Expression and significance of ER and PR in differentiated thyroid carcinoma

Objective： The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between expressions of estrogen receptor （ER）, progesterone receptor （PR） and gender, age, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, capsular invasion and histological type of differentiated thyroid carcinoma （DTC）. Methods： Seventy cases of DTC who received surgery in our hospital （No. 401 Hospital of People＇s Liberation Army, Qingdao, China） between January 2008 and December 2011 were selected. Among them, 61 cases were papillary carcinoma and 9 cases were follicular carcinoma. Twenty cases were normal thyroid tissue adjacent to the tumor which was used as control. Immunohistochemical SP method was employed to detect the expression of ER and PR. Results： The positive rates of ER and PR in tumor tissues of DTC patients were 21.4% （15/70） and 31.4% （22/70）, respectively, and no expression of ER or PR were founded in normal thyroid tissue （P 〈 0.01）. The expressions of ER and PR were related to the lymph node metastasis and capsular invasion （X2 = 16.913 and 6.327, P 〈 0.05; x2 = 7.516 and 12.727, P 〈 0.05）. No relationship was observed between the expressions of EPJPR and gender, age, and histological type （P 〉 0.05） of DTC patients. Conclusion： The expression levels of ER and PR in the tumor tissue of DTC patients were higher than those in the normal thyroid tissue nearby the tumor. Therefore, ER and PR expression might be clinical markers for DTC and its prognosis.     

Antitumor effect of RNA interference on non-small- cell lung cancer in vivo

Objective： Lung cancer has emerged as a leading cause of cancer death in the world. Current therapies are ineffective, thus new approaches are needed to improve the therapeutic ratio. RNA interference （RNAi） has shown promise in gene silencing in vitro, the potential of which in developing new methods for the therapy of non-small-cell lung cancer （NSCLC） needs to be further tested in vivo. In this study, chemically synthesized double-stranded RNA （dsRNA） targeting epidermal growth factor receptor （EGFR） was transfected into NSCLC cell line SPC-A1 cells and established the tumor burdened athymic nude mice model to investigate whether dsRNA could induce gene silencing in NSCLC cells in vivo. Methods： SPC-A1 was transfected with EGFR sequence-specific dsRNA formulated with Lipofectamine 2000. SPC-A1 cells （1 × 107/ mL） in 200 pL were injected s.c. into the left flank area of the mice to establish the tumor burdened athymic nude mice model. Calculate the tumor growth inhibition rate by measuring the diameter and the weight of the tumor. Immunohistochemistry and Westem blot were used to monitor the reduction in the production of the EGFR protein. Realtime RT-PCR was used to detect the silencing of the EGFR mRNA level. Results： It displayed that EGFR sequence specific dsRNA （dsRNA-EGFR） significantly inhibited the tumor growth in vivo. The tumor growth inhibition rate was 75.03%. The dsRNA-EGFR sequence specifically silenced EGFR with 53.6% of down-regulation of EGFR protein production and 32.3% of silencing of EGFR mRNA level. Conclusion： DsRNA-EGFR showed a blockbuster effect in downregulation of EGFR mRNA level and protein production, and inhibition of tumor growth in vivo.     

Comparison of photodynamic therapy for skin cancers and pre-cancers with δ-aminolevulinic acid

Objective： The aim of the study was to compare the effects of photodynamic therapy （PDT） with δ-aminolevulinic acid （ALA） for patients with different kinds of skin cancers and pre-cancers. Methods： The present study enrolled seventyfive cases, which included 17 cases of actinic keratosis （AK）, 9 cases of Bowen＇s disease, 11 cases of superficial basal cell carcinomas （BCC）, 23 cases of nodule basal cell carcinomas and 15 cases of squamous cell carcinomas （SCC）, and every patient had single lesion. All patients were treated with 20% ALA topically and He-Ne laser weekly for three times, and followed up 1-3 years. Results： After therapy, the rates of complete reaction （CR） were 100% in AK lesions, 77.8% in Bowen＇s diseases, 90.9% in superficial BCCs, 47.8% in nodule BCCs, and 50.3% in SCCs, which had significant differences among these five kinds of lesions （H = 18.27, P 〈 0.05）. The therapeutic effectiveness of ALA-PDT for AK was superior to that of Bowen＇s disease （Q = 4.364, P 〈 0.05）, superficial BCC （Q = 5.55, P 〈 0.01）, SCC （Q = 8.94, P 〈 0.01） and nodule BCC （Q = 17.91, P 〈 0.01）; the effect of Bowen＇s disease was better than that of SCC （Q = 7.8, P 〈 0.01）, nodule BCC （Q = 13.44, P 〈 0.01）; the effect of superficial BCC was better than that of SCC （Q = 9.73, P 〈 0.01）, nodule BCC （Q = 16.28, P 〈 0.01）, but similar with Bowen＇s disease （Q = 0.96, P 〉 0.05）; the effect of SCC was better than that of nodule BCC （Q = 17.74, P 〈 0.01）. Conclusion： Our study shows that therapeutic effectiveness of ALA-PDT for AK is best in five diseases, and Bowen＇s disease and superficial BCC are secondary, while nodule BCC and SCC are at the bottom.     

