Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0035412 (rhabdomyosarcoma)
6,156 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have previously demonstrated that vascular endothelial growth factor-165 (VEGF), a tumor-secreted angiogenic factor, can acutely and chronically induce fenestrations in microvascular endothelium (Cancer Res 1997, 57:765-772). Because the morphology and function of microvascular endothelium differs from tissue to tissue, we undertook studies to examine whether the neovasculature in tumors also differed depending upon tumor location. Four tumor types implanted in the brain or subcutis in nude mice were studied: a murine rhabdomyosarcoma (M1S), a murine mammary carcinoma (EMT), and two human glioblastomas (U87 and U251). In addition, we studied Chinese hamster ovary cells stably transfected with human VEGF165. As previously reported, tumors grown in the subcutaneous space had a microvasculature that was fenestrated and had open endothelial gaps. The identical tumors when grown in the brain also had fenestrated endothelium and vessels with open endothelial gaps, but they were drastically reduced in occurrence. Open endothelial gaps were not seen in all tumors implanted in the brain (EMT and M1S), although fenestrated endothelium was always seen. VEGF and VEGF receptors were measured in tumors from both locations by immunoblotting and competitive polymerase chain reaction, respectively. VEGF amount was not significantly different between the tumor locations. Interestingly, total tumor vascular mRNA expression of both Flk-1 and Flt-1 was greater in tumor vessels derived from the brain compared with tumor vessels derived from subcutaneous tissues. These results demonstrate that the host microvascular environment determines the morphology and function of the tumor vasculature and that endothelia from different tissues vary in their ability to express the VEGF receptors given identical stimuli.
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PMID:Host microvasculature influence on tumor vascular morphology and endothelial gene expression. 977 55

The development of a neovascular supply (angiogenesis) is a major aspect of tumorigenesis. Recent work has indicated that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major regulator of angiogenesis. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that an anti-VEGF antibody is capable of suppressing the growth of human tumor cell lines. The following study was conducted in tumor-bearing nude mice to evaluate the concentration-response relationship of murine anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (muMAb VEGF) so that an efficacious plasma concentration of the recombinant humanized form (rhuMAb VEGF) in cancer patients could be estimated. (This study was included in our Investigational New Drug application to support the clinical dosing regimen and projected human safety factors for the toxicology program.) Additionally, the growth dynamics of the tumors were evaluated as a function of dose to explore whether a mechanismic interpretation of tumor growth inhibition by muMAb VEGF is possible. On day 1, A673 human rhabdomyosarcoma cells (2 x 10(6) cells/mouse) were injected subcutaneously in 188 beige nude mice (16-24 g). Treatment with muMAb VEGF (0.05-5.0 mg/kg; n = 24/group), phosphate-buffered saline (n = 10), or anti-gp120 isotype-matched control antibody (5.0 mg/kg; n = 10) began 24 hr later. Each animal received intraperitoneal injections of test material twice weekly for 4 wk. Immediately prior to each dose, 2 mice from each muMAb VEGF group were selected randomly, and plasma was collected for pharmacokinetic evaluation; at the end of the study, samples were collected from all animals for pharmacokinetic evaluation. Tumor dimensions were recorded weekly, and at the end of the study, tumor weight and dimensions were recorded. Satisfactory tumor suppression in nude mice was achieved at muMAb VEGF doses of > or =2.5 mg/kg, where the average trough muMAb VEGF plasma concentration was 30 microg/ml (concentrations in individual animals >10 microg/ml). Assuming the pharmacokinetics of rhuMAb VEGF in patients will resemble the pharmacokinetics of a similar humanized anticancer monoclonal antibodies, a clinical dosing regimen was designed to maintain the rhuMAb VEGF plasma concentration in this efficacious range. This study shows an approach that can be used to estimate a human dosing regimen from preclinical pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data. Because we have just initiated clinical trials with rhuMAb VEGF we cannot judge clinical outcome in relation to these preclinical predictions; nonetheless, it is hoped that by sharing our approach and thought processes with other investigators we can assist the discovery and development of anticancer therapeutics.
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PMID:Efficacy and concentration-response of murine anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody in tumor-bearing mice and extrapolation to humans. 1036 67

