Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a specialised technique used for the visualisation of specific antigen in tissues, to analysed the morphology of cells and to detect tumour markers (Duraiyan et al., 2012). In cancer, specific tumour antigens are expressed de novo or are unregulated and thus antibodies are used to detect where antigen-bound antibody occurs (Duraiyan et al., 2012). This is visualised under an ordinary or fluorescent microscope. This method has been very helpful as well as sensitive to predict prognosis and hierarchies of cancer. IHC is also a good technique to test drug efficacy by detecting the progression or suppression of the targeted cancer. For instance, in breast and prostate carcinoma, IHC is widely used to predict therapeutic response where the growth hormones are regulated (Duraiyan et al., 2012).
Vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) has been found to be a mediator for angiogenesis and the over expression of VEDF and its receptor is directed correlated in a number of metastatic malignancies. Also, the microvessel density is increased when VEGF/ VEGFR-2 are overexpressed thus leading to many tumour types. VEGF is mediated by VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) or kinase insert domain receptor (KDE) by inhibiting tyrosine kinase activity (Ferrara et al., 2003; Hoeben et al., 2004; Yang et al., 2006; Prewett et al., 1999). In murine model experiment, it has been shown that anti-VEGFR2 monoclonal antibody inhibits the growth of human tumour xenografts and the density of microvessel is significantly decreased together with cell apoptosis, tumour cell proliferation and tumour necrosis (Bruns et al., 2000; Inoue et al., 2000). It has also been shown that recombinant human monoclonal antibody (IgG1) has a specific ...
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...tcliffe, K., Jenkins, M., Ashton, S.E., Sproat, G., Swann, R., Gray, N., Ryan, A., Jürgensmeier, J.M. & Womack, C. (2010) Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 are localized primarily to the vasculature in human primary solid cancers. Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 16 (14), pp.3548–61.
Vilmar, A., Garcia-Foncillas, J., Huarriz, M., Santoni-Rugiu, E., Sorensen, J, B. (2011) RT-PCR versus immunohistochemistry for correlation and quantification of ERCC1, BRCA1, TUBB3 and RRM1 in NSCLC. Lung Cancer, 75, pp 306-312.
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The concept of tumor heterogeneity being related to the course of the disease and clinical outcome in cancer patients draws additional attention in the era of personalized medicine (1). Current cancer treatment strategies are based on the site of origin of the primary tumor. However, it was shown that tumors developed from distinct cell types differ in their prognosis and response to cytotoxic therapies (2...
Early diagnosis provides the best hope many have in beating cancer. Unfortunately, this is not the end of the fight for many cancer patients. Primary tumors may be successfully treated early, only to later discover they have metastasized to other areas of the body.
Thumbing through the pages of Business Week, the headline read Maybe Jaws Can Put the Bite on Cancer. Interested, I continued to read the short article. According to the reporter, Otis Port, researchers at California State University in Fresno say that they have isolated four substances in shark cartilage that appear to inhibit cancer (93). Curious, I continued to read the rest of the article. The chemicals block a mechanism discovered in the mid-1980s at Harvard University: Tumor cells secrete a protein called angiogenin that entices blood vessels to grow close to cancers and nourish them. The shark extracts counteract angiogenin and the tumor starves (93). I sat there pondering the concept and decided that I would further investigate this intoxicating find.
The acquisition of an immortalized proliferative potential is very important for human tumors because, otherwise, the tumors will not grow in number nor will they metastasize. Mutations in progenitor cells would not be transmitted too far as they have limited replication and proliferation ability. Thus, the growth of the tumors will be limited. Hence, if there is even a very small population of cells with the ability to proliferate continuously, there will be a source for productions of more cells for the tumor. Clonogenic assays have shown that, though most cells in a tumor have a limited ability to proliferate, a subset of cancer cells exist in these tumors that continuously proliferate and give rise to new tumors on transplantation.
