Identifying molecular genetic features and oncogenic pathways of clear cell renal cell carcinoma through the anatomical (PADUA) scoring system.

Although the preoperative aspects and dimensions used for the PADUA scoring system were successfully applied in macroscopic clinical practice for renal tumor, the relevant molecular genetic basis remained unclear. To uncover meaningful correlations between the genetic aberrations and radiological features, we enrolled 112 patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) whose clinicopathological data, genomics data and CT data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA). Overall PADUA score and several radiological features included in the PADUA system were assigned for each ccRCC.

A possible role for ghrelin, leptin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and docosahexaenoic acid in reducing the quality of life of coeliac disease patients following a gluten-free diet.

Purpose: A gluten-free diet (GFD) has been reported to negatively impact the quality of life (QoL) of coeliac disease (CD) patients. The gut-brain axis hormones ghrelin and leptin, with the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), may affect QoL of CD patients undergoing GFD. Our aims were to evaluate whether: (a) the circulating concentrations of leptin, ghrelin and BDNF in CD patients were different from those in healthy subjects; (b) GFD might induce changes in their levels; (c) BDNF Val66Met polymorphism variability might affect BDNF levels; and (d) serum BDNF levels were related to dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as a neurotrophin modulator.

Genetic Associations of Alexithymia in Predicting Interferon-Induced Depression in Chronic Hepatitis C.

Background: Previous studies have shown that alexithymia is associated with gene polymorphisms that regulate the availability of serotonin (5-HT) in the brain. Since the 5-HT network is involved in interferon (IFN)-induced depression, this paper aimed to investigate the role of alexithymia and the functional gene variants of the 5-HT1A receptor (HTR1A) and the 5-HT transporter (5-HTTLPR) in induction of depression during antiviral treatment.

Methods: The depressive symptoms of 130 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C and no current psychopathology were measured during treatment with IFN and ribavirin (6-12 months) and at a 6-month follow-up.

Low Alpha-Fetoprotein Levels Are Associated with Improved Survival in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Portal Vein Thrombosis.

Background: Macroscopic portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a common and dire prognostic feature of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and often precludes many treatments as a result. Little is known about its causes or mechanisms or clinical associations.

Aims: To examine patients with PVT in order to possibly identify prognostically different subsets.

n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids reverse the development of polyps in Apc(Min/+) transgenic mice.

Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) have been demonstrated to reduce tumor load in Apc(Min/+) mice, supporting a role for n-3 PUFAs in the inhibition of colon carcinogenesis and progression. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a diet enriched with n-3 PUFAs, known already to have anti-neoplastic efficacy in Apc(Min/+) mice, would reverse the development of intestinal polyps. For this purpose, Apc(Min/+) mice were randomly divided into 3 groups of 5 animal each and fed as follows: control ST1 and ST2 groups, received a purified AIN-93M standard diet for 5 and 10 weeks, respectively; the OM-3R group received a purified AIN-93M standard diet for 5 weeks and a diet supplemented with salmon oil, rich in n-3 PUFAs, for another 5 weeks.

Modulation of sensitivity and resistance to multikinase inhibitors by microenvironmental platelet factors in HCC.

Introduction: Response of a tumor to chemotherapy or multikinase inhibitor therapy has been traditionally thought to be a reflection of the sum of the characteristics of both the drug and of the tumor cell resistance mechanisms. More recently, there has been a growing awareness of the role of non-tumor factors-both cellular and humoral-in the tumor microenvironment that can increase or decrease the tumor cellular responses to the therapy. This article focuses on platelet factors in clinical HCC and experimental evidence that they provide growth stimulants that can antagonize the growth inhibitory effects of therapy.

International collaboration between Japan and Chile to improve detection rates in colorectal cancer screening.

Background: In Chile, mortality from colorectal cancer (CRC) has increased rapidly. To help address this issue, the Prevention Project for Neoplasia of the Colon and Rectum (PRENEC) program was initiated in 2012 with intensive support from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) in Tokyo, Japan, as part of an international collaboration.

