[Hepatic arterial infusion of IL-2 and chemotherapy for unresectable liver metastasis from colorectal cancer].

We administered interleukin (IL)-2 with mitomycin C (MMC) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) by hepatic arterial infusion for the treatment of liver recurrence from colorectal cancer. The regimen consisted of continuous hepatic arterial infusion of IL-2 (7 x 10(5) JRU/day)/5-FU (250 mg/day) for 4 weeks. After those 4 weeks, a weekly hepatic arterial infusion of IL-2 (2.1 x 10(6) JRU)/5-FU (250 mg) was performed more than 4 weeks. MMC (4 mg) was given as a bolus weekly. This therapy resulted in partial response (PR) in one case, progressive disease (PD) in one case, and no change (NC) in one case. The toxicity of the therapy was a slight in all cases. We herein report 3 patients treated with hepatic arterial infusion of IL-2 with MMC and 5-FU for liver recurrence from colorectal cancer. This therapy may be a new strategy for metastatic colorectal cancer.

Association of functional polymorphisms of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 genes with colorectal cancer.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and MMP-3 genes are associated with tumor cell invasion and metastasis with their promoter polymorphisms influencing the level of transcription. Our study explored the association of these polymorphisms with colorectal cancer risk in a Japanese population. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of 101 patients with colorectal cancer and 127 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. Genotyping was carried out using PCR-RFLP and direct sequencing. In the MMP-1 gene polymorphism, the frequency of the 2G/2G genotype that is associated with higher enzyme activity was significantly increased in colorectal cancer patients when compared to controls (p = 0.0067; OR = 2.077; 95% CI = 1.221-3.534). With regard to the MMP-3 polymorphism, unexpectedly, the frequency of the 6A/6A genotype causing lower enzyme activity was significantly increased in patients (p = 0.0129; OR = 2.110; 95% CI = 1.165-3.822). Because the loci for the 2 MMP genes are closely linked, we examined linkage disequilibrium between the 2 loci using expectation-maximization algorithm. We found that the 2 loci were in linkage disequilibrium and that 2G-6A haplotype was significantly increased in patients compared to controls (p = 0.0010; OR = 1.949; 95% CI = 1.305-2.911). Our present data suggest that the MMP-1 and MMP-3 promoter polymorphisms may be associated with a colorectal cancer susceptibility in Japanese.

Expression of estrogen receptor-alpha and -beta mRNAs in human gastric cancer.

To clarify the roles of estrogen receptors (ERs) in gastric cancers, we evaluated expression of ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNAs in 41 pairs of tumorous and non-tumorous tissues of gastric cancer patients and in six gastric cancer cell lines by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method. ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNAs were detected in 21 (51%) and 30 (73%) of 41 tumors and in 15 (37%) and 36 (88%) of 41 corresponding normal tissues, respectively. There were no statistically significant associations between expression of ER-alpha and/or ER-beta mRNAs in tumors and clinicopathologic factors. Between the tumorous and normal tissues, expression of ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNAs were changed in 20 (49%) and unchanged in 21 (51%) of the 41 cases. The incidences of lymph node metastasis and liver metastasis were significantly higher in changed cases than in unchanged cases (P=0.031 and P=0.021, respectively). We confirmed that ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNA were expressed in 2 and 6 of the six gastric cancer cell lines, respectively. Together with this finding, our results indicate that ER-beta mRNAs are preferentially expressed in gastric cancers. Our data also suggest that altered expression of ER-alpha and ER-beta mRNAs in tumors compared with corresponding normal gastric tissues is related to increased metastatic potential in gastric cancers. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of ERs in gastric cancers.