Interpretation of Expert Consensus on Diagnosis and Treatment of Cutaneous Basal Cell Carcinoma (2021) by A Multidisciplinary Team / 肿瘤防治研究

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignant tumor in dermatology with incidence rising rapidly. Expert consensus on diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (2021) was published in September 2021 by Skin Tumor Research Center, Chinese Society of Dermatology and Subcommittee on Skin Tumor, China Dermatologist Association. This consensus comprehensively describes the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination, pathology, pretreatment assessment, treatment, prognosis, and follow-up education. It offers an important guideline for promoting the standardized diagnosis and treatment of skin BCC in China. In this work, multidisciplinary experts interpreted the main contents of the consensus, including clinicopathological findings, pretreatment assessment, and treatment advance.

Selection of timing and prognostic factors for chest radiotherapy in limited-stage small cell lung cancer / 中国综合临床

Objective:To investigate the selection of timing and prognostic factors of thoracic radiotherapy for small cell lung cancer (SCLC).Methods:Retrospective analysis of clinical data of 143 patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer who were treated with platinum-based etoposide chemotherapy combined with non-synchronized thoracic radiotherapy from October 2014 to September 2016 in the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University.According to the timing of chest radiotherapy, they were divided into early radiotherapy group (71 cases after 2-3 cycles of chemotherapy) and 72 cases of late radiotherapy group (starting chest radiotherapy after 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy). Survival analysis, Log-rank test and Cox regression model were performed by Kaplan-Meier method for single factor and multi-factor analysis.Results:The median follow-up time of 143 patients was 24.0 months.Univariate analysis of patients' prognosis showed that there were significant differences in age, smoking, prophylactic brain irradiation, curative effect of initial chemotherapy and timing of chest radiotherapy (all P< 0.05). The results of multivariate analysis showed that smoking (95% CI: 1.068-2.557, P=0.024), prophylactic brain irradiation (95% CI: 0.348-0.955, P=0.033), initial chemotherapy effect (95% CI: 0.175-0.498, P<0.001), timing of chest radiotherapy (95% CI: 0.377-0.930, P=0.023) were independent factors affecting the total survival period.The results of grouping analysis showed that the total survival time and progression free survival time (PFS) of patients in different time of chest radiotherapy were significantly higher in the early radiotherapy group than in the late radiotherapy group ( P<0.05). Comparison of the total survival time and PFS of patients with different initial chemotherapy effects: the cumulative total survival time and progression free survival time of stable patients with different radiotherapy opportunities were 18.00 months and 14.00 months ( P=0.017) in the early radiotherapy group and late radiotherapy group, and the median progression free survival time was 8.00 and 7.90 months ( P=0.533). The median overall survival time was 26.00 months and 22.00 months, respectively ( P=0.010), and the median progression free survival time was 19.00 months and 17.00 months, respectively ( P=0.030). Conclusion:For patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer who have been treated with platinum plus etoposide chemotherapy combined with non-synchronized thoracic radiotherapy, no matter how effective the initial chemotherapy is, chest radiotherapy should be started as soon as possible.

A analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics of brain metastasis and the risk of hippocampus metastasis in patients with EGFR mutant lung cancer / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective@#To analyze the spatial distribution of brain metastases in EGFR-mutant lung cancer and the risk of hippocampal metastasis.@*Methods@#Patients with lung cancer brain metastases diagnosed and treated in the Shanghai Cancer Center Fudan University from 2006 to 2016 were enrolled. The brain metastasis with positive mutation of EGFR gene was screened. The magnetic resonance images of the patients were reviewed and the distribution characteristics of brain metastasis were analyzed.@*Results@#A total of 920 lung cancer patients with brain metastases were screened, 266 of whom had EGFR gene mutation detection, and 131(49%) were identified as EGFR gene mutations. Excluding 17 patients who did not have a head magnetic resonance examination in our hospital, a total of 114 patients and 738 lesions were enrolled in this study. The proportion of brain metastases distributed in each brain region was 22.8%, 19.5%, 22.0%, 13.4%, 3.3%, 16.7%, and 2.2% for frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital lobe, insula, cerebellum, and brainstem, respectively. The number of metastases and cases located in the hippocampus, <5 mm from the hippocampus, <10 mm from the hippocampus, and<15 mm from the hippocampus were 6(0.8%), 10(1.3%), 11(1.4%), and 14(1.8%), 5 cases (4.4%), 8 cases (7.0%), 9 cases (7.9%), and 11 cases (9.6%), respectively.@*Conclusion@#EGFR-mutant lung cancer brain metastasis is low risk in the hippocampus and its surrounding 15 mm.

