Role of surgical treatments in high-grade or advanced gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

Over the last 40 years, the incidence and prevalence of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) have continued to increase. Compared to other epithelial neoplasms in the same organ, GEP-NENs exhibit indolent biological behavior, resulting in more chances to undergo surgery. However, the role of surgery in high-grade or advanced GEP-NENs is still controversial. Surgery is associated with survival improvement of well-differentiated high-grade GEP-NENs, whereas poorly differentiated GEP-NENs that may benefit from resection require careful selection based on Ki67 and other tissue biomarkers. Additionally, surgery also plays an important role in locally advanced and metastatic disease. For locally advanced GEP-NENs, isolated major vascular involvement is no longer an absolute contraindication. In the setting of metastatic GEP-NENs, radical intended surgery is recommended for patients with low-grade and resectable metastases. For unresectable metastatic disease, a variety of surgical approaches, including cytoreduction of liver metastasis, liver transplantation, and surgery after neoadjuvant treatment, show survival benefits. Primary tumor resection in GEP-NENs with unresectable metastatic disease is associated with symptom control, prolonged survival, and improved sensitivity toward systemic therapies. Although there is no established neoadjuvant or adjuvant strategy, increasing attention has been given to this emerging research area. Some studies have reported that neoadjuvant therapy effectively reduces tumor burden, improves the effectiveness of subsequent surgery, and decreases surgical complications.     

Comprehensively evaluating cancer survival in children with birth defects: a population-based assessment

Cancer Causes & Control - Congenital malformations are strong risk factors for childhood cancer. Our objective was to determine whether cancer survival differs by birth defect status among...     

甲状腺乳头状癌前上纵隔淋巴结转移临床病理特征初步分析

目的 探讨肿瘤位置、最大直径及甲状腺外浸等临床病理特征与甲状腺癌前上纵隔淋巴结转移的关系。 方法 研究分析初次手术治疗的60例甲状腺乳头状癌患者临床及病理资料,运用检验临床病理特征与前上纵隔淋巴结阳性率的相关性。 结果 肿块位置、最大直径、数量、腺体外侵、受累腺叶数及Ⅵ区淋巴结转移等特征,以及患者年龄等相关因素中,只有VI区淋巴结对前上纵隔淋巴结状态有影响;60例患者前上纵隔淋巴结转移率为10/60(16.67%)。相关因素的前上纵隔淋巴结转移率对比:≥55岁vs <55岁(20% vs 16.36%, P<0.05);肿块位于下极 vs 上极 vs 中极(P>0.05);最大直径≥1.5 cm vs 最大直径<1.5 cm(18.18% vs 15.79, P>0.05);单灶 vs 多灶(21.88% vs 10.71%, P>0.05);单叶 vs 多叶(17.5% vs 15%, P>0.05);男性vs女性(20% vs 15.55%, P>0.05); Ⅵ区淋巴结阳性vs 阴性(24.43% vs 3.57%, P<0.05); 结论 总体来说,甲状腺乳头状癌前上纵隔淋巴结转移率较低。本研究发现VI区淋巴结状态可能与前上纵隔淋巴结转移相关,未来仍需大样本前瞻性的研究验证。     

儿童新型冠状病毒感染诊断、治疗和预防专家共识(第二版)

自2019年12月新型冠状病毒感染暴发以来,我国政府采取了严格的防控措施,国内疫情已得到初步控制,但形势依然严峻,境外多个国家也相继出现疫情。根据世界卫生组织的报告:截至2020年3月5日,全球共报告95333例确诊病例(其中我国累计报告确诊病例80565例),85个国家有确诊病例报告,中国将面临输入性病例的传播风险,这为防治我国儿童的疾病疫情提出了新的挑战[1]。在这次疫情中,与成人病例相比,儿童病例相对较少、症状轻、预后较好。目前国内病例数据显示,18岁以下儿童占所有报告病例的2.4%,尚无死亡病例报告[2]。     

Research hotspots and effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in stroke rehabilitation

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, as a relatively new type of rehabilitation treatment, is a painless and non-invasive method for altering brain excitability. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation has been widely used in the neurorehabilitation of stroke patients. Here, we used CiteSpace software to visually analyze 315 studies concerning repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation from 1999 to 2019, indexed by Web of Science, to clarify the research hotspots in different periods and characterize the gradual process of discovery in this field. We found that four main points were generally accepted:(1) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation has a positive effect on motor function recovery in patients with subcortical stroke;(2) it may be more advantageous for stroke patients to receive low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the unaffected hemispheres than to receive high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in affected hemisphere;(3) low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation has become a potential therapeutic tool for patients with non-fluent aphasia after chronic stroke for neurological rehabilitation and language recovery; and(4) there are some limitations to these classic clinical studies, such as small sample size and low test efficiency. Our assessment indicates that prospective, multi-center, large-sample, randomized controlled clinical trials are still needed to further verify the effectiveness of various repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation programs for the rehabilitation of stroke patients.     

Effect of stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCR4 axis in neural stem cell transplantation for Parkinson’s disease

Previous studies have shown that neural stem cell transplantation has the potential to treat Parkinson’s disease,but its specific mechanism of action is still unclear.Stromal cell-derived factor-1 and its receptor,chemokine receptor 4(CXCR4),are important regulators of cell migration.We speculated that the CXCR4/stromal cell-derived factor 1 axis may be involved in the therapeutic effect of neural stem cell transplantation in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.A Parkinson’s disease rat model was injected with 6-hydroxydopamine via the right ascending nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway,and then treated with 5μL of neural stem cell suspension(1.5×104/L)in the right substantia nigra.Rats were intraperitoneally injected once daily for 3 days with 1.25 mL/kg of the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 to observe changes after neural stem cell transplantation.Parkinson-like behavior in rats was detected using apomorphine-induced rotation.Immunofluorescence staining was used to determine the immunoreactivity of tyrosine hydroxylase,CXCR4,and stromal cell-derived factor-1 in the brain.Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction,the mRNA expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1 and CXCR4 in the right substantia nigra were measured.In addition,western blot assays were performed to analyze the protein expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1 and CXCR4.Our results demonstrated that neural stem cell transplantation noticeably reduced apomorphine-induced rotation,increased the mRNA and protein expression of stromal cell-derived factor-1 and CXCR4 in the right substantia nigra,and enhanced the immunoreactivity of tyrosine hydroxylase,CXCR4,and stromal cell-derived factor-1 in the brain.Injection of AMD3100 inhibited the aforementioned effects.These findings suggest that the stromal cell-derived factor-1/CXCR4 axis may play a significant role in the therapeutic effect of neural stem cell transplantation in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease.This study was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Kunming Medical University,China(approval No.SYXKK2015-0002)on April 1,2014.     

接受选择性淋巴结照射的食管鳞癌患者预后和失败模式的分析

目的探讨接受选择性淋巴结照射(ENI)的食管鳞癌患者预后和失败模式。方法回顾性分析2005年1月至2012年12月河北医科大学第四医院收治的179例符合入组条件的食管鳞癌患者,分析肿瘤局部相关因素预测患者预后的价值,分析影响患者近期疗效、预后的影响因素,并对影响患者总生存率(OS)、无进展生存率(PFS)和复发的指标分别进行单因素和多因素分析。结果全组患者1、3、5年OS和PFS分别为77.1%、40.1%、26.0%和62.6%、30.6%、20.3%。多因素分析结果显示声音嘶哑、cN分期、cTNM分期、GTV-横径(GTV-D)和GTV-体积/长度(GTV-V/L)为影响患者OS的独立性影响因素(P<0.05);声音嘶哑、cTNM分期和近期疗效为影响患者PFS的独立性影响因素(P<0.05)。全组有75例(41.9%)患者出现复发,61例(34.1%)远处转移,其中19例(10.6%)为合并复发和远处转移。75例复发患者中64例(85.3%)患者为单纯食管复发,4例(5.3%)为单纯淋巴结复发,另7例(9.3%)患者为食管合并淋巴结复发。治疗后达完全缓解(CR)的63例患者中有18例患者出现复发,其中仅有2例患者出现淋巴结复发;logistic多因素分析结果显示患者周边组织/器官受侵、GTV-D和近期疗效为影响患者复发的独立性影响因素(P<0.05)。结论食管鳞癌患者接受ENI确实可行,其失败主要模式仍为食管复发;治疗前声音嘶哑、GTV-D和GTV-V/L较大、临床分期较晚和近期疗效不佳为患者预后较差的指标;肿瘤周边组织受侵、GTV-D和近期疗效是影响患者失败的独立性因素。     

Direct insertion of an ultra‐slim upper endoscope for cholangioscopy in patients undergoing choledochoduodenostomy

Direct peroral cholangioscopy (POC) using an ultra‐slim upper endoscope is one modality of POC for intraductal endoscopic evaluation and treatment of the bile duct. Choledochoduodenostomy (CDS) is one modality of biliary bypass surgery that provides a new route to the bile duct. We carried out direct POC using an ultra‐slim upper endoscope without the use of accessories in 10 patients (four sump syndromes, three bile duct strictures and three intrahepatic duct stones) previously undergoing surgical CDS. Direct POC was successful in all patients. The use of an intraductal balloon catheter was required in one patient for advancement of the endoscope into the bile duct. Distal bile ducts with sump syndromes were cleared using baskets and water irrigation under direct POC. Cholangiocarcinoma was diagnosed in one patient with hilar bile duct stricture after cholangioscopic evaluation and a targeting forceps biopsy under direct POC. Intrahepatic duct stones were successfully extracted after intraductal fragmentation under direct POC. Oozing bleeding occurred during intraductal lithotripsy but stopped spontaneously. Direct POC using an ultra‐slim upper endoscope without the assistance of accessories can easily be carried out in patients undergoing CDS.