Current Cancer Therapy Reviews - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2005

Objective: To review recent epidemiologic studies of vaccination and melanoma risk as well as critically discuss the different melanoma vaccines under investigation in multicenter phase III melanoma vaccine trials. Data Sources: A retrospective review of the literature. Study Selection: Studies included those on the risk of melanoma and vaccination, historically relevant data, and ongoing or recently published phase III melanom Read More

The strategy in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC) is based on prognostic factors for survival. General performance status, delay from the diagnosis of primary tumor to occurrence of metastases, number of metastatic sites or site of metastases (lung, liver) and biological changes such as hemoglobin value, calcium value, and sedimentation rate are reported as the most predictive factors for survival. The f Read More

Methylation of CpG islands in many tumor suppressor genes with or without changes in histone acetylation is an important mechanism of gene silencing during the development of different types of cancer. There are at least two types of CpG island methylator phenotypes in intestinal- and diffuse -types of gastric cancer. Hypermethylation of the p16 and of hMLH1 promoters is preferentially found in intestinal-type gastric ca Read More

Cancer of the digestive tract is a major cause of cancer-associated morbidity and mortality worldwide. Secondary prevention and treatment of early lesions is extremely important because the etiology of gastrointestinal cancer remains largely unknown. Precursor lesions can be identified with imaging techniques and histology. The macroscopic pattern seen during endoscopy includes polyps and non-polypoid lesions. The m Read More

Thyroid carcinoma arising from normal follicular cells is generally slow-growing with an excellent prognosis if competently resected. However, once the tumor dedifferentiates and becomes undifferentiated (anaplastic) carcinoma, it becomes one of the most aggressive malignancies. Such a polarized characteristic is quite unique yet typical of thyroid carcinoma. To date, many researchers have studied differences in the chara Read More

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma metastatic to the neck from an unknown head and neck primary site is relatively uncommon and presents a challenging diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma. Methods: Review of the pertinent literature. Results: Diagnostic evaluation includes fine needle aspirate of the neck mass, chest roentgenography, computed tomography, and/or magnetic resonance imaging of the head and neck, f Read More

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in western men, and as such constitutes a significant health problem. The male sex steroids, androgens, have long been recognized as major contributors to the progression of PCa. Still today, standard therapy for PCa is aimed at removing androgens and/or blocking the action of androgens. Although most PCas Read More

Autocrine motility factor (AMF) is a type of tumor-secreted cytokine stimulating cell motility via AMF receptor (AMFR)-mediated signaling pathways. There are many reports that enhanced AMF levels and AMFR overexpressions are correlated with the tumor progression and its malignancy. It is thought previously that AMF is a tumor-specific factor functioning in an autocrine manner, however, recent studies show that tumor-secr Read More

There are many biological plausible reasons, which showed that plant food could prevent/delay the appearance of many diseases including cancer. Garlic has been reported to possess therapeutic properties from centuries and is probably the most widely studied medicinal plant. Garlic contains a number of organosulfur compounds such as SAC, S-allyl mercaptocysteine, allicin, ajoene, DAS and other structurally related compou Read More