An emollient containing Prinsepia utilis Royle oil extracts and other extracts for the improvement of clinical symptoms among children aged 2-12 years with atopic dermatitis in the remission period:a multicenter,randomized,parallel-group,controlled clinical study / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of an emollient containing Prinsepia utilis Royle oil extracts and other extracts on clinical symptoms and disease recurrence in children aged 2-12 years with atopic dermatitis (AD) in the remission period.Methods A multicenter,randomized,parallel-group,controlled clinical trial was conducted from December 2017 to September 2018.A total of 297 children aged 2-12 years with moderate AD were enrolled from 5 hospitals in China,and randomly divided into the test group (148 cases) and control group (149 cases).In the acute stage,the two groups were both topically treated with mometasone furoate cream once a day on the skin lesions,and with an emollient containing Prinsepia utilis Royle oil extracts and other extracts twice a day throughout the whole body for 2-4 weeks.The children would be enrolled into the remission stage if their Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) score was ≤ 1 at following visits.In the remission stage,the test group was only topically treated with the emollient twice a day throughout the whole body,while mometasone furoate cream and the emollient were both withdrawn in the control group.At weeks 4,8 and 12 in the remission stage,the recurrence of AD,eczema area and severity index (EASI),children's dermatology life quality index (CDQOL) and adverse events were evaluated.Statistical analysis was carried out with SAS 9.4 software by using t test for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups,chi-square test for comparison of unordered categorical data,Kaplan-Meier method for analysis of survival rates,Cox regression analysis for evaluating the effect of different therapies on AD recurrence in children in the remission stage,and Logistic regression analysis for analysis of odds ratio (OR) of EASI or CDQOL at week 4 in the remission stage between the test group and control group.Results Of the 297 children with AD,31 breached the clinical trial protocol,and 266 were included in the per protocol set (PPS),including 132 in the test group and 134 in the control group.In the PPS,114 and 106 patients completed the follow-up in the test group and control group respectively,and the recurrence rate was significantly lower in the test group (47,41.23％) than in the control group (84,79.25％;x2 =32.96,P ＜ 0.001).The time to recurrence was significantly longer in the test group(61.99 d ± 2.80 d)than in the control group(39.17 d ± 2.54 d,t =6.03,P ＜ 0.001),and the recurrence risk was significantly lower in the test group than in the control group (Log rank test,x2 =32.02,P ＜ 0.001).After adjustment for age and gender,Cox regression analysis showed that the recurrence risk in the test group was 0.35 times that in the control group (HR =0.35,95％ CI:0.24-0.51,P ＜ 0.01).At week 4 in the remission stage,the EASI score at P50-P75 and P75-P100 in the test group were 0.42,0.25 times that in the control group respectively (95％ CI:0.20-0.86,0.12-0.54 respectively;P =0.02,＜ 0.01respectively).Moreover,the CDQOL score at P75-P100 in the test group was 0.33 times that in the control group (95％ CI:0.17-0.65,P ＜ 0.01).No significant difference in the incidence of adverse events was observed between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Maintenance treatment with the emollient containing Prinsepia utilis Royle oil extracts and other extracts can markedly reduce the recurrence risk in AD children,improve clinical symptoms,and enhance the quality of life.

