The effectiveness of the peptide immunomodulator molixan as a means of support and correction of chemoradiation therapy of oral mucositis have been studied in 36 patients with primary regional cancer of the oral mucosa and the oropharynx. Combined chemotherapy of patients with cisplatin and standard radiotherapy was associated with progression of oral mucositis and hematopoietic disorders which manifested themselves in the form of neutro-, lympho- and thrombocytopenia. Therapeutic intramuscular application of molixan at a dose of 60 mg once a day after a fraction of irradiation made it possible to reduce the severity of oral mucositis (from grade III-IV to grade I-II), as well as to maintain in patients a higher level of white blood cells and platelets in the blood, which made it possible to complete the planned course of chemoradiation therapy.

The spectral, fluorescent and functional properties of ferric oxide and ferric hydroxide nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin and stabilized with citric acid or lysine were studied in comparison with free doxorubicin. Their effect on the opening of calcium-induced mitochondrial pore and the possibility of the controlled release of doxorubicin under the influence of redox stimuli were investigated. The data show that the effect of nanoparticles on mitochondria depends on the type of a stabilizer. The spectral and fluorescence methods used allow us to estimate the presence or absence of free doxorubicin in solution of nanoparticles and the:concentration of bound doxorubicin. It is shown that the dithiotreitol and glutathione increase the amplitude of absorption and fluorescence of doxorubicin during incubation with nanoparticles. It is assumed that this effect may be associated with the reduction of the oxidized iron by thiols with subsequent release of doxorubicin.

The anti-tumour dose-dependent effect of binuclear dinitrosyl iron complexes with glutathione as NO donors on solid tumour in the mouse Lewis lung carcinome was detected. The complexes being injected at the doses of 21, 42, 105 mg/kg daily during 10 days blocked completely the development of the tumour for the first week after tumour cell implantation into animals. After that, the part of tumour cells which remained in intact alive state began to grow at the rate equal to that for control animals. The effect was proposed to be caused via the formation of the anti-nitrosative defense system in the cells as a response to NO attack to cells. It was also hypothesized that this system can be inactivated by higher doses of dinitrosyl iron complexes. The data were obtained which were in line with the hypothesis.

Electrophysiological examinations (in accordance with the ISCEV Standards and original protocols) were performed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy or before and after superselective intra-arterial chemotherapy (SIACT) in 18 children aged 1-3 years with either newly diagnosed advanced retinoblastoma (8 eyes) or resistant retinoblastoma (14 eyes). The most considerable decrease in amplitude was demonstrated by the cone response b-wave, photopic 24 Hz flicker electroretinogram (ERG), photopic negative response, and the P1-component of multifocal ERG, indicating a significant dysfunction of bipolar and ganglion cells, more pronounced in the macular zone. After the SIACT, central retinal functions improved. In eyes with retinoblastoma there is a moderate peak latency shortening of the flash visual evoked potential (VEP) P2-component, which reflects functional changes in the central retina rather than those in the visual pathways, and therefore, flash VEP analysis is a useful tool of chemotherapy patient monitoring, especially when electroretinography cannot be performed.

to investigate intraocular pressure (IOP) and ocular blood flow (OBF) changes as well as the individual normal range of IOP in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with or without concomitant glaucoma after intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy.

The antitumor activity of polyacrylates of the noble metals containing argentum (argacryl), aurum (auracryl) and platinum (platacryl) has been studied using experimental murine solid tumor models (Lewis lung carcinoma and Acatol adenocarcinoma). It has been found that polyacrylates of the noble metals are capable of inhibiting tumor development by 50-90% compared to control. Auracryl that inhibites the growth of Lewis lung carcinoma and Acatol adenocarcinoma by 80 and 90%, respectively, compared to control is the most efficient among the tested compounds and can be recommended for the further profound preclinical studies.

Plant hormones play a key role in plant growth and differentiation. Many hormones are known as potential antitumor agents, yet others appear to affect the secretory activity and are produced by mammalian cells as pro-inflammatory cytokines. The goal of this research was to study the effect of abscisic and gibberellic acids on the secretory system of human cultured epidermoid carcinoma cells A431 and keratinocytes HaCat. Immunocytochemical and morphometric analysis demonstrated that subtoxic concentration of plant hormones induced the broadening of the ER network and increased the size of Golgi complex. Electron microscopy studies confirmed the hypertrophic changes of the Golgi apparatus, specifically, the swelling of cisternae in the trans-compartment of dictyosomes after exposure to abscisic acid, and swelling of cis- and trans-compartment of dictyosomes after exposure to abscisic acid, and swelling of cis- and trans-compartments of dictyosomes after exposure to gibberellic acid. Using of Click-iT technique allowed to detect the elevation of the total protein synthesis only in A431 cells exposed to abscisic acid. Cumulative data suggests that, under these conditions, the hypertrophy of Golgi apparatus may reflect the enhanced secretory activity of cells. In other experiments, the hypertrophy of Golgi is not related to increased protein synthesis and therefore may suggest the stress-related changes of ER and Golgi apparatus. Our results demonstrate that morphologically similar reaction of cellular organelles, such as hypertrophy of Golgi apparatus, is the result of different functional activities, and that molecular mechanisms underlying the changes induced in cells need further investigations.

