Prevalence of Pathogenic Germline Mutations in 13 Hereditary Cancer-Related Genes in Breast Cancer Patients in Narathiwat Province, Thailand.

BACKGROUND: BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are known to increase breast cancer's lifetime risk. Early identification of women with this inherited risk can potentially reduce the risk of breast and/or ovarian cancer and, together with early screening, decrease the mortality rate. OBJECTIVE: This study explored the frequency and distribution of genetic variants in consecutive cases of breast cancer in Narathiwat province, one of the three provinces in the southernmost Thai border. MATERIAL & METHOD: A series of 64 consecutive breast cancer patients who underwent treatment in two general hospitals in the province during the period from the year 2021 to 2022. Genotyping studies were performed using a whole exome sequencing platform. Moderate to high penetrance variants recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines 2022 (ATM, BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDH1, CHEK2, NF1, PALB2, PTEN, RAD51C, RAD51D, STK11, TP53) were annotated and filtered for pathogenic, likely pathogenic, or high-impact variants. RESULTS: Pathogenic germline variants were found in 8/64 cases (12.5%), namely BRCA1 in 3 (4.7%), BRCA2 in 4 (6.3%), ATM in 1 (1.6%), and PALB2 in 1 (1.6%). One patient had two concomitant germline mutations in BRCA2 and ATM. CONCLUSION: This is the first study on the frequency of germline mutations in BRCA1/2 and other breast cancer-predisposing genes in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. At least one pathogenic germline mutation was identified in 12.5% of the study patients, which suggests that genetic testing in this population has a high potential to provide benefits.

Low Piperine Fractional Piper nigrum Extract Enhanced the Antitumor Immunity via Regulating the Th1/Th2/Treg Cell Subsets on NMU-Induced Tumorigenesis Rats.

Cancer is one of the major causes of death worldwide. In addition to standard regimens, tumor suppression ability has been demonstrated in many types of natural products, including Piper nigrum, or black pepper. In previous reports, we demonstrated the antitumor effect of low piperine fractional Piper nigrum extract in vitro and in vivo. However, the effects of low piperine fractional P. nigrum extract in the aspect of antitumor immunity has not yet been investigated. In this study, tumor-bearing rats were fed with 100 mg/kg BW or 200 mg/kg BW of low piperine fractional P. nigrum extract 3 times per week for 4 weeks. Tumor burden and hematological data were then evaluated. Immunological data was investigated using a cytokine array and flow cytometry. The results showed that both doses of low piperine fractional P. nigrum extract significantly suppressed tumor progression in N-nitrosomethylurea-induced mammary tumor rats. There were no significant changes observed in the total white blood cells, red blood cells, and hemoglobin. Low piperine fractional P. nigrum extract suppressed some cytokine and chemokine levels including CXCL7, sICAM-1, and L-selectin 0.2- to 0.6-fold. Interestingly, 200 mg/kg BW of low piperine fractional P. nigrum extract significantly promoted type 1 T helper cell, and suppressed neutrophil, basophil, type 2 T helper cell, and regulatory T cell compared to the control group. In summary, these results indicate that low piperine fractional P. nigrum extract had a high efficacy in supporting antitumor activity at immunological levels via regulating Th1/Th2/Treg cells.

The attenuation effect of low piperine Piper nigrum extract on doxorubicin-induced toxicity of blood chemical and immunological properties in mammary tumour rats.

CONTEXT: Many natural extracts have been shown to minimize the toxicity of doxorubicin (Dox). Low piperine Piper nigrum L. (Piperaceae) extract (PFPE) is a natural extract containing many types of antioxidants that may reduce Dox toxicities. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of PFPE in attenuating the side effects of Dox. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tumour-bearing Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups including normal, vehicle, 100 mg/kg BW of PFPE plus 2 mg/kg BW of Dox (P100 + Dox), 100 mg/kg BW of PFPE plus 2 mg/kg BW of Dox (P200 + Dox) and Dox. Rats were treated with Dox and/or PFPE three times/week for 4 weeks. Tumour burden, blood parameters, weight of internal organs and immunological data were investigated. RESULTS: The addition of 200 mg/kg PFPE significantly restored the levels of AST from 174.60 ± 45.67 U/L in the Dox group near to normal levels at 109.80 ± 4.99 U/L. The combination of PFPE and Dox also decreased the levels of CXCL7, TIMP-1, sICAM-1 and l-selectin about 1.4-1.6-fold compared to Dox group. Feeding rats with 200 mg/kg BW of PFPE combination with Dox slightly increased Th1 from 161.67 ± 14.28 cells in Dox group to 200.75 ± 5.8 cells meanwhile suppressed Treg from 3088 ± 78 cells in Dox to 2561 ± 71 cells. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that PFPE ameliorated Dox toxicity in many aspects indicating the role of antioxidant and other substances in the extract on toxicity attenuation. This suggested the using of PFPE may be valuable for Dox treated patients.

