Background and Aim:Head and neck cancer is common in several regions in the world. Nowadays, natural compounds are important resources of many anticancer drugs. Punica granatum has been demonstrated to possess anticancer effects on various types of cancer cells. It is a kind of antioxidant rich fruit, as its peels and seeds have potential anticancer activities. In this study, we aimed to investigate the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of punica granatum extract on nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines. Material and Methods: A pure extracts from seeds and peels of punica granatum were added to nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line and to normal cell line as a control group. Expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and p53 genes was evaluated. Results: Anti-proliferative effects of punica granatum demonstrated the highest cytotoxic effect against nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line after 24 hrs which increased by increasing the time of influence. We observed no anti-proliferative effects on the healthy cell line. Expression of Bax and p53 genes revealed a highly significant increase in cancer cell lines (p=0.00001) compared to normal cell line. In addition to highly significant decrease (p=0.0006) in Bcl-2 of cancer cells in comparison to normal cells. Conclusions: Punica granatum exert potent cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects on nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line.

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Background: Chemotherapy does not differentiate between rapidly dividing cancer cells and normal cells that divide at higher rates as bone forming cells. Methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil are chemotherapeutic drugs with high potentiality to damage bone forming cells by blocking their DNA synthesis which leads to their suppression and in turn impaired bone formation mainly by dysregulation of Runx2 and osterix associated with osteoblastic cell differentiation. Aim: Compare the toxic effects of methotrexate and 5-flurouracil on normal bone cells. Material and methods: A total of 30 rats were divided into three groups. Group I was control group, Group II was given a single 20 mg/kg intraperitoneal dose of MTX and Group III was given a single 150 mg/kg intraperitoneal dose of 5-FU. Four days later, the rats were euthanized and their mandibles were dissected, immediately fixed in 10% formalin, processed and prepared for histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations using osteopontin. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA test where P values < 0.05 were statistically significant. Results: Variable degenerative effects on the bone forming cells were observed where such effects were higher in 5-FU group compared to the MTX group. Positive osteopontin expression and higher number of bone formative cells were detected in the control group followed by MTX group then the 5-FU group. Low osteopontin expression was correlated with decreased number of bone cells and subsequent decreased jaw bone density and formation. Conclusion: 5-FU is more cytotoxic to the normal bone forming cells than MTX.

Background and Aim:One of the strongest prognostic factors in tumor grading is tumor neovasculature. Hence, angiogenesis is an important target to eliminate tumor growth and metastasis. This study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the angiogenesis in salivary gland tumors by assessing microvessel density (MVD) using CD105 and CD31. This work also compared and correlated the expressions of both markers in benign and malignant salivary gland tumors (SGTs) and in grades of malignant tumors with myoepithelial differentiation. Material and Methods: The material of this work consisted of 76 paraffin embedded specimens including 20 benign tumors and 48 malignant tumors with different grades and types and 8 non neoplastic salivary gland tissues. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using both primary mouse monoclonal CD31 and CD105 antibodies for assessment of angiogenesis. Results: All studied cases showed positive CD31 and CD105 immunoreactivity. The study revealed a highly significant increase of CD31-MVD and CD105-MVD in malignant SGTs compared to benign tumors. Also, high grade malignancy demonstrated an increase in MVD when compared to low grade malignancy. In addition, malignant SGTs without myoepithelial cell differentiation showed significantly higher values of CD31-MVD and non significant difference of CD105-MVD compared to those containing myoepithelial cells. CD31-MVD values were always higher than CD105 in all studied cases. Conclusion: CD105 was more accurate in the assessment of tumor angiogenesis compared to the most commonly used CD31 panendothelial marker.