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Nathan Goodyear

Press-pulse: a novel therapeutic strategy for the metabolic management of cancer | Nutr... - 0 views

  • A “press” disturbance was considered a chronic environmental stress on all organisms in an ecological community
  • “pulse” disturbances were considered acute events that disrupted biological communities to produce high mortality
  • Neoplasia involving dysregulated cell growth is the biological endpoint of the disease
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  • Data from the American Cancer Society show that the rate of increase in cancer deaths/year (3.4%) was two-fold greater than the rate of increase in new cases/year (1.7%) from 2013 to 2017
  • cancer is predicted to overtake heart disease as the leading cause of death in Western societies
  • cancer can also be recognized as a metabolic disease.
  • glucose is first split into two molecules of pyruvate through the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas glycolytic pathway in the cytosol
  • Aerobic fermentation, on the other hand, involves the production of lactic acid under normoxic conditions
  • persistent lactic acid production in the presence of adequate oxygen is indicative of abnormal respiration
  • Otto Warburg first proposed that all cancers arise from damage to cellular respiration
  • The Crabtree effect is an artifact of the in vitro environment and involves the glucose-induced suppression of respiration with a corresponding elevation of lactic acid production even under hyperoxic (pO2 = 120–160 mmHg) conditions associated with cell culture
  • the Warburg theory of insufficient aerobic respiration remains as the most credible explanation for the origin of tumor cells [2, 37, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57].
  • The main points of Warburg’s theory are; 1) insufficient respiration is the predisposing initiator of tumorigenesis and ultimately cancer, 2) energy through glycolysis gradually compensates for insufficient energy through respiration, 3) cancer cells continue to produce lactic acid in the presence of oxygen, and 4) respiratory insufficiency eventually becomes irreversible
  • Efraim Racker coined the term “Warburg effect”, which refers to the aerobic glycolysis that occurs in cancer cells
  • Warburg clearly demonstrated that aerobic fermentation (aerobic glycolysis) is an effect, and not the cause, of insufficient respiration
  • all tumor cells that have been examined to date contain abnormalities in the content or composition of cardiolipin
  • The evidence supporting Warburg’s original theory comes from a broad range of cancers and is now overwhelming
  • respiratory insufficiency, arising from any number mitochondrial defects, can contribute to the fermentation metabolism seen in tumor cells.
  • data from the nuclear and mitochondrial transfer experiments suggest that oncogene changes are effects, rather than causes, of tumorigenesis
  • Normal mitochondria can suppress tumorigenesis, whereas abnormal mitochondria can enhance tumorigenesis
  • In addition to glucose, cancer cells also rely heavily on glutamine for growth and survival
  • Glutamine is anapleurotic and can be rapidly metabolized to glutamate and then to α-ketoglutarate for entry into the TCA cycle
  • Glucose and glutamine act synergistically for driving rapid tumor cell growth
  • Glutamine metabolism can produce ATP from the TCA cycle under aerobic conditions
  • Amino acid fermentation can generate energy through TCA cycle substrate level phosphorylation under hypoxic conditions
  • Hif-1α stabilization enhances aerobic fermentation
  • targeting glucose and glutamine will deprive the microenvironment of fermentable fuels
  • Although Warburg’s hypothesis on the origin of cancer has created confusion and controversy [37, 38, 39, 40], his hypothesis has never been disproved
  • Warburg referred to the phenomenon of enhanced glycolysis in cancer cells as “aerobic fermentation” to highlight the abnormal production of lactic acid in the presence of oxygen
  • Emerging evidence indicates that macrophages, or their fusion hybridization with neoplastic stem cells, are the origin of metastatic cancer cells
  • Radiation therapy can enhance fusion hybridization that could increase risk for invasive and metastatic tumor cells
  • Kamphorst et al. in showing that pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells could obtain glutamine under nutrient poor conditions through lysosomal digestion of extracellular proteins
  • It will therefore become necessary to also target lysosomal digestion, under reduced glucose and glutamine conditions, to effectively manage those invasive and metastatic cancers that express cannibalism and phagocytosis.
  • Previous studies in yeast and mammalian cells show that disruption of aerobic respiration can cause mutations (loss of heterozygosity, chromosome instability, and epigenetic modifications etc.) in the nuclear genome
  • The somatic mutations and genomic instability seen in tumor cells thus arise from a protracted reliance on fermentation energy metabolism and a disruption of redox balance through excess oxidative stress.
  • According to the mitochondrial metabolic theory of cancer, the large genomic heterogeneity seen in tumor cells arises as a consequence, rather than as a cause, of mitochondrial dysfunction
  • A therapeutic strategy targeting the metabolic abnormality common to most tumor cells should therefore be more effective in managing cancer than would a strategy targeting genetic mutations that vary widely between tumors of the same histological grade and even within the same tumor
  • Tumor cells are more fit than normal cells to survive in the hypoxic niche of the tumor microenvironment
  • Hypoxic adaptation of tumor cells allows for them to avoid apoptosis due to their metabolic reprograming following a gradual loss of respiratory function
  • The high rates of tumor cell glycolysis and glutaminolysis will also make them resistant to apoptosis, ROS, and chemotherapy drugs
  • Despite having high levels of ROS, glutamate-derived from glutamine contributes to glutathione production that can protect tumor cells from ROS
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      reason to eliminate glutamine in cancer patients and even GSH with cancer patients
  • It is clear that adaptability to environmental stress is greater in normal cells than in tumor cells, as normal cells can transition from the metabolism of glucose to the metabolism of ketone bodies when glucose becomes limiting
  • Mitochondrial respiratory chain defects will prevent tumor cells from using ketone bodies for energy
  • glycolysis-dependent tumor cells are less adaptable to metabolic stress than are the normal cells. This vulnerability can be exploited for targeting tumor cell energy metabolism
  • In contrast to dietary energy reduction, radiation and toxic drugs can damage the microenvironment and transform normal cells into tumor cells while also creating tumor cells that become highly resistant to drugs and radiation
  • Drug-resistant tumor cells arise in large part from the damage to respiration in bystander pre-cancerous cells
  • Because energy generated through substrate level phosphorylation is greater in tumor cells than in normal cells, tumor cells are more dependent than normal cells on the availability of fermentable fuels (glucose and glutamine)
  • Ketone bodies and fats are non-fermentable fuels
  • Although some tumor cells might appear to oxidize ketone bodies by the presence of ketolytic enzymes [181], it is not clear if ketone bodies and fats can provide sufficient energy for cell viability in the absence of glucose and glutamine
  • Apoptosis under energy stress is greater in tumor cells than in normal cells
  • A calorie restricted ketogenic diet or dietary energy reduction creates chronic metabolic stress in the body
  • . This energy stress acts as a press disturbance
  • Drugs that target availability of glucose and glutamine would act as pulse disturbances
  • Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also be considered another pulse disturbance
  • The KD can more effectively reduce glucose and elevate blood ketone bodies than can CR alone making the KD potentially more therapeutic against tumors than CR
  • Campbell showed that tumor growth in rats is greater under high protein (>20%) than under low protein content (<10%) in the diet
  • Protein amino acids can be metabolized to glucose through the Cori cycle
  • The fats in KDs used clinically also contain more medium chain triglycerides
  • Calorie restriction, fasting, and restricted KDs are anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory, and pro-apoptotic and thus can target and eliminate tumor cells through multiple mechanisms
  • Ketogenic diets can also spare muscle protein, enhance immunity, and delay cancer cachexia, which is a major problem in managing metastatic cancer
  • GKI values of 1.0 or below are considered therapeutic
  • The GKI can therefore serve as a biomarker to assess the therapeutic efficacy of various diets in a broad range of cancers.
  • It is important to remember that insulin drives glycolysis through stimulation of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex
  • The water-soluble ketone bodies (D-β-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate) are produced largely in the liver from adipocyte-derived fatty acids and ketogenic dietary fat. Ketone bodies bypass glycolysis and directly enter the mitochondria for metabolism to acetyl-CoA
  • Due to mitochondrial defects, tumor cells cannot exploit the therapeutic benefits of burning ketone bodies as normal cells would
  • Therapeutic ketosis with racemic ketone esters can also make it feasible to safely sustain hypoglycemia for inducing metabolic stress on cancer cells
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Ketones are much more than energy adaptabilit, but actually are therapeutic.
  • ketone bodies can inhibit histone deacetylases (HDAC) [229]. HDAC inhibitors play a role in targeting the cancer epigenome
  • Therapeutic ketosis reduces circulating inflammatory markers, and ketones directly inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome, an important pro-inflammatory pathway linked to carcinogenesis and an important target for cancer treatment response
  • Chronic psychological stress is known to promote tumorigenesis through elevations of blood glucose, glucocorticoids, catecholamines, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1)
  • In addition to calorie-restricted ketogenic diets, psychological stress management involving exercise, yoga, music etc. also act as press disturbances that can help reduce fatigue, depression, and anxiety in cancer patients and in animal models
  • Ketone supplementation has also been shown to reduce anxiety behavior in animal models
  • This physiological state also enhances the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, while reducing the side effects
  • lower dosages of chemotherapeutic drugs can be used when administered together with calorie restriction or restricted ketogenic diets (KD-R)
  • Besides 2-DG, a range of other glycolysis inhibitors might also produce similar therapeutic effects when combined with the KD-R including 3-bromopyruvate, oxaloacetate, and lonidamine
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      oxaloacetate is a glycolytic inhibitor, as is doxycycline, and IVC.
  • A synergistic interaction of the KD diet plus radiation was seen
  • It is important to recognize, however, that the radiotherapy used in glioma patients can damage the respiration of normal cells and increase availability of glutamine in the microenvironment, which can increase risk of tumor recurrence especially when used together with the steroid drug dexamethasone
  • Poff and colleagues demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) enhanced the ability of the KD to reduce tumor growth and metastasis
  • HBOT also increases oxidative stress and membrane lipid peroxidation of GBM cells in vitro
  • The effects of the KD and HBOT can be enhanced with administration of exogenous ketones, which further suppressed tumor growth and metastasis
  • Besides HBOT, intravenous vitamin C and dichloroacetate (DCA) can also be used with the KD to selectively increase oxidative stress in tumor cells
  • Recent evidence also shows that ketone supplementation may enhance or preserve overall physical and mental health
  • Some tumors use glucose as a prime fuel for growth, whereas other tumors use glutamine as a prime fuel [102, 186, 262, 263, 264]. Glutamine-dependent tumors are generally less detectable than glucose-dependent under FDG-PET imaging, but could be detected under glutamine-based PET imaging
  • GBM and use glutamine as a major fuel
  • Many of the current treatments used for cancer management are based on the view that cancer is a genetic disease
  • Emerging evidence indicates that cancer is a mitochondrial metabolic disease that depends on availability of fermentable fuels for tumor cell growth and survival
  • Glucose and glutamine are the most abundant fermentable fuels present in the circulation and in the tumor microenvironment
  • Low-carbohydrate, high fat-ketogenic diets coupled with glycolysis inhibitors will reduce metabolic flux through the glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathways needed for synthesis of ATP, lipids, glutathione, and nucleotides
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    Cancer is a mitochondrial disease? So says the well published Dr Seyfried. Glucose and glutamine drive cancer growth.
Nathan Goodyear

