携带同源重组修复相关基因突变的消化道肿瘤的临床特点

目的:探讨消化道肿瘤中同源重组修复相关基因(homologous recombination repair related gene，HRR)突变的发生情况及临床意义。方法:共92例消化道肿瘤患者，79例患者进行了血液标本HRR检测，53例患者进行了组织标本HRR检测，40例患者同时行血液和组织的HRR基因检测，收集患者基因检测结果及临床相关资料。结果:在79例患者血液标本检测中发现10例（12.6%）有临床意义HRR突变，在53例患者组织标本检测中发现9例（17.0%）有临床意义HRR突变。40例同时行血液和组织的HRR基因检测患者中常见的有临床意义HRR突变为CDK12突变4例（10.0%）、ATM突变3例（7.5%）、BRCA1突变2例（5.0%）。13例有临床意义HRR突变患者中常见共存突变为TP53突变10例（76.9%）、APC突变5例（38.5%）、PIK3CA突变4例（30.8%）。40例患者中13例患者血液和/或组织中有临床意义HRR突变，27例患者血液和组织中均无任何临床意义HRR突变且两组相比，有临床意义HRR突变组肿瘤突变负荷（tumor mutational burden，TMB）为6.17(2.24～11.52)，而未携带HRR突变组TMB为0.4(0～3.75)，差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。40例患者组织检测中7例HRR有临床意义的突变，33例无HRR突变，血液检测中10例HRR有临床意义的突变，30例无HRR突变，一致性检验的Kappa值为0.333（P=0.031）。结论:携带有临床意义HRR突变的消化道肿瘤患者TMB更高，血液和组织检测HRR突变有较好的一致性。     

Confounded association between proton pump inhibitor use and risk of biliary tract cancer: Result from three cohorts

Recent epidemiological studies suggested that proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use was associated with an increased risk of biliary tract cancer (BTC), however, confounders were not adequately controlled. Our study aimed to evaluate PPI use and subsequent risk of BTC and its subtypes in three well-established cohorts. We conducted a pooled analysis of the subjects free of cancers in UK Biobank (n = 463 643), Nurses' Health Study (NHS, n = 80 235) and NHS II (n = 95 869). Propensity score weighted Cox models were used to estimate marginal HRs of PPIs use on BTC risk, accounting for potential confounders. We documented 284 BTC cases in UK Biobank (median follow-up: 7.6 years), and 91 cases in NHS and NHS II cohorts (median follow-up: 15.8 years). In UK biobank, PPI users had a 96% higher risk of BTC compared to nonusers in crude model (HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.44-2.66), but the effect was attenuated to null after adjusting for potential confounders (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.60-1.49). PPI use was not associated with risk of BTC in the pooled analysis of three cohorts (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.60-1.43). We also observed no associations between PPI use with risk of intrahepatic (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.49-2.04), extrahepatic bile duct (HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.52-2.27) and gallbladder cancers (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.26-1.66) in UK Biobank. In summary, regular use of PPIs was not associated with the risk of BTC and its subtypes.     

全身性遗传疾病对角膜移植排斥的影响

角膜移植为治疗角膜盲的主要手段，而角膜移植排斥则是决定角膜植片存活时间和病人术后视力的关键。角膜得益于其特殊的眼前节“免疫赦免”状态，使得角膜移植能够在众多器官移植中享有极低的排斥率，然而排斥反应发生的风险依然存在。当机体处于遗传物质异常的特殊状态时，宿主将通过宏观调控“免疫赦免”状态对植片的保护作用或受体对移植物排异产生的有害作用，延迟或促进角膜移植排斥反应的发生，进而影响移植物的存活时间和透明度。该文综述与角膜移植排斥相关的多种全身性遗传疾病，总结全身性遗传疾病对角膜移植排斥的影响，浅析其发生的病理生理学机制以及诊疗的特殊性。     

Tadalafil for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Introduction: In men, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are primarily attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Therapeutic options are targeted to relax prostate smooth muscle and/or reduce prostate enlargement.

Areas covered: This article reviews the major preclinical and clinical data on PDE5 inhibitors with a specific focus on tadalafil. It includes details of the role of the nitric oxide (NO)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) – PDE5 pathway in the LUT organs (bladder and prostate) in addition to the available data on tadalafil in patients with LUTS secondary to BPH with or without erectile dysfunction (ED).

