The expression of a type II transmembrane serine protease (Seprase) in human gastric carcinoma.

Objective: The invasion and metastasis of carcinoma cells require the proteolytic degradation of the extracellular matrix by various cell surface proteases. Among these, seprase is a type II transmembrane serine protease absent in normal tissues and it has been implicated in the invasion of the extracellular matrix by both tumor and stromal cells in human breast carcinoma and melanoma. In the present study, the expression of seprase mRNA, protein and its gelatin-degrading activity in human gastric carcinoma were examined to substantiate the potential role of seprase in gastric carcinoma invasion.

Selective inhibition of cancer cell invasion by a geranylgeranyltransferase-I inhibitor.

A number of small GTPases are involved in cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion. They need to be prenylated for full biological functions. We have recently reported that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, which block the biosynthesis of farnesylpyrophosphate and geranylgeranylpyrophosphate, inhibit in vitro invasion of human pancreatic cancer cells.

Inhibition of lysophosphatidic acid-induced RhoA activation and tumor cell invasion by 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors.

The mevalonate metabolic pathway is necessary for the isoprenylation of a number of small GTPases. We have previously presented that Rho plays a pivotal role in 1-oleoyl-lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-induced invasion of rat ascites hepatoma MM1 cells. Herein we report the effect of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, fluvastatin and lovastatin, on the in vitro invasion of MM1 cells.

Evaluation of VEGF and VEGF-C expression in gastric cancer cells producing alpha-fetoprotein.

Background: Gastric cancers producing alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) are known to have a poor prognosis and to show a high incidence of liver metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its isoform VEGF-C are reported to be associated with tumor progression through an angiogenic or lymphangiogenic function. In the present study, to clarify the cellular characteristics of AFP-producing gastric cancers, the expression of VEGF and that of VEGF-C in AFP-producing gastric cancer was compared with their expression in gastric cancers that do not produce AFP.

Improved quality of life with jejunal pouch reconstruction after total gastrectomy.

Background: There is increasing evidence that the effect of jejunal pouch reconstruction is satisfactory for reservoir function in several randomized control studies. However, these studies were performed in patients with advanced gastric cancer, where significant numbers of the patients died of disease recurrence. In order to exclude the influence of disease recurrence, we performed jejunal pouch reconstruction after total gastrectomy in patients with early gastric cancer in a randomized controlled study and investigated whether or not an improved quality of life (QOL) was observed with jejunal pouch reconstruction.

Impaired antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity mediated by herceptin in patients with gastric cancer.

The humanized monoclonal antibody Herceptin, which specifically targets HER-2/neu, exhibits growth inhibitory activity against HER-2/neu-overexpressing tumors and is approved for therapeutic use with proved survival benefit in patients with HER-2/neu-positive breast cancer. In the present study, we investigated whether Herceptin could affect the HER-2/neu-overexpressing gastric cancer cells based on antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and compared immune effector cells from gastric cancer patients with normal individuals on ADCC. HER-2/neu-expressing gastric cancer cells could be killed by Herceptin-mediated ADCC and the Herceptin-induced ADCC correlated with the degree of HER-2/neu expression on the gastric cancer cells.

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme a reductase inhibitors reduce human pancreatic cancer cell invasion and metastasis.

Background & Aims: Inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase blocks the mevalonate metabolic pathway, which is necessary for the isoprenylation of a number of small guanosine triphosphatases. We examined the effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, fluvastatin and lovastatin, on human pancreatic cancer cell invasion in vitro and experimental liver metastasis in vivo.

Methods: Cell invasion was studied in a modified Boyden chamber assay.