• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.93-103
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• 1998

In order to investigate the reducing effect of velvet antler water extract (VAWE) on the toxicity of anti-cancer drug, cis-platin (CDDP) and mitomycin C (MMC), we examined effects of co-administration with VAWE and anti-cancer drugs on their toxicities. We recognized that $LD_{50}$ of CDDP/MMC were increased by co-administration with VAWE and them in mice. It was found that co-administration of VAWE and MMC increased the survival rate in mice treated by lethal dose of MMC. Also, co-administration of VAWE and CDDP/MMC inhibited decrease of the body weight and organ weight in mice intoxificated by CDDP/MMC. The increase of serum blood urea and serum creatinine levels in rats intoxicated by CDDP were significantly inhibited by the co-administrationin with VAWE and CDDP. The decrease of RBC and WBC in rats intoxificated by MMC were significantly inhibited by the co-administration with VAWE and MMC. These results suggest that the combined usage of VAWE and CDDP/MMC drugs may be a new method for prevented or minimized the toxicity of them.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.59-74
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• 2004

This report attempts to explain the (i) implications of comorbidity for research and practice in the fieldo of oncology, (ii) the approach for dosing of anti-cancer drugs in the presence of comorbidity, as an example of its clinical application, and finally (iii) the dosing guidelines for the anticancer drugs clinically active in gastric cancer in the presence of renal or liver dysfunction. This has resulted from the idea of approaching comorbidity in a systematic way and of integrating it with oncologic decisions. Various methods have been used to assess comorbidity. However, significant work remains to be done to analyze how various diseases combine to influence the oncologic outcome. The main end-point explored so far has been mortality, but a largely open challenge remains to correlate comorbidity with treatment tolerance and functional and quality of life, as well as to integrate it in clinical decision-making. Cancer chemotherapy in comorbidity should be considered as an example of the need for dose optimization in individual patients, and it should be determined by considering the basic principles of the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacodynamics of the agents. This review analyzes the available data on the pharmacokinetics and the toxicities of anti-cancer agents in the comorbidity population.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.108-120
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• 2020

From the perspective of the definition of pain, pain can be divided into emotional and sensory components, which originate from potential and actual tissue damage, respectively. The pharmacologic treatment of the emotional pain component includes antianxiety drugs, antidepressants, and antipsychotics. The anti-anxiety drugs have anti-anxious, sedative, and somnolent effects. The antipsychotics are effective in patients with positive symptoms of psychosis. On the other hand, the sensory pain component can be divided into nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioids are usually applied for somatic and visceral nociceptive pain, respectively; anticonvulsants and antidepressants are administered for the treatment of neuropathic pain with positive and negative symptoms, respectively. The NSAIDs, which inhibit the cyclo-oxygenase pathway, exhibit anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and analgesic effects; however, they have a therapeutic ceiling. The adverse reactions (ADRs) of the NSAIDs include gastrointestinal problems, generalized edema, and increased bleeding tendency. The opioids, which bind to the opioid receptors, present an analgesic effect only, without anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, or ceiling effects. The ADRs of the opioids start from itching and nausea/vomiting to cardiovascular and respiratory depression, as well as constipation. The anticonvulsants include carbamazepine, related to sodium channel blockade, and gabapentin and pregabalin, related to calcium blockade. The antidepressants show their analgesic actions mainly through inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin or norepinephrine. Most drugs, except NSAIDs, need an updose titration period. The principle of polypharmacy for analgesia in case of mixed components of pain is increasing therapeutic effects while reducing ADRs, based on the origin of the pain.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Reports
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.77-80
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• 2020

Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The increased expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 has been implicated in the development and progression of gastric cancers. A number of recent studies have been published evaluating the chemopreventive effect of aspirin and non steroidal anti inflammatory drungs (NSAIDs) against gastric cancer. Aspirin and NSAIDs use may reduce the risk of gastric cancer incidence and death, whereas other studies have reported contradictory results. Therefore, further study should be needed to clarify the role of aspirin and NSAIDs in the chemoprevention of gastric cancer.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.8
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• pp.579-588
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• 2019

Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) is a popular tool to identify underlying biological processes in clinical samples using their gene expression phenotypes. GSEA measures the enrichment of annotated gene sets that represent biological processes for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in clinical samples. GSEA may be suboptimal for functional gene sets; however, because DEGs from the expression dataset may not be functional genes per se but dysregulated genes perturbed by bona fide functional genes. To overcome this shortcoming, we developed network-based GSEA (NGSEA), which measures the enrichment score of functional gene sets using the expression difference of not only individual genes but also their neighbors in the functional network. We found that NGSEA outperformed GSEA in identifying pathway gene sets for matched gene expression phenotypes. We also observed that NGSEA substantially improved the ability to retrieve known anti-cancer drugs from patient-derived gene expression data using drug-target gene sets compared with another method, Connectivity Map. We also repurposed FDA-approved drugs using NGSEA and experimentally validated budesonide as a chemical with anti-cancer effects for colorectal cancer. We, therefore, expect that NGSEA will facilitate both pathway interpretation of gene expression phenotypes and anti-cancer drug repositioning. NGSEA is freely available at www.inetbio.org/ngsea.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.3782-3786
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• 2013

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and that accounts for 85% of lung cancer patients. Although several EGFR-targeted drugs have been developed in the treatment of NSCLC, the clinical efficacy of EGFR-targeted drugs in NSCLC is limited by the occurrence of drug resistance. In this regard, Hsp90 represents great promise as a therapeutic target of cancer due to its potential to simultaneously disable multiple signaling pathways. In this study, we discovered that a natural product, flavokawain B disrupted Hsp90 chaperoning function and impaired the growth of gefitinib-resistant non-small cell lung cancer (H1975). The result suggested that flavokawain B could serve as a potential lead compound to overcome the drug resistance in cancer chemotherapy.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.479-491
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• 2023

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high incidence and is one of the highest mortality cancers when advanced stage is proceeded. However, Anti-cancer drugs available for treatment are limited and new anti-cancer drugs and new ways to treat them are minimal. We examined that the effects and possibility of Red Ginseng (RG, Panax ginseng Meyer) as new anti-cancer drug on HCC by combining network pharmacology and molecular biology. Materials and Methods: Network pharmacological analysis was employed to investigate the systems-level mechanism of RG focusing on HCC. Cytotoxicity of RG was determined by MTT analysis, which were also stained by annexin V/PI staining for apoptosis and acridine orange for autophagy. For the analyze mechanism of RG, we extracted protein and subjected to immunoblotting for apoptosis or autophagy related proteins. Results: We constructed compound-target network of RG and identified potential pathways related to HCC. RG inhibited growth of HCC through acceleration of cytotoxicity and reduction of wound healing ability of HCC. RG also increased apoptosis and autophagy through AMPK induction. In addition, its ingredients, 20S-PPD (protopanaxadiol) and 20S-PPT (protopanaxatriol), also induced AMPK mediated apoptosis and autophagy. Conclusion: RG effectively inhibited growth of HCC cells inducing apoptosis and autophagy via ATG/AMPK in HCC cells. Overall, our study suggests possibility as new anti-cancer drug on HCC by proof for the mechanism of the anti-cancer action of RG.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1482-1489
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• 2009

