Gefitinib (GEF) is the first epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting agent launched as an anticancer drug. It is an accepted opinion that modifying GEF strong hydrophobicity and poor bioavailability would not only enhance its antitumor effects, but also reduce its side effects. In this study, GEF-loadedpoly(e-caprolactone)-poly(ethyleneglycol)-poly(e-caprolactone) (PCEC) -bearing nanoparticles (GEF-NPs) were prepared by a solid dispersion method and characterized. The particle sizes increased with the increase in GEF/PCEC mass ratio in feed. GEF-NPs (10%) were mono-dispersed, smaller than 24 nm, zeta potential was approximately À18 mV, percentage encapsulation and loading, were more than 9% and 92%, respectively, and drug was slowly released but without a biphasic pattern. Microscopy studies of the optimized formulation confirmed that the prepared nanoparticles are spherical in nature. Cytotoxicity results indicated that cell growth inhibition induced by free GEF and GEF-NPs were dose and time dependent. Compared with free GEF, GEF-NPs enhanced antitumor effects, reduced side effects and significantly prolonged survival time in vivo. CD31, ki-67 and EGFR expression were significantly lower in the GEF-NPs group compared with other groups (p< .05). These findings demonstrated that GEF-NPs have the potential to attain superior outcomes and to overcome complications such as organs toxicity, therapeutic resistance and disease relapse. ARTICLE HISTORY
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between pancreatic cancer (PC) and diabetes mellitus. METHODS: All PC patients diagnosed and treated at Zhongshan hospital from January 1991 to December 2007 were retrospectively analyzed. During this period, 770 non‐digestive tract, non‐neoplastic and non‐hormone‐related patients matched for sex and age were collected as controls. The incidence of diabetes mellitus between the two groups was compared. RESULTS: Between the PC group and the control group, sex and age of the patients were well matched. The incidence of diabetes mellitus was 34.63% in the PC group and 8.83% in the control group (P < 0.001, RR = 5.19). In the PC group there was no correlation between age, sex, site of the cancer, tumor differentiation, lymph node metastasis, TNM staging and the incidence of diabetes mellitus. In this group with diabetes, 74.56% experienced onset within two years of cancer diagnosis. Of the control patients, 57.35% had had diabetes for under 2 years (P = 0.009, RR = 2.18). In the PC group with diabetes, 5.9% had had diabetes for more than 10 years while compared with 8.8% of the controls (P = 0.42). CONCLUSION: Whether diabetes mellitus is a result of or a risk factor for PC is still unclear. The incidence of diabetes mellitus is much higher in the PC patients. The onset of diabetes mellitus in adults might be an alerting factor that could lead to an early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
IntroductionThalidomide (THA) is an angiogenesis inhibitor and an efficient inhibitor of the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). However, the clinical application of THA has been limited due to hydrophobicity of the compound.Materials and methodsTo increase the water solubility of THA and in order to evaluate the anticancer abilities of this material on human lung carcinoma, methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) nanoparticles loaded with THA (THA-NPs) were prepared. The synthesis of THA-NPs was carried out via a dialysis method with relative satisfactory encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, size distribution, and zeta potential.ResultsA cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that THA-NPs inhibited the growth of cells in a dose-dependent manner. The evaluation of anti-tumor activity in vivo showed that THA-NPs could inhibit tumor growth and prolong the survival rate of tumor-bearing mice. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that THA-NPs inhibited cell proliferation (Ki-67 positive rate, 32.8%±4.2%, P<0.01), and resulted in a decreased rate of the tumor tissue microvessel density (3.87%±0.77%, P<0.01), VEGF (26.67%±4.02%, P<0.01), and TNF-α (75.21±6.85 ng/mL, P<0.01).ConclusionIn general, the drug delivery system reported herein may shed light on future targeted therapy in lung cancer treatment.
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