ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is known to induce vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression. A recent study has shown that doxorubicin can repress hypoxic induction of VEGF expression in human cancer cells. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the combination effects of doxorubicin and TACE on the change of serum VEGF after TACE. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Thirty patients with unresectable HCC were assigned into two groups, the experiment group (n = 15) received TACE with doxorubicin (25-50 mg) plus mitomycin C (5-10 mg), and the control group (n = 15) received TACE with mitomycin C (5-10 mg). Serum VEGF before and after TACE (24 hour) was measured by quantitative sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Baseline serum VEGF was correlated with the size of tumor (r2 = 0.85; p = 0.03). In addition, serum VEGF was significantly elevated after TACE (p = 0.014). However; the change of serum VEGF after TACE is not statistically different in both groups (p = 0.72). At 2-years, the overall survival was 38% and 40% in the experiment and control group, respectively (p = 0.48). CONCLUSION: The present study suggests that doxorubicin improves neither the level of serum VEGF nor the survival in HCC patients treated with TACE.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Antibiotics, Antineoplastic/administration & dosage , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy , Chemoembolization, Therapeutic , Doxorubicin/administration & dosage , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Mitomycin/therapeutic use , Survival , Time Factors , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/blood , Young AdultABSTRACT
Human telomerase consisting of telomerase RNA template (hTR) and telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) provides a mechanism for synthesis of telomere repeats that prolongs life span of cells. Telomerase activity is present in germ-line and malignant tumor cells but not in most normal human somatic cells. This study determined hTERT mRNA level in tissue samples from patients with gastrointestinal tract (GI) cancers. Tissue samples were obtained from 22 GI cancer patients, 3 gastrointestinal stomal tumors (GIST) and 25 corresponding non-cancerous tissues. hTERT expression was determined by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using Taqman probe, hTERT mRNA was detected in 12 of 22 cancerous tissue samples. Six of 8 tissue samples obtained from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma were positive for hTERT. However, hTERT mRNA was not detected in GIST and non-cancerous tissues. These results suggest that hTERT may be an effective target for cancer therapies to treat many type of GI cancers including cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/enzymology , Cholangiocarcinoma/enzymology , Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/enzymology , Humans , RNA/metabolism , Telomerase/metabolismABSTRACT
In order to investigate and compare the presence of Helicobacter pylori VacA in primary liver cancer specimens (12 hepatocellular carcinoma and 6 cholangiocarcinoma) and control liver specimens (7 non-primary liver cancer) from Thai patients who underwent liver resection, H. pylori VacA gene was assayed in extracted DNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The selected amplicons revealed high homology compared with H. pylori VacA sequence. H. pylori VacA gene was detected in all primary liver cancer specimens and in 71% (5/7) of control liver specimens.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Base Sequence , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/microbiology , Cholangiocarcinoma/microbiology , Female , Helicobacter Infections/complications , Helicobacter pylori/genetics , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/microbiology , Male , Middle Aged , Molecular Sequence Data , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , ThailandABSTRACT
Although there is a specific antitumor immune response in the body, colorectal cancer cells progressively develop. This fact indicated that the cancer cells could have a variety of mechanisms to evade or escape the immune system. HLA-G is identified to inhibit the recognition of NK-cell in various kinds of cancers. This study investigated the expression of HLA-G in colorectal cancer. Eighty five specimens of colorectal cancer, carcinoma in situ and adenomatous polyp were examined by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR for the detection of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G The expression of HLA-G was not found in all colorectal specimens (85/85) both protein level and transcription level, suggesting that the expression of HLA-G is not a possible immune evasion mechanism of colorectal cancer cell.
Subject(s)
Adenomatous Polyps/metabolism , Carcinoma in Situ/metabolism , Colorectal Neoplasms/metabolism , HLA Antigens/metabolism , Histocompatibility Antigens Class I/metabolism , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
The measurement of liver volume is considered to be a highly effective prediction of postoperative liver failure in hepatectomized patients and selection of the proper size of the liver obtained from a living donor. The aim of the paper was therefore, to develop a simple, inexpensive and practical technique for the measurement of liver volume. Computerized tomography (CT) imaging sections were used to measure sectional areas of liver sections via a graphic program. The volumes of livers were then calculated from the combined sectional areas using mean-area, end-area, and prismodial methods. The calculated volumes of livers obtained were compared to those manually measured in a water replacement technique. The findings of the results indicated that the liver volume could be estimated from CT scan films with typically less than 5 per cent difference compared to the manual method.