Objective To analyze the advances of cancer stem cell (CSC) in recent years, and to propose a prospect for CSC research and cancer therapy. Methods Articles about important advances of CSC theory and cancer therapy were reviewed, and then selected and summarized. Results In 2001, CSC was first put forward as a concept, till now, which has been confirmed in many tissues. In recent years, efforts were dedicated to such topics including: identification of CSC in sol id tumors, the origin of CSC, its niche and growth mechanism, cancer therapy, etc. According to the CSC theory, traditional therapeutic methods have deficiencies, and new treatment targeting CSC may thoroughly el iminate tumors. Conclusion At present, CSC theory is still controversial, while it proposed revolutionary methods and directions for the therapy of cancer.
bjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy and limits of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in tumor treatment. MethodsThe references about the application of HIFU in tumor treatment in recent years were reviewed.ResultsHIFU caused localized hyperthermia at predictable depth in a few seconds to make the tumor tissue coagulative necrosis without injuring surrounding tissue. HIFU treatment had the advantages of low morbidity, noninvasiveness, avoidance of systemic side effects, and repeatitiveness. However, the utilization of HIFU sometimes could be limited by some factors such as imaging technique, organ movement, incomplete tissue destruction, etc.ConclusionHIFU is a promising noninvasive therapy for tumor treatment, though there are lots of problems to be further studied.
Tumor cells have unique energy metabolism phenomena, namely high glucose absorption, aerobic glycolysis and high lactic acid production, which are characterized by down-regulation of related proteins involved in oxidative metabolism in tumor cells, and up-regulation of glucose transporters and monocarboxylate transporters. Studies have shown that drugs that target tumor cell glucose metabolism have the ability to selectively kill tumor cells, bringing new hope for tumor treatment. Tumor stem cells are considered to be the root cause of tumor recurrence, metastasis and poor prognosis, and their energy metabolism characteristics have not yet been agreed. Studies have shown that reversing the energy metabolism of tumor stem cells can increase their chemosensitivity. This article reviews recent studies on tumor and tumor stem cell glucose metabolism and the opportunities and challenges of tumor treatment through targeting glucose metabolism, which might provide new ideas and opportunities for clinical tumor therapy.
Tumor treatment fields (TTFields) can effectively inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells, but its mechanism remains exclusive. The destruction of cellular microtubule structure caused by TTFields through electric field force is considered to be the main reason for inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. However, the validity of this hypothesis still lacks exploration at the mesoscopic level. Therefore, in this study, we built force models for tubulins subjected to TTFields, based on the physical and electrical properties of tubulin molecules. We theoretically analyzed and simulated the dynamic effects of electric field force and torque on tubulin monomer polymerization, as well as the alignment and orientation of α/β tubulin heterodimer, respectively. Research results indicate that the interference of electric field force induced by TTFields on tubulin monomer is notably weaker than the inherent electrostatic binding force among tubulin monomers. Additionally, the electric field torque generated by the TTFileds on α/β tubulin dimers is also difficult to affect their random alignment. Therefore, at the mesoscale, our study affirms that TTFields are improbable to destabilize cellular microtubule structures via electric field dynamics effects. These results challenge the traditional view that TTFields destroy the microtubule structure of cells through TTFields electric field force, and proposes a new approach that should pay more attention to the "non-mechanical" effects of TTFields in the study of TTFields mechanism. This study can provide reliable theoretical basis and inspire new research directions for revealing the mesoscopic bioelectrical mechanism of TTFields.
Liposome is an ideal drug carrier with many advantages such as excellent biocompatibility, non-immunogenicity, and easy functionalization, and has been used for the clinical treatment of many diseases including tumors. For the treatment of tumors, liposome has some passive targeting capability, but the passive targeting effect alone is very limited in improving the drug enrichment in tumor tissues, and active targeting is an effective strategy to improve the drug enrichment. Therefore, active targeting liposome drug-carriers have been extensively studied for decades. In this paper, we review the research progresses on active targeting liposome drug-carriers based on the specific binding of the carriers to the surface of tumor cells, and summarize the opportunities, challenges and future prospects in this field.
Objective To analyze the reason of tumor treatment-related premature ovarian failure, and to review the progress of ovarian functional reconstruction. Methods The l iterature about the effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy on ovarian function and reconstruct ovarian function was reviewed, analysed and summarized. Results Radiotherapy and chemotherapy can both affect ovarian function. The ovarian function reconstruction included fresh ovarian transplantation and ovarian cryopreservation and transplantation. Frequent ovarian cryopreservation was procedure slow-freezing protocols and vitrification protocols. Some laboratory and animal models of ovarian function reconstruction have come to gratifying results. Conclusion Ovarian function reconstruction has a potential cl inical value and provides a promising future.
ObjectiveTo study the latest progress of cancer therapy by using clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE). MethodsRecent advances in malignant tumor treatment based on the molecular structure and function of CPE and its receptor Claudin-3, -4 was focused. ResultsCPE is cytotoxic for ovarian, breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer cells which express its receptor Claudin-3, -4, it is also effective over the xenograft mode of those cancers. But CPE is limitted in clinics because of its side effect. Modifying the molecular structure of CPE had made some progress to reduce its toxicity. ConclusionAs the ligand of claudin protein, an important component of tight junction, CPE can attack the tumor cell. It is a potentially a chemotherapeutic drug.
Cimetidine was given intravenously in daily dose of 20mg/kg to 20 patients with malignant tumor from the operative day on. The results show that cimetidine can elevate CD4, CD4/CD8 and decrease CD8. For comparison, blood samples from 40 patients were taken before operation for extracorporal testing. The results show that cimetidine can elevate lymphocyte transformation test and interleukin-2 secretive cell. These indicate that cimetidine can enhance the immune function of the patient and can be used as an adjunctive treatment of neoplasm.
The aim of this study is to construct an injectable gel with stable phototherapy and chemotherapy. Res-PTX@IR780 gel with phototherapy and chemotherapy property was prepared by introduction of photosensitizer IR780 and antioxidant resveratrol (Res) into the polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution of paclitaxel (PTX). The results showed that PTX, PTX@IR780 and Res-PTX@IR780 could form gels and the gels were injectable. ATR-FTIR results indicated not only components of the gels but also the formation of hydrogen bonding during the gelation. The results of UV showed instability of IR780 solution and stability improvement of Res-IR780 solution under infrared radiation (IR) irradiation. Photothermal tests showed that Res-PTX@IR780 displayed better photothermal conversion and photothermal stability under multiple irradiations than PTX@IR780. The results of in vivo exploration in mice showed that the skin site injected with Res-PTX@IR780 gel heated up from 35 ℃ to 64 ℃, and the temperature difference was up to 30 ℃. Res-PTX@IR780 gel is very promising as a combination agent of photothermal therapy and chemotherapy for the in situ treatment of tumors due to good photothermal conversion and photothermal stability under multiple irradiations.
Prussian blue (PB), a kind of ferrous ferricyanide composed of Fe2+ and Fe3+, has been approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA, USA) as an oral drug for the treatment of thallium and cesium poisoning. The biosafety of PB has been proved by long-term clinical trials. In recent years, PB nano-materials have attracted intensive research interests for medical application, especially for tumor imaging and treatment of cancer. Compared to other nano-materials, PB has potential advantage in medical application due to the high biosafety. This paper reviews the new advances in the functions of cancer diagnosis and therapy of PB nano-materials.