Prospective observation: Clinical utility of plasma Epstein–Barr virus DNA load in EBV-associated gastric carcinoma patients

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-associated gastric carcinomas (EBVaGCs) may account for 8–9% of all gastric cancer (GC) patients. All previous reports on EBVaGC were retrospective. Prospective study is warranted to evaluate the exact role of EBV status in predicting the prognosis of GC. It is of special interest to figure out whether dynamic detection of plasma EBV-DNA load could be a feasible biomarker for the monitor of EBVaGC. From October 2014 to September 2017, we consecutively collected GC patients (n = 2,760) from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center for EBER examination. We detected EBV-DNA load in plasma and tissue samples of EBVaGC patients at baseline. Subsequently, plasma EBV-DNA load was dynamically monitored in EBVaGC patients. The overall prevalence of EBVaGC is 5.1% (140/2,760). The incidence rate of EBVaGC decreased with advanced AJCC 7th TNM stage (p < 0.001), with the corresponding percentages of 9.3, 9.9, 6.7 and 1.4% for Stage I, II, III and IV patients. EBVaGC patients were predominately young males with better histologic differentiation and earlier TNM stage than EBV-negative GC (EBVnGC) patients. EBVaGC patients were confirmed to had a favorable 3-year survival rate (EBVaGC vs. EBVnGC: 76.8% vs. 58.2%, p = 0.0001). Though only 52.1% (73/140) EBVaGC patients gained detectable EBV-DNA and 43.6% (61/140) reached a positive cutoff of 100 copies/ml, we found the plasma EBV-DNA load in EBVaGC decreased when patients got response, while it increased when disease progressed. Our results suggested that plasma EBV-DNA is a good marker in predicting recurrence and chemotherapy response for EBVaGC patients.     

新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情期间肺癌患者的应对措施

新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID-19)是近段时间我国面临的重大公卫事件，我国是肺癌大国，为了加强肺癌患者对这一疾病的认识，在疫情期间，使广大肺癌患者做好自身疾病的管理，做好对新型冠状病毒肺炎的预防。本文结合肺癌患者自身特点，对新型冠状病毒肺炎的易感性、鉴别诊断、防护、治疗，以及肺癌患者的随访、抗肿瘤用药、营养、手术等方面进行探讨，并结合两者的关系综合归纳，可以为广大肺癌患者更好地应对疫情提供参考。     

Loss of function,missense, and intronic variants in NOTCH1 confer different risks for left ventricular outflow tract obstructive heart defects in two European cohorts

Loss of function variants in NOTCH1 cause left ventricular outflow tract obstructive defects (LVOTO). However, the risk conferred by rare and noncoding variants in NOTCH1 for LVOTO remains largely uncharacterized. In a cohort of 49 families affected by hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a severe form of LVOTO, we discovered predicted loss of function NOTCH1 variants in 6% of individuals. Rare or low-frequency missense variants were found in 16% of families. To make a quantitative estimate of the genetic risk posed by variants in NOTCH1 for LVOTO, we studied associations of 400 coding and noncoding variants in NOTCH1 in 1,085 cases and 332,788 controls from the UK Biobank. Two rare intronic variants in strong linkage disequilibrium displayed significant association with risk for LVOTO amongst European-ancestry individuals. This result was replicated in an independent analysis of 210 cases and 68,762 controls of non-European and mixed ancestry. In conclusion, carrying rare predicted loss of function variants in NOTCH1 confer significant risk for LVOTO. In addition, the two intronic variants seem to be associated with an increased risk for these defects. Our approach demonstrates the utility of population-based data sets in quantifying the specific risk of individual variants for disease-related phenotypes.     

营养风险与腹膜后肿瘤患者住院时间的相关性研究

目的 探讨营养风险与腹膜后肿瘤患者住院时间的相关性。方法 采用回顾性研究，选取2012年1月至2018年12月四川大学华西医院血管外科新入院腹膜后肿瘤患者60例，采用营养风险筛查表评估患者营养风险，收集患者体质指数、围术期血红蛋白和白蛋白水平、住院天数、术后恶心呕吐发生情况、术后排气、排便时间和首次进食时间。采用单因素分析比较不同患者住院时间，采用多重线性逐步回归分析患者住院时间的影响因素。结果 纳入的60例腹膜后肿瘤患者中，40例患者（66.7%）术前存在营养风险，52例患者（86.7%）术后存在营养风险；单因素分析显示，患者术前、术后营养风险 （术前P<0.001，术后P=0.043）、术前白蛋白 （P=0.019）、术后血红蛋白 （P=0.019）、术后白蛋白（P=0.025） 水平以及术后恶心呕吐 （P=0.001） 均会影响患者的住院时间；患者住院时间与围术期营养风险筛查工具评分、术后首次进食时间、术后排气时间和排便时间具有相关性，且相关性强（r=0.759~0.770； P<0.01）；多因素分析显示术前营养风险是腹膜后肿瘤患者住院时间的重要预测因素（β=0.399）。结论 术前营养风险是腹膜后肿瘤患者住院时间的预测因子。     

