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Biomedical subjects

G D Steele

Publications and source records attributed to G D Steele.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Differences in messenger RNA expression of carcinoembryonic antigen in surgical specimens of colorectal carcinoma.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is the most widely used tumor marker for colorectal cancer. Plasma CEA levels have been variably associated with prognosis. Since plasma CEA level is multifactorial, CEA gene expression in tumors may provide one precise mechanism to evaluate its functional role. This study evaluated CEA expression at the messenger RNA (mRNA) level in 22 human colorectal carcinomas and their adjacent normal mucosae by Northern blot hybridization using a 32P-labeled CEA probe (a loop-domain specific cDNA, LV7). Both tumor and normal mucosa displayed three mRNA species of 4.0, 3.6, and 3.0 kb in length. The expression of 3.6-kb mRNA which encodes for CEA was dominant and it was correlated with another 4.0-kb CEA mRNA expression. The expression of 3.0-kb mRNA which encodes for nonspecific cross-reacting antigen was weak and not detectable in 8 of 22 colon tumors and 12 of 22 normal colon mucosae. In only one tumor, a 4.5-kb mRNA (which might encode for a new family member of CEA) was expressed. A two- to fourfold higher expression of CEA mRNA (3.6 kb) was observed in 11 of 22 colorectal tumors (2 of 9 proximal colon tumors and 9 of 14 rectosigmoid tumors) when compared with morphologically normal adjacent mucosae. Preoperative plasma CEA levels and Dukes' staging had no correlation with this CEA mRNA expression. CEA mRNA did not appear to correlate with metastasis because its expression in the primary colon cancers with metastases (Dukes' stage D tumor) was not always increased. These data also imply that factors other than mRNA expression in tumor might be important in regulating plasma CEA levels.

Aged↗

Etoposide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin chemotherapy for advanced gastric adenocarcinoma: results of a phase II trial.

PURPOSE: A phase II study of etoposide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (EAP) therapy in patients with advanced gastric carcinoma was performed in an attempt to confirm encouraging results reported by German investigators using an identical EAP regimen. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-six consecutive, previously untreated patients with surgically unresectable, measurable gastric carcinoma were treated every 28 days with etoposide (120 mg/m2, days 4, 5, and 6), doxorubicin (20 mg/m2, days 1 and 7), and cisplatin (40 mg/m2, days 2 and 8). A total of 108 courses of treatment was given. RESULTS: Therapy was associated with myelosuppression (median granulocyte nadir, 239/microL; median platelet nadir, 81,000/microL), which reached its maximum 14 days after the start of therapy and necessitated hospitalization after 24 of 108 (22%) treatment courses. Four of 36 (11%) patients died of treatment-related toxicity: three from sepsis and one from hemorrhage. Objective responses were observed in 12 of 36 (33%) patients; three (8%) patients experienced a clinical complete response. The median time to progression was 4 months for all 36 patients and 8 months for the 12 responding patients. Of the 13 patients with localized but unresectable disease, five subsequently underwent surgical resection; only one of these five was rendered disease-free. CONCLUSION: The EAP regimen is highly toxic and results in response rates and survival times no better than those of more easily tolerated treatment programs.

Adenocarcinoma↗

[Cellular and molecular biological study of the laminin-binding protein and its clinical application].

Tumor invasion and metastasis involve the interaction between tumor cells and basement membrane, which is mediated in part by laminin receptors. To search for tumor-associated-genes which can be used as new markers in colon cancers with known poor prognosis, cDNA libraries from a colon cancer cell line and colonic tissues were constructed and screened. We selected a cDNA clone which encodes 32-kD laminin-binding protein (LBP-32), and showed increased mRNA expression of LBP-32 in colon carcinoma. This mRNA expression was also correlated with clinical tumor staging. Furthermore, to investigate the role of LBP-32 in cancer invasion and metastasis, cell adhesion assays and in vitro invasion assays were performed, using anti-sense RNA of LBP-32 to block the synthesis of LBP-32. Results showed that anti-sense RNA of LBP-32 inhibits tumor cell attachment and invasiveness in vitro in transfectants of a colon cancer cell line. These data suggest that LBP-32 may play an important role in colon cancer progression, and that LBP-32 may be used as a marker of biological aggressiveness. These findings also imply that laminin receptors may provide a target for novel therapeutic strategies: modulating LBP-32 expression by anti-sense RNA or monoclonal antibodies may have clinical application in colorectal cancer therapy.

Adenocarcinoma↗

[Experimental liver metastases of human colonic cancer: correlation with degree of differentiation and CEA production].

