Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention最新文献

Background: Morphine has been shown to induce programmed cell death through the opioid μ (mu) receptor. It is shown statin has an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective activities. In the present study, the effects of nanomollar concentration of lovastatin on cell death following the effect of morphine were investigated.

Methods: PC12 cells were cultured in DMEM culture medium. The cell viability was measured by the MTT assay and LDH assay.  The amount of nitric oxide produced was measured using Griess technique method. Concentrations of IL-1β, IL-6, IFNγ, and TNFα were measured by the ELISA method.

Results: Lovastatin, in a dose-dependent manner, increased cell viability and suppressed cytotoxicity and cell death. It also decreased levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IFNγ, and TNFα as inflammatory factors compared with morphine-treated cells.

Conclusion: lovastatin plays a supporting role against the destructive and cell death effects of morphine by reducing the inflammatory factors.

Background: Breast and cervical cancers represent significant health challenges in Alabama's Black Belt region, where they are leading causes of mortality among women. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing awareness levels of three critical female cancer screening methods: mammograms, clinical breast exams, and Pap tests.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 257 participants in Alabama's Black Belt region, utilizing self-administered questionnaires to gather data on awareness of female cancer screening methods. To identify significant predictors of awareness for each screening method, logistic regression analysis was employed.

Results: The study revealed high levels of awareness regarding mammograms, clinical breast exams, and Pap tests among participants. Women demonstrated significantly greater awareness of mammograms and Pap tests compared to men. Employment status and family history of cancer were identified as key predictors of awareness. Specifically, participants with a family history of cancer and those who were employed were more likely to be aware about mammograms, clinical breast exams, and Pap tests. Furthermore, self-reported health status was positively associated with awareness of clinical breast exams and Pap tests. Notably, the perception of racial impact on healthcare quality significantly influenced awareness of mammograms.

Conclusion: Although this study highlights relatively high levels of female cancer screening awareness among women in Alabama's Black Belt region, there is a pressing need for concerted efforts to further enhance this awareness. Implementing comprehensive educational initiatives and improving healthcare resource provision are critical steps toward augmenting knowledge and achieving optimal cancer screening rates in this underserved community. Such measures are essential to mitigate cancer risks and improve health outcomes for women in this region.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. RNA 5-methylcytosine (m5C) modification plays a vital role in epigenetic regulation, yet its impact on prognosis and the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) in HCC remains unclear.

Materials and methods: RNA sequencing and clinical data were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We applied an unsupervised clustering algorithm for the cluster analysis of m5C RNA methylation regulators, and then performed survival analyses to determine the best prognosis for HCC samples. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to construct a prognostic model. HCC patients were classified into high- and low-risk groups based on risk scores. Model performance was evaluated using ROC curves and validated with the ICGC cohort. Immune infiltration, clinicopathological features, and functional enrichment analyses were also performed.

Result: We analyzed the differential expression patterns of the m5C-related regulators between HCC and normal tissue samples. Based on consensus clustering of these regulators, three distinct molecular subgroups were identified, each associated with differences in patient survival and immune cell infiltration. Furthermore, we developed a prognostic signature comprising NSUN3, NSUN5, and YBX1, and stratified HCC patients into low- and high-risk groups. Patients in the low-risk group exhibited significantly better overall survival (OS) than those in the high-risk group. The robustness of this risk model was validated using the ICGC database. When integrated with clinicopathological characteristics, the risk score emerged as an independent prognostic factor. Additionally, we performed functional annotation and enrichment analyses based on differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the two risk subgroups to explore potential underlying biological mechanisms.

Conclusion: Our study revealed the potential roles of these m5C-related regulators in TIME and identified their prognosis value and therapeutic potential for HCC patients.

Purpose: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a significant head and neck malignancy with rising incidence globally. Despite recent advances in the treatment of NPC, particularly introduction of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in its management, locoregional recurrence remains a major challenge, impacting patient survival and quality of life. This study evaluates the five-year locoregional failure rates and recurrence patterns in NPC patients treated with IMRT with or without Concomitant Chemotherapy.

Methods: A historical cohort of 65 NPC patients treated at Shohadai-e-Tajrish Hospital in Tehran, Iran, from 2017 to 2019, was analyzed. All patients received definitive IMRT, with a median follow-up of five years. Recurrence patterns were classified as in-field, marginal or out-field recurrences, based on dosimetric parameters. Statistical analyses assessed recurrence associations with clinical and dosimetric factors at the significant level of p<0.05.

Results: Of the 61 patients, 31.2% experienced recurrence including 18.03% with locoregional failure and 13.1% with distant metastasis. Among locoregional recurrences, 60% were in-field, 30% marginal, and 10% out-field. Mean dosimetric values for high-risk, intermediate-risk, and low-risk clinical target volumes were 68.3 Gy, 58.65 Gy, and 51.66 Gy, respectively.