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer： a meta-analysis with 7168 cases

Objective： The pathological complete response （pCR） rates of neoadjuvant chemotherapy （NAC） in triple-nega- tive breast cancer （TNBC） was reported higher than that in non-TNBC but ranged from 12% to 48%. pCR was reported to be a predictor of long overall survival and exact pCR rate of NAC in TNBC would give us some hints on how to improve outcomes of TNBC patients. The meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pCR rate of NAC for TNBC through contrasting the pCR rates of TNBC and non-TNBC tumors in NAC. Methods： Studies were selected from the PubMed database and Cochrane Collaboration Library. pCR rates were collected in groups of TNBC and non-TNBC tumors. Review Manager 4.2 was used to perform forest plots and funnel plots. Results： The analysis included 22 studies with 7168 patients, the aggregate pCR rate was 29.5% in TNBC group, which was 17.7% higher than non-TNBC. The summary relative risk （RR） for pCR rate of TNBC group with that of non-TNBC group was 2.55. No obvious statistical heterogeneity and publication bias was detected. Conclu- sion： This meta-analysis demonstrated that NAC showed a higher pCR rate in TNBC than non-TNBC.     

Efficacy of DR,CT and MRI in bone tumors

Objective： The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy of digital radiography （DR）, computed tomography （CT） and magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） in bone tumors. Methods： Fifty-five patients with histologically confirmed bone tumors underwent imaging examinations. Fifty-five patients were performed DR, 21 CT and 20 MRI. Results： DR of 51 pa- tients clearly revealed bone changes. DR of 40 patients well showed marginal. Twenty tumors appeared periosteal reaction on DR and 19 calcification on DR. CT scan of 21 patients clearly depicted bone changes, marginal and calcification and CT scan of 8 revealed periosteal reaction. MRI scan of 20 patients all showed marginal and soft-tissue mass and bone marrow edema was prominent in 8 patients. Conclusion： DR is the first imaging approach for born tumors. CT well reveal the extent and minute structure of the bone tumors, the extent, soft-tissue mass and bone marrow edema are more dramatically demon- strated on MRI imaging. DR integrates with CT and MRI, is helpful in diagnosis of bone tumors.     

Efficacy comparison between hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy plus systemic chemotherapy used as first-line and non-first-line treatments for the patients of colorectal cancers with unresectable hepatic metastases

Objective： The combination of hepatic arterial chemotherapy （HAIC） and systemic chemotherapy （SYC） has potential effect on colorectal cancer （CRC） patients with unresectable hepatic metastasis. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of this combined therapeutic regimen on Chinese patients based on single institute experiences. Methods： All 54 patients of this retrospective analysis were diagnosed with CRC with unresectable liver metas tasis and received combined HAIC and SYC. Among the patients, 23 of them received HAIC plus SYC when they developed liver metastases as firstline treatment （Group 1）, and 31 patients received HAIC plus SYC as nonfirstline treatment （Group 2）. The different efficacy in two groups was analyzed by SPSS 19.0. Results： The overall response rate （ORR） were 52.2% and 25.8% respectively in Groups 1 and 2 （P = 0.047）, and the disease control rate （DCR） were 65.2% and 35.5% respec tively in Groups 1 and 2 （P = 0.031）. The median progressionfree survival （PFS） were 6.8 and 3.3 months （P = 0.002）, the median hepatic progressionfree survival （HPFS） were 8.8 and 3.7 months （P = 0.001）, and the median overall survival （OS） were 18.8 and 13.7 months （P = 0.121） in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. No fatal reaction was observed and no significant difference of adverse reaction was found in two groups. Grade 3/4 toxic effects included neutropenia （9.7% in Group 2 only）, gastrointestinal reaction （8.7% in Group 1 and 6.5% in Group 2）, stomatitis （6.5% in Group 2 only） and hyperbilirubinemia （4.3% in Group 1 only）. Conclusion： HAIC combined with SYC showed promising efficacy and safe profiles on CRC patients with unresectable liver metastases.     