The influence of cellular differentiation and CEA-production by colorectal tumor cells on experimental hepatic metastases was studied. Eight human colon cancer cell lines were injected into the spleen of athymic mice. The four poorly differentiated, non or low CEA producing cell lines were poorly metastatic to the liver. In contrast, the four well-differentiated cell lines which produce moderate to high levels of CEA were highly metastatic. We conclude in this animal model that poorly differentiated, non or low CEA producing colorectal cell lines have a lower metastatic potential compared to the well-differentiated, high CEA producing tumor cells.

Animals↗

Intracellular heterogeneity in mitochondrial membrane potentials revealed by a J-aggregate-forming lipophilic cation JC-1.

By using a potential-dependent J-aggregate-forming delocalized lipophilic cation, 5,5',6,6'-tetrachloro-1,1',3,3'-tetraethylbenzimidazolocarbocyanine++ + iodide (JC-1), we find that membrane potentials across mitochondria in a living cell can be heterogeneous. Remarkably, even within a long contiguous mitochondrion, regional heterogeneity in membrane potentials appears to be possible.

Animals↗

Ubiquitin hybrid protein gene expression during human colon cancer progression.

Ubiquitin is involved in cell-cycle control and DNA replication through a specific proteolytic pathway. Our previous studies demonstrated selected higher expression of a gene encoding ubiquitin-ribosomal protein S27a in poorly differentiated colon carcinoma cell lines. In this study, we evaluated this ubiquitin hybrid protein gene expression in surgical specimens of colon cancers. Northern blot analysis showed that ubiquitin hybrid protein messenger RNA was overexpressed in primary colon cancers compared with adjacent normal colon mucosae in 17 of 20 patients. Dot blot analysis of RNA of 27 tumor samples revealed significantly greater expression in higher Dukes' stage primary colon tumors and liver metastases. These data imply that protein translation machinery is highly activated during progression and metastasis of colon tumors, and that ubiquitin hybrid protein may be useful as a marker of biological aggressiveness.

Aged↗

Oncogene-mediated transformation. An in vitro model for colon carcinogenesis.

Evaluation of molecular events in human colon polyps and tumors has revealed constitutive elevated expression of c-myc, activation of both ras and src proto-oncogenes, and allelic deletion events involving inactivation of putative regulatory genes, including p53. To evaluate the contribution of each of these events to colon carcinogenesis, it is desirable to establish epithelial cell lines representing different stages of neoplastic progression. Such in vitro models can be used to establish a primary role for different genes implicated in neoplastic transformation, identifying events involved in multistep carcinogenesis and delineating the factors modulating cellular transformation. We present herein a summary of such an in vitro model for colon carcinogenesis using the introduction of relevant genetic elements into normal mucosa to identify the molecular steps and accompanying cellular events underlying neoplastic progression in the colon.

Animals↗

Carbohydrate-binding protein 35 is the major cell-surface laminin-binding protein in colon carcinoma.

The interaction of tumor cells with laminin is thought to be critical in invasion and metastasis. We found that an endogenous lectin, carbohydrate-binding protein 35 (CBP-35), is the major laminin-binding protein on human colon carcinoma cells and that its surface expression suggests involvement in metastasis. We identified CBP-35 by laminin-affinity chromatography and immunoblotting. Surface expression of CBP-35 on eight human colon carcinoma cell lines was compared by flow cytometry. Poorly differentiated cell lines and DLD-2, a signet-ring carcinoma cell line, expressed more surface CBP-35 than well-differentiated cell lines. Poorly differentiated cell lines and DLD-2 are characterized as aggressive cell lines because they adhere to and invade through reconstituted basement membrane significantly better than well-differentiated cell lines. These data suggest that CBP-35 is involved in tumor cell-basement membrane interactions and that an increase in CBP-35 surface expression may facilitate metastatic potential of colon carcinoma cells.

Antigens, Differentiation↗

Expression of enzymatically active sucrase-isomaltase is a ubiquitous property of colon adenocarcinomas.

