Prostate cancer is the most prevalent cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among males. In the United States in 2012, an estimated 24740 new cases of prostate cancer and 28170 deaths from prostate cancer were reported.

Scientists from Sweden have Indicated their latest results on how Par6 phosphorylation influences prostate cancer metastasis. The study was published in British Journal of Cancer.

The Par complex-comprising partition-defective 6(Par6), Par3, and atypical protein kinase C(aPKC) is crucial for cell polarisation, the loss of which contributes to cancer progression. Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ)-induced phosphorylation of Par6 on the conserved serine 345 is implicated in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in breast cancer.

In this study, the researchers investigated whether p-Par6 is involved in TGFβ-induced migratory responses in prostate cancer cells. Their results showed that TGFβ-induced Par6 phosphorylation, and in turn, p-Par6 formed a complex with aPKC at the leading edge of membrane ruffles, which was important for migration and invasion of prostate cancer cells. Interestingly, prostate cancer cell invasion could be prevented by interfering with polarity complex formation. Moreover, analysis of Par6 signaling in prostate cancer cells and tissues revealed that high levels of p-Par6 correlated to prostate cancer progression.

Reference:

Mu Y, Zang G, Engström U, et al. TGFβ-induced phosphorylation of Par6 promotes migration and invasion in prostate cancer cells[J]. British journal of cancer, 2015.

Scientists from Singapore have identified that in low oxygen stabilize Tap73 which is the homologous protein of p53. It can promote the angiogenesis process in tumor tissue and is very important to the growth of tumor. This study was published in Nature Cell Biology.

p73, a homologue of the p53 tumor suppressor, exists as two main forms: the full length TAp73 that exhibits tumor-suppressor functions and is capable of inducing cell death, and the DNp73 form that lacks the amino-terminal transactivation domain, and is incogenic through its ability to inhibit both TAp73- and p53-dependent tumor suppressive functions. The functional significance of the overepression of unmutated TAp73 in human cancers is still unclear, but raises the possibility of unidentified roles in promoting tumorigenesis.

In this study, researchers show that TAp73 is stabilized by hypoxia, a condition highly prevalent in tumors, through HIF-1α-mediated repression of the ubiquitin ligase Siah1, which targets TAp73 overexpression leads to increased vasculature.

Moreover, they show that TAp73 is a critical regulator of the angiogenic transcriptome and is sufficient to directly activate the expression of several angiogenic genes. Finally, expression of TAp73 positively correlates with these angiogenic genes in several human tumors, and the angiogenic gene signature is sufficient to segregate the TA73^Hi-from TAp73^Low-expressing tumors.

These data demonstrate a pro-angiogenic role for TAp73 in supporting tumorigenesis, providing a rationale for its overexpression in cancers.

Reference:

Dulloo I, Phang B H, Othman R, et al. Hypoxia-inducible TAp73 supports tumorigenesis by regulating the angiogenic transcriptome[J]. Nature cell biology, 2015.

While most women in the UK have a one in 54 chance of developing ovarian cancer in their lifetime, for those who inherit faulty genes, like Angelina Jolie, the risk increases to one in two. If women know they have BRCA gene mutations, they can choose to take action before cancer develops.

But weighing the risk of cancer that might never grow against the very real trauma of surgery to remove healthy tissue as a preventive measure is an incredibly difficult conundrum, as Angelina Jolie explains.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genes that help repair damage to the DNA in our cells. If people inherit a mutated version of either of these genes it puts them at greater risk of certain cancers. Jolie learned some time ago that she had inherited a faulty BRCA1 gene from her mother. She had already lost her mother, grandmother and aunt to cancer, which alerted doctors that she might also be at risk.

In the UK, around one in every 500 people will carry a BRCA mutation. Generally, experts only recommend screening if a person has a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer. For women carriers of BRCA1, it means their lifetime risk of breast cancer will range from 65-85% and their risk of ovarian cancer from 40-50%.

Her doctors advised that she should have this surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer in her female relatives. Her mother’s ovarian cancer was diagnosed when she was 49. Jolie is now 39. Surgery does not completely guarantee that cancer will not develop – it is impossible to remove all of the at-risk tissue.

And there are side effects to consider – taking out the ovaries removes a woman’s fertility and puts her into the menopause, for example. Faulty BRCA genes are responsible for around 5% of all breast cancer cases and 10% of ovarian cancers, meaning the rest are caused by other factors.

Even after decades of battling one of the world’s biggest killers, the treatment of cancer is still an inexact science.Successful methods such as chemotherapy work by killing the cancer cells, but they also destroy healthy tissue.

Health practitioners have been searching for a magic bullet that goes straight to the source of the cancer — and everything from monoclonal antibodies, which carry cancer drugs direct to cancer cells, to straight surgery to cut out tumors have been used with varying degrees of success.

“In this space we accelerate the protons and we give them a higher and higher velocity until they reach two thirds of the speed of light — that’s 200,000 km per second and this acceleration takes place in the shape of a spiral,” a researcher said.”That’s needed if you want to be able to penetrate one foot into the body of a patient.”

While proton therapy is a giant step forward, it’s not yet the magic bullet that clinicians are looking for. So far, it is not effective against all types of cancer.

“There are a number of cancers which are not localized,” he said. “If you look at leukemia, which is cancer of the blood cells, there is nowhere to shoot — it’s all through the body.”

While the proton therapy market is expected to more than double by 2018, with an estimated 300 proton therapy rooms, Jongen’s Brussels-based company IBA is working on a smaller and cheaper model they hope will make proton therapy more accessible.

“I have a number of letters from parents of young kids saying if it had not been for this treatment we would have lost our kid,” he said.

“That’s something I really cherish. When I feel a bit depressed, for whatever reason, I go back to those letters and they are very exciting.”

Colorectal cancer is one of three common malignancies around world which includes colon cancer and rectal cancer. There are nearly 600,000 people annually die for it. In China, there is an average of 1.5 minutes per person is diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

In simple terms, MDT refers to the standardized, individualized, comprehensive treatment program which developed by relatively multidisciplinary panel of experts and used to against specific diseases, conduct regular timing of clinical seminars. It is a patient-centered, relying on a multidisciplinary group of experts to carry out cooperative mode.

Good MDT assessment can cover the whole of the disease, the treatment and the various stages of convergence between the various treatments. Using MDT mode, effectively increasing the accuracy of the condition assessment and individualized treatment plan drawn up can enable the patient to get the best individualized treatment programs and ensure the best results in the shortest time.

In addition, Professor Zhang Suzhan said, MDT model can promote interdisciplinary exchange and enhance the level of medical competence and academic disciplines to help achieve true integration of medical teaching and research, and promote the advancement of medical science.

It is reported that, according to the plan MDT project is expected to be in three years, covering 31 provinces and 55 hospitals, more than one million patients with colorectal cancer benefit from it.

In the multi-party cooperation and joint efforts, China’s treatment of colorectal cancer will enter a new era of standardization.