Chronic Treatment with Combined Chemotherapeutic Agents Affects Hippocampal Micromorphometry and Function in Mice, Independently of Neuroinflammation

Chemotherapeutic agents induce long-term side effects, including cognitive impairment and mood disorders, particularly in breast cancer survivors who have undergone chemotherapy. However, the precise mechanisms underpinning chemotherapy-induced hippocampal dysfunction remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the detrimental effects of chronic treatment with a combination of adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (AC) on the neuronal architecture and functions of the hippocampi of female C57BL/6 mice. After chronic AC administration, mice showed memory impairment (measured using a novel object recognition memory task) and depression-like behavior (measured using the tail suspension test and forced swim test). According to Golgi staining, chronic AC treatment significantly reduced the total dendritic length, ramification, and complexity as well as spine density and maturation in hippocampal neurons in a sub-region-specific manner. Additionally, the AC combination significantly reduced adult neurogenesis, the extent of the vascular network, and the levels of hippocampal angiogenesis-related factors. However, chronic AC treatment did not increase the levels of inflammation-related signals (microglial or astrocytic distribution, or the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines or M1/M2 macrophage markers). Thus, chronic AC treatment changed the neuronal architecture of the adult hippocampus, possibly by reducing neurogenesis and the extent of the vasculature, independently of neuroinflammation. Such detrimental changes in micromorphometric parameters may explain the hippocampal dysfunction observed after cancer chemotherapy.

Base excision repair and targeted therapy strategies / 国际肿瘤学杂志

Base excision repair (BER) is an important pathway for DNA oxidative damage repair,and mutations in this pathway cause gene instability and increase cancer risk.A large number of studies have shown that abnormal expression of key proteins in the BER pathway in a variety of tumors,such as DNA glycosylase,apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1,DNA polymerase and so on.Single nucleotide polymorphisms of these proteins affect the repair activity of tumor cells,and are expected to be important indicators for the diagnosis,treatment and evaluation of prognosis.

Insights into CYP2B6-mediated drug-drug interactions

Mounting evidence demonstrates that CYP2B6 plays a much larger role in human drug metabolism than was previously believed. The discovery of multiple important substrates of CYP2B6 as well as polymorphic differences has sparked increasing interest in the genetic and xenobiotic factors contributing to the expression and function of the enzyme. The expression of CYP2B6 is regulated primarily by the xenobiotic receptors constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and pregnane X receptor (PXR) in the liver. In addition to CYP2B6, these receptors also mediate the inductive expression of CYP3A4, and a number of important phase II enzymes and drug transporters. CYP2B6 has been demonstrated to play a role in the metabolism of 2%-10% of clinically used drugs including widely used antineoplastic agents cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide, anesthetics propofol and ketamine, synthetic opioids pethidine and methadone, and the antiretrovirals nevirapine and efavirenz, among others. Significant inter-individual variability in the expression and function of the human CYP2B6 gene exists and can result in altered clinical outcomes in patients receiving treatment with CYP2B6-substrate drugs. These variances arise from a number of sources including genetic polymorphism, and xenobiotic intervention. In this review, we will provide an overview of the key players in CYP2B6 expression and function and highlight recent advances made in assessing clinical ramifications of important CYP2B6-mediated drug-drug interactions.

Surveillance of low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses in major live poultry wholesale markets around Dongting Lake Region,China,2009-2011 / 中国人兽共患病学报