Adenocarcinoma of the colon is one of the most prevalent and lethal of all human malignancies. The early diagnosis and management of this disease could be improved if biological markers, whose expression was restricted to malignant colon cells, were identified. Sucrase-isomaltase is a glycoprotein hydrolase expressed throughout the small intestine and fetal colon but not in the normal adult colon. This study shows that the expression of enzymatically active sucrase-isomaltase is a ubiquitous property of primary and metastatic colon adenocarcinoma. Significant sucrase enzyme activity (i.e., greater than 5 mU/mg protein) was observed in 16 colon carcinomas but not in adjacent normal colon mucosa. Sucrase-isomaltase messenger RNA was identified in all tumors using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, this study shows that the amount of sucrase-isomaltase messenger RNA in tumors examined (3.4 x 10(-8) to 3.19 x 10(-7) micrograms/micrograms total RNA) was greater than in adjacent mucosa (0 to 3.4 x 10(-8) micrograms/micrograms total RNA). This induction of sucrase-isomaltase messenger RNA and enzyme activity was corroborated by immunostaining. Of 30 colon adenocarcinomas examined, 80% were positive for sucrase-isomaltase. In addition, all colon carcinoma metastases examined were positive for sucrase-isomaltase. The staining pattern was distinct and demarcated tumor cells from the surrounding histologically normal tissue. No sucrase-isomaltase staining was seen in normal mucosa from the same patients. With the exception of lung, no sucrase-isomaltase immunostaining was observed in a variety of examined noncolonic adenocarcinomas. Thus, the specificity and ubiquity of sucrase-isomaltase expression in adenocarcinomas of the colon can be exploited to improve the clinical management of this disease. In addition, studies on the structure of the sucrase-isomaltase gene and its regulatory elements should contribute toward understanding the alteration of gene expression by oncogenic transformation of the colonic mucosa.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Expression of a Mr 32,000 laminin-binding protein messenger RNA in human colon carcinoma correlates with disease progression.

Cell surface receptors for laminin may play an important role in tumor migration and metastasis. To evaluate laminin receptor/laminin-binding protein expression in human colon carcinoma, surgical specimens of primary colon cancers and liver metastases were examined by blot hybridization of total RNA with a complementary DNA clone which encodes a Mr 32,000 human laminin-binding protein. The mRNA level of the laminin-binding protein was higher in primary colon carcinoma than in adjacent normal colonic epithelium in 20 of 21 cases. In all 6 cases of colon cancer liver metastases, the laminin-binding protein mRNA level was more than 3-fold greater in tumor than in adjacent normal liver tissue. The tumor/normal ratio of this laminin-binding protein mRNA expression in primary colon cancer has significant correlation with Dukes' classification (P less than 0.001). Our results suggest that mRNA expression of the laminin-binding protein may be a marker of human colorectal cancer progression and biological aggressiveness.

Adenocarcinoma↗

c-Ha-ras-I oncogene-induced differentiation and natural killer cell resistance in a human colorectal carcinoma cell line.

Natural killer (NK) activity is primarily a peripheral blood function of a lymphocyte population capable of spontaneous lysis of many transformed and metastatic targets. However, NK-susceptible targets tend to be relatively poorly differentiated. We have previously shown that poorly differentiated human colorectal carcinoma are lysed by NK cells. Well-differentiated and chemically differentiated colorectal carcinomas are insensitive to NK lysis. The present study demonstrates that transfection of the c-Ha-ras-I oncogene into a poorly differentiated colorectal carcinoma cell line also renders it NK resistant. This resistance is accompanied by a more differentiated colorectal carcinoma phenotype. Two ras-transfected lines (Clone-A-5 and Clone-A-4) showed a 30-66% decrease in susceptibility to NK lysis as compared to the parental line in standard cytotoxicity assays. The resistance of these transfectants was strictly dependent on expression of the activated p21, the H-ras protein product. Studies to assess the integrity of the initial binding step in NK lysis showed a significant decrease in the ability of these transfectants to form conjugates with fresh NK cells. It is likely that transfection with c-Ha-ras-I has selectively modulated critical NK target recognition structures.

Blotting, Western↗

Alterations of gene expression in human colorectal cancer. Biological implications.

Alterations in gene expression associated with colorectal cancer have been difficult to study because mucosal cell progenitors are not available in culture. We therefore examined specific genes in approximately 100 human colon cancer cell lines using complementary DNA probes and found profound alterations and heterogenity of gene expression in human colorectal carcinoma. Our data imply that understanding human colorectal cancer will not be accomplished by studying one or two oncogenes in a limited number of cell lines or fresh human tissue. More appropriate postulates of transformation to dictate experimental design may include the investigation of proposed three-dimensional structural changes of interface chromatin or other generalized structural relationships that could predispose to an aberrant gene expression program during transformation. Furthermore, focusing on mechanisms of initiation and defining the molecular genetic markers of gastrointestinal mucosal initiation should lead to a more focused set of genetic, rather than epigenetic, mechanisms that underlie oncogenic transformation.

Blotting, Northern↗

Surgical therapy for recurrent liver metastases from colorectal cancer.

