Lung cancer. Radiotherapy in lung cancer: Actual methods and future trends

This survey is performed to update knowledge about methods and trends in lung cancer radiotherapy. A significant development has been noticed in radiotherapeutic techniques, but also in the identification of clinical prognostic factors. The improvement in the therapeutic line includes: application of the four-dimensional computer tomography (4DCT), taking advantage of positron emission tomography (PET-CT), designing of new computational algorithms, allowing more precise irradiation planning, development of treatment precision verification systems and introducing IMRT techniques in chest radiotherapy. The treatment outcomes have improved with high dose radiotherapy, but other fractionation alternations have been investigated as well.     

Radiotherapy in small cell cancer of the lung treated with combination chemotherapy: a controlled trial.

Three hundred and seventy one patients with extensive or limited small cell cancer of the lung took part in a randomised trial to evaluate irradiation of the primary tumour in patients treated with combination chemotherapy. They were randomly allocated to treatment either with chemotherapy alone (198) or with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy (173). All 371 initially received 12 weeks of chemotherapy after which they were categorised according to response. Only those with stable or responding disease continued with their allotted treatment. Thus 144 received chemotherapy alone and 135 received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The design of the study permitted analysis of the effect of radiotherapy according to initial extent of disease and quality of early response to chemotherapy. Radiotherapy (40 Gy (4000 rad), one fraction a day over 20 days) did not improve the survival of patients in any category of initial extent of disease or early response to chemotherapy and was not effective in preventing local relapse.     

Radiotherapy in thyroid cancer.

Although resection is the mainstay of treatment of thyroid cancer, and radioactive iodine (131-1) is curative in a small number of patients with differentiated cancers, external irradiation is much more effective than is generally believed. This has been clearly shown in a review of 138 patients with thyroid cancer referred to a cancer centre, in most cases after an initial operation. External irradiation should be considered in all patients except those with pure papillary tumours that have been completely excised. It should be used (a) in conjunction with surgery if there is even a remote doubt as to the completeness of excision; (b) in conjunction with 131-1 in treating inoperable primary tumours or metastatic lesions; () alone for differentiated tumours (primary or metastatic) that do not take up 131-1; and, (d) perhaps combined with chemotherapy, for medullary and anaplastic tumours.     

Association of IL-6 polymorphisms with gastric cancer risk: evidences from a meta-analysis

The findings of associations between IL-6 polymorphisms and risk of gastric cancer are controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis of the IL-6 gene to provide evidences for the current understanding of the genetic association with gastric cancer. We searched for relevant studies without language restriction in PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library published up to November 2011. The strengths of the associations between IL-6 polymorphisms and gastric cancer risk were estimated by odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI). We identified seven case-control studies involving 1364 gastric cancer cases and 1748 controls for the analysis. Because of limited eligible data, our meta-analysis specifically focused on three SNPs of the IL-6 gene, -174 G/C, -572 G/C and -597 G/A. We found no significant associations of IL-6-174 G/C, -572 G/C and -597 G/A polymorphisms with gastric cancer risk in the overall population (all p>0.05). Subgroup analysis did not show significant associations in Asian population or Caucasian population either (all p>0.05). Begg's test and Egger's test suggested no evidence of publication (all p>0.05). Our findings showed that polymorphisms of IL-6-174 G/C, -572 G/C and -597 G/A are not associated with gastric cancer risk. However, the results should be interpreted with caution due to the limited number of studies available.     

Plant coevolution: evidences and new challenges

Abstract

Coevolution has been defined as the reciprocal genetic change in interacting species owing to natural selection imposed by each on the other. The process of coevolution between plants and the surrounding biota – including viruses, fungi, bacteria, nematodes, insects, and mammals – is considered by many biologists to have generated much of the earth's biological diversity. While much of the discussion on plant coevolution focuses on single plant–enemy interactions, a wide array of other micro and macro coevolutive processes co-occur in the same individual plant, posing the question whether we should talk about plant coevolutions. In this review article, I begin by briefly discussing the framework of coevolution theory and explore the complexities of studying coevolution in natural conditions. Then I analyze the difference between plants, microbes and animal coevolution, by exploring the above- and below-ground behaviors.     