Expert opinion: Preclinical and clinical data have clearly demonstrated that PDE5 inhibitors induce bladder and prostate relaxation, which contributes to the improvement seen in storage symptoms in both animal models of bladder and prostate hypercontractility. Tadalafil is effective both as a monotherapy and add-on therapy in patients with LUTS secondary to BPH. Furthermore, as LUTS-BPH and ED are urological disorders that commonly coexist in aging men, tadalafil is more advantageous than α1-adrenoceptors and should be used as the first option. Tadalafil is a safe and tolerable therapy and unlike α1- adrenoceptors and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, which can cause sexual dysfunctions, tadalafil improves sexual function.     

Efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab for the treatment of advanced biliary cancer: Results from the KEYNOTE-158 and KEYNOTE-028 studies

We present data from patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC) receiving pembrolizumab in the KEYNOTE-158 (NCT02628067; phase 2) and KEYNOTE-028 (NCT02054806; phase 1b) studies. Eligible patients aged ≥18 years from both studies had histologically/cytologically confirmed incurable BTC that progressed after standard treatment regimen(s), measurable disease per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0/1, and no prior immunotherapy. Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive tumors were required for eligibility in KEYNOTE-028 only. Patients received pembrolizumab 200 mg every three weeks (KEYNOTE-158) or 10 mg/kg every two weeks (KEYNOTE-028) for ≤2 years. Primary efficacy endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) by RECIST v1.1. Response assessed by independent central review is reported. KEYNOTE-158 enrolled 104 patients and KEYNOTE-028 enrolled 24 patients. Median (range) follow-up was 7.5 months (0.6-34.3) in KEYNOTE-158 and 5.7 months (0.6-55.4) in KEYNOTE-028. In KEYNOTE-158, ORR was 5.8% (6/104; 95% CI, 2.1%-12.1%); median duration of response (DOR) was not reached (NR) (range, 6.2-26.6+ months). Median (95% CI) OS and PFS were 7.4 (5.5-9.6) and 2.0 (1.9-2.1) months. Among PD-L1-expressers (n = 61) and PD-L1-nonexpressers (n = 34), respectively, ORR was 6.6% (4/61) and 2.9% (1/34). In KEYNOTE-028, ORR was 13.0% (3/23; 95% CI, 2.8%-33.6%); median DOR was NR (range, 21.5-53.2+ months). Median (95% CI) OS and PFS were 5.7 (3.1-9.8) and 1.8 (1.4-3.1) months. Grade 3 to 5 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 13.5% of patients in KEYNOTE-158 (no grade 4; grade 5 renal failure, n = 1) and 16.7% in KEYNOTE-028 (no grade 4/5). In summary, pembrolizumab provides durable antitumor activity in 6% to 13% of patients with advanced BTC, regardless of PD-L1 expression, and has manageable toxicity.     

Evaluation of circulating cell free DNA in plasma as a biomarker of different thyroid diseases

IntroductionMany studies have been done on proteomics, genomics, epigenetic, immunogenetics in many body fluids. Among these, circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) entered the literature in 1948, but it has not been studied for many years due to technological deficiencies. Following recent advances, geno-metastasis has been mentioned and new research is needed in this area. ccfDNA is known to be an important biomolecule in this regard.ObjectiveThe presence of cell-free DNA in the circulatory system may offer a tremendous opportunity to provide novel biomarkers for thyroid diseases. This experimental study was conducted to determine the amount of ccfDNA in different thyroid diseases, then to evaluate whether the ccfDNA concentration varied between the disease groups and control group.MethodsIn total, we included 121 individuals in the present study. We collected blood samples and then determined the ccfDNA concentration in plasma of collected blood samples from three groups: thyroiditis (n = 33), benign (n = 37), and malignant (n = 30) and from a control group (n = 21).ResultsThe median values of the ccfDNA groups were found as 1610, 1665, 1685 and 576 ng/mL for the thyroiditis, benign, malign, and control groups, respectively. Findings showed that the ccfDNA of the three groups was significantly higher than the control (p < 0.0001). Each group was compared in terms of ccfDNA and the p-values of benign-thyroiditis, benign-malign, and thyroiditis-malign were 0.09, 0.65, and 0.29, respectively.ConclusionsThe clear differences between thyroid diseases and controls suggest that ccfDNA is worthy of attention as a biomarker for further evaluation of different thyroid diseases. Likewise, it might indicate a clear tendency that ccfDNA can also be used to distinguish different thyroid diseases.