How is the Immune System Suppressed by Cancer - 1 views

  • nitric oxide (NO) released by tumor cells
  • Excellent work by Prof de Groot of Essen, indicated by adding exogenous xanthine oxidase ( XO) in hepatoma cells, hydrogen peroxide was produced to destroy the hepatoma cells
  • NO from eNOS in cancer cells can travel through membranes and over long distances in the body
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  • NO also is co linked to VEGF which in turn increases the antiapoptotic gene bcl-2
  • The other important influence of NO is in its inhibition of the proapoptoic caspases cascade. This in turn protects the cells from intracellular preprogrammed death.
  • nitric oxide in immune suppression in relation to oxygen radicals is its inhibitory effect on the binding of leukocytes (PMN) at the endothelial surface
  • Inhibition of inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS)
  • NO from the tumor cells actually suppresses the iNOS, and in addition it reduces oxygen radicals to stop the formation of peroxynitrite in these cells. But NO is not the only inhibitor of iNOS in cancer.
  • Spermine and spermidine, from the rate limiting enzyme for DNA synthases, ODC, also inhibit iNOS
  • tolerance in the immune system that decreases the immune response to antigens on the tumors
  • Freund’s adjuvant
  • increase in kinases in these cells which phosphorylate serine, and tyrosine
  • responsible for activation of many growth factors and enzymes
  • phosphorylated amino acids suppress iNOS activity
  • Hexokinase II
  • Prostaglandin E2, released from tumor cells is also an inhibitor of iNOS, as well as suppressing the immune system
  • Th-1 subset of T-cells. These cells are responsible for anti-viral and anti-cancer activities, via their cytokine production including Interleukin-2, (IL-2), and Interleukin-12 which stimulates T-killer cell replication and further activation and release of tumor fighting cytokines.
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Th1 cells stimulate NK and other tumor fighting macrophages via IL-2 and IL-12; In contrast, Th2, which is stimulated in allergies and parasitic infections, produce IL-4 and IL-10.  IL-4 and IL-10 inhibit TH-1 activation and the histamine released from mast cell degranulation upregulates T suppressor cells to further immune suppression.
  • Th-2 subset of lymphocytes, on the other hand are activated in allergies and parasitic infections to release Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-10
  • These have respectively inhibitory effects on iNOS and lymphocyte Th-1 activation
  • Mast cells contain histamine which when released increases the T suppressor cells, to lower the immune system and also acts directly on many tumor Histamine receptors to stimulate tumor growth
  • Tumor cells release IL-10, and this is thought to be one of the important areas of Th-1 suppression in cancer patients
  • IL-10 is also increased in cancer causing viral diseases such as HIV, HBV, HCV, and EBV
  • IL-10 is also a central regulator of cyclooxygenase-2 expression and prostaglandin production in tumor cells stimulating their angiogenesis and NO production
  • nitric oxide in tumor cells even prevents the activation of caspases responsible for apoptosis
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      NO produced by cancer cells inhibits proapoptotic pathways such as the caspases.
  • early stages of carcinogenesis, which we call tumor promotion, one needs a strong immune system, and fewer oxygen radicals to prevent mutations but still enough to destroy the tumor cells should they develop
  • later stages of cancer development, the oxygen radicals are decreased around the tumors and in the tumor cells themselves, and the entire cancer fighting Th-1 cell replication and movement are suppressed. The results are a decrease in direct toxicity and apoptosis, which is prevented by NO, a suppression of the macrophage and leukocyte toxicity and finally, a suppression of the T-cell induced tumor toxicity
  • cGMP is increased by NO
  • NO in cancer is its ability to increase platelet-tumor cell aggregates, which enhances metastases
  • the greater the malignancies and the greater the metastatic potential of these tumors
  • The greater the NO production in many types of tumors,
  • gynecological
  • elevated lactic acid which neutralizes the toxicity and activity of Lymphocyte immune response and mobility
  • The lactic acid is also feeding fungi around tumors and that leads to elevated histamine which increases T-suppressor cells.  Histamine alone stimulates many tumor cells.
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      The warburg effect in cancer cells results in the increase in local lactic acid production which suppresses lymphocyte activity and toxicity as well as stimulates histamine production with further stimulates tumor cell growth.
  • T-regulatory cells (formerly,T suppressor cells) down regulate the activity of Natural killer cells
  • last but not least, the Lactic acid from tumor cells and acidic diets shifts the lymphocyte activity to reduce its efficacy against cancer cells and pathogens in addition to altering the bacteria of the intestinal tract.
  • intestinal tract bacteria in cancer cells release sterols that suppress the immune system and down regulate anticancer activity from lymphocytes.
  • In addition to the lactic acid, adenosine is also released from tumors. Through IL-10, adenosine and other molecules secreted by regulatory T cells, the CD8+ cells can be inactivated to an anergic state
  • Adenosine up regulates the PD1 receptor in T-1 Lymphocytes and inhibits their activity
  • Adenosine is a purine nucleoside found within the interstitial fluid of solid tumors at concentrations that are able to inhibit cell-mediated immune responses to tumor cells
  • Adenosine appears to up-regulate the PD1 receptor in T-1 Lymphocytes and inhibits the immune system further
  • Mast cells with their release of histamine lower the immune system and also stimulate tumor growth and activate the metalloproteinases involved in angiogenesis and metastases
  • COX 2 inhibitors or all trans-retinoic acid
  • Cimetidine, an antihistamine has been actually shown to increase in apoptosis in MDSC via a separate mechanism than the antihistamine effect
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      cimetidine is an H2 blocker
  • interleukin-8 (IL-8), a chemokine related to invasion and angiogenesis
  • In vitro analyses revealed a striking induction of IL-8 expression in CAFs and LFs by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)
  • these data raise the possibility that the majority of CAFs in CLM originate from resident LFs. TNF-alpha-induced up-regulation of IL-8 via nuclear factor-kappaB in CAFs is an inflammatory pathway, potentially permissive for cancer invasion that may represent a novel therapeutic target
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    Great review of the immunosuppression in cancer driven by the likes of NO.
Nathan Goodyear

Mitochondrial Fission Induces Glycolytic Reprogramming in Cancer-Associated Myofibrobla... - 0 views

  • L-lactate functions as an onco-metabolite, stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis and OXPHOS in adjacent cancer cells, directly providing energy for tumor growth
  • Oxidative stress in stromal fibroblasts then induces their metabolic conversion into cancer-associated fibroblasts. Such oxidative stress drives the onset of autophagy, mitophagy, and aerobic glycolysis in fibroblasts, resulting in the local production of high-energy mitochondrial fuels (such as L-lactate, ketone bodies, and glutamine). These recycled nutrients are then transferred to cancer cells, where they are efficiently burned via oxidative mitochondrial metabolism (OXPHOS)
  • stromal L-lactate serves as a high-energy mitochondrial “fuel” for cancer cells. We have termed this new model of cancer metabolism “Two-Compartment Tumor Metabolism”, where two opposing metabolic compartments co-exist, side-by-side, with stromal glycolysis fueling OXPHOS in cancer cells
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  • Two-Compartment Tumor Metabolism
  • Reverse Warburg Effect”, is that catabolic fibroblasts should promote tumor growth, without any increases in angiogenesis
  • when cancer cells use L-lactate as a mitochondrial fuel source, this metabolic phenotype is a predictor of lethal cancer metabolism
  • tumor microenvironment is intimately involved in tumor development and progression
  • mitochondrial dysregulation is likely the “root cause” of several human disease(s), and especially epithelial cancers
  • Both in vitro and in vivo studies have now provided convincing evidence that “activated” stromal fibroblasts, a.k.a., myofibroblasts, may play a critical role in initiating tumor recurrence, via paracrine interactions with adjacent tumor epithelial cells
  • A new hypothesis is that cancer is not a cell autonomous disease, but rather a disease of the tumor microenvironment
  • cancer cells behave as metabolic parasites, by inducing oxidative stress in adjacent normal fibroblasts
  • recent experimental evidence indicates that cancer-associated fibroblasts have a catabolic phenotype, and undergo autophagy and mitophagy, resulting in the onset of glycolytic metabolism, driving L-lactate production, and its release into the tumor microenvironment
  • oncogenic mutations in cancer cells lead to ROS production and the “secretion” of hydrogen peroxide species
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    A good discussion of what is proposed the Reverse Warburg effect.  A process by which the local environment dictates tumor progression.  The cancer cells release ROS primarily in the form of H2O2 and this leads to Cancer Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) in the stroma.  The altered stromal environment increases ROS further and promotes ocogenic metabolites through the classic Warburg effect.  This high lactate production from the CAFs then is used by the cancer cells via classic oxidative phosphorylation.  Complex, beautiful and still an the understanding is a work in progress.   This study/article points to the importance of oxidative stress in some cancer development through CAFs.
Nathan Goodyear

