Efficacy and Safety of Monthly Minodronate Therapy in Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Aromatase Inhibitors.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Post-menopausal breast cancer (BC) patients who receive adjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy may be at increased risk of bone loss, osteoporosis, and bone fracture. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral bisphosphonate minodronate in preventing bone loss complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients receiving AI and 80% of those with suboptimal bone mineral density (BMD) were prescribed monthly oral minodronate 50 mg every 4 weeks for 72 weeks. BMD, bone metabolism markers, incidence of bone fractures, medication compliance, and other adverse events (AE) were examined every 24 weeks following administration. RESULTS: Fifty postmenopausal BC patients with a median age of 64.0 years were enrolled. The mean value of lumbar spine BMD was higher than that of the value before the minodronate administration at each observation point. Before and after the treatment, the median serum values of Tartrate-resistant Acid Phosphatase 5b (TRACP-5b) (mU/dl) and serum type I collagen cross-linked N-telopeptide (NTX) (nmolBCE/l) were decreased from 535.7 and 18.5 to 230.1 and 11.9, respectively. No adverse grade 2 or higher event was observed throughout this study. CONCLUSION: The combined administration of minodronate and AIs was safe and effective in preventing bone loss complications in postmenopausal BC patients.

Experimental Exploration for Genes Related to Susceptibility and Resistance to Irinotecan.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Anticancer drug resistance is an important issue in cancer treatment. Multiple genes are thought to be involved in resistance to anticancer drugs; however, this is still not fully understood. This study aimed to identify the genes involved in irinotecan resistance and their functional characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gene trap insertion mutant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were used in the experiments, and next-generation sequencing, gene-ontology enrichment, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were used to evaluate the biological functions of differentially expressed genes (DEGs). RESULTS: In total, 2,134 DEGs were identified, including 1,216 up-regulated and 918 down-regulated genes. In KEGG pathways, microRNAs in cancer were significantly associated with up-regulated DEGs, while spliceosome and p53 signaling pathways were significantly associated with down-regulated DEGs. The pathway analysis identified several genes that might be involved in irinotecan resistance. CONCLUSION: Using CHO cells, the genes involved in irinotecan resistance and functional characteristics were predicted. These results provide new clues for predicting irinotecan resistance.