Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the subtype of breast cancer with the highest mortality rate, shows clinical characteristics of high heterogeneity, aggressiveness, easy recurrence, and poor prognosis, which is due to lack of expression of estrogen, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. Currently, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAT) is still the major clinical treatment for triple-negative breast cancer. Chemotherapy drugs can be divided into platinum and non-platinum according to the presence of metal platinum ions in the structure. However, which kind is more suitable for treating TNBC remains to be determined. Methods: The relevant randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that explore the effectiveness of chemotherapy regimens containing platinum-based drugs (PB) or platinum-free drugs (PF) in treating TNBC patients were retrieved through PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and other literature platforms, above research findings, were included in the meta-analysis. The incidence of overall remission rate (ORR), pathological complete remission rate (pCR), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), progression-free survival (PFS), and adverse events (AE) were compared between the two groups. Results: In this study, 12 clinical trials with a total of 4580 patients were included in the analysis. First, the ORR in 4 RCTs was, PB vs PF = 52% vs 48% (RR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.91–1.21, P = 0.48); the pCR in 5 RCTs was, PB vs PF = 48% vs 41% (RR = 1.38, 95% CI: 0.88–2.16, P = 0.17). CI: 0.88–2.16, P = 0.17; the other 2 RCTs reported significantly higher DFS and OS rates in the PB group compared with the PF group, with the combined risk ratio for DFS in the PB group RR = 0.22 (95% CI:0.06–0.82, P = 0.015); the combined risk ratio for DFS in the PF group RR = 0.15 (95% CI. 0.04–0.61, P = 0.008); OS rate: PB vs PF = 0.046 vs 0.003; secondly, 2 RCTs showed that for patients with BRCA-mutated TNBC, the pCR rate in the PB and PF groups was 18% vs 26%, 95% CI: 2.4–4.2 vs 4.1–5.1; meanwhile, the median subject in the PB group The median PFS was 3.1 months (95% CI: 2.4–4.2) in the PB group and 4.4 months (95% CI: 4.1–5.1) in the PC group; finally, the results of the clinical adverse effects analysis showed that platinum-containing chemotherapy regimens significantly increased the incidence of adverse effects such as thrombocytopenia and diarrhea compared with non-platinum regimens, while the incidence of adverse effects such as vomiting, nausea, and neutropenia was reduced. The incidence of adverse reactions was reduced. Conclusion: Compared with non-platinum drugs, platinum drugs significantly improved clinical treatment effective indexes, such as PCR, ORR, PFS, DFS, and OS rate in the treatment of TNBC patients without BRCA mutant may cause more serious hematological adverse reactions. Accordingly, platinum-based chemotherapy should be provided for TNBC patients according to the patient's special details.

Fluorouracil (5-FU) and oxaliplatin (L-OHP) are the most commonly used chemotherapy drugs for colorectal cancer, though resistance is common. Compound Sophora injection is a traditional Chinese medicine that can protect the liver against oxidation, improve immunity, and enhance sensitivity to chemotherapy; it may have an effect of reversing resistance in 5-FU- and L-OHP-resistant gastric cancer cells (5-FU/SW480 and L-OHP/SW480, respectively). A concentration gradient experiment was performed to identify a nontoxic dose of compound Sophora injection. 5-FU/SW480 and L-OHP/SW480 cells were treated with the nontoxic dose of compound radix Sophorae injection for 48 h, and changes in drug resistance to 5-FU and L-OHP were detected. Alterations in apoptosis and the cell cycle were assessed, as were the mRNA and protein levels of permeability glycoprotein (P-gp), annexin A1 (ANXA1), and ATP-binding cassette superfamily G member 2 (ABCG2). Flow cytometry showed a reduction in the number of cells in the G1 phase and an increase of cells in the S phase (P<0.05). mRNA and protein expression of P-gp and ABCG2 was significantly higher in 5-FU/SW480 and L-OHP/SW480 cell lines, and ANXA1 expression decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compound Sophora injection can reverse the drug resistance of 5-FU/SW480 and L-OHP/SW480 cell lines to 5-FU and L-OHP, respectively, possibly through a mechanism involving reduced expression of P-gp and ABCG2 but enhanced expression of ANXA1, which is the basis for the identification of clinical drug resistance in colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Docetaxel is a yew compound antitumor agent with accurate antitumor efficacy, but its application is limited due to the high and serious adverse effects, and finding effective combination therapy options is a viable strategy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have become hotspots in enhancing anti-tumor immunity by blocking immune checkpoint signaling pathways, but their response rate to monotherapy use is not high and the efficacy is minimal. OBJECTIVE: To explore the anti-tumor effects and mechanisms of the combination of PD-1 inhibitors and Docetaxel through in vivo experiments and develop a feasible combination treatment for the therapy of prostate cancer. METHODS: Tumor-bearing mice were subcutaneously injected with 0.1 ml RM-1 cells. Treatment were taken when the tumor growed up to 3 mm, after which the tumor and spleen were removed to test the antitumor effect with Flow cytometric (FACS) analysis, Immunohistochemistry, Western Blot. RESULTS: In this experiment, we found that PD-1 inhibitors combined with Docetaxel had a synergistic effect on mouse prostate cancer, inhibited the growth of prostate cancer, improved survival and reduced adverse reactions, increased spleen and tumor infiltrative CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, especially in group combination with low-dose Docetaxel, and were related to the PI3K/AKT/NFKB-P65/PD-L1 signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms that PD-1 inhibitors in combination with Docetaxel are a viable combination strategy and provide a safe and effective combination option for the clinical treatment of prostate cancer.

