Salvage radiotherapy for locally recurrent cervical and endometrial carcinoma: clinical outcomes and toxicities.

Background: The management of locally recurrent gynecological carcinoma remains a challenge due to the limited availability of data. This study aims to share our institutional experience in using definitive radiotherapy (RT) for the treatment of locally recurrent cervical and endometrial carcinoma.

Methods: The study retrospectively reviewed 20 patients in our hospital completing salvage 3D image-based HDR brachytherapy, with or without EBRT, for locally recurrent cervical and endometrial carcinoma after surgery.

The Influence of a Celebrity Chef on Customer Repurchase Behavior: Empirical Study of Taiwan's F&B Industry During COVID-19 Pandemic.

The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted severe blows on the global hospitality industry. In Taiwan, revenue from the food and beverage (F&B) department has decreased by more than 90%. This study aims to understand whether celebrity chefs can effectively help and enhance their corporates' business performance under COVID-19's severe impacts via leveraging their personal brand value, explores the influence of a celebrity chef on customer repurchase behavior during the epidemic and examines whether such a chef has a mediation effect on the relationship between corporate brand and customer satisfaction.

Obesity Affects Short-Term Renal Function After Renal Transplantation.

Background: The literature has shown a significant association between body mass index (BMI) and patient and graft outcomes after renal transplantation. The purpose of this study was to reveal the effect of obesity on graft function in a Taiwanese kidney transplant cohort.

Methods: Two hundred consecutive patients who received kidney transplantation were enrolled in our study.

Exosomal MMP-1 transfers metastasis potential in triple-negative breast cancer through PAR1-mediated EMT.

Purpose: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with high risk of distant metastasis, in which the intercellular communication between tumor cells also plays a role. Exosomes can be released by tumor cells and promote distant metastasis through intercellular communication or changes in tumor microenvironment, it is an optimized transportation facility for biologically active payloads. This was a hypothesis-generating research on role of exosomal payload in TNBC distant metastasis.

Baseline monocyte and its classical subtype may predict efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor in cancers.

Background: Programmed death 1 (PD-1)/ programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor is one of the most popular immune therapies. Biomarkers for predicting response are highly needed, but no biomarkers are widely used till now.

Patients And Methods: From February 2018 to April 2019, pan-cancer patients treated with PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor as a single agent in our center were included.

Prevalence, trend and disparities of palliative care utilization among hospitalized metastatic breast cancer patients who received critical care therapies.

Background: Early integration of palliative care (PC) for patients with advanced cancer has been recommended to improve quality of care. This study aims to describe prevalence, temporal trend and predictors of PC use in metastatic breast cancer (mBCa) patients receiving critical care therapies (CCT; included invasive mechanic ventilation, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube, total parenteral nutrition, tracheostomy and dialysis).

Methods: The National Inpatient Sample was queried for mBCa patients receiving CCT between 2005 and 2014.

Malic Enzyme 1 Indicates Worse Prognosis in Breast Cancer and Promotes Metastasis by Manipulating Reactive Oxygen Species.

Purpose: Malic enzyme 1 (ME1) catalyzes malate to pyruvate and thus promotes glycolysis. Its function in breast cancer remains to be fully clarified. The aim of this work was to investigate the prognostic value of ME1 and its possible mechanism in breast cancer.

Long Non-coding RNA MRUL Contributes to Osteosarcoma Progression Through the miR-125a-5p/FUT4 Axis.

Osteosarcoma (OS) originates in the skeletal system and has a rising global incidence. Long Non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are key regulators of human cancers development and progression. However, their roles in the development of OS are not well understood.

The discovery of azetidine-piperazine di-amides as potent, selective and reversible monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) inhibitors.

Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is the enzyme that is primarily responsible for hydrolyzing the endocannabinoid 2-arachidononylglycerol (2-AG) to arachidonic acid (AA). It has emerged in recent years as a potential drug target for a number of diseases. Herein, we report the discovery of compound 6g from a series of azetidine-piperazine di-amide compounds as a potent, selective, and reversible inhibitor of MAGL.

Clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes in breast carcinosarcoma: A SEER population-based study.

Objectives: Carcinosarcoma of the breast is a rare disease. Its clinicopathological features and prognosis are not well defined. The aim of this study was to compare the clinicopathological features and clinical outcome between breast carcinosarcoma and breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC).

PAK5 overexpression is associated with lung metastasis in osteosarcoma.

p21-activated kinases (PAKs) are multifunctional effectors of Rho GTPases, which are associated with cytoskeletal organization, cellular morphogenesis, migration and survival. PAKs are overactive in a number of tumor tissues and have attracted attention as a potential target for cancer therapy. In the present study, PAK5 levels were analyzed in primary osteosarcoma (OS) samples (n=65) using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods.

Effects of Educational Intervention on State Anxiety and Pain in People Undergoing Spinal Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Preoperative educational intervention for anxiety and pain affects patients undergoing spinal surgery. The effects, however, have never been examined using randomized controlled designs. To investigate the effects of education on anxiety and pain for patients undergoing spinal surgery, a randomized trial with block design was used.

Pleiotrophin promotes chemoresistance to doxorubicin in osteosarcoma by upregulating P-glycoprotein.

