Receptors for interleukin-13 (IL-13R) are overexpressed on several types of solid cancers including gliobastoma, renal cell carcinoma, AIDS Kaposi's sarcoma, and head and neck cancer. Recombinant fusion proteins IL-13 cytotoxin (IL13-PE38QQR or IL13-PE38) have been developed to directly target IL-13R-expressing cancer cells. Although it has been found that IL-13 cytotoxin has a direct potent an...

TAS-102 is a novel oral nucleoside antitumor agent containing trifluridine (FTD) and tipiracil hydrochloride (TPI). The compound improves overall survival of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who are insensitive to standard chemotherapies. FTD possesses direct antitumor activity since it inhibits thymidylate synthase (TS) and is itself incorporated into DNA. However, the precise mechanisms under...

AIM: The present study aims to investigate for the first time antitumor and antibacterial activities of Viscum album L. grown on different host trees. METHODS: Two different bioassays (antitumor and antibacterial) were performed to evaluate the biological activities of European mistletoe (Viscum album L.) plants collected from 13 different host trees (Crataegus tanacetifolia, Crataegus monogyna...

Our previous studies demonstrated that anti-CD40 mAb (anti-CD40) can synergize with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG) to mediate antitumor effects by activating myeloid cells, such as macrophages in tumor-bearing mice. Separate teams have shown that chemotherapy with gemcitabine (GEM) or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) can reduce tumor-induced myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) in mice. In this study ...

We have examined the effectiveness of a bacterial superantigen, staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-coupled tumor cells, to induce antitumor activity. SEB was chemically conjugated to tumor cells using a heterobifunctional cross-linking agent acting through NH2 and SH groups. V beta 8+ T cells were activated and increased in number after the culture with SEB-bound Meth A cells. The cultured T ce...

Cancer is a major public health problem and the second leading cause of mortality around the world. Antitumor immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies is considered selective and efficient in the treatment of different types of tumors, but its cost and toxic effects limit its application. Many tumor microenvironments, including lymphoma and carcinoma, are enriched in immune suppressive cells t...

During our systematic study on the anticancer activities of Scutellaria barbata, scutebarbatine A (SBT-A), one of the major alkaloids in S. barbata, was found to have antitumor effects on A549 cells. Thus, we designed the present study to investigate in detail the antitumor effects of SBT-A. The cytotoxic effect of SBT-A on A549 in vitro were determined by an MTT assay and evaluated by IC50 val...

OBJECTIVE To understand and elicit the factors influencing compliance with mass treatment with ivermectin for onchocerciasis control with a view of suggesting remedial measures. DESIGN Qualitative methods using focus group discussion and individual key informant interviews. SETTING Bushenyi district, Uganda. PARTICIPANTS Fifty key informants who were local council chairpersons and communi...

BACKGROUND Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) is frequently used to treat advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Asian countries. However, there is a lack of evidence supporting the use of HAIC. SUMMARY Many studies report high response rates in patients with advanced HCC receiving HAIC, and clinical responses translate to survival benefits. Therefore, prediction of an antitumo...