Biological Products: Cellular Therapy and FDA Approved Products

The pace of advances in the world of science have created new opportunities and insights that give us new and more understanding of our nature and environment. Among the different fields of science, new medical sciences have drawn a great deal of attention among medical science researchers and the society. The hope for finding treatments for incurable diseases and further improvement of man's health is growing thanks to new medical technologies. Among the novel medical fields that have been extensively covered by medical and academic societies are cell therapy and gene therapy that are categorized under regenerative medicine. The present paper is an attempt to introduce the prospect of a curative cell-based therapy and new cellular and gene therapy drugs that have been recently approved by FDA (food and drug administration). Cellular and gene therapy are two very close fields of regenerative medicine and sciences which their targets and applications can be discussed together. What adds to the importance of this new field of science is the possibility to translate the hope for treatment of incurable diseases into actual treatments. What follows delves deeper into this new field of science and the drugs.

Enzymatic Antioxidant and Lipid Peroxidation Evaluation in the Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients in Iran

Background: Breast cancer is caused by breast tissue malignant cells and it has become one of the main medical concerns with a socio-economic significance especially for women. Among the multiple factors involved in the initiation, progression, and invasion of breast cancer, oxidative stress plays an important role. Antioxidant status, lipid peroxidation, and oxidative stress in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were determined to find a defined pattern of oxidative stress in these patients. Methods: The malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (as an indicator of lipid peroxidation), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (n=38) and controls (n=38) were assessed using blood samples. Results: MDA level and SOD activity were significantly higher in the breast cancer patients compared to the healthy subjects group (p<0.05). Compared to the healthy group, GPX activity decreased significantly in patients group (p<0.05). Conclusions: High lipid peroxidation is an important risk factor for breast cancer and the increased levels of superoxide anion in breast cancer cells may be a reason for the induction of SOD activity. Nevertheless, oxidative stress is an important factor in development and progression of breast cancer. Further studies on it can lead to a more helpful approach to management of breast cancer.

Relationship between preoperative serum CA 15-3 and CEA levels and clinicopathological parameters in breast cancer

BACKGROUND

CEA and CA 15.3 serum tumor markers are currently used in clinical practice for monitoring therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum level of these markers among healthy females and invasive breast carcinoma (IBC) patients and to determine any relationships with clinicopathological factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

60 Iranian females were enrolled in this study, 30 healthy and 30 diagnosed with breast cancer who had not received any preoperative chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays were used for the quantitative determination of the cancer associated antigens, CEA and MUC1 (CA 15- 3).

RESULTS

The serological levels of CEA and CA 15-3 (5.0033 ± 0.49 μg/L and 178.1667 ± 15.11 U/ml) in the breast cancer patients were significantly higher (p=0.00) than the serum levels of normal controls (1.1237 ± 0.11 μg/L and 21.13 ± 3.058 U/ml). Regarding the CEA marker, a significant correlation with grade of tumor was shown. Furthermore, there was a low correlation between CA 15-3 and CEA marker with correlation coefficient r=0.08.

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, markedly high levels of CEA and CA 15-3 were found in our patients, pointing to their use as additional tools after clinical diagnosis.