Comparisons of multiple characteristics between young and old lung cancer patients / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Risk factors that contribute to younger patients with lung cancer are still relatively unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical characteristics, histological types, stages at diagnosis, treatment modalities and survival rates between young and old patients with lung cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The study was designed as a retrospective review of all lung cancer patients admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from 1998 to 2008. Survival analyses using univariate and multivariate approaches were performed to compare the survival rates between different age groups and to discover potential prognostic factors.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>This research included 3320 patients with primary lung cancer, of whom 626 (18.8%) were 45 years old or younger at the time of diagnosis. The percentage of smokers and the male to female ratios between the young and old patient groups were 51.27% vs. 70.6% (P < 0.001) and 1.99 vs. 2.13 (P = 0.4801), respectively. The young patient group had a higher incidence of adenocarcinoma and fewer surgeries. The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival rates in the young patient group were generally lower than those of the old patient group, with significant differences (P = 0.0232). The clinical stage of the tumor was a prognostic factor for both non-small cell lung cancer patients (P < 0.0001) and small cell lung cancer patients (P = 0.0002). Symptoms, diagnostic method, histology, smoking, treatment modality and body mass index were shown to have significant relationships with the survival of lung cancer patients (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Patients with lung cancer who are younger than 45 years old might have a significantly poorer prognosis than that of older patients. Symptoms, diagnosis method, histology, smoking, treatment modality and body mass index can be independent prognostic factors for lung cancer.</p>

Enhancement of HER-2 degradation by carbamazepine in breast cancer SKBR-3 cell line / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the anti-tumor effect and the mechanism of down-regulation of HER - 2 by cabamazepine in SKBR - 3 cells , a breast cancer cell line with HER - 2 over - expression.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Western blotting was performed to evaluate the Her-2 expression level. The mRNA level of HER-2 was detected by RT-PCR. Immunoprecipitation was applied to detect the chaperon function and acetylation level of HSP90. The viability of cells was tested by MTT assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cabamazepine treatment down-regulated HER-2 expression. Only HER-2 protein level decrease was observed with 10 micromol/L cabamazepine treatment, but both protein and mRNA expressions were inhibited by 100 micromol/L cabamazepine. Cabamazepine treatment could induce a higher acetylation level of HSP90 and destroy its chaperon function. Cabamazepine exerted synergism with Herceptin in promoting HER-2 protein degradation and synergism or potentiation with Herceptin or 17-AAG in inhibition of proliferation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Cabamazepine can reduce the expression of HER-2 and show a synergistic effect with Herceptin or 17-AAG. There may be potential benefits of carbamazepine for cancer therapy in future. HER-2;</p>