Growth of the human rhabdomyosarcoma A673 cell line in nude mice is substantially reduced but not completely suppressed after systemic administration of the antihuman vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibody (Mab) A.4.6.1. Potentially, such escape might be attributable to incomplete local penetration of the antibody because of a diffusion barrier associated with tumor growth. Alternatively, it might reflect a compensatory up-regulation of murine VEGF, produced by the stroma of the host, or of other angiogenic factor genes. To test these potential mechanisms, systemic administration of Mab A.4.6.1, was performed in conjunction with intratumoral administration of an irrelevant antibody, an antihuman VEGF Fab or mFlt(1-3)-IgG that neutralizes both human and murine VEGF. Tumor growth in the systemic-plus-intratumoral anti-VEGF group was not different from that in the systemic anti-VEGF-plus-intratumoral-control antibody group, arguing against the possibility that bioavailability is the factor that limits the antitumor efficacy of Mab A.4.6.1. However, intratumoral mFlt(l-3)-IgG administration dramatically enhanced the activity of systemic anti-VEGF Mab and resulted in complete suppression of tumor growth, which indicated that host VEGF significantly contributes to tumor growth. Systemic administration of mFlt(1-3)-IgG alone replicated these findings. Histological analysis of residual tumor tissues revealed an almost complete absence of host-derived vasculature and massive tumor-cell necrosis in the mFlt(1-3)-IgG groups. Such extensive necrotic areas were not present in the other groups. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR analysis of total RNA derived from tumor tissues indicated strong up-regulation of both human and murine VEGF as well as other genes regulated by hypoxia. Our findings emphasize the need to completely block VEGF for maximal inhibition of tumor growth.
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PMID:Complete inhibition of rhabdomyosarcoma xenograft growth and neovascularization requires blockade of both tumor and host vascular endothelial growth factor. 1110 79

Ewing's sarcoma is the second most frequent primary bone cancer, with approximately 225 new cases diagnosed each year in patients less than 20 years of age in North America. It is one of the pediatric small round blue cell tumors, characterized by strong membrane expression of CD99 in a chain-mail pattern and negativity for lymphoid (CD45), rhabdomyosarcoma (myogenin, desmin, actin) and neuroblastoma (neurofilament protein) markers. Pathognomonic translocations involving the ews gene on chromosome 22 and an ets-type gene, most commonly the fli1 gene on chromosome 11, are implicated in the great majority of cases. Clinical presentation is usually dominated by local bone pain and a mass. Imaging reveals a technetium pyrophosphate avid lesion that, on plain radiograph, is destructive, diaphyseal and classically causes layered periosteal calcification. Magnetic resonance best defines the extent of the lesion. Biopsy should be undertaken by an experienced orthopedic oncologist. Approximately three quarters of patients have initially localized disease. About two thirds survive disease-free. Management, preferably at a specialist center with a multi-disciplinary team, includes both local control-either surgery, radiation or a combination-and systemic chemotherapy. Chemotherapy includes cyclic combinations, incorporating vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, ifosfamide and occasionally actinomycin D. Topotecan in combination with cyclophosphamide has shown preliminary activity. Patients with initially metastatic disease fare less well, with about one quarter surviving. Studies incorporating intensive therapy followed by stem cell infusion show no clear benefit. New approaches include anti-angiogenic therapy, particularly since vascular endothelial growth factor is an apparent downstream target of the ews-fli1 oncogene.
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PMID:Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors: current management. 1672 Aug 51

Angiogenesis is one of the critical steps in tumor growth and metastasis. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether the antitumor activity of CCI-779 is related to antiangiogenic effects in vivo in tumors of mice bearing human rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) xenografts. We now demonstrate that CCI-779 rapidly inhibits mTOR activity, as indicated by S6 reduction and eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) phosphorylation in two xenograft models of RMS within 24 hours of treatment. Treatment with a single 20-mg/kg dose of CCI-779 suppressed S6 phosphorylation for more than 72 hours and 4E-BP1 phosphorylation for more than 96 hours. Based on these data, an intermittent treatment schedule (every 3 days for 30 days) was chosen and displayed a significant suppression of both tumor growth and mTOR signaling. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemical studies demonstrated that the antitumor activity of CCI-779 was associated with antiangiogenesis, as indicated by impaired levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (Hif-1alpha) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) protein expression and by decreased microvessel density in Rh30 and RD xenografts. Together, these data suggest that CCI-779 inhibits human RMS xenograft growth by an antiangiogenic mechanism associated with the targeting of mTOR/Hif-1alpha/VEGF signaling.
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PMID:CCI-779 inhibits rhabdomyosarcoma xenograft growth by an antiangiogenic mechanism linked to the targeting of mTOR/Hif-1alpha/VEGF signaling. 1679 88