Clinical experience with intravenous administration of ascorbic acid: achievable levels... - 0 views

  • Patients with higher tumor markers are likely to have higher tumor burden, higher oxidative stress and, therefore, are more likely to have lower post IVC plasma levels.
  • Our data also showed that cancer patients with metastasis tend to have lower post-IVC vitamin C levels than those without metastasis
  • Lower peak plasma concentrations are obtained in cancer patients than in healthy subjects. Cancer patients who are deficient in vitamin C prior to therapy tend to achieve lower plasma levels post infusion.
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  • Patients with higher inflammation or tumor burdens, as measured by CRP levels or tumor antigen levels, tend to show lower peak plasma ascorbate levels after IVC.
  • Patients with metastatic tumors tend to achieve lower post infusion plasma ascorbate levels than those with localized tumors.
  • Meta-analyses of clinical studies involving cancer and vitamins also conclude that antioxidant supplementation does not interfere with the efficacy of chemotherapeutic regiments
  • Most of the prostate cancer patients studied, 75±19% (95% confidence), showed reductions in PSA levels during the course of their IVC therapy
  • Laboratory studies suggest that, at high concentrations, ascorbate does not interfere with chemotherapy or irradiation and may enhance efficacy in some situations
  • Cameron and Pauling observed fourfold survival times in terminal cancer patients treated with intravenous ascorbate infusions followed by oral supplementation
  • The inflammatory microenvironment of cancer cells leads to increasing oxidative stress, which apparently depletes vitamin C, resulting in lower plasma ascorbate concentrations in blood samples post IVC infusion. Another explanation for this finding may be that cancers are themselves more metabolically active in their uptake of vitamin C, causing subjects to absorb more of the vitamin, and as a results show lower plasma ascorbate concentrations in blood post IVC infusion.
  • patients with severely elevated CRP levels attain plasma ascorbate concentrations after IVC infusions that are only 65% of those attained for subjects with normal CRP levels
  • The finding of decreased plasma ascorbate levels in cancer patients may relate to the molecular structure of ascorbic acid; in particular, the similarity of its oxidized form, dihydroascorbic acid, to glucose
  • Since tumor have increased requirement for glucose [67], transport of dehydroascorbate into the cancer cells via glucose transport molecules and ascorbate through sodium-dependent transporter may be elevated
  • Increased accumulation of ascorbic acid in the tumor site was supported by measurements of the level of ascorbic acid in tumors in animal experiments
  • patients with advanced malignancies may have lower level of ascorbic acid in tissue, creating a higher demand for the vitamin C
  • IVC therapy appears to reduce CRP levels in cancer patients.
  • CRP concentrations directly correlate with disease activity in many cases and can contribute to disease progression through a range of pro-inflammatory properties.
  • Being an exquisitely sensitive marker of systemic inflammation and tissue damage, CRP is very useful in screening for organic disease and monitoring treatment responses
  • ncreases in CRP concentrations have been associated with poorer prognosis of survival in cancer patients, particularly with advance disease independent of tumor stage
  • Regarding inflammation, 73±13% of subjects (95% confidence) showed a reduction in CRP levels during therapy. This was an even more dramatic 86±13% (95% confidence) in subjects who started therapy with CRP levels above 10 mg/L
  • patients treated by IVC with follow-up several year showed that suppression of inflammation in cancer patients by high-dose IVC is feasible and potentially beneficial
  • Inflammation is a marker of high cancer risk, and poor treatment outcome
  • The subjects with highly elevated CRP concentrations have a three-fold elevation “all-cause” mortality risk and a twenty-eight fold increase in cancer mortality risk
  • cancer patients may need higher doses to achieve a given plasma concentration.
  • patients with lower vitamin C levels may see more distribution of intravenously administered ascorbate into tissues and thus attain less in plasma.
  • When treating patients with IVC, the first treatment likely serves to replenish depleted tissue stores, if those subjects were vitamin C deficient at the beginning of the treatment. Then, in subsequent treatments, with increasing doses, higher plasma concentrations can be attained. On-going treatments serve to progressively reduce oxidative stress in cancer patients.
  • large doses given intravenously may result in maximum plasma concentrations of roughly 30 mM, a level that has been shown to be sufficient for preferential cytotoxicity against cancer cells
  • oral intake of vitamin C exceeded 200 mg administered once daily, it was difficult to increase plasma and tissue concentrations above roughly 200 μM.
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    Great review on the use of IV vitamin C in cancer and to reduce inflammation.  The article does a great job of discussing the mechanism of vitamin C therapy in cancer as well as the proposed reasons for low vitamin C in cancer patients.  The study also highlights the obstacles to rise in vitamin C levels post IV vitamin C in cancer patients.
fnfdoc

Types Causes And Symptoms Of Brain Tumor | Your Health Our Priority - 0 views

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    Brain Tumor risks including surgery facts, as well as diagnosis also types either the primary tumor or secondary tumor. Treatments like MRI CT scan helping you to decide better for your health.
Nathan Goodyear

NETosis and Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in COVID-19: Immunothrombosis and Beyond - PMC - 0 views

  • Pneumonia is a typical symptom of COVID-19 infection, while acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiple organ failure are common in severe COVID-19 patients
  • NETs are important for preventing pathogen invasion, their excessive formation can result in a slew of negative consequences, such as autoimmune inflammation and tissue damage
  • SARS-CoV-2 infection has also been linked to increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratios, which is associated with disease severity and clinical prognosis
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  • NETosis is a special form of programmed cell death in neutrophils, which is characterized by the extrusion of DNA, histones, and antimicrobial proteins in a web-like structure known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs)
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Definition
  • increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a crucial intracellular process that causes NETosis
  • Another indirect route of SARS-CoV-2-induced NET production is platelet activation
  • When NETs are activated in the circulation, they can also induce hypercoagulability and thrombosis
  • In COVID-19, major NET protein cargos of NETs (i.e., NE, MPO, and histones) are significantly elevated.
  • SARS-CoV-2 can also infect host cells through noncanonical receptors such as C-type lectin receptors
  • Immunopathological manifestations, including cytokine storms and impaired adaptive immunity, are the primary drivers behind COVID-19, with neutrophil infiltration being suggested as a significant cause
  • NETosis and NETs are increasingly recognized as causes of vascular injury
  • SARS-CoV-2 and its components (e.g., spike proteins and viral RNA) attach to platelets and increase their activation and aggregation in COVID-19, resulting in vascular injury and thrombosis, both of which are linked to NET formation
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Connects SARS-CoV-2 to TLR on Platelets to NETosis to metastasis.
  • NET formation may be caused by activated platelets rather than SARS-CoV-2 itself
  • NETosis, leading to aberrant immunity such as cytokine storms, autoimmune disorders, and immunosuppression.
  • early bacterial coinfections were more prevalent in COVID-19 patients than those infected with other viruses
  • NETosis and NETs may also have a role in the development of post COVID-19 syndromes, including lung fibrosis, neurological disorders, tumor growth, and worsening of concomitant disease
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      NETosis-> tumor growth
  • NETs and other by-products of NETosis have been shown to act as direct inflammation amplifiers. Hyperinflammation
  • “cytokine storm”
  • SARS-CoV-2 drives NETosis and NET formation to allow for the release of free DNA and by-products (e.g., elastases and histones). This may trigger surrounding macrophages and endothelial cells to secrete excessive proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, which, in turn, enhance NET formation and form a positive feedback of cytokine storms in COVID-19
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Cycle of hyperinflammation
  • NET release enables self-antigen exposure and autoantibody production, thereby increasing the autoinflammatory response
  • patients with COVID-19 who have higher anti-NET antibodies are more likely to be detected with positive autoantibodies [e.g., antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)]
  • COVID-19 NETs may act as potential inducers for autoimmune responses
  • have weakened adaptive immunity as well as a high level of inflammation
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Immunomodulation
  • tumor-associated NETosis and NETs promote an immunosuppressive environment in which anti-tumor immunity is compromised
  • NETs have also been shown to enhance macrophage pyroptosis in sepsis
  • facilitating an immunosuppressive microenvironment
  • persistent immunosuppression may result in bacterial co-infection or secondary infection
  • can enhance this process by interacting with neutrophils through toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), platelet factor 4 (PF4), and extracellular vesicle-dependent processes
  • NET-induced immunosuppression in COVID-19 in the context of co-existing bacterial infection
  • Following initial onset of COVID-19, an estimated 50% or more of COVID-19 survivors may develop multi-organ problems (e.g., pulmonary dysfunction and neurologic impairment) or have worsening concomitant chronic illness
  • NETs in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of severe COVID-19 patients cause EMT in lung epithelial cells
  • decreased E-cadherin (an epithelial marker) expression
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Leads to emt
  • COVID-19 also has a long-term influence on tumor progression
  • Patients with tumors have been shown to be more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent development of severe COVID-19
  • patients who have recovered from COVID-19 may have an increased risk of developing cancer or of cancer progression and metastasis
  • awaken cancer cells
  • NETs have been shown to change the tumor microenvironment
  • enhance tumor progression and metastasis
  • vitamin C has been tested in phase 2 clinical trials aimed at reducing COVID-19-associated mortality by reducing excessive activation of the inflammatory response
  • vitamin C is an antioxidant that significantly attenuates PMA-induced NETosis in healthy neutrophils by scavenging ROS
  • vitamin C may also inhibit NETosis and NET production in COVID-19
  • Metformin
  • Vitamin C
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    NETosis intimately involved in progressive COVID, long COVID, autoimmunity, and cancer
Nathan Goodyear