Methods: From June 2012 to July 2014, a total of 10,575 asymptomatic participants were enrolled in PRENEC.

Coffee Consumption Habits and the Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment: The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Coffee, tea, or caffeine consumption may be protective against cognitive impairment and dementia. We estimated the association between change or constant habits in coffee consumption and the incidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We evaluated 1,445 individuals recruited from 5,632 subjects, aged 65-84 year old, from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, a population-based sample from eight Italian municipalities with a 3.

Resistance to multikinase inhibitor actions mediated by insulin like growth factor-1.

Background: Blood platelet numbers are correlated with growth and aggressiveness of several tumor types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We previously found that platelet lysates (hPLs) both stimulated HCC cell growth and migration, and antagonized the growth-inhibitory and apoptotic effects of Regorafenib, multikinase growth inhibitor, on HCC cell lines. We evaluated the effects of human insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1), a mitogen contained in platelets, on the Regorafenib-mediated growth inhibition.

Circulating Levels of PAI-1 and SERPINE1 4G/4G Polymorphism Are Predictive of Poor Prognosis in HCC Patients Undergoing TACE.

Although several molecular markers have been proposed as prognostic of disease progression in Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), predictive markers of response to treatment are still unsatisfactory. Here, we propose a genetic polymorphism as a potential predictive factor of poor prognosis in HCC patients treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). In particular, we show that the guanosine insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region of SERPINE1 gene at the -675 bp position, named 4G/4G, predicts poor prognosis in a cohort of 75 patients with HCC undergoing TACE.

Hydroxytyrosol Inhibits Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Gene Expression in 3T3-L1 Preadipocyte Cell Line.

The 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line is a well characterized cell model for studying the adipocyte status and the molecular mechanisms involved in differentiation of these cells. 3T3-L1 preadipocytes have the ability to synthesize and degrade endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) and their differentiation into adipocytes increases the expression of cannabinoid (CB1) and PPAR-γ receptors. Clinically, the blocking stimulation of the endocannabinoid pathway has been one of the first approaches proposed to counteract the obesity and obesity-associated diseases (such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cancer).

Sorafenib: 10 years after the first pivotal trial.

Sorafenib is an oral multikinase inhibitor with anticancer activity against a wide spectrum of cancers. It is currently approved for the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, advanced renal cell carcinoma or progressive, locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid carcinoma. In this review, we present a number of studies that investigated the efficacy and safety of sorafenib in these settings.

Vitamin K1 exerts antiproliferative effects and induces apoptosis in three differently graded human colon cancer cell lines.

Vitamin K1 has been demonstrated as having anticancer potentiality mainly in liver cancer cells. Beyond the reported mechanisms of cancer inhibition (cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis), a possible control by vitamin K1 on molecules affecting cell growth could be hypothesized. In the literature, few (if any) data are available on its antitumor effects on colon cancer cells.

Inhibitory effect of vitamin K1 on growth and polyamine biosynthesis of human gastric and colon carcinoma cell lines.

Gastric and colon cancers remain the leading cause of cancer mortality throughout the world. Since the gastrointestinal tract works in a constant link with the external environment, chemoprevention by dietary constituents could represent a possible approach to reduce cancer risk. Dietary vitamin K1 (VK1) has been shown to prevent the growth of many types of cancer cells.

Angiotensin receptor blockers improve survival outcomes after radiofrequency ablation in hepatocarcinoma patients.

Background And Aim: Inhibition of angiotensin II synthesis seems to decrease hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after radical therapies; however, data on the adjuvant role of angiotensin II receptor 1 blockers (sartans) are still lacking. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether sartans delay time to recurrence and prolong overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma patients after radiofrequency ablation.

Methods: Data on 153 patients were reviewed.

Modulation of Regorafenib effects on HCC cell lines by epidermal growth factor.

