The aim of this study is to develop a new screening method, molecular beacon (MB) imaging, for detection of cervical cancer and to determine its potential clinical applications by examining the sensitivity and specificity of target-specific MBs. Two target-specific molecular beacons were designed and synthesized for survivin and HPV16E6 mRNA. The two designed MBs and a random control MB were used to detect cervical cancer cell lines and a normal cell line. RT-PCR and western blot targeting survivin and HPV16E6 was done for verification. Furthermore the sensitivity and the specificity of the survivin and HPV16E6 mRNA MBs were examined in smears from 125 clinical cervical patients. The survivin and HPV16E6 mRNA MBs generated a strong fluorescence signal in cervical cancer cell lines, but not in the normal cell line, while the random control MB did not generated any signal in both cell lines. The fluorescence intensity correlated well with the gene expression levels in the cells determined by reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot analysis. The clinical sensitivity and the specificity of survivin MB-FITC were 72.5 and 77% while those of HPV16E6 MB-Cy3 were 96.1% and 71.6%, respectively. A parallel test of the two target MBs showed that the sensitivity increased to 98% and the specificity was 70.2%. The survivin and HPV16E6 mRNA MBs showed good reliability and sensitivity. They have great potential for clinical use in cervical cancer screening.

Objectives. To determine the effect of socio-economic status (SES) on delayed access to medical treatment by Chinese cervical cancer patients who suffered from late rectal sequelae (LRS) after external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and intracavitary brachytherapy.Methods. Patients diagnosed with LRS were interviewed for their SES, factors including age, residing district, religion, marital status, income, education, insurance and patient delay (the time interval from the onset of symptoms to the first medical consultation) and other factors such as weight, symptom duration and disease stage at diagnosis.Results. One hundred and twenty nine patients were interviewed. Seventy-one patients (55%) sought medical treatment within three months after the first symptom being recognized and fifty-eight patients (45%) delayed their medical treatment over 3 months. The study shows that age >= 55 (OR= 12.1; 95% CI: 3.3-43.9), lower education (OR= 4.6: 95% CI: 2.0-10.4 for women with primary school education or illiterate), low annual household income (OR= 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2-5.1) and widow/divorce (OR= 0.1; 95% CI: 0.01-0.07) were the high risk factors for delayed reporting. Patients with bleeding or bleeding plus other symptoms (61.2%) were more likely to seek treatment within three months, compared to patients with other symptoms only (38.8%) (p= 0.002). Additionally, delayed reporting was found to be significantly associated with the late stage of late rectal sequelae (LRS) (p= 0,000) and the patients with 55 years or older (p= 0.000).Conclusions. Delayed reporting and late-stage presentation of late rectal sequelae are more prevalent among Chinese cervical cancer patients with 55 years or older, low education, poor marital status, or poor financial status. Effective social support and educational programs should be implemented to encourage these patients to seek medical treatment as soon as possible. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Resistance or insensitivity to radiation therapy is one of the hallmarks of hepatocellular carcinoma. Sensitizing radioresistant cancer by combining radiation with other therapeutics to induce apoptosis has been widely investigated. Our previous study showed that chicken anaemia virus-derived apoptin protein induced the apoptosis of hepatic carcinoma HepG2 cells. In the present study, we demonstrated that apoptin sensitizes cells to radiation-induced apoptosis using a lentivirus-apoptin expression system in hepatic carcinoma HepG2 cells. Combination therapy with radiation and apoptin dramatically induced mitochondrial cytochrome c release and the cleavage of caspases -9, -3 and -7. Our findings are also the first to show that the combination of radiation and apoptin up-regulates p53 expression. Thus, apoptin treatment represents a potential method for enhancing the effectiveness of radiotherapy in poorly responding hepatocellular carcinoma.

AIM To Package the recombinant lentivirus containing the fused gene of SP-TAT-Apoptin to infect HepG2 cell and measure the efficiency of apoptosis. METHODS The eukaryotic expression vector of SP-TAT-Apoptin fused gene and other packaging plasmids were transfected into 293FT cells by Lipofectamine(TM);2000 reagent. The supernatant of the cultured 293FT cells was harvested and virus titration was determined by real time PCR. The expression of the fused gene of SP-TAT-Apoptin in 293FT cells infected by the recombinant lentivirus was examined by immunofluorescence histochemistry method. At the same time, the apoptosis rates of the HepG2 cells infected by the recombinant lentivirus were determined by using flow cytometer. RESULTS The 293FT cells infected by the recombinant lentivirus could express the fused protein SP-TAT-Apoptin. Anexin-V PI assay showed that SP-TAT-Apoptin carried by the recombinant lentivirus could cause the HepG2 cell apoptosis, and its apoptosis rate was significantly more than paired control group and SP-TAT-Apoptin carried by liposomes only. CONCLUSION The recombinant lentivirus of SP-TAT-Apoptin is successfully packaged and it can induce HepG2 cells to apoptosis.