Preliminary evidences on mitochondrial injury and impaired oxidative metabolism in breast cancer

Mitochondriopathy is emerging as a new cancer theory; however, the relevance of mitochondrial pathobiology in breast cancer has not yet been completely explored. Herein we report on altered expression levels of the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS) subunits, mitochondrial structural injury and impaired ATP content from a breast-infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC). With this purpose, a human mammary carcinoma (HMC-1) cell, referred to a human mammary epithelial cell (HMEC) line, was assayed for: a) OXPHOS levels by quantitative cryo-immunoelectron microscopy (CIEM) labeling; b) morphological characterization by a newly introduced damage grading (scale Mt-g1-3), calculated on the % of intact cristae carrying mitochondria; c) bioenergetic impairment by luminometric determinations of cellular ATP content and cytochemical visualization of COX activity. Drastic OXPHOS reduction was observed in HMC-1 cells for the succinate-dehydrogenase complex II SDH-B protein, while decreasing was reported for the NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase complex I NDUFS3 and the ubiquinol cytochrome c reductase complex III UQCRC2 subunits. A significant dropping was detected for the ATP-synthase complex V F1β protein. For the COX complex near-depletion of the mitochondrial-encoded COXI and no apparent variation of the COXIV subunits were observed. Injury grading was categorized assigning three levels of morphological damage in HMC-1 mitochondria: i) severe (4.6%), ii) moderate (23.1%), iii) slight (44.6%), corresponding to 0%, 1-50% and 51-75% of area occupied by intact cristae. ATP generation and COX activity appeared significantly reduced in HMC-1 cells. The structural damage grading here described could provide new insight on IDC mitochondrial impairment and represent hallmark in the breast cancer mitochondriopathy.     

Semen as a rich source of diagnostic biomarkers for prostate cancer: latest evidence and implications

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers in men and the cause of numerous cancer deaths in the world. Nowadays, based on diagnostic criteria,...     

Previous lung diseases and lung cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

In order to review the epidemiologic evidence concerning previous lung diseases as risk factors for lung cancer, a meta-analysis and systematic review was conducted.

Methods

Relevant studies were identified through MEDLINE searches. Using random effects models, summary effects of specific previous conditions were evaluated separately and combined. Stratified analyses were conducted based on smoking status, gender, control sources and continent.

Results

A previous history of COPD, chronic bronchitis or emphysema conferred relative risks (RR) of 2.22 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.66, 2.97) (from 16 studies), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.25, 1.84) (from 23 studies) and 2.04 (95% CI: 1.72, 2.41) (from 20 studies), respectively, and for all these diseases combined 1.80 (95% CI: 1.60, 2.11) (from 39 studies). The RR of lung cancer for subjects with a previous history of pneumonia was 1.43 (95% CI: 1.22–1.68) (from 22 studies) and for subjects with a previous history of tuberculosis was 1.76 (95% CI = 1.49, 2.08), (from 30 studies). Effects were attenuated when restricting analysis to never smokers only for COPD/emphysema/chronic bronchitis (RR = 1.22, 0.97–1.53), however remained significant for pneumonia 1.36 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.69) (from 8 studies) and tuberculosis 1.90 (95% CI: 1.45, 2.50) (from 11 studies).

Conclusions

Previous lung diseases are associated with an increased risk of lung cancer with the evidence among never smokers supporting a direct relationship between previous lung diseases and lung cancer.     

Detection of cancer of the lung; results of a chest x-ray survey in Los Angeles

In a mass survey by x-ray minifilm in Los Angeles County, apparently suspicion of cancer of the lung was reported in more than 90 per cent of cases in which the condition existed. Of the patients who were appropriate for resection with intent to cure, 35.8 per cent had "three-year cures." This high cure rate indicates that if the condition is detected early by the survey method and "curative" operation is done, cure rate for lung cancer may be much higher than is usually thought.     

RNASEL Asp541Glu and Arg462Gln polymorphisms in prostate cancer risk: evidences from a meta-analysis

Epidemiological studies have evaluated the association between RNASEL Asp541Glu and Arg462Gln polymorphisms and prostate cancer (PCa) risk. However, the results remain inconclusive. To derive a more precise estimation of the association between RNASEL polymorphisms and PCa risk, we performed a meta-analysis based on nineteen case?Ccontrol studies. We used odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the association. Overall, we found that both Asp541Glu and Arg462Gln polymorphisms were not associated with PCa risk (for Asp541Glu polymorphism: Glu/Glu vs. Asp/Asp: OR 1.17, 95% CI: 0.95?C1.45, P?=?0.13; Glu/Asp vs. Asp/Asp: OR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.92?C1.14, P?=?0.70; for Arg462Gln polymorphism: Gln/Gln vs. Arg/Arg: OR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.88?C1.08, P?=?0.62; Gln/Arg vs. Arg/Arg: OR 0.97, 95% CI: 0.91?C1.04, P?=?0.53). The insignificant association was maintained in the dominant and the recessive genetic models. In subgroup analyses, the significant association was not detected in Caucasian populations. However, we found the significant association of RNASEL Asp541Glu polymorphism with sporadic PCa (Glu/Glu vs. Asp/Asp: OR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.04?C1.59, P?=?0.02; Glu/Asp vs. Asp/Asp: OR 1.24, 95% CI: 1.03?C1.50, P?=?0.03). In conclusion, we found that these RNASEL polymorphisms were not related to overall PCa risk, especially in Caucasians. However, in subgroup analyses we found a suggestion that RNASEL 541Gln allele might be a low-penetrent risk factor for sporadic PCa.