[Affection of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on cell apoptosis and proliferation in breast cancer]
You-qing Zhan1, Li Xu, Xiao-wei Sun
1Department of Abdomen, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, P. R. China. yq_zhan@21cn.com
Background & Objective:
Although the researches had verified various kinds of chemotherapic agents can cause the apoptosis of breast cancer cells, but the reports with in vivo data are still scarce. This paper is to investigate whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy could induce tumor cell apoptosis in breast cancer patients, and its effect on cell proliferation.
Methods:
Apoptosis index (AI) of tumor cells is assayed by TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is examined by immunohistochemical labelled streptavidin biotin (ISAB) in 100 beast cancer samples.
Results:
Tumor cell AI in neoadjuvant group (mean = 7.47%) was significantly higher than that in control group (mean = 4.83%) (P < 0.01). PCNA positive expression rate in neoadjuvant group (mean = 33.71%) was significantly lower than that in control group (mean = 51.52%) (P < 0.01). There was significant negative association between AI and PCNA in both neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and control group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy could induce tumor cell apoptosis and inhibit tumor cell proliferation in human breast cancer.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
Combination Therapies and Personalized Medicine
The combination of the drug acetazolamide and sulforaphane is a good example of combination therapy to treat cancer. The cells in the interior of a large tumor often die due to the hypoxic and...

