The over-expression of α-enolase was demonstrated in several cancers, including lung, brain, breast, colon and prostate. In this report, we investigated the effects of α-enolase knockdown on the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs. RNAi-mediated knockdown of α-enolase in A549 and H460 lung, MCF7 breast and CaOV3 ovarian cancer cells caused a significant increase in the sensiti...

AIDS has claimed the lives of 25 million people worldwide, an additional 40 million people are HIV-infected and new cases are being diagnosed every year. Despite the fact that HAART has moved AIDS from the category of terminal diseases to that of treatable chronic illnesses, its long-term therapeutic success may be compromised by the development of resistance to the currently used drugs. Despit...

Histologic subtype has emerged as a potential prognostic and/or predictive factor in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several studies support the importance of differentiating between squamous and non-squamous NSCLC in terms of efficacy of chemotherapeutics (e.g. pemetrexed) or treatment-related toxicities (e.g. bevacizumab). In addition, molecular markers and gene profiles have bee...

Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglu-cose positron emission tomography in mature T-cell and natural killer cell ma-lignancies. Recently in Blood, Schonthal and colleagues reported in an elegant study that green tea polyphenols interact directly with bortezomib and other boronic acid–based proteasome inhibitors and block their anticancer effects. 1 This subject has significant practice implications. By re...

The likely pathogenic mechanisms of multiple sclerosis (MS) provide a sound rationale for investigating the efficacy of drugs possessing immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory properties. With proven efficacy, safety and tolerability, interferon beta formulations and glatiramer acetate have become the mainstay of initial treatment for patients with relapsing forms of MS. More recently, natalizum...

G-quartets are square planar arrangements of four guanine bases, which can form extraordinarily stable stacks when present in nucleic acid sequences. Such G-quadruplex structures were long regarded as an in vitro phenomenon, but the widespread presence of suitable sequences in genomes and the identification of proteins that stabilize, modify or resolve these nucleic acid structures have provide...

Intra-tumor bacteria promote tumor growth and inactivate cancer-chemotherapeutics, causing poor treatment prognoses. Combined administration of cancer-chemotherapeutics antibiotics may disturb the oral intestinal microflora in critically-ill patients. To establish intra-tumor co-delivery antibiotics, gemcitabine ciprofloxacin are loaded so-called “self-targeting”, highly blood-compatible, synth...

Awidely held view is that oncolytic agents induce death of tumor cells directly. In this report we review and discuss the apoptosis-inducing effects of chemotherapeutics, the effects of chemotherapeutics on metabolic function, and the consequent effects of metabolic function on immune recognition. Finally, we propose that effective chemotherapeutic and/or apoptosis-inducing agents, at concentra...

Usage of cancer chemotherapeutics drugs can be associated with adverse drug reactions. When IgE-mediated drug reactions are formed following administration of a chemotherapeutic drug that is a drug of choice, drug desensitization protocols can be helpful. Hypersensitivity reactions can be allergic or nonallergic, but the clinical manifestations are similar. Rapid drug desensitization (RDD) is e...