Current Cancer Drug Targets - Online First

Data sourced from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database encompassing liver cancer diagnoses from 2000 to 2017 were utilized. The standardized mortality rate (SMR) was computed using general population reference data, and multivariate competing risk models were employed for analysis.

Analysis of 70,733 liver cancer patient records revealed 1,954 instances of CVM. The overall CVM SMR for liver cancer patients was 12.01 (95% CI: 11.48-12.55). Various demographic and clinical factors, including sex, race, age, year of diagnosis, pathological type, general stage, treatment modalities, and matrimonial status, emerged as liver cancer patients` independent predictors of CVM.

Liver cancer patients have a notably heightened susceptibility to cardiovascular mortality (CVM) in contrast to the general populace. It is imperative to promptly recognize high-risk subcategories and execute tailored cardiovascular interventions as crucial measures to bolster survival rates within this cohort of patients.

Ferroptosis, a regulated cell death initiated by Fe-dependent lipoperoxidation, is closely linked to the development of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). LncRNA human leukocyte antigen complex P5 (HCP5) has been confirmed as oncogenic in LUAD, but its function in ferroptosis is unknown.

Based on the previous bioinformatics mining of the ceRNA (competitive endogenous RNA) network HCP5/miR-17-5p/ Homeobox A7 (HOXA7) related to ferroptosis in LUAD, in this study, we characterized the cell-based experiments to validate the binding between the HCP5/miR-17-5p/HOXA7 axis and ferroptosis.

The HCP5/miR-17-5p/HOXA7 linkage was identified by a two-luciferase reporter. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and Transwell assay were employed for the detection of viability, invasion, and migration of A549 cells, respectively. ACSL4 and SLC7A11 were associated with ferroptosis, MMP 9, vimentin, and E-cadherin, which were associated with migration and invasion and were assessed by WB and qRT-PCR. Fe2+ and malondialdehyde (MDA) were analyzed using kits.

Over-expression of HCP5 enhances the growth, invasion, and migration of A549 cells by adjusting miR-17-5P to increase the expression of HOXA7. In addition, the knockdown of HCP5 elevated miR-17-5p, which inhibited HOXA7 expression and suppressed ferroptosis and EMT in A549 cells.

HCP5/miR-17-5p/HOXA7 can affect ferroptosis as well as the biological behavior of A549 cells.

PANoptosis, a novelty mechanism of cell death involving crosstalk between apoptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis, is strongly associated with tumor cell death and immunotherapy efficacy. However, its relevance in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) remains to be elucidated.

In this study, we acquired 18 PANoptosis-related differentially expressed gene (PRDEG) of LUAD. Based on these genes, LUAD samples were identified with different subtypes by unsupervised clustering. Next, we compared the differences between the subtypes, including clinical features, immune microenvironment, and potentially sensitive drugs. Furthermore, we used machine learning to identify hub prognostic PRDEGs, construct a risk score, and validate it on other external datasets. We incorporated the patient's clinical information and risk score into the proportional hazards model and lasso-cox models to find key prognostic features and constructed five prognostic models. The best model was identified via the area under the curve and validated on an external dataset.

LUAD patients were divided into two clusters named C1 and C2, respectively. The C2 cluster exhibited shorter survival time, more advanced tumor stage, higher suppressive immune cell scores, such as dendritic cells, and higher expression of inhibitory immune checkpoints, such as LAG3 and CD86. TIMP1, CAV1, and CD69 were recognized as key prognostic factors, and risk scores predicted survival with significant differences in the external validation set. Risk score and N-stage were identified as critical prognostic features. The Coxph model outperformed other machine learning clinical models. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year time-ROCs in the external validation set were 0.55, 0.59, and 0.60, respectively.

We demonstrated the potential of PANoptosis-based molecular clustering and prognostic features in predicting the survival of patients with LUAD as well as the tumor microenvironment.

Apatinib, a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor that targets the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, contributes to the inhibition of angiogenesis. Vinorelbine, a semisynthetic vinca alkaloid, primarily inhibits metaphase mitosis of cancer cells through its interactions with tubulin. This study aimed to evaluate whether apatinib combined with vinorelbine was effective and safe for refractory human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer patients who failed taxanes and/or anthracycline and analyze the possible mechanism of drug resistance through metabolomic analysis.

Eligible patients were HER2-negative, inoperable, locally advanced, or metastatic breast cancer patients who progressed after at least one chemotherapy regimen in this present prospective phase II study. Patients took oral apatinib (250-500 mg/day) plus intravenous infusion of vinorelbine (25 mg/m² on day 1, day 8 at 3-week intervals). Objective response rate (ORR) was our primary endpoint, while disease control rate (DCR), overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and toxicity were our secondary endpoints. The exploratory purpose was to identify biomarkers or drug resistance mechanisms through metabolomics changes before and after the combination therapy.

Between September, 2019 and June, 2022, a total of 34 patients were included. ORR and DCR were 32.4% (11/34) and 85.3% (29/34), respectively. The median PFS was 5.0 months (95% CI, 3.766-6.234), while the median OS was 13.0 months (95% CI, 8.714-17.286). Side effects included hematologic toxicity, gastrointestinal reaction, and sinus tachycardia, which were mild to moderate. The mainly disturbed metabolic pathways were the cAMP signaling pathway, the alanine/aspartate/glutamate metabolism, the central carbon metabolism in cancer, the beta-alanine metabolism, the butanoate metabolism, and the glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, which may lead to the resistance of patients to this combination therapy.

