Current Cancer Therapy Reviews - Volume 8, Issue 2, 2012

Sympathetic neurotransmitters are known for their multiple and pleiotropic functions. Recently, regulation of tumor angiogenesis emerged as one of them. Norepinepherine and epinephrine have been shown to stimulate tumor vascularization via two independent mechanisms – induction of growth factor release from tumor and stromal cells, and a direct effect on endothelial cell (EC) proliferation. In contrast, their precursor, Read More

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women in the majority of western countries. Both acute and chronic stress cause the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine. These natural cateholamines bind to nine different adrenoceptors. Breast cancer epithelial cells express α2 and β2-adrenoceptors. Catecholamine binding to α2-adrenoceptors in cancer cells is associated with increased cell proliferation. On the cont Read More

A growing body of epidemiologic and clinical evidence points to a significant role of biobehavioral and associated neuroendocrine factors on cancer growth and progression. This review provides an overview of the emerging relationships between neuroendocrine pathways and ovarian cancer progression. The primary focus of this review is on the contributions of neuroendocrine influences on cancer cell biology and tumor micr Read More

It has been demonstrated by clinical and animal studies that stress stimulation plays a pivotal role in the tumor development and progression. Adrenergic system activation mediates most of the effects resulting from stress stimulation. Various cigarette components have been indicated for inducing the secretion of stress hormones such as noradrenaline and adrenaline which activate the adrenoceptors expressed on tumor Read More

Small airway epithelial cells from, which most pulmonary adenocarcinomas (PACs) derive, and pancreatic duct epithelia, from which pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDACs) originate, share the ability to synthesize and release bicarbonate. This activity is stimulated in both cell types by the α7nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR)-mediated release of noradrenaline and adrenaline, which in turn activate β-adrenergic Read More

Limitations in successfully treating metastasis development remain an obstacle in preventing disease progression in aggressive forms of cancer. Despite an improved understanding about the mechanistic biological pathways of metastasis formation, the ability to translate laboratory findings into therapies for significant patient benefit have been disappointingly slow. In this perspective, we briefly summarise the principal conce Read More

Apoptosis is an induced and ordered process in which the cell actively participates in bringing about its own death. Dysregulation in either of the apoptotic pathways leads to various diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and autoimmunity. Bcl-2 (B cell lymphoma 2) proteins such as pro-and anti-apoptotic play a vital role in the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis which results in cellular commitment to death Read More

Children diagnosed with cancer are commonly treated with anthracyclines, which have increased the number of survivors to more than 325,000 in the United States. However, anthracyclines are limited by their cardiotoxicity, which increases the risk of treatment-related complications. Survivors are more likely than their healthy siblings to experience heart failure, coronary artery disease, and stroke within the first 30 years after Read More

During the course of cancer metastasis development, invasive tumor cells circulate through the blood stream and disseminate to other tissues. Circulating and disseminated tumor cells (CTCs and DTCs, respectively) may be the source of local and distant metastases and are a promising target for anticancer therapy. Multiple studies have shown that the detection of DTCs or CTCs correlates with increased risk of disease re Read More