On the basis of the changing tendency in the sense considering tumors as a kind of chronic and systematic disease and the integrating trend of somatic mutation theory with the one of field cancerization, this paper focuses on the limitations of current therapeutic ideas and strategies in head and neck tumors. It also describes the influence of the modern view of oncogenesis for future treatment and the developing drift of therapies in this field. Although most tumors in the head and neck region are solid ones, their tumorogenesis should be considered as the final event of systemic dysfunction under the consideration of holistic view and systems theory. Through reasonable integration of unique advantages derived from various modern therapies at a much higher level of personalized diagnosis and treatment view, patients with head and neck tumors are expected to survive with much better long-term therapeutic effects and much higher quality of life following treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To observe the electrophysiological changes of astrocytes in the process of hyperoxia induced apoptosis and analyze the relationship between electrophysiological characteristics and morphological changes. METHODS: Astrocytes were exposed to 90% hyperoxia for 12-72 h. The electrophysiological characteristics of astrocytes in each group were detected by patch clamp technique, and the morphological characteristics of astrocytes were observed at the same time. Then the same batch of astrocytes were collected, and the expression levels of caspase-1, caspase-3, gasdermin D (GSDMD) and gasdermin E (GSDME) were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: From 12 h to 72 h after hyperoxia exposure, the inward current was significantly lower than that of the control group (<0.05), while the outward current was significantly decreased at 12 h and increased at 48 h (<0.05). There was no significant difference between 24 h or 72 h after hyperoxia exposure and the control group (>0.05). At each time point, the morphology of cells changed correspondingly. Western blotting showed that the expression of caspase-1 was increased significantly at 24 h and decreased significantly at 72 h after hyperoxia exposure (<0.05); the expression of GSDMD was increased at 12 h and decreased gradually from 24 h to 72 h after hyperoxia exposure (<0.05); the expression of caspase-3 did not change significantly at 12 h and 24 h after hyperoxia exposure (>0.05), but began to decrease at 48 h (<0.05); GSDME increased gradually at 24 h after hyperoxia exposure (<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Under hyperoxia exposure, the ion channels of astrocytes are damaged, which can maintain the dysfunction of ion homeostasis, activate GSDME, induce the damaged cells to break away from the apoptotic pathway, and mediate the pyroptosis.
Apoptosis ; Astrocytes ; Caspase 1 ; Humans ; Hyperoxia ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Neoplasm Proteins ; Phosphate-Binding Proteins ; Pyroptosis

Objective To investigate the effects of Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving Formula (QBTRF) on CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells and Th17 cells of patients with middle to late staged nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Flow cytometry was performed to detect the ratio of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells and Th17 cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBC) among 18 patients with middle to late stage of NPC treated by QBTRF added to conventional therapy (treatment group), Foxp3 mRNA and ROR-γt mRNA in PMBC was determined by RT-PCR technique. Furthermore, serum levels of IL-6 and TGF-β were assayed by ELISA. Meanwhile, 15 patients with NPC treated by conventional therapy were taken as the control group. Results The ratio of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells to the total CD4+ T cells and the transcriptional level of Foxp3 mRNA in PMBC were significantly lower in treatment group than that of control group (P<0.05), the ratio of Th17 cells to the total CD4+T cells and the transcriptional level of ROR-γt mRNA in PMBC were significantly higher in treatment group than that of control group (P<0.05). However, the serum level of IL-6 was obviously higher in treatment group than that of control group (P<0.05), and the serum leve of TGF-βwas obviously lower in treatment group than that of control group (P<0.05). Conclusion QBTRF can significantly affect the number ratio and functional activity of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells and enforce the differentiation of Th17 cells among patients with middle to late staged NPC, which it may be reversed the immune tolerance of NPC through regulating the level of IL-6 and TGF-β.

Objective To investigate the intervening effect of Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving Formula (QBTRF) on the migration potentiality of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells and its association with the expressive activities of cellular skeletal protein system based on an experimental study in vitro.Methods In this study,QBTRF medicine-containing plasma of rats was taken as the intervening factor to treat the targeted NPC cells of CEN2Z for evaluating the correlation of changes in migrating potentiality of CEN2Z cells with expression activities of cellular skeletal protein system and their response to the pharmacological intervening effects of QBTRF,compared with the normal plasma of rats as the control.Here,scratching test was taken to evaluate the migration potentiality of targeting cells,immunohistochemical SABC assays were used to determine the expression activities of β-tubulin,F-actin,p-Ezrin and Rac1,which were taken as the typical indicators of cellular skeletal protein system.Scanning electron microscopy was selected to observe the changes in cellular pseudopodia.Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) procedure was used to detect the transcriptional activity of p-Ezrin mRNA.Results QBTRF showed a very significant inhibitory effect on the migration potentiality of CEN2Z cells,with its migration distance reduced to (25.80 ±8.07) μm and an inhibitory rate reached at 46.59％ at the concentration of IC50.Meanwhile,their cellular pseudopodia was shortened significantly,accompanied with very reduced extension length.Obviously decreased were the expression activities of β-tubulin,F-actin,p-Ezrin and Rac1 proteins,with their figure gray values being 0.857 ±0.059,0.900 ±0.040,0.812 ±0.050 and 0.785 ±0.022,respectively,with statistical significance compared with controls (P ＜0.01).Also seen was the same tendency of transcriptional level of p-Ezrin mRNA when cells cultured with QBTRE medicines-containing plasma together.Conclusions QBTRF holds significantly inhibitory effect on the migration potentiality of CEN2Z NPC cells.This kind of inhibitory effect may be associated with the reduced biological activity of cellular skeletal protein system and corresponding cellular pseudopodia changes.

