Cancer Science & Therapy

Lung cancer is one the most cause of cancer related deaths in the world. Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) is an oncolytic and targeted self-amplifying agent that is able to replicates and kills only cancer cells. The strongest limitation of NDV in cancer treatments is due to its angiogenesis effect for tumors formation. The NDV mechanism for angiogenesis has not been described. This study was to evaluate for the first time the anti-angiogenesis effect of DSCR1 lonely and in conjunction with NDV in lung cancer cells. Ectopic expression of DSCR1 was induced by lentiviral transfection to A549 cell line. Transfected A549 was treated with the effective dose of NDV. Total RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized to detect DSCR1, VEGF, PCNA, Bax, and Bcl2 genes expressions compare to HPRT expression as a housekeeping gene using SYBR green Real-time PCR assay. Over expression of VEGF was detected in RNA level for the first time in NDV treated cells. Significant fold changes of PCNA, Bax, and Bcl2 showed that NDV used mitochondrial pathway for induction of cell death. In LVDSCR1+ treated cancer cells, DSCR1 ectopic expression acts as an anti-angiogenesis factor, by reducing VEGF and inhibiting angiogenesis signaling pathway. Furthermore, the apoptotic effect for DSCR1 gene was shown for the first time in this study in lung cancer cells. A non-significant change in Bax and Bcl2 gene expression has suggested a lack of intracellular apoptosis pathway activity following DSCR1 over expression in cancer cells. In LVDSCR+ + NDV treated cancer cells, over expression of DSCR1 could modulate angiogenesis effect of NDV by VEGF reduction and accelerate apoptosis induction in cancer cells as well. This finding for the first time suggests the benefit and potential usefulness in simultaneous application of oncolytic viruses and gene therapy in cancer treatment.

Background: Lung cancer typically metastasizes to the brain, bone, liver and adrenal glands but can rarely metastasize to the skin. It has been reported in only 1-12% of lung cancer cases and can be an initial finding in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. These rare findings can be the first indication of a quiescent lung cancer.

Case presentation: This is a case report on a former smoker that initially presented with skin metastases in a zosteriform pattern that was found to be from primary lung adenocarcinoma. He first developed swelling in his left upper extremity and then a rash that was later became vesicular and in ad dermatomal pattern. A subsequent biopsy later revealed this to be from primary adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Conclusion: This case highlights the importance of recognizing skin manifestations in high risk patients with smoking history of lung cancer diagnoses and the need for further research on the mechanism of this etiology and treatment options.

Background: Melatonin is known as a potent antioxidant. It also has other roles in modulating immune system and inhibiting proliferation, depending on the dose given. This agent has been used widely as a supplementation in cancer patients. However, effect of this antioxidant towards the efficacy of various therapeutic modalities in cancer, including chemotherapy, remains unclear.

Objective: This systematic review aims to know effect of melatonin as an adjuvant therapy towards chemotherapy response in solid cancer patients.

Methods: We reviewed articles systematically from 8 databases including Pubmed, EBSCO, Cochrane, ClinicalKey, Proquest, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Wiley Online Library. Keywords used in literature searching were cancer and all similar terms, melatonin, chemotherapy, and response. We used limitations to narrow the result. We included clinical trials that evaluated clinical response of chemotherapy in solid cancer patients. Studies were reviewed by two authors using OXFORD RCT appraisal sheets.

Results: The results showed improved clinical response associated with chemotherapy plus melatonin treatment. Two out of eight studies were not statistically significant (p>0.05). There was high risk of bias in all of the studies regarding randomization process, allocation concealment, intention-to-treat principal, and blinding.

Conclusion: Melatonin has positive effect in improving chemotherapy response in solid cancer patients. Regarding the lack of methodological validation in prior studies, larger and well-designed studies are needed in the future.

Bladder cancer remains one of the most prevalent cancers and is considered to be one of the primary causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Nonetheless, the treatment and management of this malignancy can be very prosperous only if disease is detected early. Early diagnosis of Bladder cancer is critically important to alleviate morbidity and mortality rates associated with recurrent disease, and to meliorate the chances of a prosperous outcome. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein k (hnRNPK), are multifunctional proteins that are aberrantly overexpressed in various human cancers, and have demonstrated roles in tumorigenesis. Unfortunately, there have been no reports indicating its role in bladder cancer. This study was subsequently aimed at evaluating the expression of hnRNPK in bladder cancer, and determining a correlation of this expression on the basis of various histopathological parameters including type, grade and stage, as well as Bilharzial association. Fifty-eight urinary bladder biopsy specimens were obtained and stained with H&E and analyzed using immunohistochemistry. The results showed that hnRNPK expression patterns were differentially expressed in benign, dysplastic and malignant lesions. The results also demonstrated that aberrant overexpression in Urinary Bladder Carcinoma tissue is correlated with a poor prognosis and thus elucidated the potential role of hnRNPK as a novel diagnostic and prognostic marker for bladder cancer.

Current standard cancer drugs and various synthetic agents exhibit high toxic activities against cancer cells, but doubts have been raised as to their long term stability and safety. Generally, these synthetic agents are relatively expensive; this makes them not affordable to many people. Although most probiotic anticancer therapies are in preclinical development phase, due to their low efficacy and poor selectivity, gradual replacement of current cancer drugs and other synthetic agents with appropriate biotherapeutic substances is proposed to overcome the challenges associated with the use of these synthetic agents. These probiotics can have an effect on other aspects of human health and hence make life worth living during and after cancer treatment. At present, most anticancer research regarding probiotic microbes focuses on Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, but other probiotics are involved. This review describes the properties of probiotic bacteria as potential biotherapeutics to supplement current standard anti-cancer therapies. The reader will gain an overview of different probiotics tested so far with respective bioassays used in probiotic anti-cancer drug discovery. Note, Not all therapies used generated an effective response in all patients and that use of probiotic therapies provides negligible if any, detrimental side effects.