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Background and purpose: Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) is of advantage in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with EGFR mutations. However, their clinical effects vary individually. This study aimed to evaluate whether the EGFR ligand, plasma transforming growth factor α (TGF-α), could act as a predictor for the EGFR-TKI treatment e?ciency in NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations and the association between TGF-α and prognosis in these patients. Methods: Seventy-five NSCLC patients with EGFR gene positive mutation were included in the current study from May 2012 to Jul. 2014 in Ruikang Hospital A?liated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine. Plasma TGF-α was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in all of the patients before EGFR-TKI treatment. The radiographic evaluation was performed 2 months after the therapy. The association between TGF-α and clinical outcome and its prediction e?ciency were determined, followed by the further analysis of the association between TGF-α and overall survival (OS) as well as progression-free survival (PFS). Results: After EGFR-TKI treatment, there were 20 patients with partial response (PR), 25 with stable disease (SD) and 30 with progression disease (PD) in all 75 NSCLC patients harboring EGFR positive mutation. The disease control (DC) rate reached 60%. Patients in PD group presented statistically significant higher plasma TGF-αthan patients in the DC group (P<0.01). Multivariate COX model indicated that smoking status, lymph node metastasis and plasma TGF-α levels were independent risk factors for prognosis in these patients. The ROC analysis revealed that baseline plasma TGF-α showed good prediction e?ciency [area under the curve (AUC)=0.926] and the cut-off point of TGF-α was 16.75 pg/mL. Higher level of TGF-α (≥16.75 pg/mL) was associated with smoking history, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis and clinical outcome of the patients (P<0.05). In comparison to patients with low TGF-α, the patients with high TGF-α concentration presented significantly reduced median OS and PFS (log-rank P<0.05). Conclusion: Higher plasma TGF-α (≥16.75 pg/mL) had a predictive role in EGFR-TKI resistance and poor prognosis.
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Objective:To investigate the efficacy and toxicity of oxaliplatin reintroduction combined with raltitrexed as second-line che-motherapy after the first-line oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in advanced colorectal cancer patients. Methods:The 48 evaluable pa-tients with advanced colorectal cancer following disease progression prior to the first-line chemotherapy were treated with oxaliplatin and raltitrexed (raltitrexed 3 mg/m2 ivgtt d1, oxaliplatin 100-130 mg/m2 ivgtt d1, q21d). All 48 patients were divided into two groups:Group A, non-oxaliplatin-based regimens as the first-line chemotherapy, 20 cases;Group B, oxaliplatin-based regimens as the first-line chemotherapy, 28 cases. Each group was evaluated every two cycles. Results:The response rates (RR) of Groups A and B were 30.0%(6/20) and 32.1%(9/28), the disease control rates (DCR) were 80.0%(16/20) and 75.0%(21/28), the median progression free survival time (mPFS) was 6.5 and 7.0 months, and the median overall survival time (mOS) was 10 and 13 months, respectively. No statistical sig-nificance was observed between the two groups in their RR, CR, mPFS, and mOS (P=0.264, 0.514, 0.713, 0.788), respectively. The most common adverse effects observed wereⅠ-Ⅱgrades of bone marrow suppression, aminotransferase abnormality, and digestive toxici-ties. The incidence of neurotoxicity (Ⅰ-Ⅱgrades) between the two groups was similar. Conclusion:Instead of irinotecan combined with raltitrexed, oxaliplatin reintroduction combined with raltitrexed for second-line chemotherapy after the first-line oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in advanced colorectal cancer patients is feasible.
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Colorectal cancer is a common malignant tumor in digestive system ,with an increasing inci-dence rate and case fatality rate all over the world in recent decades .At present,chemotherapy still plays a very important role in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer .Targeted therapy brings new hope to patients ,and new chemotherapy drugs and targeted drugs have been widely used in clinics .Patient′s life quality has been great-ly improved,survival time has been significantly prolonged ,the combination of chemotherapy and targeted therapy has also become a hot research area in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer .XELOX ( capecitabine plus oxaliplatin)as a first-line chemotherapy regimen in treating metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC)can obtain good therapeutic effect ,the side effects of XELOX are light and well tolerated;Bevacizumab ,as a new type of targeted anti-tumor drugs ,shows a good effect in inhibiting tumor growth and reducing its hematogenous spread risk .Bev-acizumab in combination with XELOX regimen for treating mCRC has been widely investigated and reported .This review gives a brief summary on the efficacy and safety of the combined administration of Bevacizumab and XE -LOX.