Objective To investigate the implications of ratio of the CD4+ and CD25+ positive regulatory T cells (CD4+CD25+Tregs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and its associated regulatory factors such as forkhead transcription factor 3 (Foxp3) mRNA transcriptional activity in PBMC,serum levels of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1),and interleukin 10 (IL-10) in the immunopathology of patients with middle to late staged nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) based on a clinical trial.Methods In this study,18 NPC cases at middle to late stage as observing group and 10 healthy persons as control group were included to detect their ratio of the CD4+CD25+Tregs in the PBMC with flow cytometry (FCM) technique,transcriptional activity of Foxp3 with RT-PCR procedure,and serum levels of TGF-β1 and IL-10 with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method.A comparative analysis was used to explore their implications in the immunopathological correlation of NPC cases with their lesion.Results The ratio of the CD4+CD25+Tregs to total CD4+T cells in PBMC was significantly increased [(4.23 ±0.53)％ vs (2.65 ±0.31)％,t =8.60,P ＜0.01],accompanied with significantly elevated levels of Foxp3 transcription in PBMC (3.699 ± 0.309 vs 1.109 ± 0.146,t' =31.08,P ＜ 0.05],and serum contents of TGF-β1 [(645.56 ± 39.61) pg/ml vs (488.82 ± 36.91) pg/ml,t =10.27,P ＜ 0.01] and IL-10 [(1.27 ± 0.21) pg/ml vs (0.68 ± 0.08) pg/ml,t' =10.61,P ＜ 0.05] in these patients,when compared with that of healthy controls.Conclusions It may be true that CD4 + CD25 + Tregs,transcriptional regulatory factor Foxp3,and cytokines TGF-β1 as well as IL-10 altogether were composed of a regulating system in a positive feedback way to promote the developing process of immunotolerance phenomena in the tumor microenvironment and the initiation of immunoescape among patients with middle to late staged nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of several traditional Chinese medicine formula therapies on proliferation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line HNE1. METHOD: The inhibition effect of medicine serums of Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving granule on proliferation of NPC cell line HNE1 in vitro was observed by MTT assay. RESULT: The rates of survival cells in Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving decoction group and Toxin-Resolving group were the lowest after 48 hours treatment, while Qi-Boosting group, yin-nourishing group, residual-component group medicine serums had the most obvious effects on the rates of survival cells at 72 hours. The inhibition ratio of 15% Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving granule medicine serums was 67.68%. CONCLUSION The result of MTT assay showed that cell proliferation was significantly inhibited by Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving granule and its separate composes medicine serums. Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving granule had the most significantly specific effects. The effects were correlated with serum concentration and treatment time of Qi-Boosting Toxin-Resolving granule and its separate composes medicine.
Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serum

After exploring the incubated diseases in TCM theory and its developed courses,we put forward its core point.In the same time,after analyzing the EB virus infection disease,including its causes,the syndrome characters and the immunocompetence,thus we put forward the theory,such as "the EB virus infection is incubated diseases in TCM and its therapeutic principle is concept of viewing the situation as a whole".

Objective To study on the attributive Zang-Fu of TCM to the EBV infection according to the malignant tumor. Methods The malignant tumor in-patients were reviewed to survey the EBV infection, and the nasopharyngeal carcinoma infected the EBV were reviewed to survey the transfer cancer occurance. Results Of the malignant tumor in-patients, there were high EBV infection appearances in the nasopharyngeal (87.5%), the liver (15.0%) the lung (8.3%). There was no EBV infection in the other malignant tumor in-patients. The transfer cancer of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma occurred in the liver (40%) and lung(25%). Conclusion The attributive Zang-Fu of TCM to the EBV infection are liver and lung.

Objective To investigate the relationship between the differential expressing characters of metastasis-relating genes in the nasopharyngeal primary cancerous tissues of untreated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cases and the patterns in the terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) manifested by these patients. Methods Forty one untreated NPC cases included were differentiated for their own patterns respectively at first and biopsys were made to take tissue samples from the nasopharyngeal mass of them for histopathological diagnosis. Furthermore, expressing level determination of metastasis-relating genes nm23-H1 and VEGF165 was carried out among these samples to analyze the correlation of expressing activity of these genes with their firstly differentiated patterns respectively. Results The expressing level of nm23-H1 was significantly lower in the biopsied tissue samples of nasopharyngeal primary focus among the untreated NPC cases with a pattern of dual deficiency of Qi and Yin than those with the other two kinds of pattern, while the expressing level of VEGF165 was in a reverse way to that of nm23-H1 in its activity expression among these cases with the same kind of pattern (P

0.05),compared with the model group respectively.At the pathological stage of atypical hyperplasia,the expressing activity of Bcl-2 was significantly lower(P 0.05).There was a parallel tendency of expressing activity in either Bax mRNA or Bcl-2 mRNA with Bax or Bcl-2 itself respectively in any stage of pathology.Conclusion The anticancer effect of QBTRF was realized by regulating mitochondrion pathway in the developing process of carcinogenesis among rats.