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Anti-cancer dream cream shrinks oral tumors

Researchers find that miR-634 increases the sensitivity of oral squamous cell carcinoma to cisplatin

Date:
March 30, 2022
Source:
Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Summary:
Researchers have found that treatment with miR-634 reduces the resistance of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells to cisplatin, resulting in increased tumor cell killing. An ointment containing miR-634 had a similar effect in mice, suggesting that this simple topical treatment could be used to improve the prognosis of patients with advanced oral cancer.
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FULL STORY

Modern medicine offers "peel and stick" solutions like nicotine or contraceptive patches that you can put right on your skin without needing to visit a doctor for an injection or procedure. Now, researchers have found that applying a topical ointment containing anti-tumor factor can increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment.

In a study that will be published soon inMolecular Therapy Oncolytics, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) reveal that treating oral cancer cells withmiR-634, a microRNA that targets pro-tumor factors, can increase the effectiveness of treatment with cisplatin.

超过90%的口腔癌病例可以的一种类型cer called oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). While OSCC can be treated with chemotherapy and radiation, many patients develop resistance to cisplatin, the main drug used to treat it.

"We recently found thatmiR-634counteracts some cell-protective processes, such as anti-apoptotic signaling and antioxidant scavenging, that are activated in cancer cells that are resistant to cisplatin," says Phuong Xuan Tran, lead author on the study. "This suggests that increasing the amount of this small molecule in cells could increase their sensitivity to this drug."

To test whethermiR-634can help increase tumor sensitivity to cisplatin, the researchers treated two different OSCC cell lines with both the miRNA and the drug and looked at how many of the cells survived.

"The results were very clear," states Johji Inazawa, senior author of the study. "Treatment withmiR-634effectively increased cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity and overcame cisplatin resistance in OSCC cells, resulting in increased tumor cell killing."

To confirm these results, the researchers then tested the treatment combination in mice with experimental tumors. When the mice were injected with cisplatin and anmiR-634ointment was applied to the tumors, the tumors shrank rapidly.

"Our findings suggest thatmiR-634-mediated repression of pro-tumor factors can effectively increase the sensitivity of OSCC to existing chemotherapeutic options such as cisplatin," says Tran.

Taken together, the results from this study suggest thatmiR-634ointment could be useful for enhancing the effects of chemotherapy in patients with advanced OSCC. Given that the synergistic effects ofmiR-634and cisplatin were also seen in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, bladder cancer, and ovarian cancer cell lines, this treatment combination may also be effective across a variety of cancer types.

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Story Source:

Materialsprovided byTokyo Medical and Dental University.Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Phuong Xuan Tran, Jun Inoue, Hiroyuki Harada, Johji Inazawa.Potential for reversing miR-634-mediated cytoprotective processes to improve efficacy of chemotherapy against oral squamous cell carcinoma.Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics, 2022; 24: 897 DOI:10.1016/j.omto.2022.02.002

Cite This Page:

Tokyo Medical and Dental University. "Anti-cancer dream cream shrinks oral tumors: Researchers find that miR-634 increases the sensitivity of oral squamous cell carcinoma to cisplatin." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 March 2022. /releases/2022/03/220330111401.htm>.
Tokyo Medical and Dental University. (2022, March 30). Anti-cancer dream cream shrinks oral tumors: Researchers find that miR-634 increases the sensitivity of oral squamous cell carcinoma to cisplatin.ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 6, 2023 from www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/03/220330111401.htm
Tokyo Medical and Dental University. "Anti-cancer dream cream shrinks oral tumors: Researchers find that miR-634 increases the sensitivity of oral squamous cell carcinoma to cisplatin." ScienceDaily. www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/03/220330111401.htm (accessed September 6, 2023).

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