Highlights of This Issue

Abstract

Effective treatments for pancreatic adenocarcinoma that are less invasive and less toxic are needed. In this study, Glazer and colleagues used targeted delivery of gold nanoparticles to treat pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo. They demonstrated that the nanoparticles released heat upon exposure to a noninvasive focused radiofrequency field. Animals treated with the targeted gold nanoparticles and the radiofrequency field suffered no toxicities and did not have evidence of nonmalignant tissue abnormalities, while the malignant cells showed evidence of thermally induced apoptosis and necrosis. This experimental approach has potential for the noninvasive treatment of cancer.IL-6 production is increased in drugresistant ovarian cancer cells and in the serum and ascites of ovarian cancer patients. Siltuximab is a chimeric murine anti-human IL-6 monoclonal antibody that has been studied previously in human cancers. Here, Guo and colleagues found that siltuximab specifically suppressed IL-6-induced Stat3 phosphorylation and Stat3 nuclear translocation in ovarian cancer cells. Treatment with siltuximab significantly decreased Stat3 downstream protein levels, including MCL-1, Bcl-XL and survivin. Siltuximab also increased the cytotoxic effects of paclitaxel in vitro. These results suggest that inhibition of IL-6 signaling may be effective for ovarian cancer treatmentEpithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a critical role in cancer progression. Although the Foxo3a transcription factor is known to regulate the expression of cell cycle- and apoptosis-related genes, its role in EMT needs to be explored further. Here, Shiota and colleagues examined Foxo3a expression in urothelial cancer specimens. They found that Foxo3a expression levels were decreased in invasive urothelial cancer and that Foxo3a was an independent prognostic factor. Further, Foxo3a regulated the motility of urothelial cancer cells through the regulation of EMT-associated proteins (Twist1, YB-1 and E-cadherin). These results implicate Foxo3a in cancer progression and the regulation of EMT.Snail, which contributes to epithelialmesenchymal transition (EMT), has been implicated in cancer progression. Here, Kosaka and colleagues investigated the biological significance of Snail in upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). They observed strong Snail staining in invasive UTUC, and found that Snail was an independent prognostic factor. Further, targeting Snail by siRNA resulted in decreased invasion activity (and an accompanying reduction in mesenchymal markers and matrix metalloproteinases) in urothelial carcinoma cells. These results suggest that Snail-induced EMT represents an attractive target for the treatment of UTUC.