Metastatic colon cancer treated using traditional Chinese medicine combined with chemotherapy:A case report

BACKGROUND Colon cancer(CC)is one of the leading causes of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)is widely used in the treatment of various chronic diseases.CC easily metastasizes and results in high morbidity and mortality rates.CASE SUMMARY A 71-year-old man with a 12-year history of old myocardial infarction and a 7-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus was diagnosed with CC and underwent right hemicolectomy 1 year ago.Tumor biopsy revealed moderately poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma.Subsequently,chemotherapy with oxaliplatin and paclitaxel was administered.Anastomosis recurrence and pelvic metastasis were noted 37 d later.The patient received eight 21-d cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy with oxaliplatin and capecitabine after recurrence.However,the tumor persisted,and chemotherapy-related liver damage developed gradually.Thus,he was advised to take TCM for the recurrence and pelvic metastasis.The patient’s metastatic CC was cured after receiving TCM combined with long-term chemotherapy.CONCLUSION TCM may be an effective adjunct therapy in the treatment of patients with metastatic CC.

Target gene prediction and functional analysis of miRNAs differently expressed in colon cancer primary tumors to metastases formed in the liver

Background:Colon cancer is one of the main tumor-related causes of death worldwide and now surgical resection is still the most effective method for the treatment of colon cancer.However,many colon cancers currently lose the opportunity for surgical treatment because of liver metastases.The possible molecular mechanism of liver metastasis of colon cancer can provide ideas for the prevention and treatment of liver metastasis colon cancer.Several studies have recently indicated the regulatory effects of microRNAs(miRNAs)in cancer metastasis.Bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the differentially expressed miRNAs in primary colon cancer tissues and liver metastases.Then the target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted.By analyzing the biological processes and signaling pathways that the target gene may participate in,we infer the possible molecular mechanisms of liver metastasis of colon cancer and the effects of target genes on prognosis of patients were explored.Methods:The chip data GSE98406 was selected and differentially expressed miRNAs between primary colon cancer and liver metastatic colon cancer were explored by Morpheus.TargetScan and miRanda were used to predict target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs.The gene oncology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses were performed to analyze the biological processes and possible signaling pathways the target genes involved in.Protein-ptotein interaction analysis was performed by String and Cyotscape,the interactions among target genes and hub genes were analyzed.Finally,we explored the effects of differentially expressed miRNAs and their target genes on the prognosis of colon cancer patients.Results:Two differentially expressed miRNAs were screened out,of which miR-122 was upregulated more than 2 folds and miR-143 was downregulated more than twofold in liver metastatic colon cancer.Target genes of miR-122 and miR-143 were mainly involved in energy metabolism.The major signaling pathways involved are epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathways.Ten hub genes were selected by protein interaction analysis.Among them,KRAS,CDK1,CREB1,CS,PC,RAB7A,and CANX were highly expressed in tumor tissues,and CALM1 and MAPK7 were lowly expressed in tumor tissues.The results showed that reduced expression of CS and PC reduced survival of patients with colon cancer.However,the impact of miR-122 and mi-143 on the prognosis of patients with colon cancer is not clear.Conclusion:Differentially expressed miRNAs mainly affect the expression of target genes involved in energy metabolism and cellular transformation in colon cancer.Intracellular metabolic activity is the center of cellular activity,the treatment of metabolic processes in tumor cells may be a new idea for the treatment of tumors.

Clinical laboratory and imaging evidence for effectiveness of agarose-agarose macrobeads containing stem-like cells derived from a mouse renal adenocarcinoma cell population (RMBs) in treatment-resistant, advanced metastatic colorectal cancer:Evaluation of

Objective： The complexity, heterogeneity and capacity of malignant neoplastic cells and tumors for rapid change and evolution suggest that living-cell-based biological-systems approaches to cancer treatment are merited. Testing this hypothesis, the tumor marker, metabolic activity, and overall survival（OS） responses, to the use of one such system, implantable macrobeads [RENCA macrobeads（RMBs）], in phase I and IIa clinical trials in advanced,treatment-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer（m CRC） are described here.Methods： Forty-eight m CRC patients（30 females; 18 males）, who had failed all available, approved treatments,underwent RMB implantation（8 RMB/kg body weight） up to 4 times in phase I and phase IIa open-label trials.Physicals, labs [tumor and inflammation markers, lactate dehydrogenase（LDH）] and positron emission tomography-computed tomography（PET-CT） imaging to measure number/volume and metabolic activity of the tumors were performed pre-and 3-month-post-implantation to evaluate safety and initial efficacy（as defined by biological responses）. PET-CT maximum standard uptake value（SUVmax）（baseline and d 90; SUVmax ≥2.5）, LDH,and carcinoembryonic antigen（CEA） and/or cancer antigen 19-9（CA 19-9） response（baseline, d 30 and/or d 60）were assessed and compared to OS.Results： Responses after implantation were characterized by an at least 20% decrease in CEA and/or CA 19-9 in75% of patients. Fluorodeoxyglucose（FDG）-positive lesions（phase I, 39; 2 a, 82） were detected in 37/48 evaluable patients, with 35% stable volume and stable or decreased SUV（10） plus four with necrosis; 10, increased tumor volume, SUV. LDH levels remained stable and low in Responders（R）（d 0–60, 290.4–333.9）, but increased steadily in Non-responders（NR）（d 0–60, 382.8–1,278.5）（d 60, P=0.050）. Responders to RMBs, indicated by the changes in the above markers, correlated with OS（R mean OS=10.76 months; NR mean OS=4.9 months; P=0.0006）.Conclusions： The correlations of the tumor marker, tumor volume and SUV changes on PET-CT, and LDH levels themselves, and with OS, support the concept of a biological response to RMB implantation and the validity of the biological-systems approach to m CRC. A phase III clinical trial is planned.