Schulman, Joshua M., and David E. Fisher. "Abstract." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 28 Aug. 0005. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Basal Cell Carcinoma often abbreviated as (BCC) is the most frequently appearing form of skin cancer. They are also referred to as Basal Cell Cancer. It was discovered along the way as skin cancer was being treated as different types with no specific period. The BCCs’ are uncontrolled growths that normally arise in the skin’s basal cells. These cells lie in the deepest layer of the epidermis which is the outermost layer of the skin. BCC’s are normally caused by a combination of two things; one is cumulative UV exposure and the other is intense occasional UV exposure. The most vulnerable, according to a research done, tend to be people with fair hair, blue eyes and fair skin and this is because they tend to burn easily. The BCCs’ may first appear as a small white flesh or a colored bump that may bleed. Other normal appearances may look like open sores, red patches on the skin, pink growths, shiny bumps or scars. 80% of Basal Cell Carcinoma cases are mainly found in the head and neck that is the body parts that are mainly exposed to the sun. The nose also tends to be most vulnerable and according to a recent study done, 40% of BCC that were diagnosed on the head and neck were adjacent to the nose.
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is also an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells arising in the squamous cells, which is composed of most of the skins upper layers. Squa...
Non-small-cell lung cancer is more common than small-cell lung cancer. It makes up about 80 percent of all diagnosed lung cancers. It is actually four different kinds of lung cancers that grow and respond to treatment in about the same way. These four types of non-small-cell lung cancer are termed squamous cell, adencarcinoma, large cell, and mixed cell. Two other related cancers that are also included in the non-small-cell lung cancers group are carcinoid and mesothelioma. Non-small-cell lung cancer grows more slowly than small-cell lung cancer. Non-small-cell lung cancer tends to grow first in the area where it started then invades the surrounding lung tissue and ribs. It eventually spreads to other areas of the body, mainly bones, brain, and liver.
As an inducer of HIF-1 production, it’s been used to study the apoptotic effects in HepG2 cells.
Laughter is often said to reduce stress and produce pain reliving hormones. It is the ‘fountain of youth’, the secret ingredient to longevity. A person who laughs all the time is, more often than not, healthier and happier than a person who rarely laughs at all. Laughter is known as a natural form of medicine. However, like many other things, some people take the laughter and the jokes too far. This is the case in the story, “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor,” by Sherman Alexie.
Cancer has been seen in humans as one the most potentially fatal disease for thousands of years and only in the recent couple of hundred years have we discovered that most information necessary to bring us to today’s understanding and knowledge (Kenny 2007, Weinberg 1996) was achieved by extensive research of cells, DNA, and epidemiology studies. As we know, currently cancer is acknowledged as having over a hundred different diseases, and is known to be the result of mutations of the genes and almost similar DNA which are responsible for the amount of cell division and production (Kenny 2007). Restraint of cell growth modulators can be a direct lead and result of certain tumours being developed and subsequently allow these tumours to acquire the ability to attack and occupy the bloodstream and essentially be able to travel via the bloodstream to other parts and organs in human bodies which is known as metastasis (Loeb et Al 2003). Once this has occurred , the cancer is then categorized as malicious and becomes a dangerous and serious threat to the carrier (Weinberg 1996). In this essay I will describe and explain the process of this and how our genes mutate and lead to metastasis of cancer cells.
Cancer develops when cells in a part of the body begin to grow out of
However, the safety of gene therapy should be carefully considered. First, it may cause angiogenesis, which may trigger nonfunctional vessels or stimulation of angiogenesis in ...
The Cell, the fundamental structural unit of all living organisms. Some cells are complete organisms, such as the unicellular bacteria and protozoa, others, such as nerve, liver, and muscle cells, are specialized components of multicellular organisms. In another words, without cells we wouldn’t be able to live or function correctly. There are Animal Cells and Plant Cells. In Biology class the other day we studied the Animal Cell. We were split into groups of our own and we each picked a different animal cell slide to observe. My group chose the slide,'; Smeared Frog Blood ';.
Blood and urine based biomarkers used in molecular pathology are only indicative of the average response of the cell population affected with little or no information of the range of response or variability form areas of tissue (Naddler and Langley 2001)