Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0023890 (cirrhosis)
 42,195 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Clinical and experimental data show that beta-IFN enhances the effect of tamoxifen on advanced breast cancer. There is a similarity between breast and liver as far as the proliferating effect on normal and neoplastic tissue of estrogen and progestin receptors is concerned. The authors tested this pharmacological association in unresectable liver neoplasms. They considered 76 (not randomized) patients affected with HCC; 38 were treated by trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and 38 to beta-INF and tamoxifen (the 2 groups were comparable according to age, sex, Child-Pugh score, Okuda and TNM stages, cirrhosis etiology). The treatment response (positive when a tumor diameter decreased or stabilization was observed) was similar in the two groups; in the TACE group, the presence of a peritumoral capsula had a significant influence on survival (p < 0.02); on the other hand, in the patients treated with beta-INF and tamoxifen important factors for a better prognosis were the TNM stage (I and II, p < 0.02) and a symptom-free condition (p < 0.04). The authors believe the beta-INF and tamoxifen treatment could represent an effective alternative in the management of unresectable HCC. A better knowledge of the presence and meaning of estrogen and progestin receptors in the neoplastic tissue may allow a better selection of patients.
 ...
PMID:[The palliative treatment of hepatocarcinoma: chemoembolization vs. the combination of tamoxifen plus beta-interferon]. 751 97

The development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in addition to cirrhosis affects males in a significantly higher proportion than females. Liver estrogen receptors increase when HCC develops in males; however, these tumors usually respond poorly to antiestrogens. We have, therefore, hypothesized that, similar to breast cancer, estrogen receptors in males with HCC may be mutated. Variant estrogen receptor transcripts (lacking exon 5 of the hormone binding domain) were investigated by reverse transcription-PCR in 14 patients (7 males and 7 females) with HCC. While females mostly displayed the wild-type transcript (both in peritumoral and in tumor liver tissue), males showed both transcripts in the cirrhotic tissue and almost only the variant in the tumor. As the variant ER transcripts when translated could give rise to truncated receptors still able to constitutively activate transcription, they may be key factors in favoring deregulated proliferation in the male liver.
 ...
PMID:Variant estrogen receptor messenger RNA species detected in human primary hepatocellular carcinoma. 783 16

Sandwich radioimmunometric assay (ErbB-2 IRMA 'Eiken') was developed to determine the levels of c-erbB-2 oncogene product (ErbB-2 protein) in human sera, and a clinical investigation was carried out to evaluate this novel oncogene product. The mean serum concentration of the ErbB-2 protein determined from 364 donors was 4.0 +/- 0.69 ng/ml (mean +/- SD) for females and 4.5 +/- 0.96 ng/ml for males. Cut-off values were set at 5.4 ng/ml for females and 6.5 ng/ml for males. The positivities of serum ErbB-2 protein in patients with breast carcinoma were 13.0% for primary cases and 47.9% for recurrent cases. Patients with hepatic disorders also had positive serum ErbB-2 protein levels, ie, 43.8% (7/16) for hepatocellular carcinoma and 28.9% (11/38) for hepatitis and liver cirrhosis, although the increase was slight and barely exceeded 10 ng/ml. In comparison with the levels of other tumor markers, such as CEA, CA 15-3 and NCC-ST 439, the serum ErbB-2 level was shown to have poor correlations, and was thus assumed to be useful for combination with those tumor markers. In serial determinations of serum ErbB-2 protein in two patients with recurrent breast carcinoma, the antigen increased preceding the increases in the other tumor markers, thereby also showing usefulness as a monitoring marker for breast carcinoma. In conclusion, these results indicated that ErbB-2 measurement improves the assessment of breast cancer in combination with other tumor markers and is useful as a tool for monitoring the clinical condition and the response for treatment in breast cancer.
 ...
PMID:[Clinical study of serum ErbB-2 protein using sandwich radioimmunometric assay (ErbB-2 IRMA 'Eiken')]. 791 12