Telomerase at the intersection of cancer and aging - 0 views

  • The anti-aging role of telomerase has been demonstrated to be largely mediated by its canonical role in elongating telomeres, which prevents the accumulation of critically short telomeres and loss of tissue homeostasis
  • Short telomeres, and subsequent DDR activation, could occur both in cancer and aging
  • increased abundance of short telomeres correlates with higher genomic instability and decreased longevity in various organisms, including mice, zebrafish, and yeast
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  • mice deficient for telomerase or for telomere binding proteins are characterized by accelerated age-related defects
  • In humans, short telomeres are considered good indicators of an individual’s health status and correlate with both genetic and environmental factors
  • Although recent findings strongly support the idea that short telomeres drive several age-related diseases 38 we cannot exclude the possibility that in some situations short telomeres may be a consequence of the disease itself.
  • the current view is that telomerase deficiency may contribute to the early steps of cancer development by fueling chromosomal instability, while subsequent activation of telomerase may be necessary to allow tumor growth and tumor progression towards more malignant states
  • telomerase activation can be an early event in cancer, it is not necessary for cancer initiation
  • telomerase can stimulate tumor progression by ensuring maintenance of telomeres above a critically short length, thus preventing induction of cellular senescence or apoptosis
  • Almost all human cancers present activation of telomerase as a hallmark, most likely as a mechanism to allow unlimited cell proliferation of tumor cells
  • recent evidence demonstrated that short telomeres alone could lead to genomic instability and cancer
  • Getting rid of telomerase can also be problematic; the lack of telomerase could lead to increased chromosomal instability, which in turn could be at the basis for cancer initiation when tumor suppressor barriers are bypassed
  • telomerase activation is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of age-related diseases
  • telomerase activation in adult or old mice by means of a gene therapy strategy was shown to be sufficient to improve metabolic fitness, neuromuscular capacity, and prevent bone loss, as well as significantly increase both median and maximum longevity, without increased cancer incidence
  • These studies suggest that telomerase expression could be considered a feasible approach to reverse tissue dysfunction and extend healthy lifespan without increasing cancer incidence
  • humans almost completely lose telomerase activity from somatic tissues in the adulthood
  • a change of paradigm seems to be occurring in telomerase biology, with a switch from viewing telomerase as fueling cancer to reversing aging
  • Telomerase expression in a background of high levels of tumor suppressors or in aged organisms seems to prevent its expected pro-cancer activity and yet it still functions as an anti-aging factor
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    Telomerase activity and longer telomere length is shown to correlated inversely with many chronic diseases of aging.  In contrast, telomerase activity is found to be involved in carcinogenesis.  Increased carcinogenic potential of telomerase activity has not borne out in studies.  In addition, increased CD8 cell activity as a result of telomerase activation will actually decrease carcinogenic potential via NK activation.
Nathan Goodyear

Oncotarget | Vitamin C and Doxycycline: A synthetic lethal combination therapy targetin... - 0 views

  • These eight distinct cancer types included: DCIS, breast (ER(+) and ER(-)), ovarian, prostate, lung, and pancreatic carcinomas, as well as melanoma and glioblastoma. Doxycycline was also effective in halting the propagation of primary cultures of CSCs from breast cancer patients, with advanced metastatic disease (isolated from ascites fluid and/or pleural effusions)
  • Doxycycline behaves as a strong radio-sensitizer, successfully overcoming radio-resistance in breast CSCs
  • cancer cells can indeed escape the effects of Doxycycline, by reverting to a purely glycolytic phenotype. Fortunately, the metabolic inflexibility conferred by this escape mechanism allows Doxycycline-resistant (DoxyR) CSCs to be more effectively targeted with many other metabolic inhibitors, including Vitamin C, which functionally blocks aerobic glycolysis
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  • Vitamin C inhibits GAPDH (a glycolytic enzyme) and depletes the cellular pool of glutathione, resulting in high ROS production and oxidative stress
  • DoxyR CSCs are between 4- to 10-fold more susceptible to the effects of Vitamin C
  • Doxycycline and Vitamin C may represent a new synthetic lethal drug combination for eradicating CSCs, by ultimately targeting both mitochondrial and glycolytic metabolism
  • inhibiting their propagation in the range of 100 to 250 µM
  • metabolic flexibility in cancer cells allows them to escape therapeutic eradication, leading to chemo- and radio-resistance
  • used doxycycline to pharmacologically induce metabolic inflexibility in CSCs, by chronically inhibiting mitochondrial biogenesis
  • This treatment resulted in a purely glycolytic population of surviving cancer cells
  • DoxyR cells are mainly glycolytic
  • MCF7 cells survive and develop Doxycycline-resistance, by adopting a purely glycolytic phenotype
  • Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are thought to be the “root cause” of tumor recurrence, distant metastasis and therapy-resistance
  • the conserved evolutionary similarities between aerobic bacteria and mitochondria, certain classes of antibiotics inhibit mitochondrial protein translation, as an off-target side-effect
  • Vitamin C was more potent than 2-DG; it inhibited DoxyR CSC propagation by > 90% at 250 µM and 100% at 500 µM
  • IC-50
  • DoxyR CSCs are between 4- to 10-fold more sensitive to Vitamin C than control MCF7 CSCs
  • Berberine, which is a naturally occurring antibiotic that also behaves as an OXPHOS inhibitor
  • treatment with Berberine effectively inhibited the propagation of the DoxyR CSCs by > 50% at 1 µM and > 80% at 10 µM.
  • Doxycycline, a clinically approved antibiotic, induces metabolic stress in cancer cells. This allows the remaining cancer cells to be synchronized towards a purely glycolytic phenotype, driving a form of metabolic inflexibility
  • Doxycycline-driven aerobic glycolysis
  • new synthetic lethal strategy for eradicating CSCs, by employing i) Doxycycline (to target mitochondria) and ii) Vitamin C (to target glycolysis)
  • Doxycycline inhibits mitochondrial biogenesis and OXPHOS,
  • hibits glycolytic metabolism by targeting and inhibiting the enzyme GAPDH
  • CSCs act as the main promoter of tumor recurrence and patient relapse
  • a metabolic shift from oxidative to glycolytic metabolism represents an escape mechanism for breast cancer cells chronically-treated with a mitochondrial stressor like Doxycycline, as mitochondrial dys-function leads to a stronger dependence on glucose
  • Vitamin C has been demonstrated to selectively kill cancer cells in vitro and to inhibit tumor growth in experimental mouse models
  • many of these actions have been attributed to the ability of Vitamin C to act as a glycolysis inhibitor, by targeting GAPDH and depleting the NAD pool
  • here we show that DoxyR CSCs are more vulnerable to the inhibitory effects of Vitamin C, at 4- to 10-fold lower concentrations, between 100 to 250 μM
  • concurrent use of Vitamin C, with standard chemotherapy, reduces tumor recurrence and patient mortality
  • after oral administration, Vitamin C plasma levels reach concentrations of ~70-220 μM
  • intravenous administration results in 30- to 70- fold higher plasma concentrations of Vitamin C
  • pro-oxidant activity results from Vitamin C’s action on metal ions, which generates free radicals and hydrogen peroxide, and is associated with cell toxicity
  • it has been shown that high-dose Vitamin C is more cytotoxic to cancer cells than to normal cells
  • This selectivity appears to be due to the higher catalase content observed in normal cells (~10-100 fold greater), as compared to tumor cells. Hence, Vitamin C may be regarded as a safe agent that selectively targets cancer cells
  • the concurrent use of Doxycycline and Vitamin C, in the context of this infectious disease, appeared to be highly synergistic in patients
  • Goc et al., 2016, showed that Doxycycline is synergistic in vitro with certain phytochemicals and micronutrients, including Vitamin C, in the in vitro killing of the vegetative spirochete form of Borrelia spp., the causative agent underlying Lyme disease
  • Doxycycline, an FDA-approved antibiotic, behaves as an inhibitor of mitochondrial protein translation
  • CSCs successfully escape from the anti-mitochondrial effects of Doxycycline, by assuming a purely glycolytic phenotype. Therefore, DoxyR CSCs are then more susceptible to other metabolic perturbations, because of their metabolic inflexibility
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    Not especially new, but IV vitamin C + daily doxycycline found to kill cancer stem cells.
Nathan Goodyear

The glucose ketone index calculator: a simple tool to monitor therapeutic efficacy for ... - 0 views

  • The ‘Glucose Ketone Index’ (GKI) was created to track the zone of metabolic management for brain tumor management
  • The GKI is a biomarker that refers to the molar ratio of circulating glucose over β-OHB, which is the major circulating ketone body.
  • We present evidence showing that the GKI can predict success for brain cancer management in humans and mice using metabolic therapies that lower blood glucose and elevate blood ketone levels
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  • The GKI can be useful in determining the success of dietary therapies that shift glucose- and lactate-based metabolism to ketone-based metabolism
  • Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, chronic inflammatory disease, and epilepsy
  • The zone of metabolic management is likely entered with GKI values between 1 and 2 for humans
  • Optimal management is predicted for values approaching 1.0, and blood glucose and ketone values should be measured 2–3 hours postprandial, twice a day if possible
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      check GKI 2-3 hr postprandial twice daily
  • Preclinical studies have demonstrated a clear linkage between GKI and therapeutic efficacy
  • the Warburg effect (aerobic fermentation of glucose) is a common metabolic malady expressed in nearly all neoplastic cells of these and other malignant tumors
  • Aerobic fermentation (Warburg effect) is necessary to compensate for the insufficiency of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in the cells of most tumors
  • Normal brain cells gradually transition from the metabolism of glucose to the metabolism of ketone bodies (primarily β-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate) for energy when circulating glucose levels become limiting
  • Ketone bodies bypass the glycolytic pathway in the cytoplasm and are metabolized directly to acetyl CoA in the mitochondria
  • Tumor cells are less capable than normal cells in metabolizing ketone bodies for energy due to their mitochondrial defects
  • daily activities and emotional stress can cause blood glucose levels to vary making it difficult for some people to enter the predicted zone of metabolic management
  • a clear association of the GKI to the therapeutic action of calorie restriction against distal invasion, proliferation, and angiogenesis in the VM-M3 model of glioblastoma
  • The results suggest that GKI levels that approach 1.0 are therapeutic for managing brain tumor growth
  • Therapeutic efficacy of the KD or calorie restriction is greater with lower GKI values than with higher values
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    The glucose ketone index shown to predict dietary metabolic success. In humans with brain cancer-- the target is 1.  The glucose and ketone (betahydroxybutyrate) should be measured 2-3 hours postprandial twice daily.
Nathan Goodyear

