Xiuhua Weng^*1, Shaohong Luo^*1, Shen Lin^*, Lixian Zhong^†, Meiyue Li^*, Rao Xin^*, Pinfang Huang^*, Xiongwei Xu^*

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.2, pp. 117-125, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504019X15707883083132

Abstract To evaluate the cost–utility of pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy as the first-line setting for metastatic nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from the US health care system perspective, a Markov model was developed to compare the lifetime cost and effectiveness of pembrolizumab versus chemotherapy for untreated metastatic NSCLC, based on the clinical data derived from phase III randomized controlled trial (KEYNOTE- 042; ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02220894). Weibull distribution was fitted to simulate the parametric survival functions. Drug costs were collected from official websites, and utility values were obtained from published literature. Total costs, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were computed… More >

Qie Guo^*, Xiao Li^*, Meng-Na Cui^*, Jia-Lin Sun^*, Hong-Yan Ji^*, Bei-Bei Ni^*, Mei-Xing Yan^†

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.5, pp. 533-540, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504020X15919605976853

Abstract Cancer is one of the most serious diseases that are harmful to human health. Systemic chemotherapy is an optimal therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer, but great difficulty has been encountered in its administration in the form of multidrug resistance (MDR). As an enzyme on the outer cell surface, CD13 is documented to be involved in the MDR development of tumor cells. In this review, we will focus on the role of CD13 in MDR generation based on the current evidence. More >

Leonard Lothstein^*, Judith Soberman^†, Deanna Parke^*, Jatin Gandhi^*, Trevor Sweatman^‡, Tiffany Seagroves^*

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.5, pp. 451-465, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504020X15898794315356

Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is unresponsive to antiestrogen and anti-HER2 therapies, requiring the use of cytotoxic drug combinations of anthracyclines, taxanes, cyclophosphamide, and platinum compounds. Multidrug therapies achieve pathological cure rates of only 20–40%, a consequence of drug resistance and cumulative dose limitations necessitated by the reversible cardiotoxic effects of drug therapy. Safer and more effective treatments for TNBC are required to achieve durable therapeutic responses. This study describes the mechanistic analyses of the novel anthracycline, pivarubicin, and its in vivo efficacy against human primary TNBC. Pivarubicin directly activates PKCd, triggers rapid mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis, and circumvents resistance conferred by overexpression… More >

Andrea Lapucci^*†1, Gabriele Perrone^*†1, Antonello Di Paolo^‡§, Cristina Napoli^*†, Ida Landini^*†, Giandomenico Roviello^*†, Laura Calosi^¶, Antonio Giuseppe Naccarato^#, Alfredo Falcone^#, Daniele Bani^¶, Enrico Mini^*†§2, Stefania Nobili^*†§2,3

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.6, pp. 631-644, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504020X16056983169118

Abstract The benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in the early stages of colorectal cancer (CRC) is still disappointing and the prediction of treatment outcome quite difficult. Recently, through a transcriptomic approach, we evidenced a role of PNN and KCNQ1OT1 gene expression in predicting response to fluoropyrimidine-based adjuvant chemotherapy in stage III CRC patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate in an independent cohort of stages II–III CRC patients our previous findings. PNN and KCNQ1OT1 mRNA expression levels were evaluated in 74 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor and matched normal mucosa samples obtained by stages II–III CRC patients treated with fluoropyrimidine-based adjuvant… More >

Piao Yongfeng^*†‡§1, Jiang Chuner^*¶#1, Wang Lei^*†‡§, Yan Fengqin^*†‡§, Ye Zhimin^*†‡§, Fu Zhenfu^*†‡§, Jiang Haitao^*,**††, Jiang Yangming^‡‡, Wang Fangzheng^*†‡§

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.6, pp. 605-613, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504020X16022401878096

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the predictive role of pretreatment MRI-based radiomics on early response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Between January 2016 and December 2016, a total of 108 newly diagnosed NPC patients who were hospitalized in the Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences were reviewed. All patients had complete data of enhanced MR of nasopharynx before treatment, and then received two to three cycles of TP-based NAC. After 2 cycles of NAC, enhanced MR of nasopharynx was conducted again. Compared with the enhanced MR images… More >

Heming Lu^*†1, Yuying Wu^‡1, Xu Liu^†, Huixian Huang^†, Hailan Jiang^†, Chaohua Zhu^†, Yuping Man^§, Zhaohong Chen^†, Xianfeng Long^†, Qiang Pang^†, Luxing Peng^†, Xianglong Li^†, Junzhao Gu^†, Shan Deng^†, Ligang Xing^*

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.9, pp. 929-944, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504021X16318716607908