The diagnostic value of a new tumor marker, CYFRA 21-1, was studied in the sera of 50 controls, 206 patients with benign diseases and 469 patients with malignancies. Fifty controls showed mean serum concentrations of 1.2 +/- 0.5 ng/ml. Using 3.3 ng/ml as the cutoff, abnormal CYFRA levels were found in 13.1% of patients with benign diseases, mainly in those with liver cirrhosis (29.4%) or renal failure (20.8%), and in 44.4% (180/405) of patients with active cancer. Neither healthy subjects nor no evidence of disease (64 cases) patients had serum levels higher than this limit. CYFRA 21-1 results were significantly higher in patients with active cancer than in those with benign diseases or without active tumors (p < 0.0001). CYFRA serum levels were significantly higher in patients with metastases (59.5%) than in those with locoregional disease (33.7%; p < 0.001). CYFRA 21-1 sensitivity in patients with lung cancer was related to tumor histology with abnormal levels in 65.6% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and in 25% of patients with small cell lung cancer (p < 0.0001). In breast cancer, CYFRA 21-1 concentrations were significantly higher in patients with metastases and in patients with primary tumors but with nodal involvement (p < 0.001).
 ...
PMID:Study of a new tumor marker, CYFRA 21-1, in malignant and nonmalignant diseases. 799 3

The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence of malignancies in a large series of PBC patients from Italy. The overall sample included 178 patients (10 M, 168 F). The mean age at presentation was 52 yrs (range 29-74); 17 patients had histological stage I, 52 stage II, 66 stage III, 44 stage IV. The follow-up period ranged from 1 to 16 years (mean 5 years). During the follow-up, extra-hepatic malignancies developed in 6 cases (3.3%), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a further 4 patients, all associated with cirrhosis (2.2%). Breast cancer developed only in one patient, resulting in a crude incidence rate of 130/100.000 person years among females. The calculated crude incidence of HCC was 492.4/100.000 person years. Three of the four patients with HCC had a superinfection with HCV. In conclusion, the incidence of breast cancer is not significantly increased. HCC has a relatively high prevalence in PBC and HCV superinfection may play an important role in favouring HCC.
 ...
PMID:Incidence of hepatic and extra-hepatic malignancies in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). 812 93

Two female breast cancer patients who received combined tamoxifen and tegafur as postsurgical adjuvant therapy developed severe hepatotoxicity after being treated for three and eight months, respectively. Shortly after the cessation of the treatment, routine liver tests showed gradual recovery, but liver biopsies revealed chronic active hepatitis in one patient and liver cirrhosis in the other. Four and five years, respectively, after the cessation of the treatment, the results of liver tests were normal and distinct histological improvement was observed in both patients. Because these patients had no viral and immunoserological markers nor any history of alcohol abuse, this study suggested that the tamoxifen and tegafur regimen induced reversible chronic active liver disease.
 ...
PMID:Chronic active hepatitis and liver cirrhosis in association with combined tamoxifen/tegafur adjuvant therapy. 853 19

