alpha-chymotrypsin and Carcinoma--Squamous-Cell

Based on in vitro and on clinical evidence of protection against acute side effects of radiation, a prospective randomized, open study was performed to determine the efficacy of an oral proteolytic enzyme preparation in patients with head and neck cancer receiving conventional fractionated radiation therapy.. Patients with stage T3/T4 head and neck cancer were eligible. One hundred patients from two centres were entered into the study. 60Co gamma-radiation was delivered at a standard daily radiation dose of 2 Gy in 25-35 fractions over a period of 6-7 weeks. Two lateral parallel opposing fields were used with a portal area of 10 x 15 cm. Patients assigned to the test group arm additionally received enzyme tablets orally t.i.d. starting 3 days prior to radiation therapy, and continuing up to 5 days after completion of the course of radiation therapy. Patients in the control arm were not given any drug or placebo. Acute radiation side effects were described as mucositis, skin reaction, dysphagia, and were graded at each visit during and after radiation therapy, following RTOG/EORTC criteria.. The severity (maximum extent) of acute radiation therapy side effects was significantly less in enzyme-treated patients than in control patients: mucositis (mean: 1.3 vs 2.2, P < 0.001), skin reaction (1.2 vs 2.4, P < 0.001) and dysphagia (1.4 vs 2.2, P < 0.001). The duration of these side effects as well as the sum scores of side effects were also less in the study arm.. Combination of enzyme therapy with conventional fractionated radiation therapy was feasible and well-tolerated. There was significant protection against acute side effects of radiation therapy in the study arm. Not only was the severity of acute side effects less but the duration was shorter and the time to onset was also delayed. Prospective randomized double-blind studies would verify this role of an oral enzyme therapy as standard co-medication with radiation therapy to the head and neck region.

Topics: Acute Disease; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chymotrypsin; Deglutition Disorders; Drug Combinations; Endopeptidases; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Papain; Prospective Studies; Radiation Injuries; Radiation-Protective Agents; Radiotherapy; Skin; Stomatitis; Trypsin

Certain periodontopathogenic bacteria have been linked to cancers. Treponema denticola (Td) is associated with severe periodontitis. Chymotrypsin-like proteinase (CTLP), a major virulence factor of Td, can degrade various host proteins and peptides, and modulate inflammatory responses. However, the role of Td in the tongue carcinogenesis remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the presence of Td-CTLP in early-stage mobile tongue squamous cell carcinoma (MTSCC) and its relation to clinical and pathological characteristics.. The immunopositivity of Td-CTLP was assessed in samples obtained from 60 patients with MTSCC and associated with their clinicopathological data. Additionally, Td-CTLP expression was compared with immunoexpression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-8 and MMP-9), toll-like receptors (TLR-2, TLR-4, TLR-7 and TLR-9), c-Myc, Ki-67, Bmi-1 and Snail.. Treponema denticola-chymotrypsin-like proteinase was present in 95% of MTSCC tumours of which many (40.4%) showed high immunopositivity. Td-CTLP positivity was significantly associated with invasion depth, tumour diameter and the expression of TLR-7, TLR-9 and c-Myc. High Td-CTLP immunopositivity in younger patients (≤ 60 years old) predicted early relapse.. Our data indicate that Td and its CTLP are present in early-stage MTSCC carcinoma and may contribute to carcinogenesis, and therefore provide novel perspectives into intervention and therapeutic measures of MTSCC.

Topics: Aged; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chymotrypsin; Female; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Matrix Metalloproteinases; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Staging; Peptide Hydrolases; Periodontitis; Proteolysis; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; Toll-Like Receptors; Tongue Neoplasms; Treponema denticola; Virulence Factors

Two human tumor cell lines were analyzed for the production of human antileucoprotease (ALP). One of them, a human squamous lung carcinoma cell line (HS-24) synthesized, as confirmed by Western blot analysis, high amounts of ALP in serum-free medium. The supernatant inhibited elastase, chymotrypsin and trypsin. Northern blot analysis with an 18-mer radiolabelled oligonucleotide, derived from an ALP specific cDNA clone, revealed a specific mRNA of about 700-800 nucleotides in HS-24 tumor cells. In contrast, a secondary human lung tumor cell line (SB-3), derived from the adrenal cortex, did not synthesize ALP when assayed under identical conditions. The supernatant inhibited only trypsin and chymotrypsin.