In this study, we investigated the anti-proliferative effect of polysaccharides from Salicornia herbacea on HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Crude polysaccharides from S. herbacea (CS) were prepared by extraction with hot steam water, and fine polysaccharides from S. herbacea (PS) were obtained through further size exclusion chromatography. The anti-proliferative effect of CS and PS were measured using the MTS assay, apoptosis analysis, cell cycle analysis, and RT-PCR. HT-29 cells were treated with CS or PS at different dosages (0.5, 1, 2, 4 mg $ml^{-1}$) for 24 or 48 h. CS and PS inhibited proliferation and stimulated apoptosis of cells in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis after Annexin V-FITC and PI staining revealed that treatment with CS or PS increased total apoptotic death of cells to 24.99% or 91.59%, respectively, in comparison with the control (13.51 %). PS increased early apoptotic death substantially - up to 12 times more than the control. Treatment with CS or PS resulted in a concentration-dependent increase of the G2/M cell population of the cell cycle as determined by flow cytometry. G2/M arrest was induced significantly with the highest concentration (4 mg $ml^{-1}$) of PS. RT-PCR was performed to study the correlation between G2/M arrest and transcription of cell cycle control genes. The anti-proliferative activity of CS and PS was accompanied by inhibition of cyclin B1, and Cdc 2 mRNA. Moreover, both CS and PS induced expression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene and the Cdk inhibitor p21. These results suggest that polysaccharides from S. herbacea have anti-cancer activity in human colon cancer cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.489-494
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• 2014

Background: Psychiatric patients appear to be at lower risk of cancer. Some antipsychotic drugs might have inhibitory effects on tumor growth, including penfluridol, a strong agent. To test this, we conducted a study to determine whether penfluridol exerts cytotoxic effects on tumor cells and, if so, to explore its anti-tumor mechanisms. Methods: Growth inhibition of mouse cancer cell lines by penfluridol was determined using the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cytotoxic activity was determined by clonogenic cell survival and trypan blue assays. Animal tumor models of these cancer cells were established and to evaluate penfluridol for its anti-tumor efficacy in vivo. Unesterified cholesterol in cancer cells was examined by filipin staining. Serum total cholesterol and tumor total cholesterol were detected using the cholesterol oxidase/p-aminophenazone (CHOD-PAP) method. Results: Penfluridol inhibited the proliferation of B16 melanoma (B16/F10), LL/2 lung carcinoma (LL/2), CT26 colon carcinoma (CT26) and 4T1 breast cancer (4T1) cells in vitro. In vivo penfluridol was particularly effective at inhibiting LL/2 lung tumor growth, and obviously prolonged the survival time of mice bearing LL/2 lung tumors implanted subcutaneously. Accumulated unesterified cholesterol was found in all of the cancer cells treated with penfluridol, and this effect was most evident in LL/2, 4T1 and CT26 cells. No significant difference in serum cholesterol levels was found between the normal saline-treated mice and the penfluridol-treated mice. However, a dose-dependent decrease of total cholesterol in tumor tissues was observed in penfluridol-treated mice, which was most evident in B16/F10-, LL/2-, and 4T1-tumor-bearing mice. Conclusion: Our results suggested that penfluridol is not only cytotoxic to cancer cells in vitro but can also inhibit tumor growth in vivo. Dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis by penfluridol may be involved in its anti-tumor mechanisms.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.157-164
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• 2022

Disulfiram (DSF) is an aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor. DSF has potent anti-cancer activity for solid and hematological malignancies. Although the effects on cancer cells have been proven, there have been few studies on DSF toxicity in bone marrow cells (BMs). DSF reduces the metabolic activity and the mitochondrial membrane potential of BMs. In subset analyses, we confirmed that DSF does not affect the proportion of BMs. In addition, DSF significantly impaired the metabolic activity and differentiation of BMs treated with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor, an essential growth and differentiation factor for BMs. To measure DSF toxicity in BMs in vivo, mice were injected with 50 mg/kg, a dose used for anti-cancer effects. DSF did not significantly induce BM toxicity in mice and may be tolerated by antioxidant defense mechanisms. This is the first study on the effects of DSF on BMs in vitro and in vivo. DSF has been widely studied as an anti-cancer drug candidate, and many anti-cancer drugs lead to myelosuppression. In this regard, this study can provide useful information to basic science and clinical researchers.