Conclusion: Locoregional failures in NPC remain a significant clinical issue, with in-field recurrences being the most common. Strategies like dose escalation, functional imaging-guided radiation, and improved clinical target volume delineation are essential to enhance treatment outcomes and reduce recurrence rates. Further research into individualized treatment approaches and long-term toxicity data is needed to optimize patient care.

Objective: Among malignant neoplasms of the female reproductive system, cervical cancer traditionally occupies a leading position in terms of both morbidity and mortality. Traditional surgical treatment of early-stage cervical cancer leads to satisfactory oncological results, but irreversibly reduces the fertility in this category of patients. The aim of this work was to evaluate the applicability of a metal-ceramic implant with shape memory made of titanium nickelide for the purpose of forming uterine closure and strengthening the anastomosis zone.

Methods: A total of 168 untreated patients with cervical cancer underwent radical trachelectomy with reinforcement of the utero-vaginal anastomosis using a titanium-nickelide shape memory implant. The fertility of women after organ-preserving treatment was evaluated. Thirty-nine pregnancies were registered.

Results: Currently, 28 healthy children have been born. Two patients gave birth twice, one woman gave birth to twins. In addition, 2 miscarriages were registered at 7 and 19 weeks, 7 patients terminated pregnancy for social reasons at early stages, 2 patients are currently pregnant, at 24 and 32 weeks. The median follow-up for this category of patients is 89±9.6 months. Eight relapses were registered at various follow-up periods with the localization of the relapse mainly in the area of the anastomosis and iliac vessels. Analysis of menstrual function showed that the duration of the menstrual cycle after surgical treatment in the volume of radical trachelectomy was 29±4.7 days and did not differ significantly from the indicators before the operation. The duration of menstruation also did not differ significantly before and after surgical treatment.

Conclusion: Improvement of the method of organ-preserving surgical treatment by radical trachelectomy with the formation of the uterine locking apparatus using titanium-nickelide metal tricotage contributes to the improvement of reproductive results without compromising oncological effectiveness.

Background: This study compared the image quality of the TrueBeam (TB) kilo-voltage cone-beam CT (CBCT) system using standard reconstruction (TB-sCBCT) and iterative reconstruction (TB-iCBCT) with that of the Halcyon iterative CBCT (H-iCBCT). Additionally, the clinical impact of calibration drift over a one-year period was investigated for both head and pelvis imaging modes.

Methods: Image quality and calibration were assessed using the Catphan®. Image quality evaluation included the analysis of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and low-contrast detectability. Calibration stability for head and pelvis CBCT modes was examined by comparing dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters across ten tongue and ten prostate patient cases.

Results: The average SNR was 3.1 for TB-sCBCT, 23.1 for TB-iCBCT, and 6.9 for H-iCBCT, while the corresponding CNR values were 11.2, 53.0, and 28.4, respectively. At a contrast level of 0.3%, the smallest detectable target diameters were 15 mm for TB-sCBCT, 8 mm for TB-iCBCT, and 9 mm for H-iCBCT. Over a one-year period, the Hounsfield Unit (HU) variation in the head CBCT mode exceeded the recommended action threshold of ±50 HU, whereas the pelvis CBCT mode remained within acceptable limits.

Conclusion: In the TB system, advanced iterative reconstruction algorithms significantly enhance SNR and CNR by effectively reducing image noise. Halcyon provides improved image quality compared to TB with standard reconstruction; however, it remains inferior to TB-iCBCT. HU deviations were more pronounced in head CBCT than in pelvis mode, although HU variation in the pelvis CBCT mode exhibited greater sensitivity regarding clinical impact.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to measure the serum levels of two inflammatory biomarkers, galectin-1 (Gal-1) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), as well as liver enzyme activities, in gastric cancer (GC) patients before and after chemotherapy, and to compare these findings with healthy controls.

Methods: The study included 75 gastric cancer patients and 50 controls. Serum levels of IL-1β and Gal-1 were measured using the ELISA method, and liver enzyme activity was assessed using the kinetic chromogenic method with commercial kits.

Results: Baseline levels of Gal-1 and IL-1β were significantly higher in patients compared to controls (38.1 ng/ml vs 16.1 ng/ml; p <0.001 for Gal-1, 86.3 pg/mL vs 18.8 pg/mL; p <0,001 for IL-1β). And also Baseline levels of ALT, AST and ALP was significantly higher in the patient group pages Following chemotherapy, levels of IL-1β significantly decreased to 67.9 pg/ml (P < 0.001) and Gal-1 showed a modest decrease to 37.2 ng/ml (not significant, P = 0.06). Although reduced by about 10%, both biomarkers remained significantly higher compared to controls (P < 0.001). In contrast, the activities of liver enzymes significantly increased after chemotherapy.