Host MyD88 signaling protects against acute graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Recent experimental strategies to reduce graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) have focused largely on modifying innate immunity. Toll-like receptor (TLR)-driven myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88)-dependent signalling pathways that initiate adaptive immune function are also critical for the pathogenesis of GVHD. This study aimed to delineate the role of host MyD88 in the development of acute GVHD following fully major histocompatibility complex-mismatched allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). When myeloablated BALB/c MyD88 knock-out recipients were transplanted with C57BL/6 (B6) donor cells, they developed significantly more severe GVHD than wild-type (WT) BALB/c hosts. The increased morbidity and mortality in MyD88^–/– mice correlated with increased serum levels of lipopolysaccharide and elevated inflammatory cytokines in GVHD target organs. Additionally, MyD88 deficiency in BMT recipients led to increased donor T cell expansion and more donor CD11c⁺ cell intestinal infiltration with apoptotic cells but reduced proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells compared with that in WT BMT recipients. Decreased expression of tight junction mRNA in epithelial cells of MyD88^–/– mice suggested that MyD88 contributes to intestinal integrity. Cox-2 expression in the GVHD-targeted organs of WT mice is increased upon GVHD induction, but this enhanced expression was obviously inhibited by MyD88 deficiency. The present findings demonstrate an unexpected role for host MyD88 in preventing GVHD after allogeneic BMT.     

Extracellular vesicles transmitted miR-31-5p promotes sorafenib resistance by targeting MLH1 in renal cell carcinoma

Sorafenib provides survival benefits in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but its use is hampered by acquired drug resistance. It is important to fully clarify the molecular mechanisms of sorafenib resistance, which can help to avoid, delay or reverse drug resistance. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can mediate intercellular communication by delivering effector molecules between cells. Here, we studied whether EVs are involved in sorafenib resistance of RCC and its possible molecular mechanisms. Using differential centrifugation, EVs were isolated from established sorafenib-resistant RCC cells (786-0 and ACHN), and EVs derived from sorafenib-resistant cells were uptaken by sensitive parental RCC cells and thus promoted drug resistance. Elevated exogenous miR-31-5p within EVs effectively downregulated MutL homolog 1 (MLH1) expression and thus promoted sorafenib resistance in vitro. Mice experiments also confirmed that miR-31-5p could mediate drug sensitivity in vivo. In addition, low expression of MLH1 was observed in sorafenib-resistant RCC cells and upregulation of MLH1 expression restored the sensitivity of resistant cell lines to sorafenib. Finally, miR-31-5p level in circulating EVs of RCC patients with progressive disease (PD) during sorafenib therapy was higher when compared to that in the pretherapy status. In conclusion, EVs shuttled miR-31-5p can transfer resistance information from sorafenib-resistant cells to sensitive cells by directly targeting MLH1, and thus magnify the drug resistance information to the whole tumor. Furthermore, miR-31-5p and MLH1 could be promising predictive biomarkers and therapeutic targets to prevent sorafenib resistance.     

补肾壮骨汤对骨质疏松型胸腰椎压缩骨折患者椎体成形术治疗效果影响的Meta分析

[目的]采用Meta分析法系统评价补肾壮骨汤对椎体成形术治疗骨质疏松型胸腰椎压缩骨折(OTCF)临床的影响。[方法]以"补肾壮骨汤"为首输关键词,以"椎体成形术""骨质疏松""胸腰椎压缩骨折"等为次输关键词,全面搜索补肾壮骨汤对OTCF患者椎体成形术治疗效果影响的随机对照研究文献,评价纳入研究文献的一般特征,对文献资料所提取的治疗有效率、骨密度、Oswestry功能障碍(ODI)指数、治疗安全性(新发骨折率)等观察指标进行Meta分析处理与分析。[结果]共13篇文献纳入Meta分析范畴,文献总样本量1 037例。分析显示,与对照组相比,治疗组可明显提高临床有效率[OR=4.63,95%CI[2.92,7.36],P0.000 01]、改善骨密度[MD=0.08,95%CI[0.06,0.1],P0.000 01]、降低ODI指数[MD=-2.34,95%CI[-3.49,-1.19],P0.000 01]、降低新发骨折率[OR=0.08,95%CI[0.11,0.44],P0.000 01]。[结论]与单纯椎体成形术治疗相比,补肾壮骨汤辅助椎体成形术在OTCF患者治疗中,可提升患者术后骨密度、改善胸腰椎功能障碍和降低术后新发骨折率,治疗疗效确切。     

结直肠癌化疗患者营养状况及营养治疗研究进展

结直肠癌是常见的消化道肿瘤，其营养不良发生率高且严重。化疗是结直肠癌常见治疗方式之一，并与营养不良独立相关，化疗后患营养不良风险增大且营养不良进一步加重。同时，营养不良可导致患者化疗疗效差及预后不良，并增加化疗相关不良反应、影响患者生活质量及降低生存率等。营养治疗能够有效改善患者营养状况，在肿瘤综合治疗中有重要作用，且多学科团队合作是有效的营养干预模式。目前营养治疗主要包括营养咨询、口服营养补充剂、肠内营养和肠外营养等，相关指南和研究表明在营养治疗时应首选口服营养补充剂及肠内营养，仅在采用以上治疗后仍存在营养不足或无法进行肠内营养时行肠外营养。本文主要对结直肠癌患者营养状况与化疗之间关系、营养治疗的最新研究进展及相关指南进行综述，以期引起临床上对结直肠癌化疗患者营养治疗方面重视并提供参考。