The Effect of Phototherapy on Cancer Predisposition Genes of Diabetic and Normal Human Skin Fibroblasts.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether LED light at different wavelengths affects the expression profile of 143 cancer predisposition genes in both diabetic and normal human fibroblasts. In this study, both diabetic and normal fibroblast cell lines were cultured and irradiated with red (635 nm), green (520 nm), and blue (465 nm) LED light for 10 minutes at 0.67 J/cm2 each. After that, mRNA from all cell lines was extracted for microarray analysis. We found that green light activates EPHB2, KIT, ANTXR2, ESCO2, MSR1, EXT1, TSC1, KIT, NF1, BUB1B, FANCD2, EPCAM, FANCD2, NF, DIS3L2, and RET in normal fibroblast cells, while blue and red light can upregulate RUNX1, PDGFRA, EHBP1, GPC3, AXIN2, KDR, GLMN, MSMB, EPHB2, MSR1, KIT, FANCD2, BMPR1A, BUB1B, PDE11A, and RET. Therefore, genetic screening before phototherapy treatment may be required.

Functional and manometric outcomes after a congenital pouch colon reconstruction: report of a case.

Congenital pouch colon is a form of anorectal malformation, rarely reported outside north India. Hallmarks of this malformation are a short colon containing a large distal pouch with a fistula connecting to the urinary system. Herein, the authors report the case of a Thai male neonate with a congenital pouch colon type II who was initially misdiagnosed as a common imperforate anus. As a result, urinary tract infection and metabolic acidosis developed after a colostomy. A definitive surgery consisting of a tabularized coloplasty and an abdominoperineal pull-through was performed at one month of age. After closure of the colostomy, the child experienced transient loose stool with perineal excoriation for about three months and then gradually improved. At three years of age, the patient had normal bowel movements and adequate sensation, and a contrast enema showed a normal sized neorectum. An anal endosonogram revealed good localization of the rectum. A rectal manometry showed spontaneous rectal contraction and a complete rectoanal inhibitory reflex. The present case provides evidence suggesting that preservation of the native pouch colon is not contraindicated in this type of congenital pouch colon syndrome.

Silencing of MYCN by RNA interference induces growth inhibition, apoptotic activity and cell differentiation in a neuroblastoma cell line with MYCN amplification.

Although it has been suggested that the MYCN oncoprotein functions may influence tumorigenesis and patient survival in neuroblastoma, the mechanism of these functions remains unclear. To elucidate such molecular and biological mechanisms, we performed knock-down of MYCN expression using RNA interference (RNAi) method. MYCN-siRNAs (MYCN-siRNA) were transfected into the MYCN-amplified cell line NB-1. To verify the sequence specificity of the siRNA, we prepared three control groups (siRNA control group: siRNAs with no significant homology to any known sequences in human genome, mock control group: reagent and PBS, and the untransfected control group). The cells were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting, immunocytochemistry for gene expression. Cell proliferation activity was measured by WST-1 assay. TUNEL staining was performed to evaluate apoptosis. After the MYCN-siRNA transfection, the expression level of the MYCN mRNA was significantly reduced to 30% of those of the three control groups (p<0.05). Western blotting revealed an obvious reduction in MYCN protein level in the MYCN-siRNA group. On immunocytochemistry, intensity of nuclear staining of MYCN was weaker in the MYCN-siRNA group than in the three control groups. On WST-1 viability assay, cell proliferation after the MYCN-siRNA transfection was significantly suppressed compared to the three control groups (p<0.05). The TUNEL positive cells were frequently observed in the MYCN-siRNA group. Additionally, after the MYCN-siRNA transfection, the morphologic change which was suggestive of neuronal cell differentiation was observed and TrkA and TrkC expressions were also significantly up-regulated. Using RNAi method, the knock-down of MYCN expression induced growth-inhibition, apoptotic activity and cell differentiation in MYCN-amplified NB-1 cell line.