MUC1 apomucin is a specific target tumor antigen recognized by cytotoxic T cells in a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) unrestricted fashion in patients with pancreatic and breast cancer. This T-cell-mediated immune mechanism against MUC1 apomucin expressing cells has not been evaluated in nonneoplastic immune-mediated diseases. Therefore, we immunohistochemically surveyed the expression of MUC1 apomucin on biliary epithelial cells of small bile ducts in various hepatobiliary diseases, including primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). MUC1 apomucin was detected using the monoclonal antibody DF3 and the streptavidin-biotin complex, in livers from 31 patients with PBC, 67 with chronic viral hepatitis (CH) with or without cirrhosis, 31 with extrahepatic biliary obstruction (EBO), 30 with hepatolithiasis, and from 23 normal individuals. MUC1 apomucin was infrequently and focally expressed in the biliary epithelial cells of the small bile ducts in 3 of 23 normal livers. In contrast, MUC1 apomucin was frequently and strongly expressed on the luminal surface of biliary epithelia] cells of small bile duct, in 22 of 31 patients with PBC, and in 50 of 67 patients with CH. In particular, high levels of MUC1 apomucin were expressed in bile ducts showing chronic nonsuppurative destructive cholangitis (CNSDC) in PBC and hepatitic duct injuries in CH. In EBO and hepatolithiasis, MUC1 apomucin was focally and weakly expressed in 29% and 30% of livers examined, respectively. More MUC1 apomucin was expressed in PBC and CH than in EBO, hepatolithiasis, and normal liver (P < .01, respectively). Frequent and high luminal expression of MUC1 apomucin on biliary epithelial cells in damaged small bile ducts in PBC and CH may be related to T-cell-mediated immunologic mechanisms in these diseases, probably by an MHC-unrestricted recognition process.
 ...
PMID:Frequent expression of MUC1 apomucin on biliary epithelial cells of damaged small bile ducts in primary biliary cirrhosis and chronic viral hepatitis: an immunohistochemical study. 867 44

The diagnostic value of a new tumor marker, c-erbB-2, was studied in the sera of 50 controls, 112 patients with benign diseases and 534 patients with malignancies. Using 15 U/ml as the cutoff, no healthy subjects, patients with benign diseases (excluding liver cirrhosis) or patients with no evidence of disease (45 patients) had serum levels higher than this limit. Abnormal c-erbB-2 levels were found in 38.5% (10 of 26) of the patients with liver cirrhosis and in 26.7% (8 of 30) of those patients with primary liver cancer. No differences were found between the c-erbB-2 serum concentrations in liver cirrhosis or primary liver cancer, suggesting the possible catabolism of this antigen in the liver. Abnormal levels of this antigen were found in 20% (56 of 278) of the patients with breast carcinoma (locoregional 7%, metastases 41.5%), in 21% (6 of 28) of ovarian carcinomas (stage I-II 0%, stage III-IV 42.8%), in 21% (3 of 14) of the colorectal tumors (locoregional 0%, metastases 30%), and in 13.3% (11 of 83) of the patients with lung cancer (locoregional 11.5%, metastases 16%). C-erbB-2 sensitivity in other patients with advanced disease was: 25% (9 of 36) in prostatic cancer, 22% (2 of 9) in gastric cancer, and 11% (1 of 9) in vesical tumors. When patients with liver metastases were excluded abnormal c-erbB-2 serum levels were only found in breast, lung, prostatic and ovarian carcinomas. C-erbB-2 sensitivity in patients with lung cancer was related to tumor histology with significantly higher value in non-small cell lung cancer (mainly adenocarcinomas) than in patients with small cell lung cancer (p < 0.013). C-erbB-2 concentrations in patients with breast cancer were significantly higher in patients with recurrence (mainly bone and liver metastases) and in patients with progesterone receptor-negative (< 15 fmol/mg) tumors (p < 0.01). In conclusion, c-erbB-2 is not a specific tumor marker and abnormal serum levels may be found in patients with liver pathologies. Its sensitivity suggests its possible application as a tumor marker in breast, ovarian, lung (mainly adenocarcinomas) and prostatic tumors.
 ...
PMID:Serum levels of C-erbB-2 (HER-2/neu) in patients with malignant and non-malignant diseases. 914 15

