Gambogenic acid (GNA), which is an important active compound present in gamboge, exerts anticancer activity in various types of tumor cells. However, the effect of GNA on small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cell lines and the underlying mechanism involved still remain unclear. In the present study, GNA inhibited the proliferation and cell cycle progression of SCLC cells. GNA also promoted the apoptosis of SCLC cells in a dose-dependent manner, which is associated with modulating the levels of proteins involved in apoptosis pathways in NCI-H446 and NCI-H1688 cells. The results demonstrated that GNA increased the level of cleaved caspase-3, −8 and −9, and Bax but decreased the expression of anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2. Furthermore, similar results were obtained in a mouse tumor xenograft model. Additionally, GNA exhibit low toxicity in tissues when administered to mice in the SCLC xenograft models. Collectively, our findings demonstrated that GNA significantly inhibited the proliferation of SCLC cells and promoted cell apoptosis via cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis.
Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The purpose of our meta-analysis was to assess the risk factors for brain metastases (BM) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods: Multiple databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang, were systematically searched to recruit relevant studies investigating the risk factors for BM in NSCLC patients. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate literature quality, and the meta-analysis was performed using the Review Manager 5.3. Evidence quality evaluation was carried out according to the Grading of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) standard. The estimated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were set as effect measures. Funnel plots and sensitivity analyses were used to assess publication bias and the robustness and reliability of the combined results, respectively.Results: A total of 43 studies with 11,415 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that the following factors were significantly associated with an increased risk of BM in NSCLC patients (P<0.05): (I) gender (female) (OR =1.
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