The Association of Obesity and Sistemic Arterial Hypertension with High-Grade Prostate Cancer: Our Experience
Pages 191-195
Simona Di Francesco and Raffaele L. Tenaglia

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-2279.2014.03.04.3

Published: 24 November 2014

Abstract: Introduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the first most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death worldwide. We hypothesized that the presence of obesity and systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), separately and combined, would be associated with increased High-grade PCa risk, since the initial diagnosis.

Methods: We evaluated, in 133 patients undergoing prostate biopsy at our institution, the relationship between obesity (BMI≥ 30) and SAH (systolic blood pressure ≥ 140, diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90) with High-grade PCa (Gleason score ≥ 7) at initial diagnosis. Men with urological surgery history, steroid therapy, chemotherapy, incomplete data, were excluded.

Results:Obesity was significantly associated (OR 2.25, p < 0.05) with High-grade PCa since the initial diagnosis. Particularly, obesity in association with SAH, was significantly linked to aggressive PCa pre-treatment (OR 2.84, p < 0.05). SAH was not associated in our study with aggressive PCa in non-obese men.

Conclusions:Obesity and SAH were significantly linked to aggressive PCa, at initial diagnosis, prior to hormonal or surgical therapy. Further larger studies should better clarify this relationship to support these associations and to evaluate future preventive and therapeutic strategies.

The Oncological Outcome of HIFU for the Treatment of Localized Prostate Cancer
Pages 67-72
Francesco Ziglioli and Umberto Maestroni

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-2279.2014.03.01.7

Published: 31 January 2014

Abstract: Introduction: Prostate cancer is considered one of the most important health problems. Due to the increased number of diagnosed patients and the inability to distinguish aggressive tumors, minimally-invasive procedures have become increasingly interesting. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an alternative option to radical surgery to treat prostate cancer. To date, however, no data are available on the efficacy of this technique in comparison to standard treatment.

Methods and Results: We reviewed the literature to concentrate on the oncological outcome of HIFU treatment of prostate cancer with the following key words: hifu, high intensity focused ultrasound, ultrasonic therapy, transrectal hifu, prostate ablation. MedLine and Embase via Ovid database were searched. Selection criteria were: English language, articles published between 2006 and 2013, case series including more than 150 participants and reported data on oncological outcome. Thirteen uncontrolled studies were identified. No randomized controlled trials (RCT) were found in the literature comparing HIFU to other routine approaches to prostate cancer treatment.

Conclusion: HIFU seems to be a promising minimally-invasive treatment for low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer, especially for patients who are unfit for radical surgery. Prospective studies with longer follow-up periods and RCT are required to properly assess the benefits of HIFU and to compare this treatment with standard treatment.

The Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Paclitaxel in Adjuvant Therapy of Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Pages 74-84
Hua-Qing Chen, Yi-Si Li, Si-Chao Huang, Ya-Hua Lin, Qiu-Tong Tan, Shu-Ting Ao, Jun Xu and Shao-Hui Cai

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-2279.2015.04.02.5

Published: 07 May 2015

Abstract: Purpose: To systematically review the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of Paclitaxel for the treatment of mammary cancer.

Math: We searched Web of knowledge, PubMed, VIP information and CNKI (to October 2013) on randomised controlled trial about Paclitaxel for the treatment of mammary cancer and retrieved relevant reference and research material by hand. Two authors independently screened document, extracted data and assessed the quality according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, we finally used the software RevMan 5.2 from Cochrane for Meta-analysis.

Result: 18 randomized controlled clinical study were brought into our study according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, including 10712 patients. The result of meta-analysis showed that the odds ratios of Paclitaxel for adjunctive therapy [OR = 1.64, 95% CI (1.40, 1.92), P <0.00001] was better than conventional drugs, while the overall survival was no significant difference between Paclitaxel and conventional drugs. The further Subgroup analysis showed that the efficacy of Paclitaxel for adjunctive therapy was better than cyclophosphamide [OR = 1.41, 95%C I (1. 07, 1.85), P =0. 01] and NVB [OR = 2.10, 95% CI (1.33, 3.30), P =0.001]. The adverse reactions analysis results showed the ratio of myelosuppression and alopecia by treated with Paclitaxel was improved, while the occurrence of gastrointestinal reaction rate was decreased.

Conclusion: The current evidence showed Paclitaxel was effective for the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer, but the above conclusions still need future expansion of more samples, high quality RCT verify.

Keyword: Paclitaxel, Breast cancer, efficacy, adverse reactions, systematically review, Meta-analysis, randomized controlled trial.

The Overexpression of ABCG2 Reduces the Efficacy of Volasertib (BI 6727) and GSK641364 in Human S1-M1-80 Colon Carcinoma Cells
Pages 108-116
Sung-Han Hsiao, Shi-Yu Luo, Ching-Ya Su, Wei-Cherng Tuo, Cheng-Ting Chiang, Yan-Qing Li, Yang-Hui Huang and Chung-Pu Wu

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6000/1929-2279.2014.03.02.5

Published: 08 May 2014

Abstract: The polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is one of the key regulators in cell cycle progression. Plk1 is overexpressed in many types of cancer and promotes the proliferation of cancer cells. Inhibition of Plk1 activity induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and reduces cancer cell viability. Volasertib and GSK461364 are selective inhibitors of Plk1, active against a wide range of tumor cells at nanomolar concentrations. In this study, while examining the effectiveness of Plk1 inhibitors against multiple human colon cancer cell lines, we discovered that the overexpression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) drug transporter ABCG2 in human S1-M1-80 colon cancer cells confers resistance to volasertib and GSK461364. Moreover, we found that ABCG2-transfected HEK293 cells were also resistant to both Plk1 inhibitors. We revealed that volasertib and GSK461364 inhibited the function of ABCG2 in a concentration dependent manner, and had no significant effect on the protein expression of ABCG2. More importantly, we showed that the G2/M cell cycle arrest induced by volasertib or GSK461364 was significantly reduced in S1-M1-80 cells, and that ABCG2-mediated drug resistance to Plk1 inhibitors can be restored by inhibition of ABCG2 function. Therefore, the development of ABCG2-mediated drug resistance to volasertib and GSK461364 in cancer clearly present a significant therapeutic challenge, and a better treatment strategy should be further investigated.