Adjuvant chemotherapy versus surgery alone for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized studies

The effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on survival of patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinomas is still controversial, and the subgroup of patients who will most likely benefit from the adjuvant chemotherapy on long‐term survival has not yet been identified clearly. Studies published from 1995 to May 2012 were searched in Medline, Embase, PubMed, Cancerlit, the Cochrane Library, CNKI and major scientific meetings. Randomized controlled trials and nonrandomized studies comparing surgery plus adjuvant chemotherapy with surgery alone in patients with resectable thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinomas were included. Eleven studies with a total of 2047 patients were identified, consisting of the adjuvant chemotherapy arm (n = 887) and surgery‐alone arm (n = 1160). There was not statistically significant benefit on 3‐year overall survival for adjuvant chemotherapy (risk ratio [RR] = 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.72 to 1.09; P = 0.25). Adjuvant chemotherapy could significantly prolong the 1‐year disease‐free survival (DFS) (RR = 0.68, 95%CI, 0.51 to 0.89; P = 0.006), but not 3‐year DFS (RR = 0.97, 95%CI, 0.73 to 1.29; P = 0.84). Further analysis showed that patients with stage III‐IV diseases could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy on 3‐year overall survival (RR = 0.43, 95%CI, 0.31 to 0.61; P = 0.00001), but not in the case of patients with stageI‐IIdiseases (RR = 1.12, 95%CI, 0.65 to 1.93; P = 0.68). Additionally, patients with positive lymph node could benefit on 5‐year DFS from adjuvant chemotherapy (RR = 0.79, 95%CI, 0.64 to 0.99; P = 0.04). The modality treatment with adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of thoracic esophagus might be determined according to pathological stage or the status of lymph node metastasis.     

多烯磷脂酰胆碱联合双环醇治疗胃癌化疗导致的药物性肝损伤患者疗效及其对血清细胞因子和氧化应激指标水平的影响

目的 探讨应用多烯磷脂酰胆碱联合双环醇治疗胃癌化疗所致的药物性肝损伤(DILI)患者疗效及其对血清细胞因子和氧化应激指标的影响。方法 2017年5月～2019年5月我院收治的胃癌根治术后患者78例,给予奥沙利铂、多西他赛和氟尿嘧啶化疗。在化疗过程中出现DILI患者40例,被随机分为对照组(n=19)和观察组(n=21),给予对照组患者多烯磷脂酰胆碱治疗,给予观察组多烯磷脂酰胆碱联合双环醇片治疗,两组均观察4周。采用ELISA法检测血清肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)和白细胞介素-6(IL-6),采用硫代巴比妥酸法检测血清丙二醛(MDA),采用黄嘌呤氧化法检测血清超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)。采用卡氏功能状态(KPS)量表评估患者生存质量。结果 在治疗4周末,观察组血清丙氨酸氨基转移酶(ALT)水平为(33.5±7.9)U/L,显著低于对照组【(42.4±8.8)U/L,P<0.05】,血清天冬氨酸氨基转移酶(AST)水平为(34.4±5.7)U/L,显著低于对照组【(39.4±6.2)U/L,P<0.05】,血清碱性磷酸酶(ALP)水平为(60.6±14.2)U/L,显著低于对照组【(75.3±16.6)U/L,P<0.05】,而KPS评分为(64.1±17.2)分,显著高于对照组【(48.3±14.5)分,P<0.05】;联合组肝功能复常率为81.0%,显著高于对照组的63.2%(P<0.05);观察组血清TNF-α水平为(15.2±2.1)mg/L,显著低于对照组【(21.4±3.6)mg/L,P<0.05】,血清IL-6水平为(28.1±4.5)pg/mL,显著低于对照组【(46.2±5.9)pg/mL,P<0.05】;血清MDA水平为(5.1±0.8)nmol/mL,显著低于对照组【(5.9±0.7)nmol/mL,P<0.05】,而血清SOD水平为(2.3±0.5)U/mL,显著高于对照组【(1.8±0.4)U/mL,P<0.05】。结论 联合应用多烯磷脂酰胆碱和双环醇片治疗化疗药导致的DILI患者能改善肝功能,可能与抑制了氧化应激反应,降低了血清细胞因子水平有关,值得进一步研究。     

Clinical report and analysis of 24 cases of multiple magnetic beads foreign body in gastrointestinal tract of children