The distribution and prevalence of low pathogenic avian influenza virus in major live poultry wholesale markets around the Dongting Lake region ,China were investigated in our study to propose prevention and control measures on low pathogenic avian flu in the area of live poultry wholesale market .The samples were injected to SPF chicken embryos by allanto-ic cavity ,and then the allantoic fluid were harvested and used for hemagglutination (HA) .If it was positive by HA ,subtypes of the virus would be determined by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) and RT-PCT .We isolated 627 low pathogenic avian in-fluenza viruses in major live poultry wholesale market around Dongting Lake region systematically in winter and spring during 2009-2011 ,and the total separation rate was 22 .2% .The duck swab separation rate of low pathogenic avian influenza was the highest ,which was 24 .6% ,and the following was chicken swab that reached 21 .5% ,and the goose swab separation rate was 11% .We isolated 6 HA subtypes including H3 ,H4 ,H6 ,H9 ,H10 ,and H11 in every live poultry wholesale market ,and the separation rate of H9 ,H6 and H4 subtypes was relatively high ,which could reach 11% ,6 .3% and 3 .4% ,respectively . Those results indicated that recessive infection of low pathogenic avian influenza virus was serious in live poultry wholesale mar-ket around the Dongting Lake area ,and it was a great threat to the occurrence of avian flu .

Signaling control of the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR)

The constitutive androstane receptor (CAR, NR1I3) plays a crucial role in the regulation of drug metabolism, energy homeostasis, and cancer development through modulating the transcription of its numerous target genes. Different from prototypical nuclear receptors, CAR can be activated by either direct ligand binding or ligand-independent (indirect) mechanisms both initiated with nuclear translocation of CAR from the cytoplasm. In comparison to the well-defined ligand-based activation, indirect activation of CAR appears to be exclusively involved in the nuclear translocation through mechanisms yet to be fully understood. Accumulating evidence reveals that without activation, CAR forms a protein complex in the cytoplasm where it can be functionally affected by multiple signaling pathways. In this review, we discuss recent progresses in our understanding of the signaling regulation of CAR nuclear accumulation and activation. We expect that this review will also provide greater insight into the similarity and difference between the mechanisms of direct vs. indirect human CAR activation.

Methylation of the ERCC1 gene and its protein expression in gastric cancer / 中国肿瘤临床

Objective:This study aims to detect the CpG island methylation status of the ERCC1 gene promoter and the expres-sion of the ERCC1 protein in gastric cancer tissues, as well as to investigate the correlation and significance between ERCC1 gene pro-moter CpG island methylation and protein expression. Methods:Methylation-specific PCR was performed to detect the methylation sta-tus of the ERCC1 gene in tumor tissues and adjacent cancerous tissues from 30 gastric cancer patients. Ten cases of normal gastric tis-sues were used as control. Expression of the ERCC1 protein in gastric cancer tissues, adjacent cancerous tissues, and normal gastric tis-sues was examined by immunohistochemistry S-P method. Results:The methylation rate of the ERCC1 gene promoter CpG island in gastric cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent cancerous tissues (76.7%vs. 13.3%, P<0.05), and the difference was statistically significant. The incidence of promoter methylation was not found in 10 normal gastric tissues. The negative rate of ERCC1 protein expression in 30 cases of gastric carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent cancerous tissues (70.0% vs. 33.3%, P<0.05), whereas 10 normal gastric tissues all exhibited positive expression for the ERCC1 protein. The tumor tissues with ER-CC1 gene promoter CpG island methylation showed a lower expression of ERCC1 protein than the unmethylated tumor tissues in gas-tric cancer patients. Conclusion:Methylation of the ERCC1 gene promoter CpG island and protein expression are negatively correlat-ed, and methylation of the CpG island of the ERCC1 gene may be one of the main reasons for the down-regulation of protein expres-sion.

