METHODS OF MODULATING ROS PRODUCTION AND APOPTOSIS

摘要

Disclosed herein are methods for treating, inhibiting, or modulating a cancer in a subject which comprise preventing, inhibiting, or modulating attachment of extracellular matrix proteins to the cancer cells through their integrin receptors; and by inhibiting NADPH oxidase and/or 5-lipoxygenase, two generators of reactive oxygen species in the pancreatic cancer cell. Also disclosed herein, are methods using Nox4 to assay, detect, monitor, or measure a cancer in a subject. Specifically, the present invention provides methods and assays for diagnosing, detecting, or monitoring pancreatic cancer in subjects comprising detecting, determining, or assaying the presence of Nox4 in test samples including bodily fluids and tissues obtained from the subjects. The methods and assays of the present invention can be used for screening for pancreatic cancer in populations as well as for imaging procedures to determine the location(s) of the cancer in the body.