Melanoma is one of the most malignant tumors, which leaves no chance of survival in the case of the "bang". There are various ways to treat tumors, however, recently in the field of cancer research, there are studies in which fungal metabolites have been used as antitumor agents. In this study we examined the effect of the culture fluid of the fungus Trichoderma asperellum 302 on the growth and development of melanoma B 16. We have shown that these culture fluid has anticancer properties, causing destruction of tumor tissue. Obtained data open new possibilities and prospects for the use of active substances derived from fungi in the complex therapy of cancer.

Some compound refering to the 3-hydroxy-1,5-diaryl-4-pivaloyl-2,5-dihydro-2-pyrrolones have been found to cause an increase in the number of mitotic cells and their subsequent death in vitro. This increased in the number of mitotic cells was not associated with increased cellular proliferative activity and was likely due to mitotic exit failure. Of note, the effect was more pronounced in the tumor cells when compared to human fibroblasts. Further studies are needed to investigate the molecular mechanisms of action of the compounds belonging to the class of 3-hydroxy-1,5-diaryl-4-pivaloyl-2,5-dihydro-2-pyrrolones.

Previously it was found that sodium fluoroacetate (SF) inhibited the growth of the Ehrlich cancer by means of monotherapy and enhanced the antitumor effect of cyclophosphamide (CP) in experiments with autochthonous subcutaneous tumors induced by benzo (a) pyrene. In this study a comparison of the antitumor activity of SF and metformin showed that both substances did not have significant effect in monotherapy but enhanced the effect of CP, increasing the percentage of tumors with the same or reduced volume. Besides, SF, unlike metformin increased the average duration of effect. The data obtained promoted further study of the mechanism of the antitumor effect of SF and the search effective combination with already known antitumor drugs.

This review presents data on the antitumor properties of antineoplastons--alternative means of treatment for cancer originally isolated from human blood and urine. It was assumed that antineoplastons (derivatives of peptides and amino acids) are natural regulators of cell differentiation. In experimental studies it was showed that synthetic antineoplastons (A10-3-phenyl-acetyl-amino-2,6-piperidinedione and AS2-1--a mixture of phenylacetic acid and phenylacetylglutamine) were able to prevent the introduction of glutamine into the cell, to block the action of Bcl-2, to activate p53 and p21, to inhibit histone deacetylase, to induce apoptosis. In experiments in vitro and in vivo in several studies it was registered antitumor activity, mainly on models of hepatocellular carcinoma and glioma. Clinical data are limited by reports of individual clinical cases or series of cases and the results of several clinical trials Phase I-II, indicating a possible antitumor activity.

Disbalance of bone homeostasis, associated with malfunctioning of RANK/RANKL/OPG system underlies the oncological processes such as the destruction of bone, metastasis development, tumor progression. Pathological activity of system was described in such conditions, as breast cancer, prostate cancer, multiple myeloma, squamous cell carcinoma, Hodgkin's disease, and also metastasis in bones from lung cancer and other malignant diseases. In the literature, there is evidence of involvement of RANK/RANKL/OPG system in the pathogenesis of bone tumors (osteosarcoma, giant cell tumor of bone, chondroblastoma). Experimental data show that RANKL inhibitors can play a role in reducing tumor-induced lesions of bone in multiple myeloma, breast cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer. Also this review presents data from clinical studies of the drug efficacy targeted on RANK/RANKL/OPG system and results of authors' study of the levels of this system's components and proinflammatory cytokines in blood serum of primary bone sarcoma patients.

Oligomycins and their complexes with lithium and zinc were shown to be less active vs. cyclosporin A in inhibition of transport proteins responsible for multiple drug resistance of lymphoid leukosis P388VR cells, while certain oligomycin complexes were tens or hundreds times more active than cyclosporin A by inhibition of transport proteins in another type of tumor cells, i.e. human larynx cancer Hep-2, that makes possible the use of the oligomycins complexes with lithium and zinc for inhibition of multiple drug resistance of certain tumor types.

Surgery results of II-III stage lung cancer remain unsatisfactory and the chemotherapy does not improve the survival. The main obstacle is the use of the standard clinical parameters for the treatment strategy and not sufficiently effective selection of regimens for the chemotherapy. Monoresistance genes defining the tumor cells sensitivity to the chemotherapeutic drugs play a significant role in development of the lung tumor resistance. The review examines the mechanisms of transport, activation and targets of the chemotherapeutic drugs, identifies the key markers for predicting their effectiveness and possible use in the clinical practice. Monoresistance genes, such as ABCC5, RRM1, ERCC1, TOP1, TOP2a, TUBB3 and TYMS are characteristic of lung cancer. Clinical trials demonstrating the efficiency of their use as predictive markers for the lung cancer chemotherapy are described. A prospective study with a personalized adjuvant chemotherapy for lung cancer patients will be performed.