The relationship between methylation of ERCC1 gene in peripheral blood and in gastric cancer tissues / 中国癌症杂志

Background and purpose: At present, gastric cancer is considered to be both genetic and epigenetic disease, and epigenetic alterations play a significant role in the development of gastric cancer. DNA methylation is the most well studied and most in-depth epigenetic modiifcations in human-beings. The silencing of tumor-related genes by DNA methylation is reversible. ERCC1 is a kind of DNA repair gene. The present study was aimed to detect the CpG island methylation status of ERCC1 gene promoter in gastric cancer tissues and corresponding peripheral blood, and to explore the relationship between methylation of ERCC1 gene in peripheral blood and in gastric cancer tissues. Methods:Methylation speciifc PCR was performed to detect the methylation status of ERCC1 gene in the tumor tissues and the paired peripheral blood from 30 gastric cancer patients. Results:The positive rate of methylation of ERCC1 gene promoter CpG island was 76.7%(23/30) in the tumor tissues and 63.3%(19/30) in serum of gastric cancer patients, and the difference had no statistical signiifcance. Conclusion:Our studies suggest that ERCC1 gene promoter CpG island methylation can be detected in a high proportion of the serum consisting with that in tumor tissues of gastric cancer patients, and the detection of methylation status of ERCC1 gene in peripheral blood provides a more simple, fast and reliable way for the medical treatment of gastric cancer and also provides the possible theoretical basis for the CpG island methylation of ERCC1 gene promoter as a target for the treatment of gastric cancer.

Risk factors for incomplete resection in ESD for precancerous lesions and early cancer in upper digestive tract / 中华消化内镜杂志

Objective To explore the reasons for lateral and basal incomplete resection of precancerous lesions or cancer from upper digestive tract by endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).Methods Data of 295 patients undergoing ESD for upper gastrointestinal precancerous lesions or cancer from November 2006 to October 2011 were collected,and reasons of basal or lateral incomplete resectin confirmed by postESD pathology were analyzed.Results The total incomplete resection rate after ESD was 3.05％ ( 9/295 ).Among 95 cases of esophageal ESD,there was 1 case of lateral margin incomplete resection because of the retraction of normal tissue after dissection.Among 200 cases of gastric ESD,there were 5 cases of lateral margin incomplete resection,in which 2 cases were signet ring carcinoma with submucosal infiltration and spreading,2 were due to retraction of normal tissue after dissection,and 1 was due to inaccurate judgment on cancer demarcation.There were 3 cases of basal incomplete resectin in gastric ESD,which was caused by incorrecte invasion depth estimation before ESD.Conclusion The rate of basal or lateral incomplete resection in upper gastrointestinal ESD was low,which is related to pathological type,ESD procedure and estimation of invasion depth before ESD.

Chylothorax in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a case report and review / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective To explore the diagnosis and treatment of non traumatic chylothorax in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and to understand the differences in diagnosis and treatment between chylothorax and pseudochylothorax. Methods The patient aged 83 years was confrimed as chylothorax and NHL after lymph node biopsy.We reviewed literatures about chylothorax in NHL to analyse the possible mechanism,its diagnosis and treatment. Results The patient was sufferring from unilateral chylothorax diagnosed as true chylothorax by thoracentesis,and progressed to bilateral chylothorax after 1 year.PET/CT examination showed intrathoracic and right cervical lymph nodes enlargement and an increasing metabolic activity.Cervical lymph node biopsy revealed diffuse large B cell type non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.The patient refused any other treatment except the diet therapy and died after 19 months.We searched 19 cases with NHL chylothorax in associated literatures about the treatments including radiotherapy (6/6 improved),chemotherapy (6/11 improved),thoracic duct ligation (I/1 improved),thoracic duct ligation and drug pleurodesis(1/1 improved). Conclusions PET/CT is useful in finding the hidden clues of chylothorax in NHL.There is no standard mangement for NHL chylothorax and the treatment must be individualized. The overall prognosis of NHL chylothorax is similar to that of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the patient needs early diagnosis and general treatment in order to prolong the survival time.

Research progress of tumor cell migration strategy and the migration transition mechanism / 生物医学工程学杂志

Tumor cells exhibit two main different migration strategies when invading in 3D environment, i. e. mesenchymal migration and amoeboid migration. This review summarizes the internal reasons and characteristics on various modes of migration adaptation to the microenvironment, and the molecular mechanisms in particular environment where they are mutually interchangeable. A study of the mechanisms that may possibly trigger mesenchymal-amoeboid transition/amoeboid-mesenchymal transition help us to understand the change and the plasticity in the migration strategies of tumor cells. These are important for the development of a cancer treatment, which would efficiently suppress tumor cell invasiveness.