Cigarette smoking has been clearly and unambiguously identified as a direct cause of cancers of the oral cavity, oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, larynx, lung, bladder, kidney and leukaemia, especially acute myeloid leukaemia. Additionally, cigarette smoking is a direct cause of ischaemic heart disease (the commonest cause of death in western countries), respiratory heart disease, aortic aneurysm, chronic obstructive lung disease, stroke, pneumonia and cirrhosis and cancer of the liver. Cigarette smoking can kill in 24 different ways and, although smoking protects against several fatal and non-fatal conditions, the adverse effect of smoking on health is largely negative. In developed countries as a whole, tobacco is responsible for 24% of all male deaths and 7% of all female deaths: these figures rise to over 40% in men in some countries of central and eastern Europe and to 17% in women in the United States. The average loss of life of smokers is 8 years. Among United Kingdom doctors followed for 40 years, overall death rates in middle age were about three times higher among doctors who smoked cigarettes as among doctors who had never smoked regularly. About half of all regular cigarette smokers will eventually be killed by their habit. The important information is that it is never too late to stop smoking: among United Kingdom doctors who stopped smoking, even in middle age, there was a substantial improvement in life expectancy. World-wide, smoking is killing three million people each year and this figure is increasing. In most countries the worst is yet to come, since by the time the young smokers of today reach middle or old age there will be about 10 million deaths/year from tobacco. Approximately 500 million individuals alive today can expect to be killed by tobacco, 250 million of these deaths will occur in middle age. Tobacco is already the biggest cause of adult death in developed countries. Over the next few decades tobacco could well become the biggest cause of adult death in the world. For men in developed countries, the full effects of smoking can already be seen. Tobacco now causes one-third of all male deaths in middle age (plus one fifth in old age). Tobacco is a cause of about half of all male cancer deaths in middle age (plus one-third in old age). Of those who start smoking in their teenage years and keep on smoking, about half will be killed by tobacco. Half of these deaths will be in middle age (35-69) and each will lose an average of 20-25 years of non-smoker life expectancy. In non-smokers in many countries, cancer mortality is decreasing slowly and total mortality rapidly. The war against cancer is being won slowly: the effects of cigarette smoking are holding back this victory. Lung cancer now kills more women in the United States each year than breast cancer. For women in developed countries, the peak of the tobacco epidemic has not yet arrived. Tobacco now causes almost one-third of all deaths in women in middle age in the United States. Although it has only 5% of the world's female population, the United States has 50% of the world's deaths from smoking in women. Tobacco smoking is a major cause of premature death. Throughout Europe, in 1990 tobacco smoking caused three quarters of a million deaths in middle age (between 35 and 69). In the Member States of the European Union in 1990 there were over one quarter of a million deaths in middle age directly caused by tobacco smoking: there were 219700 in men and 31900 in women. There were many more deaths caused by tobacco at older ages. In countries of central and eastern Europe, including the former USSR, there were 441200 deaths in middle age in men and 42100 deaths in women. There is a need for urgent action to help contain this important and unnecessary loss of life. In formulating Recommendations, the European Cancer Experts Consensus Committee recognised that Tobacco Control depends on various parts of society and not only on the individual.
 ...
PMID:Cancer, cigarette smoking and premature death in Europe: a review including the Recommendations of European Cancer Experts Consensus Meeting, Helsinki, October 1996. 919 26

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a liver disease of unknown etiology characterized by chronic nonsuppurative destructive cholangitis (CNSDC) of intrahepatic septal and interlobular bile ducts. It is generally defined as an autoimmune disease. Characteristically, patients with PBC have a cholestatic serum hepatic profile and circulating antimitochondrial antibodies (AMA). PBC is progressive and ultimately leads to biliary cirrhosis and liver failure. It occurs at least three times more often in women than in men and it is the most common indication for liver transplantation in women around the world. There is no known cure for PBC. Despite the remarkable progress elucidating the genetics of breast cancer, and the effort placed on breast cancer education and screening methods, the mortality of breast cancer remains unacceptably high. In this essay, we describe the similarities between breast cancer and PBC and how their pathogenesis may be related. The hypothesis stated herein has evolved from reports from the early 1980s that linked an increased risk for breast cancer with PBC, and from the author's clinical experience with patients who suffer from both diseases. The association between these two diseases in the USA merits further investigation. If it is confirmed, risk factors involved in their pathogenesis will be identified.
 ...
PMID:Primary biliary cirrhosis in patients with breast cancer: studying the link. 971 Mar 16


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>