Multiple Myeloma Tumor Cells are Selectively Killed by Pharmacologically-dosed Ascorbic... - 0 views

  • Recent reports indicate that a certain ROS concentration is required for high-dose vitamin C to induce cytotoxicity in cancer cells.
  • The generation of ascorbyl- and H2O2 radicals by PAA increases ROS stress in cancer cells
  • In this study, we report that PAA is efficacious in killing MM cells in vitro and in vivo models, which generated levels of 20–40 mM ascorbate and 500 nM ascorbyl radicals after intraperitoneal administration of 4 g ascorbate per kilogram of body weight (Chen et al., 2008Chen et al., 2008), in xenograft MM mice
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  • These data suggest that PAA may show a therapeutic advantage to blood cancers vs solid tumors because of the communication between tumor cells and blood plasma
  • These results strongly suggest that the mechanism of PAA killing of MM cells is indeed iron-dependent
  • These results suggest that PAA administration in SMM may be able to prevent progression to symtomatic MM
  • A recent study by Yun and colleagues demonstrated that vitamin C selectively kills KRAS and BRAF mutant colorectal cancer cells by targeting GAPDH, but spares normal cells
  • RAS family genes show the most frequent mutations in MM. KRAS, NRAS and BRAF are mutated in 22%, 20% and 7% of MM samples
  • the disease stage rather than the mutation of RAS and/or BRAF is the major predictive factor for PAA sensitivity in MM treatment
  • Other molecular mechanisms including ATP depletion and ATM-AMPK signaling have been reported to explain PAA-induced cell death
  • our pilot study also suggested that PAA could overcome drug resistance to bortezomib in MM cells
  • Our findings complement reported studies and further address the mechanism of action using clinical samples in which we observed that PAA killed tumor cells with high iron content, suggesting that iron might be the initiator of PAA cytotoxicity
  • combination of PAA with standard therapeutic drugs, such as melphalan, may significantly reduce the dose of melphalan needed
  • Combined treatment of reduced dose melphalan with PAA achieved a significantly longer progression-free survival than the same dose of melphalan alone.
  • These data also suggest that the bone marrow suppression induced by high-dose melphalan can be ameliorated by the combination of PAA with lower dose of melphalan because of the lack of toxicity of PAA on normal cells with low iron content.
  • if creatinine clearance is <30 mL/min, high dose ascorbic acid should be not administrated.
  • In MM preclinical and clinical studies, ascorbate was used as an adjunct drug and showed controversial results (Harvey et al., 2009, Perrone et al., 2009, Held et al., 2013, Sharma et al., 2012, Nakano et al., 2011, Takahashi, 2010, Sharma et al., 2009, Qazilbash et al., 2008). However, none of these tests used pharmacological doses of ascorbate and intravenous administration
  • Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell neoplasm.
  • Cameron and Pauling reported that high doses of vitamin C increased survival of patients with cancer
  • pharmacologically dosed ascorbic acid (PAA) 50–100 g (Chen et al., 2008, Padayatty et al., 2004, Hoffer et al., 2008, Padayatty et al., 2006, Welsh et al., 2013), administered intravenously, has potent anti-cancer activity and its role as anti-cancer therapy is being studied at the University of Iowa and in other centers
  • In the presence of catalytic metal ions like iron, PAA administered intravenously exerts pro-oxidant effects leading to the formation of highly reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in cell death
  • the labile iron pool (LIP) is significantly elevated in MM cells
  • The survival of CD138+ cells in vitro was significantly decreased following PAA treatment in all 9 MM
  • In contrast, no significant change of cell viability was observed in CD138− BM cells from the same patients
  • The same effect of PAA was also observed in the SMM patients
  • no response to PAA was detected in CD138+ cells from the 2 MGUS patients
  • the combination of melphalan plus PAA showed greater tumor burden reduction than each drug alone, suggesting a synergistic activity between these two drugs
  • Both catalase and NAC protect cells from oxidative damage
  • cells pretreated with NAC and catalase became resistant to PAA even at high doses
  • adding deferoxamine (DFO), an iron chelator, to OCI-MY5 cells before PAA treatment was also sufficient to prevent PAA-induced cellular death
  • iron is essential for PAA to achieve its anti-cancer activity
  • PAA induced early necrosis (Fig. 3Fig. 3A, 60 min) followed by late apoptosis
  • results further indicated that PAA induced mitochondria-mediated apoptosis
  • PAA by reacting with LIP and generating ROS induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in which AIF1 cleavage is important for cell death.
  • ROS and H2O2 are well known factors mediating PAA-induced cancer cell death
  • PAA was sensitive to all 9 MMs and 2 SMMs
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    animal study finds high-dose, pharmacologic vitamin C found to kill multiple myeloma cells via pro-oxidant effect found in similar studies in dealing with different cancers.
Nathan Goodyear

CD3+/CD16+CD56+ cell numbers in peripheral blood are correlated with higher tumor burde... - 0 views

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    Only abstract available here.  Study finds association between high tumor burden, more aggressive disease, and lower NK cell numbers.  In addition, inverse assocation with CD16/56 and LDH found.  Most likely direct tumor suppression as cause.
Nathan Goodyear

Rare Occurrence of 3 "H": Hypercalcemia, Hemolytic Anemia and Hodgkin's Lymphoma - 0 views

  • administered zoledronic acid (4 mg). Prednisolone (1 mg/kg/day) was started and simultaneously, she was administered first cycle of ABVD (Adriamycin: 25 mg/m2, Bleomycin: 10 U/m2, Vinblastine: 6 mg/m2 and Dacarbazine: 375 mg/m2), which led to normalisation of serum calcium levels over 4 days and improvement in her hemoglobin levels
  • Etiology of anemia in Hodgkin’s lymphoma is multifactorial. Anemia of chronic disease, decreased red cell survival, infiltration of bone marrow by tumor and marrow suppression by chemotherapy/radiotherapy are the common mechanisms
  • Our case had only a transient response to steroids and chemotherapy. Therefore, she was treated with Rituximab which brought hemolysis under control
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  • Mechanism of hypercalcemia in HL has long been suggested to involve extra-renal activation of 1α-hydroxylase leading to production of 1, 25(OD)2 Vitamin D3 or Calcitriol, an active metabolite of Vitamin D, which leads to increased re-absorption of calcium and phosphate from intestine, increased osteoclast activation and bone resorption as well as increased phosphate re-absorption in renal tubules
  • Hypercalcemia of malignancy involves three mechanisms: 1. Humoral hypercalcemia mediated by PTHrP—seen in solid tumors like breast cancer and adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), 2. Direct osteoclast mediated bone resorption due to bony metastasis—seen in solid tumors and multiple myeloma, 3. Calcitriol mediated hypercalcemia—seen in Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as well as granulomatous disorders like tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, leprosy and disseminated Candidiasis
  • Hypercalcemia in HL is rare and its incidence has been reported as 0.9, 1.6 and 5.4 % in different series
  • The source of 1α-hydroxylase in HL has been postulated as monocytes and macrophages infiltrating the tumor akin to tuberculosis or sarcoidosis and is stimulated by IFN-γ secreted by T-lymphocytes
  • Like sarcoidosis, patients with HL exhibit increased sensitivity to Vitamin D supplements and sunlight, which have been found to precipitate hypercalcemia in these patients
  • Classical biochemical profile in Calcitriol mediated hypercalcemia include: an elevated calcium, normal/slightly elevated phosphate, normal 25(OH) Vitamin D, suppressed PTHrP and PTH, elevated Calcitriol and a normal/increased tubular reabsorption of phosphate
  • not been associated with a poorer prognosis and tends to subside after treatment of the underlying disease
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    great read on hypercalcemia in hodgkin's lymphoma.
Nathan Goodyear

Inborn-like errors of metabolism are determinants of breast cancer risk, clinical respo... - 0 views