In 1999, Maniotis described a novel process by which tumors develop a highly patterned microcirculation that was independent of angiogenesis: in aggressive primary and metastatic melanomas, tumor cells generate non-endothelial cell-lined microcirculatory channels composed of extracellular matrix and lined externally by tumor cells. They named the process "vasculogenic mimicry" (VM). Folberg used PAS staining to show VM network, and identified 7 morphologic patterns of PAS-positive channels uveal melanomas which were confirmed as tubular type and patterned matrix type. Maniotis suggested PAS-positive patterns of VM in uveal melanoma are indeed a form of tumor microcirculation which is different from angiogenesis, and it is not a stromal host response at the interface between the tumor and the surrounding host stroma. VM has also been observed in carcinomas of the breast, prostate, ovary and lung, glioblastoma, synoviosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and phaeochromocytoma, and in the process of placenta formation from cytotrophoblasts. The molecular "signature" of aggressive melanoma cells is illustrative of an undifferentiated cell with a gene expression profile that is similar to that of embryonic-like cells. VE-cadherin, EphA2, laminin5 gamma2, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C), LYVE1, TF and NOTCH are important components of molecular switch of vasculogenic mimicry. The heterogeneity of tumor vasculature and the molecular regulation mechanisms present an opportunity for tumor therapy.
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PMID:[Vasculogenic mimicry--potential target for tumor therapy]. 1683 Dec 90

For the subgroup of patients with inoperable gastrointestinal stromal tumors, progress has been made by the rapid development and approval of the targeted therapy imatinib mesylate. Small round cell sarcoma, such as Ewing/PNET, desmoplastic small round cell sarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma, are chemotherapy-sensitive and potentially curable malignancies, which are treated with multimodality, dose-intensitive and neoadjuvant protocols regardless of size or overt metastatic disease. A limited number of effective agents available for the treatment of patients with metastatic adult soft-tissue sarcoma exists, which have failed anthracyline and ifosfamide-based chemotherapy. Most other high-grade (grading >I) so-called adult-type soft-tissue sarcomas such as fibro, lipo, pleomorphic and synovial sarcoma are treated with a anthracycline-based regimen with or without ifosfamide as front-line therapy. In this review, the therapeutic activities of drugs currently available as second-line treatment in patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma are summarized, providing an overview of contentious or emerging treatment issues. In relapsed 'adult-type' soft-tissue sarcomas trofosfamide, gemcitabine and ecteinascidin (ET-743) appear to be drugs associated with moderate activity and an acceptable toxicity profile. An interesting finding to be noted is that the different drugs have particular effects in distinct subtypes of soft-tissue sarcoma; however, it has to be taken into account that the number of patients included in those phase II trials are limited. The role of the newer agents (e.g. patupilone derivates, brostallicin) is currently not definable. The so-called selective therapy targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (receptor), epidermal growth factor receptor, c-kit, Raf kinase or platelet-derived growth factor receptor and bcl-2 antisensing, proteasome, protein kinase C/B, and mammalian target of rabamycin inhibition will continue to be tested in gastrointestinal stromal tumors patients refractory to imatinib mesylate as well as in selected sarcoma subtypes.
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PMID:Systemic treatment options for patients with refractory adult-type sarcoma beyond anthracyclines. 1726 55