Balneotherapy in Combination with Other Therapies / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

  The studies on the effects of balneotherapy in combination with other therapies (kinesitherapy, bath agents, diet therapy, pharmaceutical therapy, climatotherapy and phototherapy, and multiple therapies) published in past two decades have been reviewed. The effects of the combined baleotherapies on diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, psoriasis vulgaris, atopic dermatitis, ankylosing spondylitis, stiff neck, chronic back pain, peripheral circulatory failure, emphysema, bronchial asthma, and fibromyalgia syndrome have been suggested or evidenced. The health promotion effects of combined balneotherapies among healthy or ill-healthy persons have also been showed.

The effect of cell density on E-cadherins expression, distribution and migration of hepatic cells and hepatoma cells / 生物医学工程学杂志

This research project was designed to explore the molecular basis of the loss of contact inhibition in hepatoma cells by regulating the cell growth density of hepatic cells (L02) and hepatoma cells (HepG2) respectively. Analyzing the character of morphology, the change of cytoskeleton, the ability of deformation, the expression and distribution of E-cadherins of hepatic cells and hepatoma cells with different density, we found: Hepatoma cells' E-cadherins increased when compared to the hepatic cells'; Hepatic cells' up-regulated E-cadherins, and with their increased growth density, hepatic cells gathered in the contacted areas; Hepatoma cells, however, tended to down-regulate the expression of E-cadherins, and they kept the fusion distribution. The migration rate and net migration distance of these two kinds of cells were inhibited by growth density. Hepatoma cells kept the strong ability of migration, but the migration trace discretization of hepatic cell decreased with the increase of growth density. Hepatoma cells kept the high discretization of migration trace in different growth density. These different results show that hepatic cells are in positive correlation with E-cadherins distribution, and are in negative correlation with its migration. There is no aggregation tendency seen with respect to hepatoma cells' E-cadherins. The effect of hepatoma cells' growth density on migration is not obvious.

Different Physiological Changes on Carbonated Localized Bathing of Hands and Feet in Healthy Males / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

 Physiological changes induced by the localized bathing of hands, feet, and simultaneous hand-foot baths were studied and compared with each other in order to elucidate the physiological mechanism of hand and foot baths. Fifteen healthy adult males (32±10years old) took hand, foot, and simultaneous hand-foot carbonated (module mixture type artificial carbonated bath, at a CO₂, concentration of 1,100±100 ppm, pH 4.8) and freshwater baths (pH 7.4) at 38°C, and assumed a control sitting position following a randomized controlled design. They took 7 kinds of localized baths mentioned above at 1-week intervals. Each localized bathing session involved a 5-minute rest in a sitting position, the 30-minute bathing, followed by a 10-minute rest. Subjects’physiological parameters, such as the heart rate, blood pressure, near infrared spectroscopy of the forehead, laser Doppler flowmetric findings for immersed (foot) and non-immersed (shoulder muscle) body surface capillary fiow, as well as the body temperature of sublingual and tympanic membranes were monitored.<br> While no physiological changes occurred during the proximal 5-10 minutes after starting simultaneous hand-foot baths, the body temperature, cerebral tissue circulation, cutaneous blood flow of the non-bathed skin, and heart rate increased and the diastolic pressure decreased in the distal half of 30-minute carbonated and freshwater baths. These physiological changes would probably be due to the thermal effect. <br> However, the proximal 5-10 minutes after staning hand and foot carbonated baths showed opposite autonomic changes, which disappeared in the simultaneous hand-foot carbonated baths. Freshwater localized hand and foot baths did not lead to such differences. The cutaneous blood flow of bathed skin of the hands and feet was also significantly different only in the carbonated baths, while no differences were obtained in the freshwater hand and foot baths.<br> Taken together, 38 °C and 1,100 ppm carbonated localized baths (hands and feet) showed opposing heart rate variability just after staning bathing, and they induced different cutaneous blood flow changes during bathing. These physiological differences in hand and foot bathing may be due to somato-autonomic and axonal refiexes induced by skin nociceptive ion channels with different sensitivities and reactions due to the varying pH of the bathing medium, and due to different hydrostatic pressures of the hand and foot baths.

