1,720,977 research outputs found
Synergy between low dose metronomic chemotherapy and the pH-centered approach against cancer
No full textLow dose metronomic chemotherapy (MC) is becoming a mainstream treatment for cancer in veterinary medicine. Its mechanism of action is anti-angiogenesis by lowering vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and increasing trombospondin-1 (TSP1). It has also been adopted as a compassionate treatment in very advanced human cancer. However, one of the main limitations of this therapy is its short-term effectiveness: 6 to 12 months, after which resistance develops. pH-centered cancer treatment (pHT) has been proposed as a complementary therapy in cancer, but it has not been adopted or tested as a mainstream protocol, in spite of existing evidence of its advantages and benefits. Many of the factors directly or indirectly involved in MC and anti-angiogenic treatment resistance are appropriately antagonized by pHT. This led to the testing of an association between these two treatments. Preliminary evidence indicates that the association of MC and pHT has the ability to reduce anti-angiogenic treatment limitations and develop synergistic anti-cancer effects. This review will describe each of these treatments and will analyze the fundamentals of their synergy
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Resistance to antiangiogenic treatments: A review
No full textAngiogenesis (blood vessel formation) is essential for tissue growth in both normal development and physiology and in some diseases such as inflammation and cancer. Angiogenesis is a hallmark of cancer, however, it took many years to establish its importance. Ever since Judah Folkman’s seminal publications in 1971, that clearly showed cancer angiogenesis-dependence, researchers have been investigating the mechanisms of angiogenesis and how to block them. This search blossomed with the finding of inhibitors targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathways. These new molecules and monoclonal antibodies showed therapeutic efficacy in both the laboratory and human clinical settings and hopes rose. Unfortunately, the benefits did not reach all the patients and they were short-lived: sooner or later tumors resumed their growth and proliferation and became refractory to further antiangiogenic treatments. Worse, antiangiogenic treatments seemed to increase metastatic risk. The development of treatment resistance is still one of the main causes of failure in cancer therapy. Antiangiogenic treatments are no exception and a deeper knowledge of the mechanisms of resistance is necessary if we intend to delay or eliminate them.Two different mechanisms have been identified: primary or evasive resistance and secondary or adaptive resistance.The existence of these two mechanisms led to the non-mainstream conclusion, now shared by many authors, that there are at least two different angiogenic pathways: one is the canonical VEGF- VEGF receptor (VEGFR) axis and others, which are independent of this axis and not fully known. Primary resistance works exclusively through these independent pathways, while secondary resistance, which initially is VEGF-VEGFR-dependent, switches to the other pathways becoming non-responsive to classical antiangiogenic treatments. For the time being, the clear identification of these other pathways belongs to the realm of hypothesis. However, there is enough experimental evidence supporting their existence. We will discuss this evidence as a central issue in antiangiogenic treatment resistance. Some non-conventional pharmacologic strategies against resistance will also be considered
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Role of Stromal Cells in Determining Tumor and Cancer Stem Cell Behaviors and Therapeutic Response
No full textWhile research previously focused extensively on the tumor cells, over the last two decades, the tumor microenvironment (TME) has received increasing attention with a particular emphasis in its role in tumor development, metabolism, progression, and treatment response [...
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Emerging roles for ion channels in ovarian cancer: Pathomechanisms and pharmacological treatment
Full text linkOvarian cancer (OC) is the deadliest gynecologic cancer, due to late diagnosis, development of platinum resistance, and inadequate alternative therapy. It has been demonstrated that membrane ion channels play important roles in cancer processes, including cell proliferation, apop-tosis, motility, and invasion. Here, we review the contribution of ion channels in the development and progression of OC, evaluating their potential in clinical management. Increased expression of voltage-gated and epithelial sodium channels has been detected in OC cells and tissues and shown to be involved in cancer proliferation and invasion. Potassium and calcium channels have been found to play a critical role in the control of cell cycle and in the resistance to apoptosis, promoting tumor growth and recurrence. Overexpression of chloride and transient receptor potential channels was found both in vitro and in vivo, supporting their contribution to OC. Furthermore, ion channels have been shown to influence the sensitivity of OC cells to neoplastic drugs, suggesting a critical role in chemotherapy resistance. The study of ion channels expression and function in OC can improve our understanding of pathophysiology and pave the way for identifying ion channels as potential targets for tumor diagnosis and treatment
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