Cancer management presents multifarious problems. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with inaccurate prognosis and limited chemotherapeutic options. Betulinic acid (BA) prevents angiogenesis and causes apoptosis of TNBC cells. NIH recommends BA for rapid access in cancer chemotherapy because of its cell-specific toxicity. BA however faces major challenges in therapeutic practices due to its limited solubility and cellular entree. We report lactoferrin (Lf) attached BA nanoparticles (Lf-BAnp) for rapid delivery in triple negative breast (MDA-MB-231) and laryngeal (HEp-2) cancer cell types. Lf association was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and FT-IR analysis. Average hydrodynamic size of Lf-BAnp was 147.7 ± 6.20 nm with ζ potential of -28.51 ± 3.52 mV. BA entrapment efficiency was 75.38 ± 2.70% and the release mechanism followed non-fickian pattern. Impact of Lf-BAnp on cell cycle and cytotoxicity of triple negative breast cancer and its metastatic site laryngeal cancer cell lines were analyzed. Lf-BAnp demonstrated strong anti-proliferative and cytotoxic effects, along with increased sub-G1 population and reduced number of cells in G1 and G2/M phases of the cell cycle, confirming reduced cell proliferation and significant cell death. Speedy intracellular entry of Lf-BAnp occurred within 30 min. Lf-BAnp design was explored for the first time as safer chemotherapeutic arsenals against complex TNBC conditions.
PURPOSE: This study was designed to find a reliable Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) immunoglobulin (Ig) G-based diagnostic/screening test for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) able to demarcate between the NPC-related seropositivity of EBV IgG antibodies and that of other head and neck cancer (HNCA) and control groups. The NPC-associated immunosuppression affects EBV IgA much more than IgG, leading to inconsistent detection of NPC using EBV IgA antibodies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred twenty-two HNCA patients, 42 NPC, 66 laryngeal carcinoma, and 14 hypopharyngeal carcinoma and 3 groups of 100 control subjects were enrolled in this study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to find a specific cutoff value for the NPC-related seropositivity of EBV IgG antibodies.
RESULTS: NPC group showed higher serum level of EBV IgG antibodies than control and other HNCA groups (P < .05). However, the traditional cutoff value, mean + 2 SDs of control subjects, failed to demarcate the seropositives of NPC patients from those of healthy population (P > .05). The new cutoff value, mean + 2 SDs of the seropositives group of control subjects who had already been grouped by the traditional cutoff value, proved successful. It succeeded to demarcate between the NPC-related EBV IgG seropositivity and that issued from the persistent, latent, or reactivated EBV infection in the population (P < .05). The sensitivity/specificity of NPC detection by the new cutoff-based ELISA kit, 76.19% and 86%, was close or higher than that of EBV IgA antibodies.
CONCLUSION: EBV IgG-based ELISA could be used for the diagnosis of NPC using a new cutoff threshold that excludes the population baseline of EBV IgG seropositivity.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and other head and neck cancer (HNCA) types show a great epidemiological variation in different regions of the world. NPC has multifactorial etiology and many interacting risk factors are involved in NPC development mainly Epstein Barr virus (EBV). There is a need to scrutinize the complicated network of risk factors affecting NPC and how far they are different from that of other HNCA types.