Prognostic effect of perioperative change of serum carcinoembryonic antigen level: a useful tool for detection of systemic recurrence in rectal cancer.

Background: The prognosis of patients even with the same stage of rectal cancer varies widely. We analyzed the capability of perioperative change of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level for predicting recurrence and survival in rectal cancer patients.

Methods: We reviewed 631 patients who underwent potentially curative resection for stage II or III rectal cancer.

Serum CEA as a predictor for the response to preoperative chemoradiation in rectal cancer.

Background And Objectives: Recent data suggest that good responders to preoperative chemoradiation (CRT) have a favorable prognosis in rectal cancer patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels for the tumor response to preoperative CRT in rectal cancer patients.

Methods: The study comprised 141 rectal adenocarcinoma patients who underwent preoperative radiotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (FU) based chemotherapy, followed by radical surgery.

Photoactivation of pheophorbide a induces a mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in Jurkat leukaemia cells.

The mechanism of cell death by pheophorbide a (Pba) which has been established to be a potential photosensitizer was examined in experimental photodynamic therapy (PDT) on Jurkat cells, a human lymphoid tumor cell line. In 30-60 min after irradiation, Pba treated cells exhibited apoptotic features including membrane blebbing and DNA fragmentation. Pba/PDT caused a rapid release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol.