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A multicountry ecologic study of risk and risk reduction factors for prostate cancer mortality. Grant WB. Eur Urol. 2004 Mar;45(3):271-9. PMID: 15036670 CONCLUSIONS: These results are consistent with insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), being an important risk factor for prostate cancer, with alcohol and calcium being less important risk factors, and with allium family vegetables, and, to a lesser extent, vitamin D being important risk reduction factors. These results should provide guidance for additional studies on dietary and environmental links to prostate cancer.

They found some important trends. Granulocytes from people over 50 years old had a reduced ability to kill cancer cells, as did granulocytes from people with cancer. This raises the possibility that cancer is not simply the result of getting too old, but a very specific weakening of the immune system. The most important finding, however, was that the granulocytes' kung-fu grip declined dramatically during the winter months. Here's Dr. Cui: Nobody seems to have any cancer-killing ability during the winter months from November to April.

Sphingolipids in food and the emerging importance of sphingolipids to nutrition. Vesper H, Schmelz EM, Nikolova-Karakashian MN, Dillehay DL, Lynch DV, Merrill AH Jr. J Nutr. 1999 Jul;129(7):1239-50. Review. PMID: 10395583

Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis.\nHolick MF.\nAm J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):362-71. Review. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 May;79(5):890.\nPMID: 14985208

Despite the known health risks of asbestos, the U.S. Has not banned its use or importation.

European experts in cancer and nutrition are meeting in Zurich, Switzerland late this month to discuss cutting-edge research in one of the most important and fiercely debated topics in cancer prevention: the link between diet and cancer. There is growing evidence that many cancers may be prevented through healthy lifestyle, including a nutritionally balanced diet. In addition, nutritional problems can also have a negative impact on cancer management and the lives of patients. Other presentations will include new data on topics such as: Childhood nutrition and later breast cancer risk The anti-tumour effects of green tea Malnutrition and patient distress in cancer Possible anti-tumour effects of soy extracts in mice Estrogens in beef and cancer risk

Vitamin D's days of obscurity seem pretty much over. Once just an afterthought to most people-relegated to the sides of milk cartons and the pages of medical texts-it's now on the cusp of becoming a full-fledged disease prevention star. Although vitamin D has long been known as an important factor in bone health, a quickly growing body of evidence now shows that it may also help lower the risk of cancer, heart disease, and even premature death.[1], [2] Not surprisingly, scientists and the public have started to take note, particularly of vitamin D's potential to protect against cancer

Maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D during winter months requires a daily dose of 20 micrograms, four times the current recommended dose, says a new study. The study, led by Susan Sullivan from the University of Maine, has important implications for ongoing consultations on vitamin D recommendations, with the current level of five micrograms (200 International Units) seen by many as insufficient.

Ecological studies of ultraviolet B, vitamin D and cancer since 2000. Grant WB, Mohr SB. Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Jul;19(7):446-54. Epub 2009 Mar 9. PMID: 19269856 CONCLUSION: These findings provide strong evidence that vitamin D status plays an important role in controlling the outcome of cancer. Support for the UVB-vitamin D-cancer theory is now scientifically strong enough to warrant use of vitamin D in cancer prevention, and as a component of treatment. More research studies would help to explore whether there are benefits beyond the substantial effects that have been observed.

University of Illinois researcher Elizabeth Jeffery has learned how to maximize the cancer-fighting power of broccoli. It involves heating broccoli just enough to eliminate a sulfur-grabbing protein, but not enough to stop the plant from releasing an important cancer-fighting compound called sulforaphane. The discovery of this sulfur-grabbing protein in the Jeffery lab makes it possible to maximize the amount of the anticarcinogen sulforaphane in broccoli.

Modulation of prostate cancer genetic risk by omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Berquin IM, Min Y, Wu R, Wu J, Perry D, Cline JM, Thomas MJ, Thornburg T, Kulik G, Smith A, Edwards IJ, D'Agostino R, Zhang H, Wu H, Kang JX, Chen YQ. J Clin Invest. 2007 Jul;117(7):1866-75. PMID: 17607361 Our data suggest that modulation of prostate cancer development by polyunsaturated fatty acids is mediated in part through Bad-dependent apoptosis. This study highlights the importance of gene-diet interactions in prostate cancer.

Induction of ovarian cancer cell apoptosis by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 through the down-regulation of telomerase. Jiang F, Bao J, Li P, Nicosia SV, Bai W. J Biol Chem. 2004 Dec 17;279(51):53213-21. Epub 2004 Oct 12. PMID: 15485861 doi: 10.1074/jbc.M410395200 Overall, the study suggests that the down-regulation of telomerase activity by 1,25(OH)2VD3 and the resulting cell death are important components of the response of OCa cells to 1,25(OH)2VD3-induced growth suppression. Progressive shortening of telomere associated with cell divisions limits the life span of normal cells and eventually leads to senescence. To become immortal, human cancers including OCa are invariably associated with activation of mechanism that maintains telomere length. Approximately 85-90% of cancers show reactivation of telomerase. The present study shows that telomerase in OCa cells is down-regulated by 1,25(OH)2VD3. Down-regulation of telomerase is due to decreased stability of hTERT mRNA rather than VDRE-mediated transcriptional repression through the putative VDRE present in the regulatory region of the hTERT gene. It is known that the inhibition of telomerase may lead to a phenotypic lag during which cells would continue to divide until the point at which the telomeres became critically short. This phenomenon may explain why the apoptotic induction by 1,25(OH)2VD3 needs the treatment for more than 6 days. As mentioned in the results, no detectable shortening of telomeric repeats was observed in parental OVCAR3 cells after 9 days of treatment with 1,25(OH)2VD3 (Fig. 4D). This is likely due to the fact that the short telomere (about 3 kb) in OVCAR3 cells is very close to the minimal length required for survival and that cells with detectably shorter telomere may have been selected against apoptosis. It has been shown that transformed human cells enter crisis once the terminal restriction fragment of the telomere reaches a length of about 4 kb. This is insufficient to protect chro