Apatinib combined with vinorelbine is effective and safe in patients with locally advanced or metastatic refractory HER2-negative breast cancer. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the metabolic effect of apatinib and vinorelbine therapy.

ChiCTR1900025659.

This study aimed to investigate the expression pattern of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class III (PIK3C3/vps34) in gastric cancer (GC) tissues and their juxtaposed normal counterparts and its correlation with the clinicopathological attributes and prognostic outlook of afflicted individuals.

Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to ascertain the expression levels of PIK3C3/vps34 across 60 GC tissues juxtaposed with their normal counterparts. Statistical methodologies were used to scrutinize the correlation between PIK3C3/vps34 expression and clinicopathological features, along with prognostic implications for GC patients.

In GC tissues, the positive expression rate of PIK3C3/vps34 was 23.3% (14/60), which contrasted sharply with the markedly elevated rate of 66.7% (40/60) observed in adjacent tissues. The positive expression proportion of PIK3C3/vps34 within GC tissues exhibited a notable decrease than in adjacent tissues (P < 0.05). The expression of PIK3C3/vps34 inversely correlated with tumor size, degree of tissue differentiation, depth of tumor infiltration, and incidence of lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05), whereas no significant associations were found with patient sex, age, tumor location, TNM staging, or distant metastasis (P > 0.05). As the tumor diameter increases, the degree of tissue differentiation diminishes, tumor infiltration depth intensifies, lymph node metastasis emerges, the TNM stage progresses, and PIK3C3/vps34 expression level within GC tissues declines correspondingly. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis unveiled a prolonged survival duration among GC patients exhibiting heightened PIK3C3/vps34 expression than in their counterparts with diminished expression (HR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.55-0.80), demonstrating statistical significance (P < 0.05). Protein interaction analysis revealed noteworthy interactions involving PIK3C3 with Beclin 1, UVRAG, and ATG14.

PIK3C3/vps34 is downregulated in GC tissues, exerting a pivotal role in tumorigenesis, and is intimately linked with the prognostic trajectory of GC patients. It may serve as a significant biomarker for prognostic evaluation and a promising molecular therapeutic target for GC.

Cost-effective management of Urinary Bladder Cancer (UBC) is an unmet need.

Our study aims to demonstrate the efficacy of a drug repurposing strategy by using disulfiram (DSF) and copper gluconate (Cu) as an add-on treatment combination to traditional GC-based chemotherapy against N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN)-induced UBC mice (C57J) model.

Male C57BL/6J mice were given 0.05% BBN in drinking water ad libitum, and tumour formation was verified by histological and physical evaluation. Animals were subsequently divided into eight groups and received treatment with different drug combinations. Control animals received only vehicle (DMSO). At the end of the treatment schedule, the bladder tumour was excised and further used to check the expression (mRNA and protein) of ALDH1 isoenzymes using qRT-PCR, western blot, and IHC methods. Autophagy induction was assessed by quantifying the expression of LC3B and SQSTM1/p62 proteins through IHC. Biochemical analysis of superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), and lipid peroxidation levels in the freshly isolated tumours was performed to check the alterations in the antioxidant system caused by combination treatment.

We observed significant induction of an invasive form of bladder cancer in the mice after nineteen weeks of BBN exposure. The animals began exhibiting early indications of inflammatory alterations as early as the sixth week following BBN treatment. Furthermore, the wet bladder weight and overall tumour burden were significantly decreased (p< 0.0001) by DSF-Cu co-treatment in addition to the GC-based chemotherapy. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that treatment with disulfiram and copper gluconate significantly decreased (p<0.0001) the mRNA expression of ALDH1 isoenzymes. Comparing the triple drug combination group (GC+DSF-Cu) to the untreated mice, a significant rise in LC3B puncta (p<0.0001) and a decrease in P62/SQSTM1 (p=0.0002) were noted, indicating the induction of autophagy flux in the add-on group. When GC+DSF-Cu treated mice were compared to the untreated tumour group, a substantial decrease in ALDH1/2 protein expression was observed (p= 0.0029 in IHC and p<0.0001 in western blot). Lipid peroxidation was significantly higher (p<0.0001) in the triple drug combination group than in untreated mice. There was a simultaneous decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) and enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels (p<0.0001), which strongly suggests the generation of reactive oxygen species and induction of ferroptotic cell death in the add-on therapy group. Additionally, in both IHC and western blot assays, ALDH1A3 expression was found to be significantly increased (p=0.0033, <0.0001 respectively) in GC+DSF-Cu treated mice relative to the untreated group, suggesting a potential connection between the ferroptosis pathway and ALDH1A3 overexpression.

It was found that disulfiram with copper treatment inhibits bladder tumour growth through ferroptosis-mediated ROS induction, which further activates the process of autophagy. Our results prove that DSF-Cu can be an effective add-on therapy along with the standard chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of UBC.