Forty percent of patients whose disease recurs after hepatic resection for liver metastases from colorectal cancer initially will have liver-only metastases. We have retrospectively reviewed our experience with repeated surgical treatment for liver-only recurrence after previous hepatic resection for colorectal metastases. Repeated hepatic procedures were performed with no mortality in 10 patients. Intraoperative ultrasound allowed identification of three unsuspected metastases and determination of unresectability of two metastases during 11 procedures. Three patients were free of disease at 31, 41, and 48 months from the first hepatic procedure and at 15, 31, and 43 months from the second procedure. Five patients have remained free of hepatic disease. Patients whose initial metastases were less than 6 cm in diameter and had single liver recurrences after hepatic resection appeared to be the best candidates for further surgical therapy. These data and a review of the literature suggest that surgical treatment of recurrent liver metastases from colorectal cancer can be performed safely, and it is associated with long-term disease-free survival in up to 38% of highly selected patients.

Aged↗

Sucrase-isomaltase: a marker associated with the progression of adenomatous polyps to adenocarcinomas.

Adenocarcinomas of the colon arise from adenomatous polyps. We hypothesized that sucrase-isomaltase (SI), a glycoprotein hydrolase, found in normal small intestine, fetal colon, and colon carcinomas is a marker associated with progression of adenomatous polyps with dysplasia to adenocarcinomas. To examine this hypothesis, we performed immunostaining using a polyclonal antihuman SI antibody in 32 adenomatous polyps with varying degrees of dysplasia. In addition, sucrase enzyme activity was determined in three sets of simultaneously harvested polyps, cancer, and adjacent normal mucosa from the same patient. All severely dysplastic polyps (6/6) exhibited SI staining. Most polyps (85%) with 3+ staining (i.e., greater than 10% of polyp positive for SI) had severe dysplasia, whereas those with mild dysplasia had either 1% to 5% staining or no staining in 95% of the cases. These data indicate that the extent of SI immunostaining in polyps correlates with the degree of dysplasia (p = 0.0001). Sucrase-isomaltase activity in the polyps was 18.1 +/- 1.8 mU/mg (mean +/- SD); in adjacent carcinoma SI activity was 29.1 +/- 1.8 mU/mg. Adjacent mucosa showed no activity in all cases. In summary, our results suggest that SI expression correlates with the progression of dysplastic adenomatous polyps to carcinoma. Sucrase-isomaltase expression may be useful as a clinical marker to improve our prognostic capabilities in patients with dysplastic lesions of the colon, that is, inflammatory bowel disease.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Characterization of the tumorigenic and metastatic potential of a poorly differentiated human colon cancer cell line.

We characterized the tumorigenic and metastatic potential of a poorly differentiated, non-CEA-producing colon cancer cell line, MIP-101, after injection at different sites in athymic mice. After subcutaneous and intrasplenic injection tumor grew locally in 100 and 50%, respectively, but no metastases were found, even after intravenous injection. Intraperitoneal implantation, however, resulted in a high tumor take (10/10) and subsequent liver colonization (8/10 mice). Exogenous CEA prior to intrasplenic injection induced metastasis in 7/8 mice (in 2 mice to the liver and in 5 mice to the lung). Intrasplenic injection of CX-1, a good CEA producer, resulted in hepatic metastases in 100% of the animals. These data suggest a direct or indirect role of CEA in the metastatic process. We conclude that MIP-101 has a high tumorigenic and invasive potential but a low metastatic proclivity, except when grown in the peritoneum, and that pretreatment of tumor-bearing animals with CEA affects the metastatic proclivity.

Adenocarcinoma↗

National survey of the pattern of care for carcinoma of the lung.

A national survey of the patterns of care for carcinoma of the lung sponsored by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons has documented continuing changes in epidemiology, treatment, and outcome. The project consisted of a long-term study of 15,219 patients whose diagnosis was made in 1981 and a short-term study of 19,074 patients whose diagnosis was made in 1986. The male/female incidence ratios have continued to decrease and the decrease has moved into the older age groups. Although the percentage of adenocarcinoma is increasing at the expense of squamous carcinoma, the latter is still the most prevalent histologic type. The accuracy of percutaneous needle biopsy and transbronchial biopsy of lung nodules reported from this group of 941 hospitals was high and equal to that reported by single institutions. The percentage of patients having a resection did not increase from 1981 to 1986, but for smaller lesions a move was apparent toward more lung-sparing resections. Little change has occurred in the use of adjuvant radiotherapy, particularly in stage III disease, where approximately 50% of the patients received postoperative irradiation. An improvement in the overall 5-year survival when compared with Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data was noted. Whether this is a true improvement in survival or is the result of selection because of an unrecognized change in the pattern of care for patients with a carcinoma of the lung is unknown.

Adult↗