Peripheral blood circulating tumor cells in local advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma / 中华耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

Objective@#To investigate the value of detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients with local advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LAHNSCC).@*Methods@#Twenty cases of LAHNSCC and eight healthy cases as the negative control were collected. The clinicopathological factors were evaluated. The LAHNSCC CTCs were enriched by specific antibody nanofluidic chip immunoassay using CytoSorter CTCs sorting system. LAHNSCC CTCs were identified by immunofluorescence staining. The relationships between CTCs and the clinicopathological features of LAHNSCC were analyzed. The numbers of CTCs were monitored and compared two weeks after inductive chemotherapy and at the end of the treatment.@*Results@#CTCs were detect in 15 (75%) 20 patients with LASHNCC, with an average number of 22.4 CTCs. There was a correlation between the numbers of CTCs and age or N staging (P<0.05). Among the 15 cases with CTCs, 13 cases received inductive chemotherapy, for whom CTCs were detected again after inductive chemotherapy in all of these 13 patients, with an average number of 9.5 CTCs. Ten of the fourteen cases (71.4%) were still CTCs detected After whole treatments CTCs were detected in 14 patients, of them, 10 (71.4%) patients showed positive CTCs, with an average 1.6 CTCs. The numbers of CTCs decreased after either inductive chemotherapy or the whole treatment. The number of detected CTCs after whole treatment decreased nearly to background levels.@*Conclusions@#CTCs have a high detection rate in the peripheral blood of patients with LAHNSCC, especially in patients ≥60 years old and with ≥ N2 stage before treatment. Real-time detection of dynamic change of CTCs may assist to evaluate therapeutic effect.

Constitutive Expression of MAP Kinase Phosphatase-1 Confers Multi-drug Resistance in Human Glioblastoma Cells / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

PURPOSE: Current treatment of glioblastoma after surgery consists of a combination of fractionated radiotherapy and temozolomide. However, it is difficult to completely remove glioblastoma because it has uncertain boundaries with surrounding tissues. Moreover, combination therapy is not always successful because glioblastoma has diverse resistances. To overcome these limitations, we examined the combined effects of chemotherapy and knockdown of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used ten different anti-cancer drugs (cisplatin, cyclophosphoamide, doxorubicin, epirubicin, etoposide, 5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine, irinotecan, mitomycin C, and vincristine) to treat glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells. Knockdown of MKP-1 was performed using siRNA and lipofectamine. The basal level of MKP-1 in GBM was analyzed based on cDNA microarray data obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. RESULTS: Anti-cancer drug-induced cell death was significantly enhanced by knockdown of MKP-1, and this effect was most prominent in cells treated with irinotecan and etoposide. Treatment with these two drugs led to significantly increased phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in a time-dependent manner, while pharmacological inhibition of JNK partially inhibited drug-induced cell death. Knockdown of MKP-1 also enhanced drug-induced phosphorylation of JNK. CONCLUSION: Increased MKP-1 expression levels could be the cause of the high resistance to conventional chemotherapeutics in human GBM. Therefore, MKP-1 is an attractive target for overcoming drug resistance in this highly refractory malignancy.

The value of primary site radiotherapy in stage Ⅳ high-risk neuroblastoma / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

ObjectiveTo investigated the effect of post-operative primary site radiotherapy on stage Ⅳ neuroblastoma.Methods From Jan 2003 to Dem 2010,47 newly diagnosed stage Ⅳ neuroblastoma treated in Sun Yet-sen university cancer center.The treatment protocol for these patients were induction chemotherapy 4- 12 cycles,followed by surgery if possible,then 4-6 cycles consolidation chemotherapy and/or primary site radiotherapy and maintenance immunotherapy.The median age was 4 years old,the median induction chemotherapy cycles was 5.37 patients received resection of the primary tumor (total resection and nearly gross resection).24 out of 37 received primary site radiotherapy.ResultsThe followup rate was 89％.34 cases were followed up more than 36 months.For patients with or without postoperative primary site radiotherapy,the local recurrence rate were 13％ ( 3/24 ) and 54％ ( 7/13 ),respectively ( P =0.016),the 3-year local control rate were 84％ and 47％,respectively ( χ2 =7.95,P =0.005 ).The 3-year overall survival rate were 56％ and 28％,respectively ( χ2 =5.44,P =0.020 ). There was no severe radiation side effect. Conclusions This study indicated that postoperative primary site after induction chemotherapy and surgery could reduce the local recurrence rate and possibly improve the overall survival rate of stage Ⅳ neuroblastoma.

A Case of Refractory Choriocarcinoma that Showed Complete Remission with Paclitaxel / 대한산부인과학회잡지

High-risk gestational choriocarcinoma in patients who have failed primary chemotherapy is known to have a very poor prognosis. About 25% of high-risk metastatic choriocarcinoma become refractory to EMACO (etoposide, methotrexate, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide and vincristine) and fail to achieve a complete remission. Currently, there is no standard salvage chemotherapeutic regimen for EMACO refractory choriocarcinoma. Paclitaxel, a taxane analog extracted from the bark of the western yew, has shown antitumor activity in a variety of cancers. However, there has been few case reports that described the effectiveness of paclitaxel to choriocarcinoma. We describe a 41-year old woman with refractory choriocarcinoma, who demonstrated dramatic response to paclitaxel treatment with a brief review of literature.

Cancer Patients' Use of Self-care Behaviors in Managing Side Effects Related to Chemotherpy / 성인간호학회지

The purpose of the study is to research the side effects of chemotherapy which are experienced by cancer patients, theirself-care behaviors to manage the side effect symptoms, and to for provide the fundamental knowledge basis for nursing intervention and self-care education. The subjects were 15 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy in 2 university hospitals. The side effects and self-care behaviors were categorized into 7 themes. 1) First theme Patients experienced nausea, vomiting, alteration in appetite, constipation, diarrhea, and indigestion. Patients used emetics, ate sweets, fruits, drank alcohol and cold veberages to deal with nausea and vomiting. They took their favorites, and yogurt and medicine, and an easily digestible diet to decrease the side effects on digestive function. 2) Second theme Patients experienced oral-dryness & stomatitis. Patients consumed water, candy a warm food and various beverages. 3) Third theme, To cope with changed sense of taste, patient ate their favorite foods, and to help offset alteration in tactile sense they used massage. Concerning changed sensitivity to decreased temperature, ultraviolet treatment and various means of keeping warm were used. To deal with the changed sense of smell and hearing, they avoided noise and bad odors as much as possible. 4) Fourth theme Patients experienced discoloured skin and alopecia. Patients wore appropriate clothes to hide it. To deal with alopecia, they used hats, head kerchief, and positive thinking. 5) Fifth theme Patients experienced weight loss, URI symptoms, fatigue, pain, insomnia and they took various food health products, medicines, and naps. 6) Sixth theme Patients experienced musculoskeletal changes and decreased amounts and range of activities. They did self-care behaviors such as taking baths, exercising etc. 7) Seventh theme Patients felt varing level of anxiety and for this they had fellowship with support companies and used religion, self-control, and positive thinking. From the above research, it can be concluded that : Patients used self-care behaviors which were not proved in effectiveness and education for the prevention and management of the related side effects of chemotherapy was not effective, either.