METHODS: Colon tissues (normal and cancerous) were homogenized and the proteins were extracted using three protein extraction buffers. The extraction buffers were used in an orderly sequence of increasing extraction strength for proteins with hydrophobic properties. The protein extracts were separated using the SDS-PAGE method and the images were captured and analyzed using Quantity One software. The target protein bands were subjected to in-gel digestion with trypsin and finally analyzed using an ESI-ion trap mass spectrometer.
RESULTS: A total of 50 differentially expressed proteins in colonic cancerous and normal tissues were identified.
CONCLUSION: Many of the identified proteins have been reported to be involved in the progression of similar or other types of cancers. However, some of the identified proteins have not been reported before. In addition, a number of hypothetical proteins were also identified.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of 2,076 lap cholecystectomy procedures performed at the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology at a tertiary referral centre in Northern India was conducted and incidental malignancy in gallbladder polyps analysed. The 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer for tumour-node-metastasis (TNM) staging of gallbladder carcinoma was used.
Results: Of 54 patients with gallbladder polyps, 53 had benign histology and one had malignant cells in the lamina propria suggestive of T1a adenocarcinoma. The patient with the malignant polyp was older (57 years old) than the patients in the non-cancer group, which had a mean age of 45 (P = 0.039). The size of the malignant polyp was approximately 4 mm, significantly smaller than the average 7.9 mm size of the benign polys (P = 0.031).
Conclusion: Cholecystectomy needs to be considered early in the management of small-sized gallbladder polyps, particularly in areas endemic for gallbladder carcinoma.
METHODS: After baseline PET, patients were randomly assigned to an induction chemotherapy regimen: modified oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and fluorouracil (FOLFOX) or carboplatin-paclitaxel (CP). Repeat PET was performed after induction; change in maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) from baseline was assessed. PET nonresponders (< 35% decrease in SUV) crossed over to the alternative chemotherapy during chemoradiation (50.4 Gy/28 fractions). PET responders (≥ 35% decrease in SUV) continued on the same chemotherapy during chemoradiation. Patients underwent surgery at 6 weeks postchemoradiation. Primary end point was pathologic complete response (pCR) rate in nonresponders after switching chemotherapy.
RESULTS: Two hundred forty-one eligible patients received Protocol treatment, of whom 225 had an evaluable repeat PET. The pCR rates for PET nonresponders after induction FOLFOX who crossed over to CP (n = 39) or after induction CP who changed to FOLFOX (n = 50) was 18.0% (95% CI, 7.5 to 33.5) and 20% (95% CI, 10 to 33.7), respectively. The pCR rate in responders who received induction FOLFOX was 40.3% (95% CI, 28.9 to 52.5) and 14.1% (95% CI, 6.6 to 25.0) in responders to CP. With a median follow-up of 5.2 years, median overall survival was 48.8 months (95% CI, 33.2 months to not estimable) for PET responders and 27.4 months (95% CI, 19.4 months to not estimable) for nonresponders. For induction FOLFOX patients who were PET responders, median survival was not reached.
CONCLUSION: Early response assessment using PET imaging as a biomarker to individualize therapy for patients with esophageal and esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma was effective, improving pCR rates in PET nonresponders. PET responders to induction FOLFOX who continued on FOLFOX during chemoradiation achieved a promising 5-year overall survival of 53%.
Objective: To assess the cytotoxic effects of two synthesised compounds against HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells and human CCD-18Co normal colon cells.
Materials and methods: Two successfully synthesised compounds were characterised using elemental (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulphur) analysis, Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR), and 1H, 13C 119Sn Nucleus Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. The single-crystal structure of both compounds was determined by X-ray single-crystal analysis. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazholium bromide (MTT) assay upon 24 h of treatment. While the mode of cell death was determined based on the externalisation of phosphatidylserine using a flow cytometer.
Results: The elemental analysis data of the two compounds showed an agreement with the suggested formula of (C6H5)2Sn[S2CN(C3H5)2]2 for Compound 1 and (C6H5)3Sn[S2CN(C3H5)2] for Compound 2. The two major peaks of infrared absorbance, i.e., ν(C = N) and ν(C = S) were detected at the range of 1475-1479 cm-1 and 972-977 cm-1, respectively. The chemical shift of carbon in NCS2 group for Compound 1 and 2 were found at 200.82 and 197.79 ppm. The crystal structure of Compound 1 showed that it is six coordinated and crystallised in monoclinic, P21/c space group. While the crystal structure of Compound 2 is five coordinated and crystallised in monoclinic, P21/c space group. The cytotoxicity (IC50) of the two compounds against HT-29 cell were 2.36 μM and 0.39 μM. Meanwhile, the percentage of cell death modes between 60% and 75% for compound 1 and compound 2 were mainly due to apoptosis, suggesting that both compounds induced growth arrest.
