The National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) yesterday announced a potential breakthrough in the treatment of ovarian cancer — the discovery of a steroid medication that may help inhibit metastasis of the cancer and/or its recurrence.
The discovery was made during a three year study conducted by researchers from NHRI’s Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine and two gynecologists at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.
“After subjecting the metastasized ovarian cancer cell line [SKOV-I6iv] and its parental line [SKOV-3] to miRNA array analysis, we found that the expression of microRNA-708 was significantly lower in SKOV-I6iv cells than in SKOV-3 cells,” institute director Wang Lu-hai (王陸海) told a news conference in Taipei.
Wang also serves as the corresponding author for the research.
In analyzing ovarian tumor specimens obtained from the hospital, the researchers discovered noticeably lower miR-708 expression in patients whose cancer cells had reached an advanced stage or spread than in those whose ovarian tissues were normal or whose cancer was still in the early stages, Wang said.
Further analysis showed that even among end-stage patients, those with high microRNA-708 had a higher survival rate than those with low microRNA-708 expression, Wang said.
“A subsequent mouse experiment discovered that microRNA-708 can help inhibit cancer metastasis and those injected with dexamethasone — a synthetic glucocorticoid compound with anti-inflammatory activities — for a month saw microRNA-708 expression increase nearly seven-fold,” he said.
The research team then identified microRNA-708’s downstream regulator in ovarian cancer metastasis as Rap1B protein, the suppression of which plays an important role in curbing ovarian cancer cell migration/invasion and metastasis, Wang said.
The study indicates that the use of glucocorticoids, such as dexamethasone, could “inhibit ovarian cancer metastasis,” he said.
The team’s next step is to determine when and how many doses of glucocorticoid need to be administered to achieve the highest efficacy, Wang said.
The research is expected to enter human clinical trial stage in two years, he said.
The study, “Glucocorticoids mediate induction of microRNA-708to suppress ovarian cancer metastasis through targeting Rap1B,” was published in the online journal Nature Communications on Jan. 8.
Gynecologist Chao Kuan-chong (趙灌中) said while the incidence rate of ovarian cancer in Taiwan is relatively low at 10.8 cases per 100,000 population, the five-year survival rate for end-stage sufferers is less than 50 percent even with treatment.
“That is partly because of the cancer’s asymptomatic nature and the currently insufficient screening methods to catch the disease at an early stage,” Chao said.
Chao said nearly 70 percent of ovarian cancer patients were diagnosed at a late stage and most of them suffered from drug resistance or recurrence within three years after a combined treatment of surgery and chemotherapy.
“It will be a tremendous ovarian cancer drug breakthrough If glucocorticoid proves to be effective in curbing cancer cell migration,” Chao said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS