Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P61278 (somatostatin)
 22,083 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Hepatocellular carcinoma is responsible in France for approximately 5,500 deaths per year. Incidence rates are growing and the general status of patients is improving mainly because of earlier diagnosis and improvement in the treatment of complications of liver cirrhosis. In most of the cases the severity of the underlying liver disease is the prominent prognostic factor. Its treatment remains a difficult challenge for oncologists. Unfortunately surgery is usually contraindicated. Most trials of systemic chemotherapy are disappointing with poor response rates and severe side effects; new drugs and direct delivery in the hepatic artery appear to be of interest. Results with interferon are interesting but requires more studies. The lack of efficacy of antiandrogenic and antiestrogenic treatments were recently demonstrated; a recent randomized study showing the interest of somatostatin requires confirmation. Reports on radiotherapy are anecdotals. A lot of studies using liver directed therapies were conducted worldwide. Percutaneous ethanol injections (PEI) are well tolerated and are highly effective in small solitary tumors (> 70% of complete necrosis) but less in larger tumors; recurrences are frequent. No randomized trial have been performed concerning PEI but survival rates seem similar to those of surgery. A randomized controlled trial recently demonstrates that injection of acetic acid is more effective than injection of ethanol. Chemoembolization was extensively studied because of the demonstration of objective responses but all trials failed to demonstrate an improvement in survival. Intraarterial injection of radioactive Lipiodol achieves the same response rate and the same survival than chemoembolization but is significantly best tolerated. This treatment is superior to best supportive cares in patients with portal vein thrombosis. In conclusion, despite the fact that this disease is very frequent we have currently too many treatment options and are lacking of simple rules. The best treatment remains prevention, and the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccination was recently demonstrated in Taiwan.
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PMID:[Nonsurgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma]. 1041 27

Opioids, acting via G-protein coupled membrane receptors, induce analgesia. However their role is not limited to their anti-nociceptive action. They are found in several peripheral tissues acting as negative regulators of cellular processes. Even though that is not fully elucidated, it becomes obvious that opioids exert their effects in close relation to other neuropeptides such as somatostatin. Hepatocellular carcinoma is one tumor, among others, which secrete bioactive peptides while somatostatin analogs exert an inhibitory effect. We have used the human hepatocyte-derived cancer cell line HepG2, in order to examine the effect of opioids on cell growth and their possible mode of action. Our results show that the opioid ethylketocyclazocine (EKC) inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis. This inhibitory effect is not exerted via opioids receptors since it was not reversed by the opioid antagonist diprenorphine and functional opioid receptors were not found on HepG2 cells. On the contrary, we show that EKC binds to somatostatin receptors, and activates a PTP signalling cascade. In this respect, the interaction of opioids with somatostatin receptors on hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and the fact that they are widely used for pain control, may provide some additional clues for the discrepancies during treatment with somatostatin analogues.
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PMID:The inhibitory effect of opioids on HepG2 cells is mediated via interaction with somatostatin receptors. 1711 72

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related death, and its incidence is increasing worldwide. Due to the known risk factors (mainly hepatitis B and C viruses), we believe there is a rationale for a chemopreventive approach to treat HCC. Here, based on described in vitro data, we evaluated the preventive effects of lanreotide, a somatostatin analog, on the induction of early carcinogenic events. We monitored preneoplastic foci induced by a two-stage initiation/promotion model of hepatocarcinogenesis in male Wistar rats, using diethylnitrosamine and 2-acetylaminofluorene. Lanreotide was given starting the day after the first diethylnitrosamine injection. By quantitative morphometry, we showed that lanreotide significantly decreases the size of induced preneoplastic foci. Analysis of proliferation and apoptosis assessed by immunohistochemistry, showed decreased proliferation and increased cell death in rats treated with lanreotide. As these events were associated with a significant decreased expression of the cell cycle regulator cyclin D1 and an increased expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(kip1) compared to the non-treated group, it is tempting to speculate that these factors are involved in the favorable effect of lanreotide. In conclusion, lanreotide significantly decreases early carcinogenic transformation in a two-step rat model. As lanreotide has a low toxicity profile, we believe it would be interesting to evaluate its effect in chemoprevention of HCC.
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PMID:Inhibition of early preneoplastic events in the rat liver by the somatostatin analog lanreotide. 1790 Mar 9

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a hypervascular tumor, and tumor progression and prognosis is associated with angiogenesis. Extracellular matrix remodeling and inflammation play important roles in hepatocarcinogenesis. Some ingredients of extracellular matrix such as endostatin and sulfated polysaccharide, some immunomodulatory agents and cox-2 inhibitor suppress the angiogenesis of HCC. Because vasculogenic mimicry is associated with high tumor grade, some differentiation agents are used to inhibit antiagiogenesis. Besides suppressing the proliferation directly, somatostatin inhibits angiogenesis to suppress growth indirectly. Copper chelator prevents copper from functioning as a cofactor in angiogenesis. The renin-angiotensin system is frequently activated in patients with chronic liver diseases. Perindopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, inhibits angiogenesis by reducing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production. Kinase inhibitors of VEGF and epidermal growth factor receptors are expected to be of benefit for some patients. Following transarterial embolisation and/or resection, antiangiogenic therapy could prevent the recurring and metastasis. Hypoxia enhances the proliferation, suppresses the differentiation and apoptosis, and induces multidrug resistance of HCC. Because antiangiogenic therapies induce hypoxia, it should be borne in mind the side affects of antiangiogenic therapy. Because long-acting antiangiogenent are needed to control cancer, it needs more clinical studies to confirm the drug resistance of antiangiogenetic therapy.
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PMID:New strategy of antiangiogenic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma. 1899 74

