Home > News > IL6/JAK1/STAT3 signaling blockade in endometrial cancer affects the ALDHHICD126+-like component and reduces tumor burden

IL6/JAK1/STAT3 signaling blockade in endometrial cancer affects the ALDHHICD126+-like component and reduces tumor burden

Cancer stem-like cells (CSC) may be critical to maintain the malignant behavior of solid and hematopoietic cancers. Recently, endometrial cancer patients whose tumors expressed high levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), a detoxifying enzyme characteristic of many progenitor and stem cells, exhibited a relative reduction in survival compared to patients with low levels of ALDH. Given evidence of its role as a CSC marker, we hypothesized that high level of ALDH activity (ALDHhi) in a tumor might positively correlates with the presence of stem- and progenitor-like tumor cells in this disease setting. In support of this hypothesis, ALDH could be employed to enrich for CSC in endometrial cancer cell lines and primary tumors, as illustrated by the increased tumor-initiating capacity of ALDHhicells in immune-deficient mice. ALDH cells also exhibited greater clonogenic and organoid-forming capacity compared to ALDHlocells. Notably, the number of ALDHhicells in tumor cell lines and primary tumors inversely correlated with differentiation grade. Expression analysis revealed upregulation of IL-6 receptor subunits and signal transducers CD126 and GP130 in ALDHhi cancer cells. Accordingly, targeted inhibition of the IL-6 receptor and its downstream effectors JAK1 and STAT3 dramatically reduced tumor cell growth. Overall, our results provide a preclinical rationale to target IL-6 or its effector functions as a novel therapeutic option in endometrial cancer.

Does caffeine fight cancer?

Epidemiological studies have shown that caffeinated drinks may help prevent skin cancer by inhibiting a DNA repair pathway, thus killing potentially precancerous cells. In English, it means that drinking drinks containing caffeine will reduce one’s chances of developing some types of cancer, including UV-associated skin cancer. That just proves that caffeine fight cancer. The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, lend support to the idea that caffeine could be added to sunblock to increase its protective effects. At the cellular level, they’re showing that caffeine is working in this way of inducing an apoptotic mechanism. This statement was then made by cancer epidemiologist Joanne Kotsopoulos of the University of Toronto.

In the 2007, a study stated that woman who drank caffeinated coffee on a daily basis had a 10 percent lower risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer. Six or more cups of coffee a day translated to a 30 percent reduction in risk. Mouse studies have also confirmed the link, with both ingested and topically-applied caffeine lowering skin cancer rates in the animals. But exactly how the stimulant protected against cancer remained mysterious. One possibility is the drug’s inhibition of ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR), a large protein kinase that senses incomplete DNA replication often a result of DNA damage and signals the cell to not divide. By inhibiting ATR activity, caffeine could make cells more likely to die in response to UV damage, preventing damaged cells from ever becoming cancerous.

Studies have shown that the caffeine molecule acts as a sunscreen. It therefore blocks the penetration of UV rays. And that is why today we see many sunblocks with a good amount of caffeine in them.

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Can sugar consumption cause breast cancer?

A recent study stated that drinking three sugar sweetened drinks a week would increase the risk of having breast cancer. The study had 776 pre-menopausal women and 779 post-menopausal women. Each women’s breast density was assessed by examining their mammograms. The women were told to make a note of sweet they consumed such as chocolates, cakes, ice cream or any sweet drinks. Also they were asked to make a note of how much of spoonful of sugar they add to the drinks.

It was then found out that post-menopausal women who consumed more of sugar, an increase in the density of breast. While the pre-menopausal women observed an increase in breast density when they consumed sugar food. These women, in a week were just consuming three sugar sweetened drinks. The study then further stated that sugar tends to increase the migration of breast cells together. This explains the fact that the premenopausal women who consumed sugar-sweetened drinks were 3 percent more likely to have dense breasts than those who didn’t consume the drinks. And having dense breasts increases your risk of breast cancer by making it difficult to see tumors on mammograms.

However, there is more to be studied on this matter. But until then there is still a link between the sugar consumption and breast density. About 40% of women in the US have dense breast and they are totally unaware of it. Doctors say that women with a dense breast are five time more likely to have a breast cancer and 10 times more likely to miss the tumor in the mammogram test.

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