Conclusion: Both Gal-1 and IL-1β play pivotal roles in causing inflammation during the development of GC, and their expression may represent an integrated systemic inflammatory process in GC patients regardless of gastrectomy as well as chemotherapy. In addition, the combination chemotherapy in treatment of GC led to hepatotoxicity as suggested by sera hepatic enzyme activities during and following therapy.

Introduction: Estrogen exerts a multifaceted influence on breast cancer, particularly through its association with estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), which serve as pivotal prognostic and therapeutic markers. While the differential expression of metabolic genes and their prognostic relevance in breast cancer have been extensively studied, limited research has examined their regulation by estrogen signaling. This study adopts a novel approach by investigating the effect of estrogen signaling on the expression of a broad spectrum of metabolic genes in breast cancer.

Methodology: Microarray data from breast cancer studies were retrieved from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Differential expression profiles of ER+PR+ versus ER-PR- samples across seven datasets were analyzed using GEO2R. The 250 most significantly overexpressed and underexpressed genes were identified, and genes with metabolic functions were filtered. Promoter and upstream sequences (up to 1000 bp) of the most common transcript variants were obtained from the UCSC Genome Browser (Hg38 cell line). Estrogen receptor elements (EREs) and CpG islands were subsequently identified.

Results: Thirty-three unique metabolic genes were identified based on differential expression profiles. Out of these, 18 genes were identified as having EREs in their upstream regions- CA12, CPA3, FBP1, STC2, NME5, DEGS2, ABAT, GAMT, and ARSG were upregulated, whereas B3GNT5, DPH2, PPARA, TNFRSF21, PHGDH, FOXL1, ME1, RNF145, and NUDT5 were downregulated. CpG islands closely corresponded to the EREs in PPARA, PHGDH, ME1, RNF145, NUDT5, CA12, STC2, ABAT, and GAMT.

Discussion: The identification of CA12, consistent with previous findings on its role in oncogenesis and estrogen regulation, highlights the therapeutic potential of targeting this pathway. Furthermore, the additional genes identified expand our understanding of metabolic alterations in response to estrogen signaling in breast cancer, thereby offering new avenues for mechanistic exploration and the development of potential therapeutic targets.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is a key strategy for cervical cancer prevention. Health literacy may influence vaccine uptake, but evidence among adolescents remains limited in Thailand. This study aimed to examine the association between health literacy, social support, and HPV vaccination among female secondary school students.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted between November 2024 and January 2025 in Chalerm Phrakiat District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand. A total of 296 female students aged 13-18 years were included, comprising 148 unvaccinated participants and 148 vaccinated controls. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire covering demographic characteristics, health literacy (six subscales), and perceived social support and role modeling (two subscales). Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with HPV vaccination.

Results: Approximately one-third of both groups had fair overall health literacy (33.11% and 37.84%, respectively). Participants in senior high school were significantly less likely to be vaccinated (AOR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.37-3.76). Interestingly, participants with low knowledge and understanding were more likely to be vaccinated (AOR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.16-0.69), while those with low communication skills were more likely to be unvaccinated (AOR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.05-3.48). Overall health literacy was not significantly associated with vaccination status.

Conclusion: Specific dimensions of health literacy, particularly knowledge and communication skills, were significantly associated with HPV vaccination. These findings highlight the need for targeted health education interventions focusing on improving communication and reinforcing key knowledge to increase vaccine uptake among adolescents.

Objective: The aim of this study is to reports the purification, biochemical characterization, and biological activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) isoenzymes from the marine snail Tectus dentatus (TdSOD).

Methods: The enzyme was purified through DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange and Sephacryl S-300 size-exclusion chromatography, yielding two distinct isoenzymes, TdSOD1 and TdSOD2. TdSOD1 was further purified to homogeneity with a 6.9-fold purification and a specific activity of 658.3 U/mg.

Results: Electrophoretic analyses confirmed the enzyme's purity and revealed a native molecular weight of approximately 180 kDa, composed of subunits around 90 kDa. TdSOD1 showed optimal activity at pH 7.8 and was strongly activated by Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺, while inhibitors such as KCN and H₂O₂ significantly reduced its activity. Functionally, TdSOD1 demonstrated notable antimicrobial activity, especially against Candida albicans (97.3% inhibition) and Gram-negative bacteria including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (61.7%) and Escherichia coli (60.2%). Lower activity was observed against Klebsiella pneumoniae (39.1%) and Staphylococcus aureus (2.9%). In anticancer assays, TdSOD1 exerted a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines, with an IC₅₀ of 33.42 µg/mL for MDA-MB-231 cells.

Conclusion: These results suggest that TdSOD1 possesses promising antimicrobial and anticancer potential, supporting its future exploration as a multifunctional therapeutic agent.