ABSTRACT
Oral cancer is the fifth most frequent cancer worldwide and India has recorded the highest incidence [40-50%] of oral malignancy. This study is designed to investigate the effect of aqueous extract of Terminalia arjuna bark [TaBet] on circulatory lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status during 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene [DMBA]-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. Male Syrian golden hamsters painted with 0.5% 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene on the buccal pouches and developed oral squamous cell carcinoma were included in this study. The enhanced Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in circulation of tumor-bearing animals was accompanied by a significant decrease in the levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, reduced glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase. Administration of TaBet [500 mg/kg body weight] significantly suppressed DMBA-induced hamster buccal pouch carcinomas, decreased lipid peroxidation and enhanced the levels of antioxidants. The chemopreventive potential of TaBet is probably due to its antilipidperoxidative effect or the presence of some potent bioactive chemopreventive principles in the bark of Terminalia arjuna. The results of the present study indicate that T. arjuna may emerge as a putative chemopreventive agent against oral carcinogenesis
ABSTRACT
Estrogen receptor [ER] is a ligand-activated transcription factor that mediates estrogen actions in target tissues. Several common polymorphisms of the ER-alpha gene have been reported to be associated with alterations in receptor expression and function. We evaluated the hypothesis that genetic polymorphisms in the ER-alpha gene may be associated with breast cancer risk in Egyptians. In this study the involvement of two RFLPs at the ER-alpha gene locus, denoted as PvuII and XbaI in breast cancer were examined in 40 breast cancer cases and 33 age frequency-matched controls. A case-control comparison was performed and the genotype distributions examined according to different tumor and population parameters. PvuII polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer [OR = 5.14, P=0.01], while there was no significant difference in genotype frequency of the XbaI polymorphism between controls and cases. The PvuII polymorphism was also associated with elevated breast cancer risk in premenopausal cases [OR=7.00, p=0.049]. In addition, significant association was found in patients with LN metastasis carrying the ER-alpha PvuII T allele [OR=7.14, p=0.013]. These results suggest that biomarkers for genetic polymorphisms could be used for the identification of breast cancer risk among Egyptian women