Exploring the potential of exosomes in diagnosis and drug delivery for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a cancer of the digestive system, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) accounts for approximately 90% of all PC cases. Exosomes derived from PDAC (PDAC-exosomes) promote PDAC development and metastasis. Exosomes are nanoscale vesicles secreted by most cells, which can carry biologically active molecules and mediate communication and cargo transportation among cells. Recent studies have focused on transforming exosomes into good drug delivery systems (DDSs) to improve the clinical treatment of PDAC. This review considers PDAC as the main research object to introduce the role of PDAC-exosomes in PDAC development and metastasis. This review focuses on the following two themes: (a) the great potential of PDAC-exosomes as new diagnostic markers for PDAC, and (b) the transformation of exosomes into potential DDSs.     

What is the impact of zinc deficiency for pancreatectomies in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma?

Backgroundand purpose: Zinc is an essential element for human health and plays an important role in metabolic, immunological and other biological processes. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between zinc deficiency (ZD) and the perioperative clinical course in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).MethodsOf 216 patients with PDAC who underwent elective pancreatectomy between 2013 and 2017 at our institution, 206 patients with sufficient clinical data were retrospectively reviewed. The perioperative variables were compared and the risk factors associated with infectious complications were identified.ResultsZD was preoperatively present in 36 (17.5%) of 206 patients with PDAC. In the patients of the ZD group, a higher proportion of males, higher preoperative modified Glasgow prognostic scores, a higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and a higher occurrence of postoperative infectious complications after pancreatectomy were observed, compared to the non-ZD group. By a univariate analysis, three risk factors were significantly associated with infectious complications after pancreatectomy: ZD (vs non-ZD: p = 0.002), serum albumin <3.5 g/dl (vs ≥ 3.5 g/dl: p = 0.005), and the procedure of pancreaticoduodenectomy (vs others: p = 0.013). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, the occurrence of infectious complications was significantly associated with ZD (OR 3.430, 95%CI 1.570 to 7.490, p = 0.002) and the procedure of pancreaticoduodenectomy (OR 2.030, 95%CI 1.090 to 3.770, p = 0.025).ConclusionsThe current study newly demonstrated that ZD could serve as a preoperative predictor of infectious complications after pancreatectomies in the patients with PDAC.     

Mesothelial cell-derived antigen-presenting cancer-associated fibroblasts induce expansion of regulatory T cells in pancreatic cancer

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Clinical practice guidelines for the interventional treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer (5th edition)

Pancreatic cancer has become a major disease affecting people's health because of its insidiousness, rapid progression and poor prognosis. Based on the practical needs of clinical work, combined with domestic multi-center research and experience, this guideline provides constructive suggestions for the interventional treatment of pancreatic cancer.     

Incidence and risk factors for Chyle leak after pancreatic surgery for cancer: A comprehensive systematic review

BackgroundChyle leak (CL) is a clinically relevant complication after pancreatectomy. Its incidence and the associated risk factors are ill defined, and various treatments options have been described. There is no consensus, however, regarding optimal management. The present study aims to systematically review the literature on CL after pancreatectomy.MethodsA systematic review from PubMed, Scopus and Embase database was performed. Studies using a clear definition for CL and published from January 2000 to January 2021 were included. The PRISMA guidelines were followed during all stages of this systematic review. The MINORS score was used to assess methodological quality.ResultsLiterature search found 361 reports, 99 of which were duplicates. The titles and abstracts of 262 articles were finally screened. The references from the remaining 181 articles were manually assessed. After the exclusions, 43 articles were thoroughly assessed. A total of 23 articles were ultimately included for this review. The number of patients varied from 54 to 3532. Incidence of post pancreatectomy CL varied from 1.3% to 22.1%. Main risk factors were the extent of the surgery and early oral or enteral feeding. CL dried up spontaneously or after conservative management within 14 days in 53% to 100% of the cases.ConclusionsThe extent of surgery is the most common predictor of risk of CL. Conservative treatment has been shown to be effective in most cases and can be considered the treatment of choice. We propose a management algorithm based on the current available evidence.     

Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing for suspected infected pancreatic necrosis

BackgroundMetagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is increasingly used for the clinical diagnosis of infectious diseases, but there is a paucity of data regarding the application of mNGS in the early diagnosis of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN).ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical application value of mNGS in the pathogenic diagnosis of IPN.MethodsForty-two patients with suspected IPN were prospectively and consecutively enrolled from August 2019 to August 2021. Blood samples were collected for mNGS and microbial culture simultaneously during fever (T ≥ 38.5 °C). For patients who had indications of surgical interventions, peri-pancreatic specimens were collected for mNGS and microbial culture simultaneously during the first surgical intervention to confirm IPN. The clinical performance of mNGS and microbial culture were compared.ResultsA total of 21 patients (50.0%) were confirmed to have IPN during hospitalization. The sensitivity of blood mNGS was significantly higher than blood culture (95.2% vs. 23.8%, P < 0.001) in diagnosing IPN. The negative predictive value of blood mNGS was 90.0%. The turnaround time of mNGS was significantly shorter than that of microbial culture [(37.70 ± 1.44) vs. (115.23 ± 8.79) h, P < 0.01] and the average costs of mNGS accounted for 1.7% of the average total cost of hospitalization. The survival analysis demonstrates that the positive blood mNGS result was not associated with increased mortality (P = 0.119).ConclusionsWith more valuable diagnostic performance and shorter turnaround time, clinical mNGS represents a potential step forward in the early diagnosis of IPN.     

注射用核糖核酸Ⅱ改善晚期胰腺癌化疗患者整体获益可能性的真实世界研究北大核心

目的:评价注射用核糖核酸Ⅱ联合化疗在真实世界中治疗晚期胰腺癌的疗效和安全性。方法:基于LinkDoc数据库纳入2012年至2018年就诊于河南省肿瘤医院等10家研究中心且确诊为局部进展期和晚期胰腺癌的患者923例,试验组采用化疗联合注射用核糖核酸Ⅱ治疗,对照组采用单纯化疗治疗。采用倾向性评分匹配的方法均衡两组的基线信息,比较两组间的总生存期(overall survival,OS)、无进展生存期(progression-free survival,PFS)及不良事件和化疗相关不良反应的发生率。结果:试验组和对照组的中位OS分别为7.5个月和6.7个月,中位PFS分别为3.7个月和3.3个月,差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。试验组不良事件发生率略低于对照组(88.7%vs 92.1%),试验组化疗相关不良反应发生率略高于对照组(64.1%vs 57.1%),差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:注射用核糖核酸Ⅱ联合化疗治疗晚期胰腺癌具有生存获益趋势,无肝转移患者是潜在的优势人群,该结论尚需前瞻性研究进一步确证。