed by real-time PCR in cell lines, human patient tissues and cells treated under hypoxia and DMOG. Scramble siRNA, miR-301b inhibitor and miR-301b mimics were transfected into lung cancer cells to determine their effects on apoptosis. Additionally, a mouse xenograft model was used to explore functions of miR-301b on apoptosis, in vivo. Finally, relationships between Bim and miR-301b levels were explored by luciferase reporter assay and Western blotting.

RESULTS

We found that miR-301b was highly expressed in lung cancer tissues and cell lines. Expression of miR-301b was induced by hypoxia, and miR-301b suppressed expression of Bim by targeting its 3'UTR. Functionally, ectopic expression of miR-301b enhanced cell population growth, reduced apoptosis and reduced sensitivity of cells to chemotherapy. In the xenograft model, overexpression of miR-301b promoted tumour growth. Additionally, miR-301b and Bim expression were inversely correlated in clinical lung cancer samples.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides new insights into the function of miRNA-301b in lung cancer and suggests that miRNA-301b could be a potential molecular target for chemotherapy.