Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0699790 (colon cancer)
 28,837 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The frequency of colorectal cancer increased during the first half of the twentieth century, but for the last four decades, it appears to have stabilized. Today, the average American has a 5 percent probability of developing colorectal cancer during a 70-year life span. The majority of cases occur in persons aged greater than 50 years; the incidence increases up to age 75 years, after which there is a decline. Etiology is unknown; however, environment, genetics, and carcinogens have been implicated. Genetic relations of skin tags, colon polyps, and colon cancer are a matter of ongoing research. If such relations could be established, it could provide clinicians with a possible additional marker for persons at increased risk of colorectal adenoma and adenocarcinoma. Two cases are presented with a brief review of the literature.
 ...
PMID:Skin tags--a marker for colon polyps? 237 57

To ascertain whether acrochordons (simple skin tags) are associated with a higher risk for colon polyps, we prospectively studied 218 male and female patients, age 40 or older without history of colon cancer, polyps, ulcerative colitis, familial polyposis, or recent lower intestinal symptoms. Each patient was assessed for the presence of skin tags. A screening flexible sigmoidoscopy was then performed without knowledge of the dermatologic findings. All polypoid lesions were recorded, and patients with polyps greater than or equal to 3 mm in diameter underwent full colonoscopy and polypectomy. Twenty patients (9.2%) had documented adenomatous polyps on colonoscopy. Nineteen other patients had hyperplastic polyps and mamillations. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of polypoid lesions in those with skin tags compared with those without skin tags, either analyzed as group totals or stratified by age, sex, or type of polyp. We conclude that skin tags are not associated with a higher than usual risk for colonic polyps and should not be used as a marker for more intensive screening.
 ...
PMID:Skin tags are not a risk factor for colorectal polyps. 275 16

Seventeen patients with acromegaly were prospectively studied with barium enemas and colonoscopy to investigate the possibility that acromegaly is associated with an increased frequency of colonic polyps and colon cancer. Polyps were identified in nine patients and were removed and examined in eight. In five patients the polyps were adenomatous, and in four of the five there were multiple polyps. The presence of polyps closely correlated with the presence of skin tags (p = 0.041) and also with the age of the patient (p less than 0.01). No new cases of colonic cancer were discovered; however, reviewing the records of 44 patients with acromegaly, four cases were previously diagnosed with colon carcinoma. This study identifies a unique group of patients that are at risk for the development of colonic polyps and perhaps colon cancer.
 ...
PMID:Colonic polyps in patients with acromegaly. 709 3

A number of recent preclinical studies have sparked interest in the concept of exploiting conventional chemotherapeutic drugs as antiangiogenics. Such antiangiogenic activity is achieved or optimized by metronomic-dosing protocols in which the drug is given at comparatively low doses using a frequent schedule of administration (e.g., once to three times per week) with no breaks, particularly when combined with an endothelial cell-specific antiangiogenic drug. The use of p.o. chemotherapeutic drugs is particularly suitable for this type of treatment strategy. We tested one such drug, cyclophosphamide (CTX), in a protocol wherein the drug was administered to mice at low doses, of approximately 10-40 mg/kg on a daily basis through the drinking water. CTX is typically given p.o. to patients, but it has almost always been injected when treating preclinical mouse tumor models. We found p.o. CTX to be a safe and convenient treatment with significant antitumor efficacy. Growth delays were observed for human orthotopic breast or ectopic colon cancer xenografts in nude or SCID mice. Established PC3 human prostate tumor xenografts could be induced to almost fully regress, remaining virtually nonpalpable for > or =2 months of continuous therapy, after which tumors began to grow progressively. These re-emergent tumors were not found to be drug resistant when tested in new hosts, using the same treatment protocol. Regression of spontaneously arising, late-stage pancreatic islet cell carcinomas in Rip Tag transgenic mice was also observed. The effects of continuous p.o. CTX treatment were enhanced significantly in an orthotopic, metastatic breast cancer xenograft model when used in combination with an antivascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 blocking antibody. Maximum tolerated dose levels established for other mouse strains proved highly toxic to SCID mice, whereas daily p.o. low-dose regimens of CTX were well tolerated. Taken together, the results demonstrate the feasibility of delivering CTX in a p.o. metronomic chemotherapy regimen, which proved safe, reasonably efficacious, and potentially applicable to chronic treatment. Such a regimen may be particularly well suited for integration with antiangiogenic drugs.
 ...
PMID:Antitumor effects in mice of low-dose (metronomic) cyclophosphamide administered continuously through the drinking water. 1201 44

S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC) is an essential enzyme for the synthesis of spermidine and spermine in the biosynthetic pathway of polyamines. The total RNA was extracted from colon cancer tissue and amplified by reverse-transcription PCR with two primers, which span the coding region of SAMDC alpha subunit. Clone vector pMD18-T-SAMDC-alpha was successfully constructed by using T-A clone technique. pMD18-T-SAMDC-alpha and pTriEx-4 were digested by NcoI and XhoI double enzymes. The purified SAMDC-alpha fragment was subcloned into the expression vector pTriEx-4 to construct the prokaryotic expression plasmid pTriEx-4-SAMDC-alpha. The recombinant plasmid pTriEx-4-SAMDC-alpha was transformed into competence E. coli JM109 (DE3). The bacterium was induced by IPTG and its lysates were loaded directly onto SDS-PAGE. An approximately 32 kDa exogenous protein was observed on the SDS-PAGE. The protein was verified by Western blot with anti His.Tag monoclonal antibody. The fusion protein including 6 x His.Tag was purified by Ni-NTA chromatographic column. Then, the purified protein can be applied for further research of the immunity of SAMDC.
 ...
PMID:Cloning, expression and purification of human S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase gene alpha subunit. 1759