Purpose: Blood platelet numbers are correlated to growth and aggressiveness of several tumor types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We previously found that platelet lysates (hPLs) also stimulated growth and migration, and antagonized the growth-inhibitory and apoptotic effects of both Sorafenib and Regorafenib, two multikinase inhibitors, on three HCC cell lines. In this study, in vitro function of human epidermal growth factor (EGF) with and without Sorafenib or Regorafenib was investigated.

Anti Proliferative and Pro Apoptotic Effects of Flavonoid Quercetin Are Mediated by CB1 Receptor in Human Colon Cancer Cell Lines.

Quercetin, the major constituent of flavonoid and widely present in fruits and vegetables, is an attractive compound for cancer prevention due to its beneficial anti proliferative effects, showing a crucial role in the regulation of apoptosis and cell cycle signaling. In vitro studies have demonstrated that quercetin specifically influences colon cancer cell proliferation. Our experiments, using human colon adenocarcinoma cells, confirmed the anti proliferative effect of quercetin and gave intriguing new insight in to the knowledge of the mechanisms involved.

A comparison of patients with hepatitis B- or hepatitis C-based advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death and has characteristic causes, epidemiology and clinical features. The leading causes include hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), alcoholism, and aflatoxin B1 dietary exposure, as well as combinations of these factors. Few cancers offer the opportunity to study the clinical and cancer phenotype that results from different causes, quite like HCC.

Conditional Probability of Long-term Survival After Liver Resection for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A Multi-institutional Analysis of 535 Patients.

Importance: Whereas conventional actuarial overall survival (OS) estimates rely exclusively on static factors determined around the time of surgery, conditional survival (CS) estimates take into account the years that a patient has already survived.

Objective: To define the CS of patients following liver resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 2013, a total of 535 patients who underwent resection of ICC were identified from an international multi-institutional database.

Lysophosphatidic acid receptor LPAR6 supports the tumorigenicity of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The aberrant processes driving hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are not fully understood. Lysophosphatidic acid receptors (LPAR) are commonly overexpressed in HCC, but their contributions to malignant development are not well established. In this report, we show that aberrant expression of LPAR6 sustains tumorigenesis and growth of HCC.

Probiotics against neoplastic transformation of gastric mucosa: effects on cell proliferation and polyamine metabolism.

Gastric cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide, accounting for about 10% of newly diagnosed neoplasms. In the last decades, an emerging role has been attributed to the relations between the intestinal microbiota and the onset of both gastrointestinal and non-gastrointestinal neoplasms. Thus, exogenous microbial administration of peculiar bacterial strains (probiotics) has been suggested as having a profound influence on multiple processes associated with a change in cancer risk.

Lipidomic analysis of fatty acids in erythrocytes of coeliac patients before and after a gluten-free diet intervention: a comparison with healthy subjects.

Coeliac disease (CD) patients may exhibit a pro-inflammatory profile and fatty acids (FA) can influence inflammation through a variety of cellular pathways in them. The aims of the present study were to (1) evaluate the FA composition of erythrocytes obtained from newly diagnosed CD patients by lipidomic analysis and compare it with that in healthy subjects and (2) determine the effects of 1-year gluten-free diet (GFD) intervention. A total of twenty CD patients (five men and fifteen women; mean age 34.

Erythrocyte membrane fatty acids profile in colorectal cancer patients: a preliminary study.

Background/aim: The study of fatty acid composition of the erythrocytes' membrane can be considered an appropriate biomarker for investigating the relations of the pattern of fatty acids metabolism to a specific disease. The aim of the present study was to analyze the fatty acid profile in red blood cell membranes of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Materials And Methods: Thirteen patients with CRC and 13 patients with no malignant disease were enrolled in the study.

Pharmacological and dietary agents for colorectal cancer chemoprevention: effects on polyamine metabolism (review).

Chemoprevention is the long-term use of different chemical agents, both synthetic and natural, to prevent or delay the onset of disease. Since colorectal cancer has a significant environmental component, it is an ideal disease in which to evaluate the potential benefits of chemopreventive agents. The polyamines, spermine, spermidine and putrescine have been involved in almost all the steps of colorectal tumorigenesis.