Background/AimsThis study aimed to analyze the data of 24 cases of multiple perforation or obstruction of the digestive tract caused by accidental ingestion of magnetic beads, to improve the understanding of its harmfulness to children and explore the best treatment.Materials and MethodsIn total, 24 cases were collected and retrospectively analyzed. These patients were divided into two groups: perforation group and non-perforation group. The medical history, number of magnetic beads, white blood cell (WBC) count, and C-reactive protein (CRP) were analyzed.ResultsThere was no significant difference in age, gender, medical history, number of magnetic beads, and WBC count between the perforation group and non-perforation group, but there was a significant difference in CRP. After the diagnosis, 70% of the cases underwent laparotomy and perforation repair. All cases recovered smoothly after the operation, and no complications occurred during the follow-up.ConclusionThis study offers diagnosis and treatment methods for the perforation or obstruction of the digestive tract caused by accidental ingestion of magnetic beads and raises the awareness regarding the harmfulness of the presence of foreign bodies in the digestive tract.     

Seroprevalence of H7N9 infection among humans: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

In spring 2013, a novel avian‐origin influenza A (H7N9) virus emerged in mainland China. The burden of H7N9 infection was estimated based on systematic review and meta‐analysis. The systematic search for available literature was conducted using Chinese and English databases. We calculated the pooled seroprevalence of H7N9 infection and its 95% confidence interval by using Freeman‐Tukey double arcsine transformation. Out of 16 890 records found using Chinese and English databases, 54 articles were included in the meta‐analysis. These included studies of a total of 64 107 individuals. The pooled seroprevalence of H7N9 infection among humans was 0.122% (95% CI: 0.023, 0.275). In high‐risk populations, the highest pooled seroprevalence was observed among close contacts (1.075%, 95% CI: 0.000, 4.357). The seroprevalence among general population was (0.077%, 95% CI: 0.011, 0.180). Our study discovered that asymptomatic infection of H7N9 virus did occur, even if the seroprevalence among humans was low.     

Hepatitis E virus re-infection accelerates hepatocellular carcinoma development and relapse in a patient with liver cirrhosis: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUNDHepatitis E virus (HEV) superinfection is a suspected promoting factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis. However, to date, very few cases of HEV-related HCC have been reported. Nevertheless, the role of HEV re-infection in cirrhotic liver without other chronic hepatitis infections has rarely been explored.CASE SUMMARYA 53-year-old male farmer was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and splenomegaly in August 2016, accompanied with negative HEV-IgM and positive HEV-IgG. No evidence of hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus infection was found. Since then the patient was evaluated for liver function and viral parameters every 3 mo. In June 2017, the patient presented severe fatigue with whole body itching and was diagnosed with HCC. Afterwards this patient experienced quick HCC development, progression, relapse, and metastasis in the following 8 mo, and presented persistent dual positivity of HEV-IgM and HEV-IgG. This patient had a long history of smoking and alcohol consumption.CONCLUSIONThis unique case invokes the importance of HEV surveillance and treatment among cirrhotic patients, HCC cases, and blood donors.     

Analysis of S1 gene of avian infectious bronchitis virus isolated in southern China during 2011–2012

Sixty-two strains of avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) were isolated from diseased chickens at different farms in southern China during 2011–2012, and 66.1 % of the isolated strains were associated with typical nephritis. Analysis of the S1 gene sequences amplified from the 62 isolated strains together with 40 reference strains published in Genbank showed nucleotide homologies ranging from 63.5 to 99.9 % and amino acid homologies ranging from 57.9 to 100 %. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that all Chinese IBV strains were clustered into six distinct genetic groups (I–VI). Most of the isolated strains belonged to group I, and the isolation of group V strains was increased compared with an earlier period of surveillance. Current vaccine strains used in China (H120, H52, W93, and Ma5) formed the group Mass which is evolutionarily distant from Chinese isolates. Alignment of S1 amino acid sequences revealed polymorphic and diverse substitutions, insertions, and deletions, and the S1 protein of major pandemic strains contained 540 amino acids with a cleavage site sequence of HRRRR or RRF(L/S)RR. Further analysis showed that recombination events formed a new subgroup. Taken together, these findings suggest that various IBV variants were co-circulating and undergoing genetic evolution in southern China during the observation period. Therefore, long-term continuing surveillance is significantly important for prevention and control of IBV infection.