Chemoresistance is a major hindrance to successful treatment of osteosarcoma (OS). Pleiotrophin (PTN), a neurotrophic growth factor, has been linked to the malignant characteristics of various cancer types. We retrospectively examined the correlation between PTN expression and chemoresistance in OS in a cohort of 133 OS patients.

Knockdown of ubiquitin-specific peptidase 39 inhibited the growth of osteosarcoma cells and induced apoptosis in vitro.

Background: Ubiquitin specific peptidase 39 (USP39), an essential factor in the assembly of the mature spliceosome complex, has an aberrant expression in several cancer. However, its function and the corresponding mechanism on human osteosarcoma has not been fully explored yet.

Methods: The mRNA and DNA copies of USP39 were increased in osteosarcoma cancer tissues compared with the one in human normal tissues according to datasets from the publicly available Oncomine database.

Elevated expression of serine/threonine phosphatase type 5 correlates with malignant proliferation in human osteosarcoma.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in adolescents and young adults. However, the involvement of serine/threonine phosphatase type 5 (PP5) in osteosarcoma remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional role of PP5 in osteosarcoma cells.

Selumetinib suppresses cell proliferation, migration and trigger apoptosis, G1 arrest in triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has aggressive progression with poor prognosis and ineffective treatments. Selumetinib is an allosteric, ATP-noncompetitive inhibitor of MEK1/2, which has benn known as effective antineoplastic drugs for several malignant tumors. We hypothesized that Selumetinib might be potential drug for TNBC and explore the mechanism.

Luteolin inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of prostate cancer cells through miR-301.

Luteolin is a falvonoid compound derived from Lonicera japonica Thunb. Numerous reports have demonstrated that luteolin has anticancer effects on many kinds of tumors. This study investigated the effects of luteolin on prostate cancer (PCa), assessing the PC3 and LNCaP cells.

Monitoring cancer stem cells: insights into clinical oncology.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a small, characteristically distinctive subset of tumor cells responsible for tumor initiation and progression. Several treatment modalities, such as surgery, glycolytic inhibition, driving CSC proliferation, immunotherapy, and hypofractionated radiotherapy, may have the potential to eradicate CSCs. We propose that monitoring CSCs is important in clinical oncology as CSC populations may reflect true treatment response and assist with managing treatment strategies, such as defining optimal chemotherapy cycles, permitting pretreatment cancer surveillance, conducting a comprehensive treatment plan, modifying radiation treatment, and deploying rechallenge chemotherapy.

Sirolimus induces apoptosis and reverses multidrug resistance in human osteosarcoma cells in vitro via increasing microRNA-34b expression.

Aim: Multi-drug resistance poses a critical bottleneck in chemotherapy. Given the up-regulation of mTOR pathway in many chemoresistant cancers, we examined whether sirolimus (rapamycin), a first generation mTOR inhibitor, might induce human osteosarcoma (OS) cell apoptosis and increase the sensitivity of OS cells to anticancer drugs in vitro.

Methods: Human OS cell line MG63/ADM was treated with sirolimus alone or in combination with doxorubicin (ADM), gemcitabine (GEM) or methotrexate (MTX).

Bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax in an osteosarcoma patient with pulmonary metastases: A case report.

Spontaneous pneumothorax is a rare complication of chemotherapy in the treatment of lung neoplasms. It is relatively common in osteosarcoma lung metastases patients following chemotherapy, but the cause is still unknown. Here, we report a case of bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax occurring in a 40-year-old female in whom lung metastases from osteosarcoma were treated with combination chemotherapy.

Metastasis of myxoid liposarcoma to fat-bearing areas: A case report of unusual metastatic sites and a hypothesis.

Sarcoma is a rare disease that always metastasizes to the lungs and bones. Myxoid liposarcoma (MLPS), in comparison with other sarcomas, has a distinct biological characteristic. Recent studies have suggested that MLPS expresses high levels of adipophilin and chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4), which are correlated with adipogenesis and metastasis.

Interleukin-6 as a prognostic marker for breast cancer: a meta-analysis.

Aims And Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been shown to promote tumor survival, metastasis, and angiogenesis, in addition to possessing antitumor activities. In light of the conflicting data, we sought to determine whether IL-6 could be used as a prognostic factor for patients with breast cancer.

Methods: Eligible studies describing the use of IL-6 as a prognostic factor for breast cancer were identified.

7-(4-Alkylidenylpiperidinyl)-quinolone bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors.

Novel antibacterial fluoroquinolone agents bearing a 4-alkylidenylpiperidine 7-position substituent are active against quinolone-susceptible and quinolone-resistant gram-positive bacteria, including Streptococcus pneumoniae and MRSA. Analogs 22b, 23c, and 24 demonstrated superior in vitro and in vivo efficacy to ciprofloxacin against these cocci.

Prognostic value of SOX2 in digestive tumors: a meta-analysis.

Background/aims: Sex determine region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is involved in tumor onset and progress. However its prognostic value for survival in patients with digestive tumors remains controversial.

Methodology: Publications related to the prognostic significance of SOX2 in digestive tumors were included up to 1 Oct 2013.