ABSTRACT
A 57-year-old man was admitted because of abdominal fullness. An abdominal ultrasonographic study disclosed multiple space-occupying lesions (SOL) in the liver. On blood examinationC the serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 were significantly high while those of AFP and SCC were within normal ranges. Endoscopically biopsied specimens of the lower esophagus histologically revealed poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. Pathohistologically similar findings were obtained from the needle biopsied specimen of the SOL in the liver. Thus the patient was diagnosed as having squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus with liver metastasis. On the 41st hospital day the patient died and an autopsy was performed. Although multiple metastases were recognized, cancer cells were limited within the submucosa of the esophagus. Immunostaining of CEA and CA19-9 was positive on the carcinoma cells both in the esophagus and the liver. Thus a relation between the biological malignancy of esophageal cancer and serum levels of CEA and CA19-9 was suggested.
Subject(s)
Biomarkers, Tumor/blood , CA-19-9 Antigen/blood , Carcinoembryonic Antigen/blood , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/secondary , Esophageal Neoplasms/pathology , Liver Neoplasms/secondary , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/diagnosis , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Esophageal Neoplasms/diagnosis , Fatal Outcome , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasm StagingSubject(s)
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use , Autoimmune Diseases/complications , Autoimmune Diseases/drug therapy , Pancreatitis/complications , Pancreatitis/drug therapy , Prednisolone/therapeutic use , Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic/complications , Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic/drug therapy , Aged , Autoimmune Diseases/blood , Autoimmune Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde , Humans , Immunoglobulin G/metabolism , Male , Pancreatitis/blood , Pancreatitis/diagnostic imagingABSTRACT
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most devastating malignant tumors in humans and novel modalities for treatment need to be developed. We studied the mechanism of the growth-inhibitory effect of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-K) inhibitor on human pancreatic cancer cells from the point of view of expression of the Bcl-2 family proteins. Growth of AsPC-1 and COLO-357 human pancreatic cancer cells was inhibited by a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-K) inhibitor, wortmannin, and this growth-inhibitory effect was more marked in medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) than in serum-free medium. In these cells, DNA fragmentation increased with the concentration of wortmannin in a dose-dependent manner. In Panc-1 human pancreatic cancer cells, cell growth and induction of DNA fragmentation were not influenced by treatment with wortmannin at concentrations up to 25 microM. Western blot analysis showed a decrease in expression of BclXL protein in AsPC-1 and COLO-357 cells by treatment with 25 microM wortmannin and this decrease was especially prominent in AsPC-1 cells. On the other hand, the expression of BclXL protein in Panc-1 cells was not influenced by treatment with wortmannin. The expression of BclXS protein was not detected by conventional Western blotting and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax protein was not altered by wortmannin in all three cell lines. Decrease in expression of BclXL protein could be partly involved in the growth-inhibitory effect of the PI 3-K inhibitor, wortmannin, on pancreatic cancer cells. Although the growth of Panc-1 cells was not inhibited by wortmannin, PI 3-K inhibitor could still be one of the candidates for treatment of pancreatic cancer and BclXL could be a target for gene therapy.
