Compound Taxus exerts marked anti-tumor activity and radiosensitization effect on hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Background: Compound Taxus capsule, as an antineoplastic Chinese patent drug, has been increasingly applied as an adjunctive treatment for the management of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and some other malignancies, but research about its antitumor activity and radiosensitization effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells is very rare. Purpose: To investigate the antitumor activity and radiosensitization effect of Compound Taxus on HCC cells and to preliminarily explore the possible molecule mechanisms involved. Methods: Cell viability, cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, DNA damage repair and protein expression levels were detected by CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence staining, western blotting analysis and immunohistochemical staining, respectively. The migration and invasion activities and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) formation and angiogenesis were evaluated by tube formation and VM formation assay. Radiation survival curves were obtained from the colony formation assay in human HCC cell lines, Smmc7721 and Bel7402 cells, pretreated with or without Compound Taxus before receiving X-ray irradiation. A Bel7402 tumor-bearing mouse model was established and the radiosensitization effect of Compound Taxus in vivo was evaluated by analyzing tumor volume and tumor weight in different groups receiving different treatments. Results: Compound Taxus decreased viability, induced G2/M arrest, promoted apoptosis, suppressed migration and invasion, and inhibited VM formation and angiogenesis in Smmc7721 and Bel7402 cells. Furthermore, Compound Taxus inhibited irradiation-induced DNA damage repair, enhanced the radiosensitivity of Smmc7721 and Bel7402 cells and improved the anti-tumor therapeutic efficacy of irradiation in Bel7402 tumor-bearing mice. Radiotherapy in combination with Compound Taxus showed the best tumor inhibition compared to that of Compound Taxus alone or irradiation alone. In addition, Compound Taxus significantly down-regulated NF-κB p65, p-NF-κB p65 and Bcl-2, and up-regulated Bax in vitro and in vivo, yet NF-κB p65 overexpression reversed the proapoptotic effect of Taxus on HCC cells, indicating that the NF-κB signaling pathway might be an important signal mediator in the Compound-Taxus-modulated biological responses. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that Compound Taxus shows marked antitumor activity and significant radiosensitization effect on HCC cells, making it possible for Compound Taxus to become a promising auxiliary modality for HCC management and a potential radiosensitizer of HCC in the future.

Study of the radiotherapy sensitizea-tion of retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis in patients by sodium glycididazole.

To observe the radiotherapy sensitization effect of retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis in patients by sodium glycididazole in recent clinical efficacy and toxicity. A total of 42 patients admitted with metastasis and recurrence of retroperitoneal lymph node from September 2006 to December 2009 were classified with the method of case-control. After three dimensional conformal radiation therapy with or without sodium glycididazole (800 mg/m²) for sensitization, the results of recent clinical efficacy, relief of pain, and Karnofsky score were obtained. Tumor remission rate of patients in sensitization group (with sodium glycididazole) at post-radiotherapy 3 months was significant higher than that in control group (without sodium glycididazole) (52% vs. 24%; P<0.05). Oral dose of morphine daily, and Karnofsky score in anterior-posterior radiotherapy of patients in the sensitization group were significant different with those in the control group (93 ± 12 and 42 ± 6 mg vs. 94 ± 12 and 20 ± 5 mg and (65 ± 4) and (90 ± 9) vs. (64 ± 5) and (80 ± 10), respectively; P<0.01). Sodium glycididazole has positive radiotherapy sensitization to the metastasis or recurrence of retroperitoneal lymph node for digestive tract cancer, which could obviously improve the life quality or release the pain for patients.

Variation in background intensity affects PET-based gross tumor volume delineation in non-small-cell lung cancer: the need for individualized information.

PURPOSE: Efficient tumor volume delineation by the combined use of PET/CT scanning is necessary for the proper treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To understand the effect of variation in background intensity on PET-based gross tumor volume (GTV) delineation, we determined the background standard uptake values (SUVs) in normal lung, aorta (blood pool), and liver tissues and determined GTVs using different methods. METHODS: Thirty-seven previously untreated patients with pathologically confirmed NSCLC underwent PET/CT scanning with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG). To obtain (18)F-FDG uptake values in normal tissues, regions of interest in the lung lobes (left upper, left lower, right upper, right middle, and right lower), aorta, and liver zones (left, intermediate, and right) were measured. The coefficient of variation (CV) of the SUV was measured for each normal structure. The CT-based GTV (GTV(CT)) was considered as the standard to which all PET-based GTVs were compared, and the correlation coefficient was analyzed to compare GTV obtained by the various delineation methods. Linear and logarithmic regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between GTV(CT) and GTV(PET). RESULTS: Normal lung tissue showed a significantly lower SUV and less stability than tissue of the aorta or liver. For the lung, aorta, and liver, the maximum SUV (SUV(max)) was 0.82 ± 0.32, 2.35 ± 0.37, and 3.24 ± 0.50 (CV: 38.79%, 15.82%, and 15.30%) and average SUV (SUV(ave)) was 0.49 ± 0.18, 1.68 ± 0.32, and 2.34 ± 0.36 (CV: 36.38%, 18.92%, and 15.44%), respectively. The SUVs of the lung varied from lobe to lobe. The GTV delineation method using the SUV(ave) of the lung lobe in which the tumor was found as background in the source-to-background ratio (SBR) method showed the best correlation with the volume of CT-based GTV (r=0.81). CONCLUSIONS: Our results show vast variation in the SUV among normal tissues, as well as in the different lung lobes. The tumor volume delineated using the SBR method correlated well with the CT-based tumor volume. We conclude that it is reasonable and precise to contour GTV in patients with NSCLC after taking into account the background intensity of the lung lobe in which the tumor is found.