Abstract This phase II randomized clinical trial aimed to assess the efficacy and toxicity of Endostar, an antiangiogenesis inhibitor, combined with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Patients with LACC were randomly assigned to either CCRT plus Endostar (CCRT+E arm) or CCRT alone (CCRT arm). All patients received pelvic intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and brachytherapy. Weekly cisplatin was administered concurrently with IMRT. Patients in the CCRT+E arm also received concurrent Endostar every 3 weeks for two cycles. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS) and acute toxicities. The exploratory endpoint was the impact of vascular endothelial growth factor… More >

Weili Min^*1, Liangzhang Sun^†1, Burong Li^‡, Xiao Gao^*, Shuqun Zhang^*, Yang Zhao^*

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.9, pp. 857-872, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504021X16203818567367

Abstract EMT confers increased metastatic potential and the resistance to chemotherapies to cancer cells. However, the precise mechanisms of EMT-related chemotherapy resistance remain unclear. c-Src-mediated caspase 8 phosphorylation essential for EMT in lung adenocarcinoma cell lines preferentially occurs in cells with the mesenchymal phenotype, resulting in chemoresistance to cisplatin plus paclitaxel in patients with resectable lung adenocarcinoma and a significantly worse 5-year PFS. Cisplatin killed lung adenocarcinoma cells regardless of caspase 8. Paclitaxel-triggered necroptosis in lung adenocarcinoma cells was dependent on the phosphorylation or deficiency of caspase 8, during which FADD interacted with RIPK1 to activate the RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL signaling axis. Accompanied… More >

Chunmou Li^*1, Xiaomin Peng^*1, Chuchu Feng^*1, Xilin Xiong^*, Jianxin Li^†, Ning Liao^‡, Zhen Yang^§, Aiguo Liu^¶, Pingping Wu^*, Xuehong Liang^†, Yunyan He^‡, Xin Tian^§, Yunbi Lin^§, Songmi Wang^¶, Yang Li^*

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.7-8, pp. 791-800, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504021X16184815905096

Abstract This nonrandomized, multicenter cohort, open-label clinical trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of combined chemotherapy with arsenic trioxide (ATO) in children with stage 4/M neuroblastoma (NB). We enrolled patients who were newly diagnosed with NB and assessed as stage 4/M and received either traditional chemotherapy or ATO combined with chemotherapy according to their own wishes. Twenty-two patients were enrolled in the trial group (ATO combined with chemotherapy), and 13 patients were enrolled in the control group (traditional chemotherapy). Objective response rate (ORR) at 4 weeks after completing induction chemotherapy was defined as the main outcome, and adverse events were monitored… More >

Ching-Wen Huang^*, Cheng-Jen Ma^*†, Wei-Chih Su^*, Yi-Ting Chen^‡§, Hsiang-Lin Tsai^*¶, Yung-Sung Yeh^*#, Tsung-Kun Chang^*, Wen-Hung Hsu^**††, Fang-Jung Yu^**††, Jaw-Yuan Wang^{*¶‡‡§§¶¶##}

Oncology Research, Vol.28, No.7-8, pp. 701-714, 2020, DOI:10.3727/096504020X15986099915822

Abstract This study evaluated the survival effects of metronomic maintenance therapy with oral fluoropyrimidine in patients with stage III colorectal cancer (CRC) according to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression. We enrolled 197 patients with stage III CRC who had undergone radical resection and FOLFOX regimen adjuvant chemotherapy. The clinicopathological features and effects of metronomic maintenance therapy with oral capecitabine (daily dose of 850 mg/m2 , twice daily, on days 1–14 every 3 weeks for 6 months) on survival according to treatment group and EGFR expression were analyzed. By conducting an in vitro cell line study and in vivo study through… More >

ZIQIAN WANG^1,2,#, YAQI LI^1,2,#, DONGYANG WANG^1,2, YINGQIANG SHEN^1,3,4,5,*

BIOCELL, Vol.46, No.7, pp. 1599-1611, 2022, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2022.018530

Abstract Iron-dependent ferroptosis is a form of cell death dependent on iron levels. Cells that undergo ferroptosis have glutathione (GSH) deficiency, reduced Glutathione peroxidase-4 (GPX4) activity and intracellular lipid peroxidation, Mitochondria, lysosomes and many signal pathways are involved in the regulation of ferroptosis. More importantly, many tumor cells resistant to other cell death methods exhibit sensitivity to ferroptosis. Moreover, over recent years, a number of ferroptosis-induced drugs have been recommended for the treatment of malignant tumors. Therefore, the study of ferroptosis is of great significance for future cancer treatments. In this review, we discussed the metabolic process of ferroptosis, the role… More >