Expression of BI-1 protein and its significance in breast cancer

Objective： To investigate the correlations of expression of Bax inhibitor-1 （BI-1） gene and the receptors of estrogen and progestogen in breast cancer and its significance. Methods： Immunohistochemical methods had been used to detect the expressions of BI-1 gene and receptors of estrogen and progestogen in breast cancer. Results： The positive rates of expressions of BI-1 gene, estrogen receptor （ER） and progestogen receptor （PR） in breast cancer were 77.08%, 60.42% and 54.17%, respectively. The positive rate of expression of BI-1 gene was higher in the group with negative expression of ER than the positive group, their positive rates were 76.92% and 52.27%, respectively; but there was no statistical difference between the two groups with positive and negative expressions of PR. The positive rate of expression of BI-1 gene was also higher in the group with positive lymph node metastasis than the non-lymph node metastasis group, and their positive rates were 64.58% and 36.36%, respectively. The difference was statistically significant （P 〈 0.05）. Conclusion： BI-1 gene, in combination with ER, has guiding significance for patients with breast cancer to choose individual chemotherapy and radiotherapy after operation and can become an important indicator for judging the prognosis of breast cancer.     

TGF-β may be complimentary to PSA in Chinese prostate cancer

Objective： To investigate the value of the plasma transforming growth factor β1 （TGF-β1） level in diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer （PCa）. Methods： The ELISA kits for human TGF-β1 were used to measure the TGF-β1 level in plasmas. A cohort of 295 consecutive PCa patients in recent more than two years in the First Hospital of Peking University of China was enrolled to the study. Furthermore, 55 control subjects were healthy and without evidence of PCa, who were random people that came to the hospital and were identified by prostate biopsy. Results： An age-related frequency chart indicated that 99% confidence interval of the difference with PCa was at the age of 53-85 years. The PCa patients aged 53-85 were classified into three groups according to TNM staging. Group A had Stages TO, T1 and T2. Group B had Stage T3 and Group C had Stage T4. Compared with control group, Group A had the lower level of plasma TGF-β1 （P 〈 0.05）, Group B had the higher level of plasma TGF-β1 （P 〈 0.05） and Group C had the even higher level of plasma TGF-β1 （P 〈 0.01）. According to TNM staging, Group D had Stages TO, T1 and T2 with the normal level of total PSA （tPSA）. Group E with the normal level of tPSA had metastasis after resection. Compared with control group, Group D had the lower plasma level of TGF-β1 （P 〈0.05） and Group E had higher plasma level of TGF-β1 （P 〈 0.01）. Conclusion： The plasma TGF-β1 level decreases at early stage of PCa and increases at later stage of PCa, especially at tumor metastasis after the resection. The plasma TGF-β1 level may therefore be complementary to PSA for PCa prognosis.     

Expression of HIF-la in hepatocellular carcinoma and its relationship with vasculogenic mimicry and clinical pathology

Objective： The aim of this study was to discuss HIF-la expression and vasculogenic mimicry （VM） in hepatocel- lular carcinoma （HCC） and their relationship with the clinical pathological features and clinical significance. Methods： Two hundred and seven specimens from patients in The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College who received hepatic cell carcinoma resection were tested by immunohistochemistry and double staining of CD31 and PSA. Then detected the expression of HIF-la, VM, and analysed the relationship between clinical pathology. Results： The HIF-la positive rate was 71.01% and its expression was associated with liver cirrhosis, tumor size and TNM stage （P 〈 0.05）. HIF-la protein expres- sion was positively associated with the VM （y = 0.1988, P = 0.0041）. Conclusion： Hypoxia may be the reason for VM in high invasive HCC, regulating the tumor microenvironment may have great significance in inhibiting invasion and metastasis of HCC.     

Value of MR perfusion imaging after intervention treatment of hepatic cancer

Objective： To investigate the value of MR perfusion imaging in evaluating the curative effect of intervention treatment of hepatic cancer. Methods： 36 patients underwent MR perfusion imaging after intervention treatment. The quantization results were differed between carcinoma residue and benign tissue. And the diagnosis accuracy was judged, Results： There was a significant difference in mean MSI between residue tumor after surgery and the benign enhancement area. The timeintension curve of residue tumor was observed to ascend rapidly to reach the peak, whereas that of the enhancement tissue ascended slowly to reach the peak. The sensitivity and specificity of PWl on detection of residuary or recurrent tumor were 0.89 and 0.73 respectively. Conclusion： PWl is a very sensitive imaging technique that can be used to distinguish liver tissue condition after surgery. PWI contributed to early stage diagnosis and dynamic monitoring following HCC surgery.