Characteristic analysis of pulmonary ground-glass lesions with the help of 64-slice CT technology.

OBJECTIVE: With the help of new technologies like 64-slice spiral CT, including latest AW4.4, 2D nodule comparing and analyzing technology, MPR and 3D technology, MIP technology and the technology of analyzing pulmonary vascular density by the method of perfusion scanning, we performed characteristic analysis of ground-glass opacities (GGO) for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We selected 62 patients suspected of lung cancer, whose conventional CT showed that they were patients with GGO. With the help of the new technologies of 64-slice spiral CT provided by GE Company, prospective scans were made and 2 to 4 times of review were arranged. After that, the patients were treated with surgery or needle biopsy to get lesion's pathological results. After several scans, the results including lesion's form, density, blood supply, peripheral sign, doubling time and tissue perfusion were drawn to make a comparison. Based on the results, comparative analysis on GGO's characteristics was made from morphological and functional perspectives. RESULTS: 41 patients (66.1%) were pathologically diagnosed with cancer, 10 were diagnosed with inflammation, 7 with fibrosis, and 4 with edema, hemorrhage and other lesions. The comparisons were made between the tumor groups' clinical manifestations (sex, age, symptoms including smoking, coughing, and expectoration), and the difference had no statistical significance (p>0.05). Conventional CT scan showed that the shape of GGO was irregular and it showed spiculated sign and pleural indentation. The proportion of the patients with vessel convergence in the tumor group was significantly higher than that of the non-tumor group (p<0.05). However, the comparisons between lesions' number, location (superior lobe of the right lung), diameter, edge (blur) and lobulation were made to get a difference ratio (p>0.05) which had no statistical significance. Tumor group's doubling time was significantly short, and its perfusion parameters including BF, BV, MTT, and PS were increased significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The new 64-slice CT technology has great value in the diagnosis of the tumorous GGO.

Wortmannin inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to explore the effects of wortmannin in the proliferation and apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. METHODS: The authors treated cells with 0, 1, 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM wortmannin for 24, 48, and 72 hours. Inhibition of proliferation was measured by cell counting kit-8 assay (CCK8). Apoptosis was detected with Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide double staining by flow cytometry. Additionally, expression of proteins involved in the PI3K pathway, specifically total Akt, phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt), and NF-kappaB was detected by Western blotting following 24 hours of wortmannin exposure. RESULTS: Higher doses (6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM) of wortmannin significantly inhibited proliferation of MCF-7 cells after 24, 48, and 72 hours of exposure compared with control MCF-7 cells incubated with DMSO alone in DMEM (p < 0.05). This inhibition increased with concentration and duration of treatment. Similarly, wortmannin at 6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM concentrations significantly increased apoptosis of MCF-7 cells following 24 hours of exposure (p < 0.05). Western blotting revealed that increasing concentrations of wortmannin (6.25, 12.5, 25, and 50 nM, 24 hours) increasingly reduced expression of p-Akt and NF-kappaB; however, expression of total Akt was unaffected at any concentration of wortmannin. CONCLUSIONS: Wortmannin inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of MCF-7 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner, likely through down-regulation of PI3K/Akt signaling and NF-kappaB protein expression.

Effect of mild hypothermia on breast cancer cells adhesion and migration.

To explore the effect of mild hypothermia (35ºC) on breast cancer cells adhesion to vascular endothelial cells, a parallel plant flow chamber was used to observe the adhesion of human breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 to endothelial cells Eahy926 under physiological flow at 35ºC and 37ºC, as well as the role of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) in this process. Further, the effect of mild hypothermia (35ºC) on migration of MDA-MB-231 was also studied. Our results show that mild hypothermia can inhibit the adhesion of tumor cells to endothelial cells and ICAM-1 plays an important role in this process. However, mild hypothermia inhibits breast cancer cell adhesion in a way independent on the change of ICAM-1 expression under our experimental conditions. Mild hypothermia can weaken the chemotaxis of breast cancer cells while it has no obvious effect on unidirectonal migration capacity. These results suggest that mild hypothermia could be used as a potentially adjunct treatment combined with surgery to decrease tumor cell adhesion and migration.