Although various treatment options are available for prostate cancer (PCa), including androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and chemotherapy, these approaches have not achieved the desired results clinically, especially in the treatment of advanced chemotherapy-resistant PCa. The PI3K/AKT/mTOR (PAM) signaling pathway is a classical pathway that is aberrantly activated in cancer cells and promotes the tumorigenesis, metastasis, resistance to castration therapy, chemoresistance, and recurrence of PCa. Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a class of RNAs that do not encode proteins. However, some ncRNAs have recently been shown to be differentially expressed in tumor tissues compared with noncancerous tissues and play important roles at the transcription and posttranscription levels. Among the types of ncRNAs, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) can participate in the PAM pathway to regulate PCa growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, and tumor stemness. Therefore, ncRNA therapy that targets the PAM signaling pathway is expected to be a novel and effective approach for treating PCa. In this paper, we summarize the types of ncRNAs that are associated with the PAM pathway in PCa cells as well as the functions and clinical roles of these ncRNAs in PCa. We hope to provide novel and effective strategies for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of PCa.

Triple‑negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer that is negative for oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 expression. Locally advanced and metastatic TNBC not only have a worse prognosis and are more invasive than TNBC, but are also the most immunogenic subtypes of breast cancer. There is still a lack of clarity regarding the optimal treatment of locally advanced or metastatic TNBC. The present study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD‑1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD‑L1) inhibitor‑based immunotherapy [i.e., immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)] alone or in combination with other therapies for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic TNBC. The PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and MEDLINE databases were searched up to July 19, 2023 to identify studies that examined the efficacy and safety of ICIs for treating TNBC. The primary outcomes were progression‑free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The secondary outcomes were safety and adverse events. The data were analysed using Review Manager 5.4. A total of 8 studies (3,338 patients) were included in the present meta‑analysis. Compared with other therapies, ICIs had a significantly different effect on OS [hazard ratio (HR)=0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.69‑1.00; P<0.05; I²=59%] in patients with locally advanced or metastatic TNBC. In addition, ICIs significantly prolonged PFS compared with other therapies (intent‑to‑treat: HR=0.81; 95% CI=0.75‑0.88; P<0.00001; I²=0%). Immunotherapy based on PD‑1/PD‑L1 inhibitors showed variable efficacy on OS and PFS in TNBC, while a significant improvement was observed for PD‑L1(+). Future studies should focus on PD‑L1 subgroup status, which may help optimize personalized treatment regimens for TNBC.

Advanced prostate cancer is difficult to treat owing to a lack of effective approaches for disrupting immune tolerance. C57BL/6 male and female mice implanted with viable RM‑1 cells represent a novel murine model of advanced prostate cancer for studying antitumor effects following immunization with a granulocyte‑macrophage colony‑stimulating factor (GM‑CSF)‑modified RM‑1 cell vaccine, which has been described previously. In vitro cytotoxic activity and cytokine secretion experiments were conducted to investigate the antitumor response. The cytotoxicity profile of splenocytes from female mice immunized against RM‑1 cells primarily involved cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) lysis and, to a lesser extent, natural killer (NK) cell lysis. NK cell lysis was also observed in males, which exhibited no evidence of CTL lysis. The secretion of interferon‑γ in the GM‑CSF‑modified cell vaccine group was significantly increased compared with the other groups. The level of interleukin‑4 was low. To investigate the antitumor immune response further, cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) T cells and CD8 T cells were analyzed in the spleens and tumors of female mice receiving the GM‑CSF‑modified RM‑1 cell vaccine. Unlike female mice, males exhibited the highest proportion of NK cells in the spleen. NK cells were not detected in the tumor tissue in any of the groups. The difference between the sexes may explain the specificity of the immune response, as females are intolerant to prostate antigens whereas males are. This model is clinically relevant as it translates to human immunology and offers an effective and convenient method for studying immunotherapy for prostate cancer.