Effective management of advanced cancer requires systemic treatment including small molecules that target unique features of aggressive tumor cells. At the same time, tumors are heterogeneous and current evidence suggests that a subpopulation of tumor cells, called tumor initiating or cancer stem cells, are responsible for metastatic dissemination, tumor relapse and possibly drug resistance. Classical apoptotic drugs are less effective against this critical subpopulation. In the course of generating a library of open-chain epothilones, we discovered a new class of small molecule anticancer agents that has no effect on tubulin but instead kills selected cancer cell lines by harnessing reactive oxygen species to induce ferroptosis. Interestingly, we find that drug sensitivity is highest in tumor cells with a mesenchymal phenotype. Furthermore, these compounds showed enhanced toxicity towards mesenchymal breast cancer populations with cancer stem cell properties
Background: The anticancer impact of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) the highly active polyphenol of green tea was abundantly studied. Though, the exact mechanism of its cytotoxicity is still under investigation. Objectives: Hence, the current study designed to investigate the molecular target of EGCG in HepG2 cells on thirteen autophagy- and/or apoptosis- related genes. Methods: The apoptosis detection analyses such as flow cytometry and dual apoptosis assay were used. The genes expression profile was explored by the real-time quantitative-PCR. Results: EGCG increases G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and the real-time apoptosis markers proteins leading to stimulate apoptos
... Show MoreAlterations of trace element concentrations adversely affect biological processes and could promote carcinogenesis. Trace element deficiency or excess is implicated in the development or progression of some cancers like colorectal cancer. The aim of the present study was to compare the serum copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations in patients with colorectal cancer from Iraqi male patient with those of healthy subjects. During the period of March 2015 until august 2015, a total of 25 patients with metastatic colon cancer and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled from the Al-Kadhimia Teaching Hospital after the diagnosis using a histopathological examination for the malignant tumor; their age was between (38-60) years. Higher levels o
... Show MoreHuman health was and still the most important problem and objective of all most researches. Finding out what causes in the decadence of healthiness of Iraqi population is our tendency in the present work, Uranium causing cancer that is affected by a correlation between age and gender of bladder cancer patients is studied in the present work. Mean of Uranium concentration (Uc) decreased with increasing age for all age group without dependency on gender. While, there is a wide dispersion in Mean Uc excretion between males and females, due to the effect of correlated gender with age, where female Mean Uc is maximum at age 50-69 year (2.355 µg/L), and it's higher than male Mean Uc (2.022 µg/L) in this age stage because of menopause, a
... Show MoreCancer is in general not a result of an abnormality of a single gene but a consequence of changes in many genes, it is therefore of great importance to understand the roles of different oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways in tumorigenesis. In recent years, there have been many computational models developed to study the genetic alterations of different pathways in the evolutionary process of cancer. However, most of the methods are knowledge-based enrichment analyses and inflexible to analyze user-defined pathways or gene sets. In this paper, we develop a nonparametric and data-driven approach to testing for the dynamic changes of pathways over the cancer progression. Our method is based on an expansion and refinement of the pathway bei
... Show MoreBackground: Both bladder cancer and schistosomiasis are endemic in Egypt. The former has a unique epidemiological pattern, which has been linked to bladder infestation by Schistosoma. The last decades have witnessed a great reduction in the infection rate of schistosomiasis and a decline in the incidence and changes in the patterns of bladder cancer. Whether these changes are linked to each other or a co-incidence is a subject of investigations.
Method: Literature on epidemiological data of bladder cancer and Schistosoma in Egypt was searched for in Medline, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Furthermore, a hand search for literature and reports released by the Egyptian government and involved agencies was perfo
... Show MoreObjective To highlight the main demographic characteristics and clinical profiles of female patients registered with breast cancer in Iraq; focusing on the impact of age.Methods This retrospective study enrolled 1172 female patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the Main Center for Early Detection of Breast Cancer/Medical City Teaching Hospital in Baghdad. Data were extracted from an established information system, developed by the principal author under supervision of WHO, that was based on valid clinical records of Iraqi patients affected by breast cancer. The recorded information regarding clinical examination comprised positive palpable lumps, bloody nipple discharge, skin changes, bilateral breast involvement, tumor
... Show MoreThis study aimed to evaluate the IHC expression of CDX2 protein in HGC patients and control groups and also to study the correlation between IHC expression of the CDX2 and different clinicopathological variables such as: age, gender, histopathological subtype, grade, and stage of the tumor in HGC cases. the retrospectively sectional study for the period from 2014 to 2018 included a total of 60 formalin fixed paraffin embedded blocks of the HGC tissue (partial or total gastrectomy specimens) that collected from the archived materials of the Department of Pathology of Baghdad Teaching Hospital and the Center of Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Diseases, and also some samples were collected from other private laboratories. The IHC expression of th
... Show MoreWheat is rich in sources of fiber, oligosaccharides, and resistant starch, simple carbohydrates which may have a protective role against carcinoma. Additionally, Whole wheat/bran as well includes contains phytochemicals such as flavonoids, lignans, folate, phytosterols, phenolic acids, and tocols. The above phytochemicals suitable forms antioxidant and cholesterol-reducing activities. Phytoestrogens are regarded as especially essential in the preventative measures of hormonally dependent malignancies such as breast cancer (BC). In this study lowered BC risk has been associated with whole grain/bran consumption with an odds ratio (OR=0.24 and 95 %CI=0.10-0.56). Wheat/bran appears to have a reliable protective impact against BC. While intake
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