RandyW Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Senior Citizen Health & Medicine How NSAIDs Halt Cancer Growth Determined in New Study MDA-7/IL-24 already known as a novel tumor suppressor gene December 15, 2006 – Researchers have earlier found that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like aspirin, ibuprofen and sulindac, appear effective in preventing and treating some common cancers. But, they could not explain why. Now, however, a new study says it is the induction of a gene known as MDA-7/IL-24 that stops the growth of cancer cells. The discovery of this molecular mechanism could eventually lead to the development of targeted cancer treatments. Related Stories Arthritis Pain Relief Drugs Pose Heart Attack Risks, Confirms Scientific Review Danger in COX-2 inhibitors, NSAIDs – maybe not aspirin, naproxen September 27, 2006 – The evidence is becoming crystal clear for millions of senior citizens that the scientific evidence confirms that COX-2 inhibitors and most NSAIDs can increase risks for heart problems. A report that reviewed 360 published studies says these drugs commonly used to treat osteoarthritis – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and COX-2 inhibitors (a newer generation of NSAIDs) – present similar, increased risks of heart attacks while offering about the same level of pain relief. Exceptions are naproxen and, maybe, aspirin. Read more... JAMA Releases Early Reports Finding Increased Heart, Kidney Risks from COX-2 and NSAID Pain Relievers September 12, 2006 – Although two COX-2 inhibitors have already been withdrawn from the market: rofecoxib (Vioxx) and valdecoxib (Bextra), the evidence continues to accumulate on the on the potential danger of cardiovascular risk from a broad range of COX-2 inhibitors and NSAIDS. Two new review studies evaluating the safety of the pain-relieving medications COX-2 inhibitors and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) find increased cardiovascular and kidney risks. Read more... Aspirin May Prevent Enlarged Prostate, Nightly Bathroom Trips for Older Men Almost half senior men age 70 to 80 suffer from enlarged prostate August 30, 2006 - Frequent urination, trouble starting urination, awakening frequently at night to urinate, weak urine stream and an urgent need to urinate – an affliction of many older men, is usually caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate). Mayo Clinic researchers say taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAIDs), such as aspirin or ibuprofen, may prevent or at least delay this condition of aging. Read more... COX-2, NSAID Can Spell DEATH for Recovering Heart Attack Patients After heart attack people may be more vulnerable to the harmful effects June 20, 2006 - After a heart attack, patients may be at higher risk of death if they are treated with pain killers in a drug class known as COX-2 inhibitors or with high doses of other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), according to a large review published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Read more... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read the latest news on Senior Health & Medicine This study was led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), in collaboration with scientists at Columbia University Medical Center, and appears in the Dec. 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research. “Although observational studies had previously demonstrated that NSAIDs might be effective in the prevention and treatment of several common cancers, it wasn’t at all clear how this was happening,” explains the study’s senior author Towia Libermann, PhD, Director of the BIDMC Genomics Center and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). “Now, after treating a number of different types of cancer cells in culture with a whole set of NSAIDs, we can point to this single gene which, when upregulated, kills cancer cells while sparing normal, healthy cells.” In recent years, a great deal of attention has focused on the link between inflammation and cancer. As the body’s immune response to tissue damage, acute inflammation serves as a natural defense to guard against injury or infection. However, in cases of chronic inflammation – for example, inflammatory bowel disease – certain signaling pathways that modulate the inflammatory processes become “stuck” in an activated state. Among other outcomes, this course of events leads to the release of molecules that enhance carcinogenesis and tumor progression at the site of the damage. According to Libermann, it was these observations that originally prompted clinical and epidemiological researchers to begin examining whether routine use of anti-inflammatory agents had any effect on a person’s risk of developing several types of cancer, including colorectal cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer. “Since then, studies have indeed shown that at clinically relevant concentrations, NSAIDs may be effective in the prevention and treatment of common cancers,” he says. These anti-cancer effects have been attributed, in large part, to NSAIDs’ potential to induce cell death, which appears to stem from the drugs’ inhibition of the COX (cyclooxygenase) enzymes, the primary mechanism by which NSAIDs guard against pain. “However,” adds Libermann, “COX inhibition did not appear to be the only anti-cancer pathway being targeted by the compounds. We, therefore, undertook a comprehensive review of NSAIDs in order to decipher the precise molecular mechanisms that were at work.” Using whole genome microarray analysis, Libermann and first author Luiz Zerbini, PhD, a researcher in the BIDMC Genomics Center and Instructor of Medicine at HMS, examined more than 20,000 genes to identify potential mechanisms for cell death induction. “When we analyzed the genes that were upregulated by NSAIDS, one in particular stood out from the rest,” says Zerbini. “And that was MDA-7/IL-24.” A cancer specific cytokine (a protein secreted by cells of the lymph system that affects the activity of other cells and is important in controlling inflammatory responses), MDA-7/IL-24 was already familiar to the investigators as a novel tumor suppressor gene, says Libermann. “Viral delivery of MDA-7/IL-24 is currently being evaluated in several clinical trials as a therapeutic agent against various cancers, and enhanced levels of the gene have also been correlated with prolonged survival in patients with non-small lung cancer,” he said. Following their identification of this cytokine, the investigators used an interfering RNA approach to block MDA-7/IL-24 gene expression in cancer cells, thereby demonstrating the necessity of NSAID-mediated induction of the gene to destroy cancer cells. They also used a mouse model of prostate cancer to demonstrate that when MDA-7/IL-24 was blocked, the anti-cancer effects of the NSAIDs were diminished. Finally, building on their earlier work demonstrating the relevance of GADD45 (Growth Arrest DNA Damage) family members to cancer cell death (as well as previous work by study coauthor Paul Fisher, MPh, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center) Libermann and Zerbini identified GADD45 alpha and gamma as the critical mediators of this course of events, showing that the ability of NSAIDs to induce apoptosis was dependent on their abilities to induce MDA-7/IL-24 expression, leading to enhanced GADD45 alpha and gamma expression. “Current clinical trials are evaluating a range of NSAIDs for a variety of cancers without any clear vision of the best way to use them,” notes Libermann. “The fact that upregulation of this single gene – MDA-7/IL-24 -- correlated not only with cell death induction of numerous types of cancer but also among various diverse classes of NSAIDs, makes this discovery particularly exciting. "The level of MDA-7/IL-24 gene expression in cancer patients may emerge as a new biomarker for monitoring patients’ responses to certain therapies, and may help determine whether drugs such as NSAIDs are hitting their intended targets.” Editor's Notes: In addition to Libermann, Zerbini and Fisher, study coauthors include BIDMC investigators Akos Czibere, MD, Yihong Wang, MD, Hasan Otu, PhD, Marie Joseph, Yuko Takayasu, MD, Moriah Silver, Xuesong Gu, PhD, Kriangsak Ruchusatsawat, PhD, Linglin Li, MSc, and Jin-Rong Zhou, PhD; Ricardo Correa, PhD, of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California; and Devanand Sarkar, PhD, of the Columbia University Medical Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York. This study was funded, in part, by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Hershey Foundation, the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation and the Chernow Endowment. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a major patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit http://www.bidmc.harvard.edu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe B Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 more good news on the research front thsnks Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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