Mechanisms of berberine (natural yellow 18)-induced mitochondrial dysfunction: interaction with the adenine nucleotide translocator. Pereira CV, Machado NG, Oliveira PJ. Toxicol Sci. 2008 Oct;105(2):408-17. Epub 2008 Jul 3. PMID: 18599498 doi: 10.1124/jpet.107.128017 The data from the present work appear to show that berberine also presents some degree of toxicity to "nontumor" systems, which should be carefully understood. ANT inhibition in nontumor cells by berberine would be responsible for a decrease in energy production and could also result in MPT induction. To the best of our knowledge, no full toxicity assessment exists for berberine in humans, although its use in several commercially available supplements suggests that the compound may present a relatively wide safety interval. In fact, a study with patients with congestive heart failure treated with 1.2 g/day of oral berberine revealed low toxicity and resulted into an average plasma concentration of 0.11 mg/l which would translate into 0.3µM (Zeng and Zeng, 1999Go). Repeated cumulative treatments, alternative forms of formulation (e.g., topical application vs. injection) or more importantly, active mitochondrial accumulation due to its positive charge would be expected to increase its concentration in cells into the range of concentrations used in this study. Empirical data from nontraditional medicines plus the use of extensive clinical assays would allow the use of berberine as a promising antimelanoma agent while maintaining its safety for humans. In radial/vertical forms of melanoma, a possible topical application of berberine would also be possible, thus minimizing side effects on other organs. In conclusion, the present work identifies the ANT as an important target for berberine, with clear relevance for its proposed antitumor effects.

Berberine suppresses in vitro migration and invasion of human SCC-4 tongue squamous cancer cells through the inhibitions of FAK, IKK, NF-kappaB, u-PA and MMP-2 and -9. Ho YT, Yang JS, Li TC, Lin JJ, Lin JG, Lai KC, Ma CY, Wood WG, Chung JG. Cancer Lett. 2009 Jul 8;279(2):155-62. Epub 2009 Feb 28. PMID: 19251361 doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2009.01.033 There is increasing evidence that urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in cancer metastasis and angiogenesis. Inhibition of u-PA and MMPs could suppress migration and invasion of cancer cells. Berberine, one of the main constituents of the plant Rhizoma coptidis, is a type of isoquinoline alkaloid, reported to have anti-cancer effects in different human cancer cell lines. There is however, no available information on effects of berberine on migration and invasion of human tongue cancer cells. Here, we report that berberine inhibited migration and invasion of human SCC-4 tongue squamous carcinoma cells. This action was mediated by the p-JNK, p-ERK, p-p38, IκK and NF-κB signaling pathways resulting in inhibition of MMP-2 and -9 in human SCC-4 tongue squamous carcinoma cells. Our Western blowing analysis also showed that berberine inhibited the levels of urokinase-plasminogen activator (u-PA). These results suggest that berberine down-regulates u-PA, MMP-2 and -9 expressions in SCC-4 cells through the FAK, IKK and NF-κB mediated pathways and a novel function of berberine is to inhibit the invasive capacity of malignant cells.

Nucleic acid separation is an increasingly important technique in molecular biology. Various techniques have been developed in the past few decades. However, the traditional nucleic acid isolation methods have time- and work-consuming process based on several extraction and centrifugation steps. And they are often limited by small yields, low purities or low product concentrations.

Protein isolation has become one of the most important technique in modern biochemistry studies. Traditional protein isolation strategies use chromatography and dialysis, which are laborious and protracted. Small yields, low product purities and a high degree of sample degradation are commonly found in these techniques.

Along with information technology, biotechnology is the greatest motivator for global economic development in the 21 century. It is maturing into the leading technology that may reshape the pattern of future industry as well as economy. Following up biotechnology's continuously building itself, antibody engineering, the main force of biotechnology industrialization, has earned itself an important place in this field, bio-pharmacy in particular.

Flaig TW, Su LJ, Harrison G, Agarwal R, Glode LM. Silibinin synergizes with mitoxantrone to inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells. Int J Cancer. 2007 Jan 17; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 17230508 [PubMed - as supplied

Flaig TW, Gustafson DL, Su LJ, Zirrolli JA, Crighton F, Harrison GS, Pierson AS, Agarwal R, Glode LM. A phase I and pharmacokinetic study of silybin-phytosome in prostate cancer patients. Invest New Drugs. 2007 Apr;25(2):139-46. Epub 2006 Nov 1. PMID