  • We now recognize that human cancers evolve in an environment of metabolic stress. Rapidly proliferating tumor cells deprived of adequate oxygen, nutrients, hormones and growth factors up-regulate pathways that address these deficiencies to overcome hypoxia (HIF), vascular insufficiency (VEGF), growth factor deprivation (EGFR, HER2) and the loss of hormonal support (ER, PR, AR) all to enhance survival and proliferation
  • RAS, PI3K, TP53 and MYC
  • The results suggest that breast cancer could be preceded by systemic subclinical disturbances in glucose-insulin homeostasis characterized by mild, likely asymptomatic, IEM-like biochemical changes
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  • The process would include variable periods of hyperinsulinemia with the consequent systemic MYC activation of glycolysis, glutaminolysis, structural lipidogenesis and further exacerbation of hypoglycemia, the result of MYC's known role as an inhibitor of liver gluconeogenesis
  • The metabolic changes we describe in breast cancer arise in concert with IEM-like changes in oxidative phosphorylation as detected by increased values of the ratio lactate/pyruvate (Supplementary Table 2A, 2B) characteristic of Ox/Phos deficiency [25]. In our study, 76% (70/92) of the European breast cancer patients had lactate/pyruvate ratios values higher than the normal value of 25.8
  • four-fold higher frequency of cancer (including breast) in patients with energy metabolism disorders
  • growing recognition that cancer cells differ from their normal counterparts in their use of nutrients, synthesis of biomolecules and generation of energy
  • glutamine concentrations in the cancer patients were reduced to nearly 1/8 of the levels observed in the normal population
  • blood concentrations of aspartate (p = 1.7e-67, FDR = 8.3e-67) (Figure ​(Figure1E)1E) and glutamate (p = 6.4e-96, FDR = 6.2e-95) (Figure ​(Figure1F)1F) were nearly 10 fold higher than the normal ranges of 0–5 μM/L and 40 μM/L, respectively
  • glutamine consumption associated with parallel increases in glutamate and aspartate (Figure ​(Figure1A1A red arrows) is considered a hallmark of MYC-driven “glutaminolysis”
  • Gln/Glu ratio inversely correlates with i- late stage metabolic syndrome and with ii- increased chance of death
  • changes in glutamine consumption, reflected by the Gln/Glu ratio could provide a metabolic link between breast cancer initiation and diabetes, reflective of a systemic metabolic reprogramming from glucose to glutamine as the preferred source of precursors for biosynthetic reactions and cellular energy
  • lower Gln/Glu ratios inversely correlated with insulin resistance and the risk of diabetes
  • the metabolic dependencies of cancer characterized by excessive glycolysis, glutaminolysis and malignant lipidogenesis, previously considered a consequence of local tumor DNA aberration [23] could, instead, represent a systemic biochemical aberration that predates and very likely promotes tumorigenesis
  • these metabolic disturbances would be expected to remain extant after therapeutic interventions
  • accumulation of very long chain acylcarnitines such as C14:1-OH (p = 0.0, FDR = 0.0), C16 (p = 0.0, FDR = 0.0), C18 (p = 0.0, FDR = 0.0) and C18:1 (p = 1.73e-322, FDR = 1.16-321) and lipids containing VLCFA (lysoPC a C28:0) (p = 1.14-e95, FDR = 1.65e-95) in the blood of breast and colon cancer patients
  • Among the most powerful metabolic equations for MYC-activation is that which links the widely used MYC-driven desaturation marker ratio of SFA/MUFA to the MYC glutaminolysis-associated ratio of (Asp/Gln)
  • liver dysfunction shares many features with both IEM and cancer suggesting a role for hepatic dysfunction in carcinogenesis
  • cancer “conscripts” the human genome to meet its needs under conditions of systemic metabolic stress
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    Breast cancer is a metabolic disease.  Now, where have I heard that cancer is a metabolic disease?
Nathan Goodyear

Testosterone and the Cardiovascular System: A Comprehensive Review of the Clinical Lite... - 0 views

  • Low endogenous bioavailable testosterone levels have been shown to be associated with higher rates of all‐cause and cardiovascular‐related mortality.39,41,46–47 Patients suffering from CAD,13–18 CHF,137 T2DM,25–26 and obesity27–28
  • have all been shown to have lower levels of endogenous testosterone compared with those in healthy controls. In addition, the severity of CAD15,17,29–30 and CHF137 correlates with the degree of testosterone deficiency
  • In patients with CHF, testosterone replacement therapy has been shown to significantly improve exercise tolerance while having no effect on LVEF
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  • testosterone therapy causes a shift in the skeletal muscle of CHF patients toward a higher concentration of type I muscle fibers
  • Testosterone replacement therapy has also been shown to improve the homeostatic model of insulin resistance and hemoglobin A1c in diabetics26,68–69 and to lower the BMI in obese patients.
  • Lower levels of endogenous testosterone have been associated with longer duration of the QTc interval
  • testosterone replacement has been shown to shorten the QTc interval
  • negative correlation has been demonstrated between endogenous testosterone levels and IMT of the carotid arteries, abdominal aorta, and thoracic aorta
  • These findings suggest that men with lower levels of endogenous testosterone may be at a higher risk of developing atherosclerosis.
  • Current guidelines from the Endocrine Society make no recommendations on whether patients with heart disease should be screened for hypogonadism and do not recommend supplementing patients with heart disease to improve survival.
  • The Massachusetts Male Aging Study also projects ≈481 000 new cases of hypogonadism annually in US men within the same age group
  • since 1993 prescriptions for testosterone, regardless of the formulation, have increased nearly 500%
  • Testosterone levels are lower in patients with chronic illnesses such as end‐stage renal disease, human immunodeficiency virus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), obesity, and several genetic conditions such as Klinefelter syndrome
  • A growing body of evidence suggests that men with lower levels of endogenous testosterone are more prone to develop CAD during their lifetimes
  • There are 2 major potential confounding factors that the older studies generally failed to account for. These factors are the subfraction of testosterone used to perform the analysis and the method used to account for subclinical CAD.
  • The biologically inactive form of testosterone is tightly bound to SHBG and is therefore unable to bind to androgen receptors
  • The biologically inactive fraction of testosterone comprises nearly 68% of the total testosterone in human serum
  • The biologically active subfraction of testosterone, also referred to as bioavailable testosterone, is either loosely bound to albumin or circulates freely in the blood, the latter referred to as free testosterone
  • It is estimated that ≈30% of total serum testosterone is bound to albumin, whereas the remaining 1% to 3% circulates as free testosterone
  • it can be argued that using the biologically active form of testosterone to evaluate the association with CAD will produce the most reliable results
  • English et al14 found statistically significant lower levels of bioavailable testosterone, free testosterone, and free androgen index in patients with catheterization‐proven CAD compared with controls with normal coronary arteries
  • patients with catheterization‐proven CAD had statistically significant lower levels of bioavailable testosterone
  • In conclusion, existing evidence suggests that men with CAD have lower levels of endogenous testosterone,13–18 and more specifically lower levels of bioavailable testosterone
  • low testosterone levels are associated with risk factors for CAD such as T2DM25–26 and obesity
  • In a meta‐analysis of these 7 population‐based studies, Araujo et al41 showed a trend toward increased cardiovascular mortality associated with lower levels of total testosterone, but statistical significance was not achieved (RR, 1.25
  • the authors showed that a decrease of 2.1 standard deviations in levels of total testosterone was associated with a 25% increase in the risk of cardiovascular mortality
  • the relative risk of all‐cause mortality in men with lower levels of total testosterone was calculated to be 1.35
  • higher risk of cardiovascular mortality is associated with lower levels of bioavailable testosterone
  • Existing evidence seems to suggest that lower levels of endogenous testosterone are associated with higher rates of all‐cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality
  • studies have shown that lower levels of endogenous bioavailable testosterone are associated with higher rates of all‐cause and cardiovascular mortality
  • It may be possible that using bioavailable testosterone to perform mortality analysis will yield more accurate results because it prevents the biologically inactive subfraction of testosterone from playing a potential confounding role in the analysis
  • The earliest published material on this matter dates to the late 1930s
  • the concept that testosterone replacement therapy improves angina has yet to be proven wrong
  • In more recent studies, 3 randomized, placebo‐controlled trials demonstrated that administration of testosterone improves myocardial ischemia in men with CAD
  • The improvement in myocardial ischemia was shown to occur in response to both acute and chronic testosterone therapy and seemed to be independent of whether an intravenous or transdermal formulation of testosterone was used.
  • testosterone had no effect on endothelial nitric oxide activity
  • There is growing evidence from in vivo animal models and in vitro models that testosterone induces coronary vasodilation by modulating the activity of ion channels, such as potassium and calcium channels, on the surface of vascular smooth muscle cells
  • Experimental studies suggest that the most likely mechanism of action for testosterone on vascular smooth muscle cells is via modulation of action of non‐ATP‐sensitive potassium ion channels, calcium‐activated potassium ion channels, voltage‐sensitive potassium ion channels, and finally L‐type calcium ion channels
  • Corona et al confirmed those results by demonstrating that not only total testosterone levels are lower among diabetics, but also the levels of free testosterone and SHBG are lower in diabetic patients
  • Laaksonen et al65 followed 702 Finnish men for 11 years and demonstrated that men in the lowest quartile of total testosterone, free testosterone, and SHBG were more likely to develop T2DM and metabolic syndrome.
  • Vikan et al followed 1454 Swedish men for 11 years and discovered that men in the highest quartile of total testosterone were significantly less likely to develop T2DM
  • authors demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the incidence of T2DM in subjects receiving gonadotropin‐releasing hormone antagonist therapy. In addition, a significant increase in the rate of myocardial infarction, stroke, sudden cardiac death, and development of cardiovascular disease was noted in patients receiving antiandrogen therapy.67
  • Several authors have demonstrated that the administration of testosterone in diabetic men improves the homeostatic model of insulin resistance, hemoglobin A1c, and fasting plasma glucose
  • Existing evidence strongly suggests that the levels of total and free testosterone are lower among diabetic patients compared with those in nondiabetics
  • insulin seems to be acting as a stimulant for the hypothalamus to secret gonadotropin‐releasing hormone, which consequently results in increased testosterone production. It can be argued that decreased stimulation of the hypothalamus in diabetics secondary to insulin deficiency could result in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism
  • BMI has been shown to be inversely associated with testosterone levels
  • This interaction may be a result of the promotion of lipolysis in abdominal adipose tissue by testosterone, which may in turn cause reduced abdominal adiposity. On the other hand, given that adipose tissue has a higher concentration of the enzyme aromatase, it could be that increased adipose tissue results in more testosterone being converted to estrogen, thereby causing hypogonadism. Third, increased abdominal obesity may cause reduced testosterone secretion by negatively affecting the hypothalamus‐pituitary‐testicular axis. Finally, testosterone may be the key factor in activating the enzyme 11‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in adipose tissue, which transforms glucocorticoids into their inactive form.
  • increasing age may alter the association between testosterone and CRP. Another possible explanation for the association between testosterone level and CRP is central obesity and waist circumference
  • Bai et al have provided convincing evidence that testosterone might be able to shorten the QTc interval by augmenting the activity of slowly activating delayed rectifier potassium channels while simultaneously slowing the activity of L‐type calcium channels
  • consistent evidence that supplemental testosterone shortens the QTc interval.
  • Intima‐media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery is considered a marker for preclinical atherosclerosis
  • Studies have shown that levels of endogenous testosterone are inversely associated with IMT of the carotid artery,126–128,32,129–130 as well as both the thoracic134 and the abdominal aorta
  • 1 study has demonstrated that lower levels of free testosterone are associated with accelerated progression of carotid artery IMT
  • another study has reported that decreased levels of total and bioavailable testosterone are associated with progression of atherosclerosis in the abdominal aorta
  • These findings suggest that normal physiologic testosterone levels may help to protect men from the development of atherosclerosis
  • Czesla et al successfully demonstrated that the muscle specimens that were exposed to metenolone had a significant shift in their composition toward type I muscle fibers
  • Type I muscle fibers, also known as slow‐twitch or oxidative fibers, are associated with enhanced strength and physical capability
  • It has been shown that those with advanced CHF have a higher percentage of type II muscle fibers, based on muscle biopsy
  • Studies have shown that men with CHF suffer from reduced levels of total and free testosterone.137 It has also been shown that reduced testosterone levels in men with CHF portends a poor prognosis and is associated with increased CHF mortality.138 Reduced testosterone has also been shown to correlate negatively with exercise capacity in CHF patients.
  • Testosterone replacement therapy has been shown to significantly improve exercise capacity, without affecting LVEF
  • the results of the 3 meta‐analyses seem to indicate that testosterone replacement therapy does not cause an increase in the rate of adverse cardiovascular events
  • Data from 3 meta‐analyses seem to contradict the commonly held belief that testosterone administration may increase the risk of developing prostate cancer
  • One meta‐analysis reported an increase in all prostate‐related adverse events with testosterone administration.146 However, when each prostate‐related event, including prostate cancer and a rise in PSA, was analyzed separately, no differences were observed between the testosterone group and the placebo group
  • the existing data from the 3 meta‐analyses seem to indicate that testosterone replacement therapy does not increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular events
  • the authors correctly point out the weaknesses of their study which include retrospective study design and lack of randomization, small sample size at extremes of follow‐up, lack of outcome validation by chart review and poor generalizability of the results given that only male veterans with CAD were included in this study
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      The authors here present Total Testosterone as a "confounding" value
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      This would be HSD-II
  • the studies that failed to find an association between testosterone and CRP used an older population group
  • low testosterone may influence the severity of CAD by adversely affecting the mediators of the inflammatory response such as high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, interleukin‐6, and tumor necrosis factor–α
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    Good review of Testosterone and CHD.  Low T is associated with increased all cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality, CAD, CHF, type II diabetes, obesity, increased IMT,  increased severity of CAD and CHF.  Testosterone replacement in men with low T has been shown to improve exercise tolerance in CHF, improve insulin resistance, improve HgbA1c and lower BMI in the obese.
Nathan Goodyear

