Abstract:The lack of therapy and the failure of existing therapy has been a challenge for clinicians in treating various cancers. Doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, and paclitaxel are the first-line therapy in various cancers; however, toxicity, resistance, and treatment failure limit their clinical use. Their status leads us to discover and investigate more targeted therapy with more efficacy. In this article, we dissect literature from the patient perspective, the tumor biology perspective, therapy-induced metastasis, and cell data generated in the laboratory.
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises 17-20% of all breast cancers and is one of the most common breast cancers. The lack of therapy and failure of existing therapy has been a challenge for clinicians. Doxorubicin (DOX) is the first-line therapy, however, it has significant limitations. Rapid extensive recurrence with metastasis in any cancer has been a challenge for surgeons and medical oncologists. The challenge can be due to failure of therapy, drug resistance, or epigenetic changes. Here, we are discussing a stage I breast cancer patient, operated and treated with appropriate chemotherapy with complete response, which recurred in less than 8 months and metastasized to bone, liver and other organs. We are also presenting lab data of the IL-6 secretions on exposure to DOX in one of the most commonly used TNBC cell lines MDA-MB-231. Breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 upon exposure to DOX shows an increase in IL-6 levels more than the already elevated IL-6 levels. This might be a reason for early recurrence. We concluded that patients with TNBC might benefit from a standard DOX treatment regimen with an inflammation-blocking agent.
Although the relationship between androgens and hepatocellular tumor development has been noted since 1975, cases involving hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or cholangiocarcinoma development in patients on chronic androgen therapy or anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) use are few, and far between. We present three cases of patients who developed hepatic and bile duct malignancies in the setting of AAS use and testosterone supplementation, arising from a single tertiary referral center. Additionally, we review the literature for the mechanisms behind the possible androgen-mediated malignant transformation of these liver and bile duct tumors.
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