Bryophyllum pinnata (B. pinnata) is a common medicinal plant used in traditional medicine of India and of other countries for curing various infections, bowel diseases, healing wounds and other ailments. However, its anticancer properties are poorly defined. In view of broad spectrum therapeutic potential of B. pinnata we designed a study to examine anti-cancer and anti-Human Papillomavirus (HPV) activities in its leaf extracts and tried to isolate its active principle. »
03/10/12

Transcriptional silencing of HPV oncogenes using short interfering RNA (siRNA) blocks E6/E7 expression. Our objective was to estimate the effective value of E6/E7 specific siRNA-induced transcriptional gene silencing as a potential therapeutic strategy for cervical cancer. »
02/01/12

Mesothelin is a cell-surface glycoprotein present on mesothelial cells and elicits T cell responses in a variety of cancers including pancreatic, biliary and ovarian cancer. Breast cancer is not known to express mesothelin. We postulated that mesothelin may be a unique tumor-associated antigen in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), a less common breast cancer subtype which may have been under-represented in prior studies that characterized mesothelin expression. »
03/15/12

This study investigates the impact of reproductive factors on the association between education and breast cancer mortality in Belgium. The role of reproductive factors has been investigated in several studies, with mixed results. Reproductive factors are either completely or partially responsible for the association between education and breast cancer mortality. »
03/15/12

This study investigated the prognostic and predictive significance of IDH1 and IDH2 mutations in low-grade astrocytomas (LGA). The presence and consistency of IDH mutations during the progression of LGA to secondary high-grade gliomas (sHGG) were detected. Samples of patients with LGA and sHGG were investigated. »
03/13/12

Laboratory studies suggest a possible role of magnesium intake in colorectal carcinogenesis but epidemiological evidence is inconclusive. »
03/13/12

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), a key modulator of the transcriptional response to hypoxia, is increased in colon cancer. However, the role of HIF in colon carcinogenesis in vivo remains unclear. In this study, we found that intestinal epithelium-specific disruption of the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein (VHL) resulted in constitutive HIF signaling, and increased HIF expression augmented colon tumorigenesis in the Apcmin/+ intestinal tumor model. »
03/14/12

Aspirin reduces the incidence of and mortality from colorectal cancer (CRC) by unknown mechanisms. Cancer cells have defects in signaling via the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), which regulates proliferation. We investigated whether aspirin affects AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and mTOR signaling in CRC cells. »
03/06/12

Helicobacter pylori infection causes gastric mucosal inflammatory responses, resulting in up-regulation of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and overproduction of mutagenic nitric oxide (NO). The authors previously demonstrated that IL-1β plays an important role in H. pylori-induced E-cadherin (E-cad) methylation. Here, they extend the study to investigate the downstream effect of IL-1β on H. pylori-induced gastric inflammation and aberrant DNA methylation. »
03/13/12

microRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate target gene expression. It is known that miRNA-107 (miR-107) promotes cancer invasion and metastasis. However, the relationship between clinicopathological factors and the prognostic significance of miR-107 for gastric cancer patients remains elusive. »
03/07/12