Oncotarget | NADH autofluorescence, a new metabolic biomarker for cancer stem cells: Id... - 0 views

  • Vitamin C was ~10 times more potent than 2-DG for the targeting of CSCs
  • Cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) are thought to be the root cause of chemotherapy-resistance and radio-resistance
  • ultimately leading to treatment failure in patients with advanced disease [1-3]. They have been directly implicated mechanistically in tumor recurrence and metastasis, resulting in poor patient survival
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  • mitochondrial biogenesis may be a key driver of the CSC phenotype
  • Our results indicate that increased mitochondrial oxidative stress and high NADH levels are both key characteristics of the CSC metabolic phenotype
  • high levels of NAD(P)H auto-fluorescence are known to be a surrogate marker for mitochondrial “power”, high OXPHOS capacity and increased ATP production
  • CSCs may be strictly dependent on NAD(P)H to maintain their enhanced mitochondrial function
  • an intact NAD+ salvage pathway is strictly required for mammosphere formation, supporting our results using NAD(P)H auto-fluorescence, which enriched CSC activity by more than 5-fold.
  • Since glycolysis is especially critical for maintaining the TCA cycle, OXPHOS and overall mitochondrial function, we next assessed the effects of known glycolytic inhibitors
  • we show that two other natural products that function as effective glycolysis inhibitors, also inhibited mammosphere formation. More specifically, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), which induces oxidative stress and inhibits the activity of GAPDH (a key glycolytic enzyme) [17], also inhibited mammosphere formation, with an IC-50 of 1 mM (Figure 7B). Therefore, vitamin C was ~10 times more potent than 2-DG at targeting CSC propagation
  • silibinin (the major active constituent of silymarin, an extract of milk thistle seeds) [18], which specifically functions as an inhibitor of glucose uptake, blocked mammosphere formation, with an IC-50 between 200 and 400 µM
  • caffeic acid phenyl ester (CAPE), a key component of honey-bee propolis, has potent anti-cancer properties
  • Propolis has a strong history of medicinal use, dating back more than 2,000 years
  • Because of it aromatic ring structure (Figure 8), we speculated that CAPE might function as a potent inhibitor of oxidative mitochondrial metabolism
  • CAPE quantitatively inhibits the mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and, in turn, induces the onset of aerobic glycolysis (ECAR)
  • CAPE shows a clear selectivity for targeting CSCs and adherent cancer cells, relative to normal fibroblasts.
  • CAPE functions as a “natural” mitochondrial OXPHOS inhibitor, that preferentially targets the CSC sub-population. This could explain CAPE’s known anti-cancer properties
  • Our data directly shows that a small fraction of the total cell population, characterized by increased PGC1α activity, high mitochondrial ROS/H2O2 and high NADH levels, has the ability to survive and grow under anchorage-independent conditions, driving mammosphere formation
  • We highlight the utility of certain natural products, such as Silibinin, Vitamin C and CAPE, that could be used to therapeutically target CSCs. Silibinin is the major active component of silymarin, which is an extract prepared from milk thistle seeds.
  • high NADH is a property that is conserved between normal and cancerous stem cells
  • Previous studies have also shown that when non-CSCs and CSCs are both fed mitochondrial fuels (such as L-lactate or ketone bodies), that CSCs quantitatively produce more NADH in response to this stimulus
  • CSCs may be strictly dependent on NADH to maintain their enhanced mitochondrial function
  • The Noble Prize winner, Linus Pauling, was among the first to describe and clinically test the efficacy of Vitamin C, as a relatively non-toxic anti-cancer agent
  • Vitamin C has two mechanisms of action. First, it is a potent pro-oxidant, that actively depletes the reduced glutathione pool, leading to cellular oxidative stress and apoptosis in cancer cells. Moreover, it also behaves as an inhibitor of glycolysis, by targeting the activity of GAPDH, a key glycolytic enzyme.
  • Here, we show that Vitamin C can also be used to target the CSC population, as it is an inhibitor of energy metabolism that feeds into the mitochondrial TCA cycle and OXPHOS
  • Vitamin C may prove to be promising agent for new clinical trials, aimed at testing its ability to reduce CSC activity in cancer patients, as an add-on to more conventional therapies, to prevent tumor recurrence, further disease progression and metastasis
  • Interestingly, a breast cancer based clinical study has already shown that the use of Vitamin C, concurrent with or within 6 months of chemotherapy, significantly reduces both tumor recurrence and patient mortality
  • CAPE quantitatively reduces mitochondrial oxygen consumption (OCR), while inducing a reactive increase in glycolysis (ECAR). As such, it potently inhibits mammosphere formation with an IC-50 of ~2.5 µM. Similarly, it also significantly inhibits cell migration
  • we also demonstrate that 7 different inhibitors of key energetic pathways can be used to effectively block CSC propagation, including three natural products (silibinin, ascorbic acid and CAPE). Future studies will be necessary to test their potential for clinical benefit in cancer patients.
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    The future of cancer therapy is cancer stem cells.  Study finds that Vitamin C, silymarin, and bee propolis blocks mitochondrial energy pathways in cancer stem cells.  Vitamin C is a known glycolytic inhbitor. Vitamin C was found to inhibit glycolysis via GAPDH targeting to inhibit the energy pathways of the mitochondria in CSCs.  The authors propse that Vitamin C can be used as add on therapies for conventional therapies to specifically attack the CSCs and their contribution to recrurence, treatment resistance, and metastasis potential all in addition to the ability of vitamin C to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.
fnfdoc

How Brain Tumor Affect On Health | Your Health Our Priority - 0 views

  •  
    A brain is an organ often composed of Connective tissues and nerve cells. The brain contains three important parts including breathe controlling and muscles like moving muscles and sensing like emotions breathing, memory thinking and somewhat personality.
Nathan Goodyear

Promising role for Gc-MAF in cancer immunotherapy: from bench to bedside - 0 views