Tumor growth depends on blood supply, requiring the development of new vessels, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a central role in neoangiogenic processes. For this reason, VEGF represents a target for the development of new therapeutic antiangiogenic molecules. Clinical trials using anti-VEGF mAbs such as bevacizumab have validated the efficacy of this therapeutic approach but have also revealed adverse effects. Here we report that a VEGF-derived immunogen, consisting of a heterocomplex of a murine (m)VEGF and keyhole limpet hemocyanin, called "mVEGF kinoid," triggered a strong Ab immune response in mice. The anti-VEGF Abs inhibited both the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells cultured in the presence of mVEGF and the binding of mVEGF to its receptor-2 Flk-1. In mVEGF kinoid-immunized BALB/c mice challenged with syngeneic CT26 colorectal tumor cells, the number and size of lung metastases were significantly decreased. In human (h)VEGF kinoid-immunized BALB/c mice, high levels of serum Abs to hVEGF were present, and purified IgG from these mice decreased by > or =50% the tumor growth of human A673 rhabdomyosarcoma cells and HT29 colon carcinoma xenografted in Swiss nude and NOD/SCID mice, respectively. Tumor cell growth inhibition was similar to that observed in mice receiving therapeutic doses of bevacizumab. These experiments suggest that a therapeutic vaccine containing VEGF kinoid may represent a strategy for safely combating VEGF-dependent neovascularization and metastases occurring in malignant tumors.
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PMID:VEGF kinoid vaccine, a therapeutic approach against tumor angiogenesis and metastases. 1766 4

Levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are regulated, in part, through activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase/Akt pathway. Using pharmacologic inhibitors, we have examined the relative contributions of Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling to VEGF production in neuroblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma cells growing under normoxic (21% O(2)) or hypoxic (1% O(2)) conditions. Exogenous VEGF stimulated both Akt and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation in six of seven rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines but in only one of seven neuroblastoma cells, suggesting autocrine stimulation predominantly in rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines. In general, under normoxic conditions, neuroblastoma cells produced more VEGF (120-1,180 pg/10(6) cells/24 h) compared with rhabdomyosarcoma lines (0-200 pg/10(6) cells/24 h). Rapamycin, a selective inhibitor of mTOR, reduced VEGF production in rhabdomyosarcoma cells under normoxic conditions and partially suppressed hypoxia-driven increases in VEGF. However, it poorly inhibited VEGF production under either condition in the majority of neuroblastoma cell lines despite inhibition of mTOR signaling. Rapamycin failed to modulate levels of hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha (HIF-1alpha) under normoxic conditions and modestly reduced hypoxia-driven increases in HIF-1alpha only in rhabdomyosarcoma cells. In contrast to rapamycin, inhibition of Akt by A-443654 completely blocked signaling to glycogen synthase kinase 3beta and had more dramatic effects on VEGF production. Notably, A-443654 significantly inhibited VEGF production in rapamycin-refractory neuroblastoma cell lines. Importantly, whereas combining A-443654 with rapamycin had variable effect on cell proliferation, the combination essentially blocked hypoxia-driven increases in VEGF in all cell lines examined, suggesting that dual blockade at different levels in the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase-initiated signaling pathway may be a reasonable strategy for preventing VEGF production in cancer cells derived from pediatric solid tumors. However, this will require formal testing in vivo using animal models of childhood cancer.
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PMID:Differential regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor by Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors in cell lines derived from childhood solid tumors. 1748 38

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma of adolescence and childhood. Because RMS tumors are highly vascularized, we sought to determine which factors secreted by RMS cells are crucial in stimulating angiogenesis in response to hypoxia. To address this issue, we evaluated expression of several proangiogenic factors [interleukin (IL)-8, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2, stromal-derived factor (SDF)-1, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF)] in 8 human RMS cell lines in both normal steady-state and hypoxic conditions. We found by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) and confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that from all the factors evaluated, IL-8, whose expression is very low in normoxia, had been very highly expressed and secreted by RMS cells lines during hypoxic conditions ( approximately 40-170 times). Interestingly, this upregulation was not affected by knocking down hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha, but was inhibited by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)p42/44 and phosphatidylinositaol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway inhibitors. This suggests that IL-8 expression is regulated in an activating protein (AP)-1- and nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB-dependent manner. Furthermore, we found that conditioned media (CM) harvested from RMS cells exposed to hypoxia activated and stimulated chemotactic responses in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and that IL-8 was responsible for hypoxia-related effects. Finally, by employing shRNA, the expression of IL-8 in human RH-30 cells was downregulated. We noticed that such RMS cells, if injected into skeletal muscles of immunodeficient mice, have a reduced ability for tumor formation. We conclude that IL-8 is a pivotal proangiogenic factor released by human RMS cells in hypoxic conditions and that the targeting of IL-8 may prove to be a novel and efficient strategy for inhibiting RMS growth.
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PMID:Selective upregulation of interleukin-8 by human rhabdomyosarcomas in response to hypoxia: therapeutic implications. 1958 9


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