Cancer Science & Therapy

Lung cancer, a relentless adversary that has long posed significant challenges in the realm of oncology, is now facing a promising era of transformation. Recent years have witnessed a surge in innovative therapies that are reshaping the landscape of lung cancer treatment, offering new hope to patients and their families. This article explores the cutting-edge innovations that represent a ray of hope for those battling lung cancer, from targeted therapies and immunotherapy to personalized medicine and emerging technologies.

Lung cancer, a formidable adversary in the realm of oncology, has long been a challenging puzzle for researchers and healthcare professionals. However, recent years have witnessed a surge of ground-breaking discoveries and innovative approaches that are reshaping the landscape of lung cancer treatment. This article delves into the remarkable strides made in lung cancer research, exploring the latest breakthroughs that offer hope to patients and promise a paradigm shift in treatment strategies. Lung cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the lungs, typically in the cells lining the air passages. It is one of the most common and deadliest forms of cancer globally, causing significant morbidity and mortality. Understanding the basics of lung cancer, including risk factors, types, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, is essential for both prevention and effective management.

Objective: Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM), a locally invasive tumor, is treated with a combination of surgical, radiation, and medical therapies, but the treatment efficacy remains insufficient. Gene therapy for MPM has been attempted to improve the prognosis of the disease, but has not yet reached a practical level. One of the barriers to MPM gene therapy is the resistance of MPM cells to transgene expression. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find techniques to achieve high-level transgene expression in MPM cells resistant to transgene expression.

Methods: We evaluated two MPM cell lines, NCI-H28 (H28) and NCI-H2052 (H2052), for their resistance to transgene expression, and then examined whether transgene expression in the resistant H2052 cells was enhanced by treating the cells with D-glucose, an extracellular signalregulated kinase 1/2 inhibitor LY3214996 (LY), and a histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA), which have been reported to increase transgene expression. Cellular transgene expression was evaluated by a reporter gene assay in which a human cytomegalovirus immediate early (CMV) promoter-controlled Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (EGFP) gene was inserted into the cells using a human adenovirus (ADV) vector. The extent of EGFP gene expression was examined by fluorometric assay, fluorescence microscopy, and EGFP quantification by ELISA.

Results: The fluorescence intensity in H2052 cells was only 13.9% of that in H28 cells. D-glucose treatment of H2052 cells after transduction (posttreatment) increased the fluorescence intensity in H2052 cells by only 1.9-fold. LY treatment of H2052 cells before transduction (pretreatment) increased the fluorescence intensity in the cells by only 1.7-fold. TSA pretreatment increased the fluorescence intensity in H2052 cells by as much as 6.9-fold, to almost the same level as that in H28 cells. When the TSA-pretreated H2052 cells were posttreated with D-glucose, the fluorescence intensity in H2052 cells was enhanced to 400% of that in H28 cells. The elevated EGFP gene expression by the joint effect of TSA and D-glucose was also confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and EGFP quantification by ELISA.

Conclusion: It was suggested that TSA pretreatment could remove the resistance to transgene expression of MPM cells and the joint effect of TSA and D-glucose could highly enhance transgene expression in the resistant MPM cells.

Breast Cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women accounting for about 30% of all female cancers. The average age of incidence varies among countries. While it is 62 years in the US, it is 48 years in the Arab countries. According to a recent statistics done on well studied charts of consecutive one thousand operations on breast cancer patients done by me in Syria, 20% of cases occurred below the age of 40 (vs. 8% in the US). This has an important implication.