  • MAF precursor activity has also been lost or reduced after Gc-globulin treatment in some cancer cell lines
  • This appears to result from the deglycosylated ɑ-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (nagalase) secreted from cancerous cells
  • Nagalase has been detected in many cancer patients, but not in healthy individuals
  • ...31 more annotations...
  • Studies have shown that the production of nagalase has a mutual relationship with Gc-MAF level and immunosuppression
  • It has been demonstrated that serum levels of nagalase are good prognosticators of some types of cancer
  • The nagalase level in serum correlates with tumor burden and it has been shown that Gc-MAF therapy progresses, nagalase activity decreases
  • It has been shown that Gc-MAF can inhibit the angiogenesis induced by pro-inflammatory prostaglandin E1
  • The effect of Gc-MAF on chemotaxis or activation of tumoricidal macrophages is likely the main mechanism against angiogenesis.
  • Administration of Gc-MAF stimulates immune-cell progenitors for extensive mitogenesis, activates macrophages and produces antibodies. “This indicates that Gc-MAF is a powerful adjuvant for immunization.”
  • Cancer cell lines do not develop into tumor genes in mouse models after Gc-MAF-primed immunization (29-31) and the effect of Gc-MAF has been approved for macrophage stimulation for angiogenesis, proliferation, migration and metastatic inhibition on tumors induced by MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line
  • The protocol included: "a high dose of second-generation Gc-MAF (0.5 ml) administered twice a week intramuscularly for a total of 21 injections.”
  • Yamamoto et al. showed that the administration of Gc-MAF to 16 patients with prostate cancer led to improvements in all patients without recurrence
  • Inui et al. reported that a 74-year-old man diagnosed with prostate cancer with multiple bone metastases was in complete remission nine months after initiation of GcMAF therapy simultaneously with hyper T/NK cell, high-dose vitamin C and alpha lipoic acid therapy
  • It has also been approved for non-neoplastic diseases such as autism (41), multiple sclerosis (42, 43), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) (40), juvenile osteoporosis (44) and systemic lupus erythematous (45).
  • Gc-MAF has been verified for use in colon, thyroid (38), lung (39), liver, thymus (36), pancreatic (40), bladder and ovarian cancer and tongue squamous carcinoma
  • Prostate, breast, colon, liver, stomach, lung (including mesothelioma), kidney, bladder, uterus, ovarian, head/neck and brain cancers, fibrosarcomas and melanomas are the types of cancer tested thus far
  • weekly administration of 100 ng Gc-MAF to cancer at different stages and types showed curative effects at different follow-up times
  • this treatment has been suggested for non-anemic patients
  • Studies have shown that weekly administration of 100 ng Gc-MAF to cancer patients had curative effects on a variety of cancers
  • Because the half-life of the activated macrophages is approximately one week, it must be administered weekly
  • In vivo weekly intramuscular administration of Gc-MAF (100 ng) for 16-22 weeks was used to treat patients with breast cancer
  • individuals harboring different VDR genotypes had different responses to Gc-MAF and that some genotypes were more responsive than others
  • Administration of Gc-MAF for cancer patients exclusively activates macrophages as an important cell in adaptive immunity
  • Gc-MAF supports humoral immunity by producing, developing and releasing large quantities of antibodies against cancer. Clinical evidence from a human model of breast cancer patients supports this hypothesis
  • There is also evidence that confirms the tumoricidal role of Gc-MAF via Fc-receptor mediation
  • It is likely that the best therapeutic responses will be observed when the nutritional and inflammatory aspects are taken together with stimulation of the immune system
  • it should be noted that no harmful side effects of Gc-MAF treatment have been reported, even when it was successfully administered to autistic children
  • The natural activation mechanism of macrophages by Gc-MAF is so natural and it should not have any side effects on humans or animal models even in cell culture
  • Besides the Gc-MAF efficacy on macrophage activity, it can be a potential anti-angiogenic agent (28) and an inhibitor of the migration of cancerous cells in the absence of macrophages (47).
  • Activating or modifying natural killer cells, dendritic cells, DC, CTL, INF and IL-2 have all been recommended for cancer immunotherapy
  • It has been reported that nagalase cannot deglycosylate Gc-MAF as it has specificity for Gc globulin alone
  • inflammation-derived macrophage activation with the participation of B and T lymphocytes is the main mechanism
  • macrophages highly-activated by the addition of Gc-MAF can show tumoricidal activity
  • Previous clinical investigations have confirmed the efficacy of Gc-MAF. In addition to activating existing macrophages, Gc-MAF is a potent mitogenic factor that can stimulate the myeloid progenitor cells to increase systemic macrophage cell counts by 40-fold in four days
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    great review on Gc-MAF in cancer.  An increase in nagalase blocks Gc-protein to Gc-MAF activity leaving the host immune system compromised.
Nathan Goodyear

How We Read Oncologic FDG PET/CT | Cancer Imaging | Full Text - 0 views

  • In early PET literature focusing on analysis of solitary pulmonary nodules, some researchers defined malignancy based on a SUVmax threshold of greater than 2.5
  • We contend that SUV analysis has virtually no role in this setting.
  • tumours grow as spheres, whereas inflammatory processes are typically linear
  • ...35 more annotations...
  • Far more important than the SUVmax is the pattern rather than intensity of metabolic abnormality and the correlative CT findings
  • Descriptively, we define SUV < 5 as “low intensity”, 5–10 as “moderate”, 10–15 as “intense” and >15 as “very intense”
  • Evolving literature suggests that intensity of uptake is an independent prognostic factor and in some tumour subtypes superior to histopathologic characterisation.
  • aerobic glycolysis
  • Our practice of thresholding the grey and colour scale to liver as detailed above results in similar image intensity to a fixed upper SUV threshold of 8 to 10
  • The advantage of using the liver as a reference tissue is also aided by this organ having rather low variability in metabolic activity
  • When the liver is abnormal and cannot be used as a reference organ, we use the default SUV setting of an upper SUV threshold of 8
  • One of the most challenging aspects of oncologic FDG PET/CT review, however, is to recognise all the patterns of metabolic activity that are not malignant and which consequently confound interpretation
  • Many benign and inflammatory processes are also associated with high glycolytic activity
  • Future articles in the “How I Read” series will address the specific details of reading PET/CT in various cancers
  • The intensity of uptake in metastases usually parallels that in the primary site of disease
  • For example, discordant low-grade activity in an enlarged lymph node in the setting of intense uptake in the primary tumour suggests it is unlikely malignant and more likely inflammatory or reactive
  • By CT criteria the enlarged node is ‘pathologic’ but the discordantly low metabolic signature further characterises this is as non-malignant since such a node is not subject to partial volume effects and therefore the intensity of uptake should be similar to the primary site
  • The exception is when the lymph node is centrally necrotic as a small rim of viable tumour is subject to partial volume effects with expectant lower intensity of uptake; integrating the CT morphology is therefore critical to reaching an accurate interpretation
  • Small nodes that are visualised on PET are conversely much more likely to be metastatic as such nodes are subject to partial volume effects.
  • The exception to this rule is tumours with a propensity for tumour heterogeneity at different sites
  • The combination of FDG and a more specific tracer, which visualises the well-differentiated disease can be very useful to characterise this phenomenon
  • “metabolic signature”
  • For the majority of malignant processes, the intensity of metabolic abnormality correlates with degree of aggressiveness or proliferative rate.
  • a negative PET/CT study in a patient with biopsy proven malignancy would be considered false-negative
  • Warburg effect
  • There, however, are a significant minority of tumours that utilise substrates other glucose such as glutamine or fatty acids as a source of the carbon atoms required for growth and proliferation
  • This includes a subset of diffuse gastric adenocarcinomas, signet cell colonic adenocarcinomas and some sarcomas, particularly liposarcoma
  • There may be a role for other radiotracers such as fluorothymidine (FLT) or amino acid substrates in this setting.
  • Some tumours harbour mutations that result in defective aerobic mitochondrial energy metabolism, effectively simulating the Warburg effect
  • patients with hereditary paraganglioma and pheochromocytoma highlight this phenomenon
  • These have intense uptake on FDG PET/CT despite often having low proliferative rate.
  • Uterine fibroids, hepatic adenomas, fibroadenomas of the breast and desmoid tumours are benign or relatively benign lesions that can have quite high FDG-avidity.
  • Metabolic activity switches off rapidly following initiation of therapy
  • Common examples where patients have commenced active therapy but the referrer is requesting “staging” includes hormonal therapy (eg. tamoxifen) in breast cancer, oral capecitabine in colorectal cancer or high dose steroids in Hodgkin’s lymphoma
  • It is therefore critical to perform PET staging before commencement of anti-tumour therapy
  • The potential advantage of routine diagnostic CT is improved anatomic localisation and definition
  • Without intravenous contrast, additional identification of typical oncologic complications such as pulmonary embolism or venous thrombosis cannot be identified
  • If the study is performed as an “interim” restaging study after commencement of therapy but before completion, in order to reach a valid or clinically useful conclusion findings must be interpreted in the context of known changes that occur at a specific timing and type of therapy
  • The most well studied use of interim PET is in Hodgkin’s lymphoma where repeat PET after two cycles of ABVD-chemotherapy provides powerful prognostic information and may improve outcomes by enabling early change of management
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    good read on the PET/CT scan reading.  They mention that tumors are spheres and inflammation is linear, yet inflammation coexists with cancer; hard to simply delineate these on simple terms. I do agree aon the metabolic signature of the PET/CT scan
Nathan Goodyear

Evolving landscape of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer t... - 0 views

  • 15%–20%
  • key mediator of cell growth, differentiation, and survival
  • of higher histological grade and are more likely to invade axillary lymph nodes
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  • shortened survival and an increased risk of disease recurrence and metastasis
  • Currently, four HER2-directed agents are approved for the treatment of patients with HER2+ breast cancer: trastuzumab, pertuzumab, lapatinib, and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1)
  • biosimilars
  • trastuzumab may provide greater benefit when administered concurrently with chemotherapy rather than after, and this has become the standard approach
  • concurrent use of anthracyclines (ie, doxorubicin or epirubicin) and trastuzumab is not recommended because of an increased risk for cardiac toxicity
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      avoid herceptin in conjuction with antracyclines i.e. doxorubicin
  • Sequential doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide followed by concomitant paclitaxel or docetaxel and trastuzumab is recommended for most patients
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      top recommended regimen combination
  • Guidelines also recommend trastuzumab in combination with paclitaxel, docetaxel and carboplatin, or docetaxel and cyclophosphamide, particularly for patients with increased risk for cardiac toxicity or those with small (≤1 cm), node-negative HER2+ tumors
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      good alternative in patients with increased risk of cardiac toxicity.
  • guidelines recommend up to 1 year of adjuvant trastuzumab
  • Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab is associated with higher rates of pathologic complete response (pCR) than chemotherapy alone or in combination with lapatinib
  • the combination of trastuzumab, lapatinib, and chemotherapy is not recommended because it failed to demonstrate noninferiority versus trastuzumab and chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting
  • recommend the combination of trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced HER2+ breast cancer and for some patients (node-positive or tumor ≥2 cm) with early-stage disease
  • neoadjuvant chemotherapy in combination with pertuzumab and trastuzumab reduced the risk of progression or death by 31% and recurrence or death by 40% versus trastuzumab alone
  • Concurrent chemotherapy and HER2-directed therapy improves survival outcomes over chemotherapy alon
  • dual inhibition of HER2 with trastuzumab and pertuzumab in combination with paclitaxel reduced the risk of death or progression by approximately 40% compared with concurrent trastuzumab and paclitaxel
  • the combination of trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and taxane chemotherapy is the preferred first-line regimen
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    HER-2 + breast cancer = appx 15-20% of all breast cancers and is a marker of worse prognosis and an indication for targeted immunotherapy blockade.
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