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Objective To investigate the expression characteristics of Glypican3 ,MMP-9 and MMP-14 in primary hepatocellular carcinoma ,and to focus on their roles on the development ,progress and metastasis of tumor .Methods 102 cases of primary hepato-cellular carcinoma were taken as the observation group and 80 cases of normal liver tissues as the control group .The expressions of Glypican3 ,MMP-9 and MMP-14 were detected by the immunohistochemistry method and their expression difference in different clinicopathological characteristics and the correlation were investigated .Results The positive rates of Glypican3 ,MMP-9 and MMP-14 expressions in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group .The positive rates of Glypi-can3 ,MMP-9 and MMP-14 expressions were closely correlated with the tumor volume ,differentiation degree ,lymph node metasta-sis ,vessel infiltration ,membrane invasion and PCNA expression .The correlation analysis showed that the positive relationships were found between Glypican3 and MMP-9 ,between Glypican3 and MMP-14 and between MMP-9 and MMP-14 in the observation group(r=0 .48 ,P=0 .024 1 ;r=0 .46 ,P=0 .013 2;r=0 .43 .P=0 .031 3) .The survival analysis showed that expressions of Glypi-can3 ,MMP-9 and MMP-14 were correlated with the patient′s prognosis .Conclusion The higher-expressions of Glypican3 ,MMP-9 and MMP-14 may promote the occurrence and development of primary hepatocellular carcinoma .Detecting the postoperative expres-sions of Glypican3 ,MMP-9 and MMP-14 has certqain value to judge the prognosis in primary hepatocellular carcinoma .
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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Chemotherapy is a common way to treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The response rate of chemotherapy is only 20%-50%, and the side effects are serious. To improve efficacy and quality of life and to reduce side effects of chemotherapy become main tasks of clinical researches. The aim of this study is to evaluate GP regimen alone and GP regimen combined with Kanglaite on the efficacy, side effects and the improvement of quality of life in the treatment of advanced NSCLC.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Randomly fifty patients with NSCLC in stage III and IV were treated by GP regimen combining with Kanglaite, and fifty patients were treated with GP regimen alone. Kanglaite was used on the first day of each chemotherapy cycle for consecutive 10 days, and the dosage was 200ml/d. GP regimen included gemcitabine 1000mg/m² on 1st and 8th days and cisplatin 80mg/m² on 2nd day. The treatment was repeated every three weeks. The efficacy, side effect and quality of life were compared after two cycles of chemotherapy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Response rate was 52% in combining group and 32% in control group. The rates were different between the two groups (Chi-square=4.04, P < 0.05). Quality of life in combining group was significantly higher than that in control group after treatment (t=2.8, P < 0.05). The incidence of side effects in combining group was lower than that in control group, and the degree was also slighter.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Kanglaite in combination with GP regimen can be used for the treatment of advanced NSCLC. It can improve efficacy and the quality of life, and reduce the side effect of chemotherapy.</p>
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0.05). The improvement rate evaluated by karnofsky score was 64.7% in the treatment group and 41.2% in the control group,the difference being significant (P
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[Objective] To observe the regulatory effect of Huangqi Injection (HI) on immune function of patients after chemotherapy (CT). [Methods] Thirty-four patients confirmed as acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) received two cycles of CT. During the 1st cycle, the patients were only treated with DA (daunomycin + arabinoside) regimen; in the 2nd cycle, intravenous injection of 20 mL of HI, qd for 2 weeks was added. The effect of CT on myelosuppression and immune function of the patients was observed. [Results] Immunosuppressive manifestations such as myelosuppression, fatigue, spontaneous sweating, impaired appetite, lassitude were found after the 1st cycle of CT, and peripheral immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgG, IgM and complements C3 levels were also decreased (P