Gemcitabine is the only cytotoxic agent approved by FDA for the treatment of pancreatic carcinoma. Gemcitabine has a relatively safe profile. Major side effects include bone marrow suppression and flu-like syndrome. Transient abnormalities of liver transaminase enzymes are seen in two third of patients: elevations of alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin are less common, but severe hepatic toxicit...

Tumor cell resistance to certain chemotherapeutic agents may result in cross-resistance to related antineoplastic agents. To study cross-resistance among inhibitors of ribonucleotide reductase, we developed hydroxyurea-resistant (HU-R) CCRF-CEM cells. These cells were 6-fold more resistant to hydroxyurea than the parent hydroxyurea-sensitive (HU-S) cell line and displayed an increase in the mRN...

Gemcitabine has limited clinical benefits in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling proteins are frequently overexpressed in PDAC. The therapeutic potential of BMS-754807, a small-molecule inhibitor of IGF-type 1 receptor (IGF-1R) and insulin receptor (IR), and gemcitabine was evaluated in experimental PDAC. Cell proliferation and protein expression ...

BACKGROUND Here we present a patient who developed nephrotic syndrome associated with gemcitabine use. CASE REPORT Gemcitabine therapy was initiated following tumor recurrence in a patient with ovarian cancer, who was previously treated twice with carboplatin and paclitaxel. Radiological findings waned and tumor marker concentrations decreased after gemcitabine treatment. However, edema and a...

AIM To determine if the drug doses and administration schedules of carboplatin and gemcitabine combination affect antitumor effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS The inhibition of cell viability was measured by MTT assay. Median effect analysis was conducted to determine the cytotoxicity activity of carboplatin and gemcitabine combination. Cell cycle changes were analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULT...

This phase II study evaluated the response rate and toxicity of single-agent gemcitabine in 40 women with epithelial ovarian cancer, previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients had stage III or IV disease and progressive disease 1-12 months after the last treatment. Gemcitabine 1250 mg/m2 was administered on days 1, 8 and 15 of each 28-day cycle as a 30-minute infusion. The ov...

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death among men. Early diagnosis and treatment are successful against prostate cancer, yet the clinical treatment of advanced prostate cancer remains a challenge. Gemcitabine is used to treat a broad spectrum of solid tumors; however, the clinical response of prostate cancer patients to gemcitabine is limited. In the present study, we showed ...

This work aimed to discover targets for combination treatment with gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer. We selected 11 tumors from our live collection of freshly generated pancreatic cancer xenografts with known degrees of varying gemcitabine sensitivity. We briefly (6 h) exposed fine-needle aspiration material to control vehicle or gemcitabine (1 mumol/L) and compared the gene expression of the t...

AIMS AND BACKGROUND To investigate the role of the apoptosis gene, DAP (death-associated protein) kinase-related apoptosis-inducing protein kinase 1 (DRAK1), which is involved in enhancing cell sensitivity and overcoming cell resistance to gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer cells by the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. METHODS Cultured human pancreatic cancer gemcitabine-sensitive cell lines (b...

BACKGROUND Pancreatic cancer is considered a chemoresistant neoplasm with extremely dismal prognosis and gemcitabine treatment is associated with many side effects and poor overall survival. The study aimed at developing a new nanobioconjugate, which specifically delivered gemcitabine and anti-EGFR antibody into pancreatic cancer cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS The novel nanodrug is based on chitos...