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing worldwide and is the third cause of cancer-related death. HCC develops in a pre-neoplastic organ, the cirrhotic liver. Therefore, chemoprevention could play a role in the management of HCC. We have previously shown that lanreotide, a somatostatin analogue, inhibits the development of "foci of altered hepatocytes", which represent very early neoplastic changes in rat liver. Here we induced bona fide HCC by means of a different chemically induced model that is known to lead to significant fibrosis before HCC appearance. Lanreotide was given from the beginning of the experiment in one group and from the time when significant fibrosis was present in the second group. Lanreotide decreased the frequency of occurrence of HCC in both groups. In both groups, significant decreases in hepatocyte proliferation and inhibition of fibrosis were demonstrated. When given at the start of the experiment, lanreotide dramatically decreased levels of angiogenic factors and enhanced apoptosis. Further work on the anti-tumoral effect of lanreotide is called for to assess the mechanistic relationships of its anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic actions on liver neoplastic cells.
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PMID:Efficacy of lanreotide in preventing the occurrence of chemically induced hepatocellular carcinoma in rats. 1987 7

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide. Different signalling pathways have been identified to be implicated in the pathogenesis of HCC; among these, GH, IGF and somatostatin (SST) pathways have emerged as some of the major pathways implicated in the development of HCC. Physiologically, GH-IGF-SST system plays a crucial role in liver growth and development since GH induces IGF1 and IGF2 secretion and the expression of their receptors, involved in hepatocytes cell proliferation, differentiation and metabolism. On the other hand, somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) are exclusively present on the biliary tract. Importantly, the GH-IGF-SST system components have been indicated as regulators of hepatocarcinogenesis. Reduction of GH binding affinity to GH receptor, decreased serum IGF1 and increased serum IGF2 production, overexpression of IGF1 receptor, loss of function of IGF2 receptor and appearance of SSTRs are frequently observed in human HCC. In particular, recently, many studies have evaluated the correlation between increased levels of IGF1 receptors and liver diseases and the oncogenic role of IGF2 and its involvement in angiogenesis, migration and, consequently, in tumour progression. SST directly or indirectly influences tumour growth and development through the inhibition of cell proliferation and secretion and induction of apoptosis, even though SST role in hepatocarcinogenesis is still opened to argument. This review addresses the present evidences suggesting a role of the GH-IGF-SST system in the development and progression of HCC, and describes the therapeutic perspectives, based on the targeting of GH-IGF-SST system, which have been hypothesised and experimented in HCC.
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PMID:The GH-IGF-SST system in hepatocellular carcinoma: biological and molecular pathogenetic mechanisms and therapeutic targets. 2522 71

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a type of malignant cancer. Notch signaling is aberrantly expressed in HCC tissues with more evidence showing that this signaling plays a critical role in HCCs. In the present study, we investigate the effects of the anti-convulsant drug valproic acid (VPA) in HCC cells and its involvement in modulating Notch signaling. We found that VPA, acting as a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, induced a decrease in HDAC4 and an increase in acetylated histone 4 (AcH4) and suppressed HCC cell growth. VPA also induced down-regulation of Notch signaling via suppressing the expression of Notch1 and its target gene HES1, with an increase of tumor suppressor p21 and p63. Furthermore, Notch1 activation via overexpressing Notch1 active form ICN1 induced HCC cell proliferation and anti-apoptosis, indicating Notch signaling played an oncogenic role in HCC cells. Meanwhile, VPA could reverse Notch1-induced increase of cell proliferation. Interestingly, VPA was also observed to stimulate the expression of G protein-coupled somatostatin receptor type 2 (SSTR2) that has been used in receptor-targeting therapies. This discovery supports a combination therapy of VPA with the SSTR2-targeting agents. Our in vitro assay did show that the combination of VPA and the peptide-drug conjugate camptothecin-somatostatin (CPT-SST) displayed more potent anti-proliferative effects on HCC cells than did each alone. VPA may be a potential drug candidate in the development of anti-HCC drugs via targeting Notch signaling, especially in combination with receptor-targeting cytotoxic agents.
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PMID:The Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Vaproic Acid Induces Cell Growth Arrest in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells via Suppressing Notch Signaling. 2636 13

Hepatocellular carcinoma, one of the most dreaded complications of cirrhosis, is a frequent cancer with high mortality. Early primary liver cancer can be treated by surgery or ablation techniques, but advanced hepatocellular carcinoma remains a challenge for clinicians. Most of these patients have underlying cirrhosis, which complicates or even precludes treatment. Therefore, efficacious treatments without major side effects are welcomed. Initial results of treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with somatostatin analogues were promising, but subsequent trials have resulted in conflicting outcomes. This might be explained by different patient populations, differences in dosage and type of treatment and differences in somatostatin receptor expression in the tumor or surrounding tissue. It has been shown that the expression of somatostatin receptors in the tumor might be of importance to select patients who could benefit from treatment with somatostatin analogues. Moreover, somatostatin receptor expression in hepatocellular carcinoma has been shown to correlate with recurrence, prognosis, and survival. In this review, we will summarize the available data on treatment of primary liver cancer with somatostatin analogues and analyze the current knowledge of somatostatin receptor expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and its possible clinical impact.
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PMID:Treatment of Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Somatostatin Analogues: A Review of the Literature. 3156 19