Publications by authors named "Szenajch J"

Natural compounds, such as resveratrol (Res), are currently used as adjuvants for anticancer therapies. To evaluate the effectiveness of Res for the treatment of ovarian cancer (OC), we screened the response of various OC cell lines to the combined treatment with cisplatin (CisPt) and Res. We identified A2780 cells as the most synergistically responding, thus optimal for further analysis.

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Resistance to anti-cancer drugs is the main challenge in oncology. In pre-clinical studies, established cancer cell lines are primary tools in deciphering molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon. In this study, we proposed a new, transcriptome-focused approach, utilizing a model of isogenic cancer cell lines with gradually changing resistance.

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Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) is used in breast and ovarian cancer patients to alleviate cancer- and chemotherapy-related anemia. Some clinical trials have reported that rhEPO may adversely impact survival and increase the risk of thrombovascular events in patients with breast cancer but not with ovarian cancer. The latter may potentially benefit the most from rhEPO treatment due to the nephrotoxic and myelosuppresive effects of standard platinum-based chemotherapy used in ovarian cancer disease.

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Background: The role of germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in the risk of the development of ovarian cancer is clinically well established. BRCA1/2 testing seems to have increasing role in clinical management in patients with advanced ovarian cancer who require treatment with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors.

Methods: Between 2002 - 2008, 125 consecutive patients with ovarian cancer were categorized as having three founder mutations in the BRCA1 gene in Poland as: 5382insC [exon 20], 4153delA [exon 11.

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We reviewed the literature on the relationship between the Fanconi anemia pathway (FA) and response to chemotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer. Despite continuous developments in medicine, ovarian cancer remains a challenge for both, physicians and researchers seeking ways to achieve better results of chemotherapy combined with other targeted therapies. Clinically relevant resistance to chemotherapy is a major problem in treating ovarian cancer.

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Recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) has been used clinically to alleviate cancer- and chemotherapy-related anemia. However, recent clinical trials have reported that rhEPO also may adversely impact disease progression and survival. The expression of functional EPO receptors (EPOR) has been demonstrated in many human cancer cells where, at least in vitro, rhEPO can stimulate cell growth and survival and may induce resistance to selected therapies.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers analyzed four human ovarian cancer cell lines (A2780, CaOV, SKOV, and OVCAR-3) and confirmed they express EpoR and erythropoietin (Epo) at the mRNA level, with A2780 showing the highest expression.
  • * Although adding Epo did not stimulate cell growth directly, blocking Epo in A2780 cells inhibited growth, which could be reversed by adding more Epo, suggesting an autocrine or parac
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Background: The reverse transcription-PCR tyrosinase assay (TYR test) cannot reliably detect malignant melanoma (MM) cells in blood as the cells often circulate at low concentrations. We evaluated the prognostic value of multiple TYR testing, the prognostic significance of individual positive TYR test results (TYR+) in asymptomatic melanoma patients, and whether statistical analysis could help in the interpretation of results of a test that measures phenomena that typically occur below its detection threshold.

Methods: MM patients in stages I-IV (n = 150) underwent multiple testing with the TYR test during the course of their disease.

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Reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT/PCR) with primers specific for tyrosinase allow for a new method of early detection of individual melanoma cells in peripheral blood. Using this test the effect of chemo- and chemoimmunotherapy on the spread of early micrometastatic cancer cells has been evaluated. No significant correlations have been found between RT/PCR results on the one hand and stage of disease, a kind of the therapy protocol used and usage of the therapy as an adjuvant or palliative on the other hand.

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Using reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers specific for tyrosinase the individual melanoma cells were detected in peripheral blood of patients in different stages of disease, after excision of primary lesion and prior and after chemotherapy. No relation between stage of disease (including situations with overt generalized spread of melanoma) and probability of positive PCR reaction detecting transcript for tyrosinase gene was found. Many patients in III and IV stages were negative for prolonged periods.

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Macrophages have been suggested to play a major role in the immune response to cancer. They have also been suggested to stimulate the formation of tumor stroma and to promote tumor vascularization. The availability of the op/op mouse, which has no endogenous colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-1) and which possesses a profound macrophage deficiency, provides a new model to verify these notions.

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