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ObjectiveTo investigate the clinicopathological features， diagnosis and treatment methods， and prognosis of gallbladder sarcomatoid carcinoma （GBSC）. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 16 patients with GBSC who were admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2015 to April 2023， including general information， clinical manifestations， imaging features， pathological features， and treatment modality， and follow-up was performed for all patients. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to perform the survival analysis and plot the survival curve， and the Log-rank test was used for comparison between groups. ResultsAmong the 16 patients， there were 6 male patients and 10 female patients， with a mean age of 62.9±8.4 years. The main clinical manifestations were right upper abdominal pain in 13 patients （81.3%）， nausea in 5 patients （31.3%）， abdominal distension in 4 patients （25.0%）， poor appetite in 3 patients （18.8%）， weakness in 2 patients （12.5%）， fever in 2 patients （12.5%）， and jaundice in 1 patient （6.3%）， and 3 patients were asymptomatic and were found to have this disease by physical examination. Of all patients， 81.3% （13/16） were in the advanced stage （stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ） at the time of initial diagnosis. Histopathological examination showed that some cancer cells were spindle-shaped under the microscope， with marked nuclear division and noticeable heteromorphism. Immunohistochemistry showed a positive expression rate of 100% （16/16） for Vimentin， AE1/AE3， and CK8/18， and Ki-67 proliferation index was highly expressed in 81.3% （13/16） of the patients （≥50%）， with a median of 70% （range 20% — 90%）. All 16 patients underwent surgical treatment， with radical surgery in 11 patients and palliative surgery in 5 patients， among whom 9 received R0 resection， 2 received R1 resection， and 5 received R2 resection， and 7 patients received adjuvant therapy after surgery. Effective follow-up was achieved for all 16 patients， with a follow-up time of 0.5 — 26.0 months and a median follow-up time of 11.0 months. By the end of follow-up， 2 patients survived and 14 patients died due to tumor recurrence or metastasis， with a median survival time of 10.0 months， and the 1- and 2-year cumulative survival rates after surgery were 31.3% and 8.3%， respectively. The prognostic analysis showed that TNM stage （χ2=6.727， P=0.009）， surgical approach （χ2=7.508， P=0.006）， margin condition （χ2=7.934， P=0.005）， and adjuvant therapy （χ2=4.608， P=0.032） were associated with the prognosis of patients. ConclusionThe clinical manifestations of GBSC lack specificity， and a confirmed diagnosis relies on immunohistochemical analysis. Most patients are in the advanced disease at the time of initial diagnosis and tend to have a poor prognosis. There are currently no targeted therapies for this disease， and radical surgery with negative margins and adjuvant therapy can improve the survival rate of patients.
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Objective To investigate the effect of capecitabine on serum tumor necrosis factor α( TNF-α) , interleukin-6 ( IL-6 ) , vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and tumor biomarker (CEA,CA19-9 and CA125)levels in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) and its efficacy and adverse reactions.Methods One hundred and sixty-one AGC patients from October 2012 to October 2014 in the hospital were randomly divided into control group (n=78) and observation group (n=83).The control group were treated with cisplatin in combination with docetaxel, while the observation group were treated with capecitabine on the basis of control group.The efficacy, adverse reactions and serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, VEGF and tumor biomarkers were compared between two groups.Results There was no significant difference in effective rate between observation group and control group (50.6%vs.43.6%,χ2 =0.793,P=0.373) and disease control rate (78.3%vs.69.2%,χ2 =1.720,P=0.190).The half a year,1-year and 2-year survival rates in observation group were significantly higher than those in control group (90.4%vs.71.8%,78.3% vs.57.7%,60.2%vs.41.0%,all P<0.05).The gradeⅠ-Ⅱ adverse reactions of gastrointestinal tract in observation group was significantly higher than control group(P<0.05).After treatment, serum VEGF level in observation group was lower and serum TNF-α,IL-6 levels were higher than those in control group (P<0.05).The serum levels of CEA, CA19-9 and CA125 in observation group were lower than those in control group ( P <0.05 ) .Conclusion Capecitabine could improve immunologic function and inhibit tumor angiogenesis, which has an exact effect and increase survival rate of advanced gastric cancer patients with minor adverse reactions.Its mechanism may be regulating serum VEGF, TNF-α, IL-6 and tumor biomarkers of CEA, CA19-9 and CA125.
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Objective To explore the synergistic effectiveness of hyperthermia and chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer.Methods Eighty-nine patients with advanced gastric cancer were randomly assigned to a study group which received a CapeOx chemotherapy regimen supplemented with hyperthermia or to a control group which received only the CapeOx regimen.The regimen consisted of capecitabine (1000 mg/m2,bid,orally for 14 consecutive days) plus oxalipaltin (130 mg/m2) on day 1.The hyperthermia was at 43℃ for 60 min in the tumor area on day 1 and twice a week thereafter.One cycle was 21 days.After 2 treatment cycles,efficacy was evaluated according to RECIST standards,improvements in the quality of life were assessed according to Karnofsky's performance status (KPS) and the side-effects of therapy were recorded.Results The response rate was 68.9％ in the study group and 36.4％ in the control group,showing a significant difference between the groups after two treatment cycles.The median progress-free survival (PFS) was 8.3 months in the study group vs 5.2 months for the controls.The 1-year survival rate was 66.4％ vs 45.5％ and the rate of improvement in KPS was 77.8％ vs 45.5％.All these differences were statistically significant.The common adverse effects were gastrointestinal toxicity,marrow depression and peripheral nerve abnormalities,but these adverse effects were all mild and similar in the two groups.Conclusion Hyperthermia when combined with the CapeOx chemotherapy regimen might improve the therapeutic effect in advanced gastric cancer without obviously increasing the adverse effects.
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Objective To observe the relationship between expression of retinoic acid receptor-β (RAR-β) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and chemotherapy response. Methods Fifty-two cases advanced ESCC patients treated by DDP and 5-FU, DDP 80 mg/m2, divided into 5 days;5-FU 375 mg/m2, dl-5. Immunohistochemistry was used to exmine the expression of RAR-β in ESCC. Fifty cases normal esophageal tissue were used as controls. Results RAR-β immunoreactivity was recognizd in both cytoplasm and nucleus, RAR-β positive rate was lower in ESCC compared with normal tissue (61.5%vs 92% ,P ＜0. 05 ). The 52 cases ESCC patients were treated 228 chemotherapy cycles, the overall response rate (OR) was 71.2%. The OR in RAR-β positive patients was 84. 4% (27/32), significant higher than RAR-β negative patients 50. 0% ( 10/20 ) ( P ＜ 0. 05 ). The time-to-progression ( TTP ) for RAR-β positive patients was 5.9 months, the median survival period was 12. 1 months, 2 years survival rate was 56. 7%;whereas TTP for RAR-β negative patients was 2. 1 months, the median survival period was 5.8 months,2 years survival rate was 32. 9%. There was signifcant difference between the 2 groups ( P ＜ 0. 05 ) .Conclusion RAR-β protein expression by immunohistochemistry may be a useful indicator to predict the chemotherapy response and clinical outcome for ESCC, meanwhile it may be an avenue for target therapy.