Autonomous inhibition of apoptosis correlates with responsiveness of colon carcinoma cell lines to ciglitazone.

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Resistance to therapy is common and often results in patients succumbing to the disease. The mechanisms of resistance are poorly understood.

ETV6/RUNX1-positive relapses evolve from an ancestral clone and frequently acquire deletions of genes implicated in glucocorticoid signaling.

Approximately 25% of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemias carry the ETV6/RUNX1 fusion gene. Despite their excellent initial treatment response, up to 20% of patients relapse. To gain insight into the relapse mechanisms, we analyzed single nucleotide polymorphism arrays for DNA copy number aberrations (CNAs) in 18 matched diagnosis and relapse leukemias.

Peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptors γ and β/δ mediate vascular endothelial growth factor production in colorectal tumor cells.

Background: Peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors for fatty acids and their derivatives. PPAR subtypes PPARγ and PPARβ/δ are suspected to modulate cancer development in the colon, but their exact role is still discussed controversially.

Methods: The present study investigated the impact of PPARγ and PPARβ/δ on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) expressions induced by synthetic and physiological agonists in the colorectal tumor cell lines SW480 and HT29 using reporter gene assays, qRT-PCR and ELISA.

The dietary antioxidants resveratrol and quercetin protect cells from exogenous pro-oxidative damage.

In the colorectal epithelium oxidative stress is observed endogenously in premalignant adenoma cells or induced by nutritional factors like fatty acid hydroperoxides (LOOH). Bioactive phenols like resveratrol and quercetin can quench reactive oxygen species and protect from pro-oxidative damage. Our study used colorectal adenoma and carcinoma cell lines to assess antioxidant protective effects of resveratrol and quercetin.