The method of high-dose chemotherapy is limited quantity and quality of hematopoietic material used in transplantation. In this article on own material (56 apheresis procedures) there was performed a comparative analysis of the efficacy of several mobilization regimens. In 35 patients (63%) apheresis was initiated with using DHAP ([D]examethasone; [H]igh-dose [A] ra-C; [P]latinol) + G-CSF (group No 1); in 9 patients (16%) apheresis was initiated with regimen of HDCyc ([H]igh [D] ose [Cyc]lophosphamide) + G-CSF (group No 2); in 12 patients (21%) apheresis was performed using a combination of plerixafor and pegfilgrastim (group No 3). It was shown that all three of the proposed regimens were found to be as effective. In all groups, patients failed to receive an enough amount of CD34 + cells. At the same time using new mobilizing agent plerixafor in combination with prolonged action G-CSF pegfilgrastim showed some advantages: low toxicity of this combination, which does not needs to additional blood components, antibacterial and antifungal agents, and the possibility of its use in the outpatient setting.

Molecular genetic analysis of lung tumors is often essential for the proper choice of therapy. EGFR mutation is a well-known marker of sensitivity to gefitinib, erlotinib and afatinib; ALK-translocations make tumor sensitive to several ALK inhibitors; low intratumoral expression of DNA repair genes (ERCC1, BRCA1, etc.) may increase the therapeutic index of platinum-based drugs. Usually these markers are evaluated using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissues. The goal of this work was to assess utility of archived cytological lung cancer specimens as an alternative source of material for molecular genetic testing. We analyzed paired histological and cytological lung adenocarcinoma specimens. Comparison of results within the pairs showed that cytological material can be used instead of histological material for qualitative analyses (detection of EGFR mutations or ALK-translocations); however, gene expression measurements, obtained by quantitative real-time PCR, may differ significantly in histological and cytological samples from the same patient.

Brain metastases in breast cancer develop for 24-32 months after the detection of the primary tumor. The study included patients with brain metastases who were divided into three groups: the first group--with early chemoradiotherapy (CRT) without induction chemotherapy (IC) by capecitabine; the second group--with delayed CRT with 4 or 8 courses of IC by capecitabine; the third group (a historical control) who received only whole brain radiation therapy. The median time to progression of intracranial metastases was 15.3, 12 and 5 months, respectively. The median time to the intracranial progression significantly less in the third group (5 months) compared with the first (15.3 months) (p = 0.0007) and the second (12 months) (p = 0.027) groups. The overall survival rate was 22.1, 15.1 and 6.8 months in three groups, respectively.

According to results of the study, which included 52 patients with malignant pleural effusion of unknown etiology, it could be concluded that the method of choice in differential diagnosis of pleural effusion is the immunocytochemistry as the most informative method (efficacy 94,2%). Based on own experience of treatment of 137 patients with recurrent malignant pleural effusions, we can say that the first stage of treatment of pleural effusions is carrying out pleurodesis in outpatient conditions. The choice of pleurodesis method, first of all, depends on the aggressiveness of tumor pleurisy: in a case of daily exudation till 300 ml we choose talc pleurodesis, from 300 to 700--bleomycin pleurodesis, more than 700--combined (talc and bleomycin pleurodesis). The overall efficiency of produced pleurodesis is 64.5%.

The study of pharmacokinetics of melphalan in the perfusate and blood plasma during isolated limb regional perfusion (ILRP) was carried out in patients with melanoma (n=21) and soft tissue sarcoma (n = 24). Melphalan was administered as 10 mg/l for a lower extremity and 13 mg/l for a upper extremity. Quantification of melphalan in perfusate and blood samples was performed by means of liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. 30 samples of the perfusate and 27 venous blood samples were analyzed. During the first 5 minutes of ILRP concentration of melphalan in the perfusate decreased to 13.2% of the initial value, and by the end of perfusion (60 minutes) it was 3.3%. The amount of melphalan in the blood plasma of the patients by the end of ILRP wasn't higher than 1.6% from the administered dose. That demonstrates minor systemic absorption of the drug during ILRP. Moreover melphalan concentration in the blood plasma during the perfusion was in average 0.015-0.223 mg/l which is significantly lower compared to the blood plasma concentrations after intravenous administration of melphalan. Thus ILRP procedure provided 97% of the melphalan dose accumulation in the soft tissues of a limb and in tumor tissues. Also pharmacokinetic advantage of melphalan over systemic administration of the drug was shown.