A comparative study of the skin expansion rate and instantly expanded skin retraction rate between implantation of double overlapping expanders and implantation of one single expander / 中华整形外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To comparatively study the difference of the skin expansion rate and instantly expanded skin retraction rate between implantation of double overlapping expanders and implantation of one single expander.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From Mar. 2009 to Mar. 2012, 22 cases with 39 sites for skin expansion, received double overlapping expanders in 24 sites, single expander in 15 sites. The area of original skin and expanded skin was measured by "wet-cloth sampling". Then the skin expansion rate was calculated. A distance of 5 cm at the center of expanded skin was re-measured after taking out the expanders. Then the instantly skin retraction rate was calculated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>During the same expansion period, the skin expansion rate was (3.5 +/- 0.9)% with the double overlapping expanders and (2.6 +/-0.6)% with one single expander, showing a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0. 002), while the instantly skin retraction rate was not statistically different [(30.3 +/- 0.8)% vs (32.3 +/- 0.9)%; P = 0.47)]. There was a negative relationship between the instantly skin retraction rate and the expansion period (r = -0.768).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The skin expansion rate can be increased with double overlapping expanders, while the instantly skin retraction rate doesn' t decrease. So the skin expansion efficiency is increased to reduce the re-expansion times for the patients with large lesions.</p>

Experimental study of tissue-engineered skin loaded with keratinocyte growth factor nanocapsules for skin defect / 中华整形外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of tissue-engineered skin loaded with keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) nanocapsules for skin defect on athymic mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The acellular dermal matrix (ADM) loaded with KGF-ADM was constructed by means of phacoemulsification solvent evaporation and low temperature drying. The human epidermal stem cells and fibroblasts were captured and identified, then cultivated on the surface of the KGF-ADM. The cell growth was observed. The tissue-engineered skin without KGF was used as sham group. The autogenous skin graft was used as control group. 2 and 6 weeks after the skin was transplanted to the back of athymic mice, the contraction and histological healing of the transplanted skins were observed respectively. Then the immunofluorescence examination with anti-human K10-FITC and beta1-integrin-Cy3 were applied to detect the origin, growth and differentiation of epidermal and dermal cells in tissue-engineered skin.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The epidermal stem cells grew well and attached tightly on KGF-ADM. There were small round stem cells and polygonal terminally-differentiated cells, which appeared a partly cloning growth and a tendency of merging. The tissue-engineered skin with KGF nanocapsules gained better result in repairing the skin defects as compared with the blank group and the control group 2 and 6 weeks after transplantation. The regenerative skin cells could connect and mix closely with the athymic mouse skin cells on the border of skin defect. Meanwhile, the regenerative skin existed some contraction. The histological observation with HE staining showed that the regenerative skin possessed intact epidermis with several cell layers and normal keratose stratum, among which there were still some beta1-integrin (+) cells which represented epidermal stem cells or transient amplifying cells when they were tested by immunofluorescence after 6 weeks of transplantation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The tissue-engineered skin loaded with KGF nanocapsules had a better result in repairing athymic mice skin defects than common tissue-engineered skin without KGF nanocapsules or skin auto-graft.</p>

Effect of Herceptin combined with Taxol on patients with Her-2/neu overexpressing metastatic breast cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the efficacy and toxicity of recombinant humanized anti-Her-2/neu antibody (Herceptin) and Taxol for patients with Her-2/neu overexpressing metastatic breast cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty patients with Her-2/neu overexpressing metastatic breast cancer were investigated. Of the 60 cases, 22 were treated with Herceptin and Taxol and 38 with Taxol and doxorubicin.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total response rate (RR) of Herceptin and Taxol was 68.2%, and that of Taxol and doxorubicin was 44.7%. The RR of patients with Her-2/neu(+++) was 75%, while that of patients with Her-2/neu(++) was 50%. The major adverse effects were gastro-intestinal tract reactions, myopathy, bone marrow suppression and alopecia.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The treatment with Herceptin and Taxol is effective and safe for patients with Her-2/neu overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. The therapeutic effect is related to the degree of Her-2/neu overexpression.</p>