Co-implantation of Tumor and Extensive Surrounding Tissue Improved the Establishment Rate of Surgical Specimens of Human-Patient Cancer in Nude Mice: Toward the Goal of Universal Individualized Cancer Therapy

After more than twenty years of research, the molecular events of apoptotic cell death can be succinctly stated; different pathways, activated by diverse signals, increase the activity of proteases called caspases that rapidly and irreversibly dismantle condemned cell by cleaving specific substrates. In this time the ideas that apoptosis protects us from tumourigenesis and that cancer chemotherapy works by inducing apoptosis also emerged. Currently, apoptosis research is shifting away from the intracellular events within the dying cell to focus on the effect of apoptotic cells on surrounding tissues. This is producing counterintuitive data showing that our understanding of the role of apoptosis in tumourigenesis and cancer therapy is too simple, with some interesting and provocative implications. Here, we will consider evidence supporting the idea that dying cells signal their presence to the surrounding tissue and, in doing so, elicit repair and regeneration that compensates for any loss of function caused by cell death. We will discuss evidence suggesting that cancer cell proliferation may be driven by inappropriate or corrupted tissue-repair programmes that are initiated by signals from apoptotic cells and show how this may dramatically modify how we view the role of apoptosis in both tumourigenesis and cancer therapy.

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Direct Cytotoxic Effects of Preparations Used as Unconventional Methods in Cancer Therapy in Human Tumor Xenografts in the Clonogenic Assay and in Nude Mice

Contributions to Oncology - Immunodeficient Animals: Models for Cancer Research ◽

10.1159/000425240 ◽

1996 ◽

pp. 115-122 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. Drees ◽

D. P. Berger ◽

W. A. Dengler ◽

G. H. Fiebig

Keyword(s):

Cancer Therapy ◽

Nude Mice ◽

Clonogenic Assay ◽

Human Tumor ◽

Cytotoxic Effects ◽

Human Tumor Xenografts ◽

Tumor Xenografts ◽

Unconventional Methods

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The Good, the Bad, the Question–H19 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers12051261 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 1261 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lysann Tietze ◽

Sonja M. Kessler

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Cancer Therapy ◽

Liver Cancer ◽

Primary Liver Cancer ◽

Human Patient ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

Study Results ◽

Novel Target

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary liver cancer, is challenging to treat due to its typical late diagnosis, mostly at an advanced stage. Therefore, there is a particular need for research in diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCC. The use of long noncoding (lnc) RNAs can widen the list of novel molecular targets improving cancer therapy. In hepatocarcinogenesis, the role of the lncRNA H19, which has been known for more than 30 years now, is still controversially discussed. H19 was described to work either as a tumor suppressor in vitro and in vivo, or to have oncogenic features. This review attempts to survey the conflicting study results and tries to elucidate the potential reasons for the contrary findings, i.e., different methods, models, or readout parameters. This review encompasses in vitro and in vivo models as well as studies on human patient samples. Although the function of H19 in HCC remains elusive, a short outlook summarizes some ideas of using the H19 locus as a novel target for liver cancer therapy.

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