Objective: To investigate the effects of AZT-mediated inhibition of telomerase activity on the proliferation, apoptosis and radiosensitivity of panc1 cells, and the growth of pancreatic tumor in vivo. Methods: panc1 cells were divided into four groups: A, control group; B, 0.4 mmol/L AZT; C, 0.6 mmol/L AZT; and D, 0.8 mmol/L AZT group. Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay. Cell apoptosi...

.> Introduction Patient-to-patient variations in the radiosensitivity of normal and neoplastic tissues are well known and recognized both in vivo(1.2) and in vitro studies. (3.6) The typical example is the autosomal recessive disease ataxia-telangiectasia (AT). ATM patients are extremely sensitive to ionizing radiation. The patients develop severe to fatal radiation reactions when treated by st...

PURPOSE Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors are undergoing clinical evaluation for cancer therapy. Because PARP inhibition has been shown to enhance tumor cell sensitivity to radiation, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo effects of the novel PARP inhibitor E7016. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The effect of E7016 on the in vitro radiosensitivity of tumor cell lines was evaluated using c...

OBJECTIVE Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) containing TP53 mutation and 3p deletion ("double-hit") have poorer prognosis compared to patients with either event alone ("single-hit"). The etiology for worse clinical outcomes in patients with "double-hit" cancers is unclear. We compared radiosensitivity of cell lines containing both TP53 mutations and deletion of Fragile...

BACKGROUND We have previously shown that in vitro radiosensitivity of human tumor cells segregate non-randomly into a limited number of groups. Each group associates with a specific genotype. However we have also shown that abrogation of a single gene (p21) in a human tumor cell unexpectedly sensitized xenograft tumors comprised of these cells to radiotherapy while not affecting in vitro cellul...

PURPOSE Radiotherapy remains a primary treatment modality for pancreatic carcinoma, a tumor characterized by aberrant mTOR activity. Given the regulatory role of mTOR in gene translation, in this study, we defined the effects of the clinically relevant, ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor, INK128 on the radiosensitivity of pancreatic carcinoma cell lines. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Clonogenic survival wa...

The EGFR-specific mAb cetuximab is one of the most effective treatments for oropharyngeal carcinoma, while patient responses to EGFR inhibitors given alone are modest. Combination treatment with radiation can improve the efficacy of treatment through increasing radiosensitivity, while resistance to radiation after administration of cetuximab limits its efficiency. Radiation and drugs can damage...

BACKGROUND The overall level of chromatin compaction is an important mechanism of radiosensitivity, and modification of DNA methylation and histone deacetylation may increase radiosensitivity by altering chromatin compaction. In this study, we investigated the effect of a demethylating agent, a histone deacetylase(HDAC) inhibitor, and the two agents combined on radiosensitivity in human colon a...

Radiation therapy is one of the most important treatments for unresectable and locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), however, the response to radiotherapy is sometimes limited by the development of radioresistance. Sinomenine hydrochloride (SH) has anticancer activity, but its effect on the radiosensitivity of ESCC is unclear. We determined the effect of SH on the radiosen...

Purpose: Radiotherapy remains a primary treatment modality for pancreatic carcinoma, a tumor characterized by aberrant mTOR activity. Given the regulatory role of mTOR in gene translation, in this study, we defined the effects of the clinically relevant, ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitor, INK128 on the radiosensitivity of pancreatic carcinoma cell lines. Experimental Design: Clonogenic survival wa...