Biomedical subjects

H Wakasugi

Publications and source records attributed to H Wakasugi.

165 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Cytotoxicity of CPT-11 against a Taxol-resistant cell line.

We examined the cytotoxic changes of CPT-11 (SN-38) against a Suit-2 cell line after a long-term culture (more than 4 passages) with Taxol (Taxol-resistant cells). The percentage survival of the Suit-2 cells with and without resistance to 0.8 microM Taxol were 20% and 96%, respectively, after treatment with 0.1 microM Taxol for 24 hours. When Suit-2 cells resistant to 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 yM of Taxol were treated with 15 pM SN-38 for 2 hours, the percentages of survival were 59%, 72%, and 62%, respectively, and no statistical difference was observed with the percentage survival (77%) of Suit-2 cells cultured without Taxol (parent cells). Moreover, Taxol-resistant cells did not cause an inhibition of the relaxation of DNA by topoisomerase I. Therefore, the cytotoxic level of SN-38 between Suit-2 cells with and without resistance to Taxol was almost equal. The percentage survival of SN-38-resistant Suit-2 cells decreased markedly with the increase in the dose of Taxol, and no statistical difference was observed in comparison to that of the parent Suit-2 cells. These results thus indicated that the cross-resistance to SN-38 and Taxol would therefore be very difficult to induce in Suit-2 cells.

Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Lentinan potentiates immunity and prolongs the survival time of some patients.

For the selection of patients responding well to lentinan, we performed two immunological analysis of patients. Flow cytometric analysis was obtained from peripheral blood lymphocytes; the patients who had greater than 2.5 ratio of [CD11(-) CD8(+)/CD11(+) CD8(+) after treatment]/[CD11(-) CD8(+)/CD11(+) CD8(+) before treatment] at 10 days after lentinan administration showed prolonged survival. The analysis of the- levels of soluble factors such as IL-6, sIL-6R, TNF-alpha, G-CSF, sICAM-1, IAP, and PGE2 and the decreasing levels of G-CSF, IL-6, and PGE2 after lentinan administration had a statistically significant correlation with the ratio of [CD4(+) CD29(+)/CD4(+) CD29(-) after treatment]/[(CD4(+) CD29(+)/CD4(+)CD29(-) before treatment]. The decrease in IL-6, G-CSF, and PGE2 levels after lentinan administration indicated an increase in immunine potential. From these results, we belive that patients with over 2.5-fold increase in [CD11(-) CD8(+)/CD11(+) CD8(+) after treatment]/[CD11(-) CD8(+)/CD11(+) CD8(+) before treatment] and showing a decrease in IL-6, G-CSF, and PGE2 levels after lentinan administration should continue treatment with lentinan for a long period.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Tumor markers in evaluating the response to radiotherapy in unresectable pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) are useful tumor markers in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. However, little research has shown their value for evaluating the response to radiotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. METHODOLOGY: Serial changes of serum CA 19-9 levels were studied in 34 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer. All patients had a CA 19-9 level of 100 U/ml or greater before treatment and received radiotherapy as an initial treatment. A CA 19-9 responder was defined as a patient whose serum CA 19-9 level was reduced by more than 50% of the pre-treatment level after treatment. We investigated the relationship between CA 19-9 response and survival. We also studied serial changes of serum CEA levels in 20 patients with the level of 5 ng/ml or greater before radiotherapy, and investigated the relationship between CEA response and survival. RESULTS: CA 19-9 response and CEA response were observed in seven (21%) of 34 patients and four (20%) of 20 patients, respectively. Median survival times of CA 19-9 responders and non-responders were 318 and 122 days, respectively, and median survival times of CEA responders and non-responders were 281 and 151 days, respectively. Based on results of the Cox regression analysis, the relative rates of cancer death between responders and non-responders were 0.24 (95% confidence interval, 0.08 to 0.72) in the CA 19-9 analysis and 0.19 (95% confidence interval, 0.04 to 0.84) in the CEA analysis. CONCLUSION: Serum CA 19-9 may be useful tumor markers for assessing the effectiveness of radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Further investigations are necessary to determine the value of CEA.

Adult↗