Out of the boxes,out of the silos: The need of interdisciplinary collaboration to reduce poor-quality medical products in the supply chain

In this paper, we argue that understanding and addressing the problem of poor-quality medical products requires a more interdisciplinary approach than has been evident to date. While prospective studies based on rigorous standardized methodologies are the gold standard for measuring the prevalence of poor-quality medical products and understanding their distribution nationally and internationally, they should be complemented by social science research to unpack the complex set of social, economic, and governance factors that underlie these patterns. In the following sections, we discuss specific examples of prospective quality surveys and of social science studies, highlighting the value of cross-sector partnerships in driving high-quality, policy-relevant research in this area.     

肺癌患者化疗后三种肿瘤标志物的表达变化及意义

目的探讨肺癌患者化疗后的癌胚抗原(CEA)、神经元特异性烯醇化酶(NSE)和鳞状上皮细胞癌抗原(SCC-Ag)表达变化。方法选取2017年5月至2020年2月间南京市六合区人民医院收治的100例肺癌患者,将这些患者作为肺癌组,另随机选取同期100例健康体检人员作为健康组。统计分析两组人员化疗前的血清NSE、CEA、SCC-Ag表达水平、肺癌组化疗成功患者化疗前后的血清NSE、CEA、SCC-Ag表达水平、肺癌组化疗失败患者化疗前后的血清NSE、CEA、SCC-Ag表达水平。结果肺癌组患者化疗前的血清NSE、CEA和SCC-Ag表达水平均高于健康组,差异均有统计学意义(均P <0.05)。肺癌组化疗成功患者化疗后的血清NSE、CEA和SCC-Ag表达水平均低于化疗前,均高于健康组,差异均有统计学意义(P <0.05)。肺癌组化疗失败患者化疗后的血清NSE、CEA、SCC-Ag表达水平均高于化疗前,均高于健康组,差异均有统计学意义(P <0.05)。结论对肺癌患者的NSE、CEA、SCC-Ag表达水平进行检测能够将化疗效果有效反映出来,进而有效指导临床的下一步治疗工作,从而有效改善患者预后。     

Immunotherapy: A new standard in the treatment of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell cancer (RCC) represents 2%-3% of all adulthood cancers and is the most common malignant neoplasm of the kidney (90%). In the mid-nineties of the last century, the standard of treatment for patients with metastatic RCC was cytokines. Sunititib and pazopanib were registered in 2007 and 2009, respectively, and have since been the standard first-line treatment for metastatic clear cell RCC (mccRCC). Renal cell cancer is a highly immunogenic tumor with tumor infiltrating cells, including CD8+ T lymphocytes, dendritic cells, natural killer cells (NK) and macrophages. This observation led to the design of new clinical trials in which patients were treated with immunotherapy. With the growing evidence that proangiogenic factors can have immunomodulatory effects on the host’s immune system, the idea of combining angiogenic drugs with immunotherapy has emerged, and new clinical trials have been designed. In the last few years, several therapeutic options have been approved [immunotherapy and immunotherapy/tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI)] for the first-line treatment of mccRCC. Nivolumab/ipilimumab is approved for the treatment of patients with intermediate and poor prognoses. Several checkpoint inhibitors (pembrolizumab, nivolumab, avelumab) in combination with TKI (axitinib, lenvatinib, cabozantinib) are approved for the treatment of patients regardless of their International mRCC Database Consortium prognostic group and PD-L1 expression. There is no specific and ideal biomarker that could help in selecting the ideal patient for the appropriate first-line treatment.     

Electroconvulsive therapy plays an irreplaceable role in treatment of major depressive disorder

Major depressive disorder is a serious and common neuropsychiatric disorder that affects more than 350 million people worldwide. Electroconvulsive therapy is the oldest and most effective treatment available for the treatment of severe major depressive disorder. Electroconvulsive therapy modifies structural network changes in patients with major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. And it can also affect neuroinflammatory responses and may have neuroprotective effects. Electroconvulsive therapy plays an irreplaceable role in the treatment of major depressive disorder.     

Oral cancer prediction by noninvasive genetic screening

Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) develop in genetically altered epithelium in the mucosal lining, also coined as fields, which are mostly not visible but occasionally present as white oral leukoplakia (OL) lesions. We developed a noninvasive genetic assay using next-generation sequencing (NGS) on brushed cells to detect the presence of genetically altered fields, including those that are not macroscopically visible. The assay demonstrated high accuracy in OL patients when brush samples were compared with biopsies as gold standard. In a cohort of Fanconi anemia patients, detection of mutations in prospectively collected oral brushes predicted oral cancer also when visible abnormalities were absent. We further provide insight in the molecular landscape of OL with frequent changes of TP53, FAT1 and NOTCH1. NGS analysis of noninvasively collected samples offers a highly accurate method to detect genetically altered fields in the oral cavity, and predicts development of OSCC in high-risk individuals. Noninvasive genetic screening can be employed to screen high-risk populations for cancer and precancer, map the extension of OL lesions beyond what is visible, map the oral cavity for precancerous changes even when visible abnormalities are absent, test accuracy of promising imaging modalities, monitor interventions and determine genetic progression as well as the natural history of the disease in the human patient.     

靶向MLL1-WDR5蛋白-蛋白相互作用抑制剂的研究进展

Mixed lineage leukemia 1(MLL1)是组蛋白甲基转移酶SET家族的成员之一。MLL1与WDR5、RbBP5、Ash2L和DPY-30组成MLL1甲基转移酶复合物调控组蛋白H3的第4位赖氨酸的甲基化水平，对造血系统的发育和血细胞的更新至关重要。部分白血病患者体内存在因MLL1基因易位而产生的致癌蛋白——MLL1融合蛋白，MLL1融合蛋白在发挥其致癌作用时需要功能完整的MLL1酶复合物，故靶向MLL1-WDR5的蛋白-蛋白相互作用成为治疗MLL1融合型白血病的潜在策略。本文对MLL1-WDR5蛋白-蛋白相互作用的生物学机制、结构信息以及抑制剂进行了系统的总结，并结合已报道数据对该领域进行了展望，以期为后续研究提供参考。