Topics: Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chymotrypsin; Culture Media; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Neoplasm Proteins; Pancreatic Elastase; Protease Inhibitors; Proteinase Inhibitory Proteins, Secretory; Proteins; RNA, Messenger; RNA, Neoplasm; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Human squamous carcinoma (COLO-16) cells release factors which specifically stimulate the synthesis of major acute-phase plasma proteins in human and rodent hepatic cells. Anion exchange, hydroxyapatite, lectin, and gel chromatography of conditioned medium of COLO-16 cells result in separation into three distinct forms of hepatocyte-stimulating factors (designated HSF-I, HSF-II, and HSF-III) with apparent molecular weights of 30,000, 50,000 and 70,000, respectively. None of the preparations contains detectable amounts of thymocyte-stimulating activity. Each of the three HSF forms stimulates the accumulation of mRNA for alpha 1-antichymotrypsin in the human hepatoma cell line, HepG2. When the same factors were added to primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes, the expression of the same set of plasma proteins was modulated as by nonfractionated medium. The hormonally induced accumulation of mRNA for acute phase proteins is qualitatively comparable to that occurring in the liver of inflamed rats. Unlike in human cells, in rat liver cells dexamethasone acts additively and synergistically with HSFs. The only functional difference between the three HSF forms lies in the level of maximal stimulation. HSF-I represents the predominant form produced by normal human keratinocytes and closely resembles in molecular size and isoelectric point the activity produced by activated peripheral blood monocytes while the larger molecular weight forms are more prevalent in human as well as mouse squamous carcinoma cells. The observation that HSFs from different sources elicit essentially the same pleiotropic response in hepatic cells led to the hypothesis that the species-specific reaction of adult liver cells to inflammatory stimuli is pre-programmed and that the function of any HSF is to trigger and tune the execution of this fixed cellular process.

Topics: alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin; alpha-Macroglobulins; Animals; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Cells, Cultured; Chymotrypsin; Concanavalin A; Fibrinogen; Humans; Interleukin-1; Interleukin-6; Isoelectric Point; Liver; Liver Neoplasms, Experimental; Molecular Weight; Orosomucoid; Proteins; Rats; RNA, Messenger

The immunologic reactivity of glycoprotein antigens extractable from individual, histologically different ovarian and uterine cancers was studied taking into account their relationship with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), nonspecific cross-reacting antigen (NCA), alpha-feto-protein (AFP), and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin. All studies were performed using specific immune sera against perchloric acid (PCA) extracts of ovarian mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (anti-PCA-CaOm) and cervical squamous cell carcinoma (anti-PCA-CaCx), and antisera against the reference antigens mentioned above. A considerable antigenic heterogeneity and the existence of several immunologically related antigenic systems were found: 1) CEA-like antigens; 2) NCA-type antigens; 3) an antigen different from CEA and NCA present in ovarian mucinous adenocarcinomas and often cross-reacting, but not identical with respective antigens of uterine body and cervical carcinomas; 4) an antigen reacting with anti-alpha-1-anti-chymotrypsin serum; and 5) an antigen reacting with anti-AFP serum.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin; alpha-Fetoproteins; Antigens, Neoplasm; Carcinoembryonic Antigen; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Cell Adhesion Molecules; Chymotrypsin; Cross Reactions; Cystadenocarcinoma; Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female; Glycoproteins; Humans; Immune Sera; Immunologic Techniques; Ovarian Neoplasms; Tissue Extracts; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Uterine Neoplasms

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Aged; alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin; Bronchial Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chymotrypsin; Female; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Male; Middle Aged

Antigenic reactivity of 35 perchloric acid (PCA) extracts of different histologic human lung cancer tissues was studied--in comparison with the reactivity of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), the nonspecific cross-reacting antigen (NCA), and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin--with the use of specific immune sera against PCA extracts of lung squamous cell carcinoma, and anti-CEA, anti-NCA, and anti-alpha-1-antichymotrypsin sera. The following antigenic systems were found in lung cancers: a) antigens specific for most squamous cell cancers and adenocarcinomas, which are undetectable in small cell cancers; b) NCA-type antigens; c) CEA-like antigens; and d) the antigen responsible for alpha-1-antichymotrypsin reactivity. A considerable antigenic heterogeneity among lung cancers indicates the necessity for precise histopathologic verification of individual lung cancer cases before commencement of immunologic studies and purification of antigens specific for lung cancers.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; alpha 1-Antichymotrypsin; Antibody Specificity; Antigens, Neoplasm; Carcinoembryonic Antigen; Carcinoma, Small Cell; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Chymotrypsin; Cross Reactions; Humans; Immunodiffusion; Lung Neoplasms