ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Recent preclinical data suggest that androgen receptor (AR) signaling plays a significant role in subsets of breast cancer. Clinical trials testing AR-targeting therapies in breast cancer have been conducted. Assessment of AR-signal in breast cancer tissue maybe useful for treatment selections. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is the product of an androgen-responsive gene. Serum PSA (sPSA) can be detected in women by a highly sensitive assay although the concentration is much lower than that observed in males. We investigated if sPSA reflects tumor biology, including AR signaling in breast cancer patients. METHODS: In this study, 132 healthy controls and 144 breast cancer patients were enrolled. sPSA was evaluated by the chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) method. Correlations between sPSA and the various clinicopathological factors were analyzed. RESULTS: In post-menopausal state, sPSA detection rate was significantly higher in breast cancer patients compared with controls (27.4% vs 11.3%: p = 0.0090), but not in the whole cohort (29.2% vs 25.8%: p = 0.5265) or pre-menopausal subgroup (37.0% vs 42.6%: p = 0.6231). In post-menopausal breast cancer cases, higher sPSA value was associated with clinic-pathological factors including the expression of AR protein in primary legion. In a correlation analysis of quantitative data limited to post-menopausal metastatic breast cancer (MBC), sPSA was positively, albeit weakly correlated with clinic-pathological features including serum testosterone levels and AR positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that sPSA may reflect tumor biological properties including AR activity in post-menopausal breast cancer.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/blood , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Kallikreins/blood , Prostate-Specific Antigen/blood , Adult , Aged , Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal/therapeutic use , Biomarkers, Tumor/blood , Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Cohort Studies , Female , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques/methods , Middle Aged , Postmenopause/blood , Receptors, Androgen/metabolism , Testosterone/bloodABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Mesenteric phlebosclerosis (MP) is a disease characterized by fibrotic change or calcification of the mesenteric vein. Recently, there has been an increase in case reports of MP related to herbal medicine usage. Long-term intake of gardenia fruit (GF) is suspected as a possible cause. However, many GF users do not develop this disease and the association between GF and MP remains unclear. In this study, we investigated for the first time the dosage of GF used by patients with and without MP. METHODS: We used a medical chart review study design to assess the association between GF and MP. We reviewed patients with a history of intake of herbal medicines containing GF. Among these patients, we selected patients who were examined by colonoscopy and abdominal plain computed tomography (CT). We investigated the findings of colonoscopy, CT scan and histological examination. We assessed the total dosages of GF alongside the duration of ambulatory visit, the administration period of herbal medicine containing GF and pre-existing disease in order to compare MP cases and non-MP patients. RESULTS: Ten MP cases and 42 non-MP patients were analyzed. We summarized clinical findings of MP cases. All MP cases used more GF than non-MP patients and were administered more than approximately 5,000 grams of GF in cumulative dosage. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that excessive intake of GF contributes to and/or accelerates the development of MP suggesting that long-term usage of GF in excessive amounts increases the risk of MP.
Subject(s)
Gardenia/chemistry , Mesenteric Veins/drug effects , Plant Extracts/administration & dosage , Plant Extracts/adverse effects , Plants, Medicinal/chemistry , Vascular Calcification/chemically induced , Aged , Female , Fruit/chemistry , Humans , Male , Mesenteric Veins/physiopathology , Middle Aged , Phytotherapy/statistics & numerical data , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Vascular Calcification/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The attainment of chemoresistance during tumor metastasis is often experienced. In this study, we evaluated the correlation between sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and the mRNA expression level of several 5-FU-related metabolic enzymes [thymidylate synthase, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), thymidylate phosphorylase (TP), orotate phosphoribosyl transferase, and uridine phosphorylase] in primary colorectal cancer and synchronous liver metastases from ten patients to investigate how colorectal cancer acquires 5-FU resistance during liver metastases. A liver metastasis model of xenotransplanted human colon cancer cell line (HCT116) in nude mice and several cell lines from metastatic liver tumors were also established and analyzed. Chemosensitivity and mRNA expression levels were measured by using collagen gel droplet-embedded culture drug sensitivity tests and real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Metastatic liver tumors were significantly more resistant to 5-FU than primary colorectal cancer (T/C, 88.7% versus 69.7%, p<0.05). DPD and TP mRNA levels were significantly higher in metastatic liver tumors (DPD: 10.36+/-1.81 versus 3.95+/-0.99, p<0.01; and TP: 18.80+/-4.96 versus 7.28+/-1.23, p<0.05) and inversely correlated with 5-FU sensitivity (DPD: R=0.570, p<0.05; TP: R=0.600, p<0.05). In the mouse model, metastatic liver tumors were significantly more resistant to 5-FU than HCT116 (T/C, 92.7%, 96.2% versus 68%, p<0.001). The DPD and TP mRNA levels increased with repeated liver metastases. DPD and TP may affect the acquisition of resistance to 5-FU during liver metastasis of colorectal cancer. This mouse model may be useful for analyzing the mechanisms of how colorectal cancer acquires resistance to 5-FU during liver metastases.