Conclusion: Our study concluded that the synthesised compounds showed potent cytotoxicity towards HT-29 cell, with the triphenyltin(IV) compound showing the highest effect compared to diphenyltin(IV).
METHODS: In a population of 15,596 epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cases and 23,236 controls, we measured genetic associations of 1,351 SNPs in Treg cell pathway genes with odds of ovarian cancer and tested pathway and gene-level associations, overall and by histotype, for the 25 genes, using the admixture likelihood (AML) method. The most significant single SNP associations were tested for correlation with expression levels in 44 ovarian cancer patients.
RESULTS: The most significant global associations for all genes in the pathway were seen in endometrioid ( p = 0.082) and clear cell ( p = 0.083), with the most significant gene level association seen with TGFBR2 ( p = 0.001) and clear cell EOC. Gene associations with histotypes at p < 0.05 included: IL12 ( p = 0.005 and p = 0.008, serous and high-grade serous, respectively), IL8RA ( p = 0.035, endometrioid and mucinous), LGALS1 ( p = 0.03, mucinous), STAT5B ( p = 0.022, clear cell), TGFBR1 ( p = 0.021 endometrioid) and TGFBR2 ( p = 0.017 and p = 0.025, endometrioid and mucinous, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: Common inherited gene variation in Treg cell pathways shows some evidence of germline genetic contribution to odds of EOC that varies by histologic subtype and may be associated with mRNA expression of immune-complex receptor in EOC patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a multicentre study with a total of 280 cases of cervical cancer from 4 referral centres in Malaysia, studied using real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) detection of 12 high risk-HPV genotypes.
RESULTS: Overall HPV was detected in 92.5% of cases, in 95.9% of squamous cell carcinomas and 84.3%of adenocarcinomas. The five most prevalent high-risk HPV genotypes were HPV 16 (68.2%), 18 (40%), 58 (10.7%), 33 (10.4%) and 52 (10.4%). Multiple HPV infections were more prevalent (55.7%) than single HPV infections (36.8%). The percentage of HPV positive cases in Chinese, Malays and Indians were 95.5%, 91.9% and 80.0%, respectively. HPV 16 and 18 genotypes were the commonest in all ethnic groups. We found that the percentage of HPV 16 infection was significantly higher in Chinese (75.9%) compared to Malays (63.7%) and Indians (52.0%) (p<0.05), while HPV 18 was significantly higher in Malays (52.6%) compared to Chinese (25.0%) and Indians (28%) (p<0.05). Meanwhile, HPV 33 (17.9%) and 52 (15.2%) were also more commonly detected in the Chinese (p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the distribution of HPV genotype in Malaysia is similar to other Asian countries. Importantly, we found that different ethnic groups in Malaysia have different HPV genotype infection rates, which is a point to consider during the implementation of HPV vaccination.
METHODS: Fifty-three formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissue blocks were chosen for this study. The presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was determined by in situ hybridisation using an EBER probe. p53 protein expression was detected using immunohistochemistry. Simultaneously, amplifications by PCR were performed for p53 exons 5 to 8, followed by mutation screening via single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Sequencing of all the four exons was performed in five samples with mobility shift. To rule out false negative results by SSCP, 13 samples with p53 overexpression and five samples with low p53 expression were randomly selected and sequenced.
RESULTS: There was no mutation found in exons 5 to 8 in all the samples despite 46 (87%) of them having high p53 levels. EBV was detected in 51 (96%) out of 53 samples. There was no statistically significant association between p53 expression level and EBV presence.
CONCLUSIONS: High-intensity staining for p53 by immunohistochemistry was common in our series of NPC tissue samples but was not associated with 'hot spot' mutations of exons 5-8 of the gene. We did not find a significant relationship between the expression level of p53 and presence of EBV. Our study confirms that mutation of the DNA-binding domain of p53 is rare in NPC.