Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and endothelial differentiation gene (Edg) receptors in human pancreatic cancer.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a naturally occurring phospholipid with diverse effects on various cells, ranging from immediate morphological change to long-lasting cellular function alteration such as induction of stimulation of cell proliferation, survival, drug resistance, and motility. LPA interacts with cells through specific cell surface receptors. LPA1/Edg-2, LPA2/Edg-4, and LPA3/Edg-7 are three most common LPA receptors. Herein we review the roles of LPA and its receptors in the carcinogenesis of human malignancies, with focus on pancreatic cancer.

Treatment of advanced breast cancer with chinese medicinal herbs of Fei decoction: a case report.

A 46-year-old female underwent surgery for cancer of the right breast mammary (T3N2M0) in Sep 2010. Following post surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy of CAF regimens (cyclophosphamide+adriamycin+fluorouracil) was administered. Two years later, multiple pulmonary and skeletal metastatic lesions had been found by CT (computerized tomography) and ECT (emission computed tomograph) imaging. She received the treatment of second-line chemotherapy regimens of GP (cisplatin + gemcitabine). In the meantime, we administered Chinese traditional herb drugs (Fei Decoction, mixed a variety of effective herbal components) to help her recover from the poor condition. After taking the Chinese herbs for 2 months, the tumour marker (CEA, CA15-3) dramatically decreased, resulting in the normal range. Both lung and bone metastatic sites reduced according to CT and ECT imaging, and the patient felt free from the complaint of pulmonary and cardiac discomfort. Over time, the quality of life has been greatly improved, we have managed to prolong the PFS (progression-free-survival) and TTP (time-to-progression) from the onset to date. CTM (Chinese traditional medicine) considers human body as a dynamic platform in which all organs are correlative and bind each other. Relationship between heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney is like an interlink between mother and son, and runs in cycle as a circle. In the course of this combined treatment, we showed that Chinese herbal medicine played an important role in the therapy of breast cancer. Chinese herbs might be an additional choice with their better benefits and tolerability in the treatment of recurrent breast cancer.

Expression of lysophosphatidic acid receptors and local invasiveness and metastasis in Chinese pancreatic cancers.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The present study evaluated the potential role of lysophosphatidic acid receptors (lpars) in processes leading to local invasiveness and metastasis in Chinese pancreatic carcinoma. METHODS: Real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis were used to detect expression of lpars in tumour and adjacent non-tumour tissues from patients with surgically resected pancreatic carcinoma. Surgical specimens from 50 patients were examined for relative expression of each receptor's messenger rna (mrna) and protein. Findings were analyzed for correlations with tumour size, pathologic classification, clinical stage, and infiltration of capsule and lymphonodi. RESULTS: Increased levels of mrna of lpars (lpar1 ≈ lpar3 < lpar2) were found in the pancreatic cancer tissues examined. Low levels of transcripts for lpar1, lpar2, and lpar3 receptors were detectable in adjacent non-tumour tissues. The difference in lpar1 protein expression between tumour and adjacent non-tumour tissues does not seem significant, but the signals of lpar2 expression in pancreatic cancer tumour tissues were significantly amplified compared with those in adjacent non-tumour tissues. Tumour and adjacent non-tumour tissues both weakly expressed lpar3 protein with no statistical difference. However, expression of lpar1, lpar2, and lpar3 showed an obvious correlation with infiltration of capsule cells, surrounding lymphonodi, and specific histopathologic features. CONCLUSIONS: Lysophosphatidic acid receptor is a promising indicator for pancreatic cancer, and our findings suggested that lpar2 might be a potential target for clinical treatment of pancreatic cancer.