Study on the overlapping growth of hepatoma cells in vitro / 生物医学工程学杂志

This study inquired into the formation of the "overlapping growth" of hepatoma cells through quantitative characterization on the growth of hepatoma cells in situ by means of morphological observation, Image Tool computer analytic system, statistical analysis as well as the experimental methods of cell mechanics and biochemistry. The results were as follows: (1) The ability of hepatoma cells to regulate cell morphological deformation was better than that of hepatic cells; (2) While we were using micropipette aspiration technique to suck the "overlapping growth plaque" of hepatoma cells, the "overlapping growth plaque" fell off from the substrate, leaving a blank area; (3) Integrin expression of hepatoma cells was more obvious than that of hepatic cells; (4) Fibronectin (Fn) down-regulated the integrin expression in the hepatoma cells cultured on the Fn coated surface, enhanced the cells' adhesion ability and morphological stability, but reduced the formation and aggregation of the round cells. These results indicated (1) The so-called overlapping growing area was actually formed by many closely arrayed and piled round cells; (2) The production of round cells may be caused by integrin abnormal expression and the effect on the hepatoma cells adhesion stability; (3) The formation of "overlapping growth plaque" in hepatoma cells is related to the round cells' congregation induced by the high frequency morphological transformation.

Effects of Rho proteins on the cytoskeleton activity and the growth regulation in tumor cells / 生物医学工程学杂志

The researches on Rho family proteins have been progressing very fast recently. Rho proteins mainly regulate the reorganization of actin cytoskeleton, thus controlling the cell morphologic changes and the motility. There is a close relationship between Rho proteins and tumors; under the function of regulators and effectors, the activation of Rho proteins can enhance cell motility, induce gene expression in cell cycle progression, and promote the degradation and re-establishment of extracellular matrix. Accordingly, Rho proteins play a crucial role in regulating tumor cells' proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, metastasis and other biological behaviors. Further researches on Rho proteins can help to clarify the mechanism involved in these effects, thus providing a potential evidence in anti-tumor therapy.

Nested case-control study on associations between lung function, smoking and mortality in Japanese population

<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>Only a few long-term follow-up studies with a focus on the association between lung function and mortality in the Japanese population have been undertaken. In this study, we examined the associations of lung function, smoking and the results of allergy skin tests with mortality in a longitudinal study of the Japanese population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Baseline measurements were performed on residents of Fukui, Japan in 1972, and a follow-up survey was conducted in 2002. By employing a nested case-control design, 596 cases (deaths) and 596 age and sex-matched controls (survivals) were selected. Lung function was assessed using forced vital capacity (FVC) expressed as the normal percent predicted (FVC %pred) and the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) to FVC (FEV(1)/FVC). Allergy skin tests were performed with extracts of house dust, candidia and mixed fungal samples (bronchomycosis). The Brinkman index was used to assess smoking intensity. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate whether lung function was associated with mortality after adjustment for other potential confounding variables.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Those categorized into the first- or second-lowest quartile of FVC %pred had a higher mortality [hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 2.01 (1.26-3.19) and 1.84 (1.11-3.05)], respectively. On top of these, heavy smoking (BI≥400) was associated with a higher mortality [HR and 95% CI: 1.73 (1.18-2.53)]. There were only weak of associations between the results of allergy skin tests and mortality.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>These results suggest that FVC %pred of lung function and smoking can serve as long-term independent predictors of mortality.</p>