Intradermal needling combined with heat-sensitive moxibustion for moderate to severe cancer pain / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of intradermal needling combined with heat-sensitive moxibustion for moderate to severe cancer pain.@*METHODS@#A total of 60 patients with moderate to severe cancer pain were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group，30 cases in each one. In the control group，opioids were taken to relief pain according to the three-step analgesic method of World Health Organization. On the base of the treatment as the control group, intradermal needling combined with heat-sensitive moxibustion were applied at Neiguan (PC 6), Hegu (LI 4), Zusanli (ST 36), Taichong (LR 3), etc. in the observation group, 14 days of treatment were required. The equivalent morphine consumption at the first day and whole course, the scores of cancer quality of life questionnaire-C30 (QLQ-C30) and Hamilton anxiety scale before and after treatment, and the adverse reaction rate were compared in the two groups. The total analgesic effective rate was evaluated.@*RESULTS@#The total analgesic effective rate was 93.3% (28/30) in the observation group, higher than 73.3% (22/30) in the control group (@*CONCLUSION@#Intradermal needling combined with heat-sensitive moxibustion can reduce the dose of opioids, improve the quality of life, relief the anxiety in patients with moderate to severe cancer pain, and reduce the incidence of common adverse reaction of opioids.

Clinical Observations on Knife Needle Microinvasive Operation for Cervical Spondylotic Arteriopathy / 上海针灸杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of knife needle microinvasive operation for cervical spondylotic arteriopathy. Method Sixty patients with cervical spondylotic arteriopathy were randomized, in order of admission times, to observation and control groups, 30 cases each. The observation group received three-step knife needle microinvasive operation and the control group, single suboccipital deltoid muscle lysis. The therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups of patients. Result In the two groups of patients the score changed significantly at the end of and three months after treatment compared with before and had a tendency towards gradual increase (P<0.05). The score difference values between pre-treatment and post-treatment and between post-treatment and three-month follow-up were significantly higher in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05). Repeated measurement analysis integrogram showed significant differences in the scores between the two groups. The total efficacy rate was significantly higher in the observation group (96.7%) than in the control group (76.7%) (P<0.05). Conclusion Knife needle microinvasive operation has clinically a marked therapeutic effect on cervical spondylotic arteriopathy.

GRP78 expression in gastric cancer and its clinical significance / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical value of the expression of glucose regulated protein 78 (GRP78) for assessment of severity, chemoresistance and prognosis in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma ( GC) .</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A cohort of 237 patients with gastric cancer was included in this study. 160 patients of them were treated by D2 radical gastrectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy. The GRP78 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry and 80 patients of them were tested in vitro for cancer chemosensitivity by ATP-tumor chemosensitivity assay (ATP-TCA). In addition, the relationships were analyzed between GRP78 and age, gender, tumor differentiation, invasion, disease stage, lymph node metastasis and chemoresistance as well as disease-free survival (DFS).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rate of GRP78 expression in the gastric adenocarcinoma was 68.8% before the initiation of chemotherapy. The positive GRP78 expression was significantly correlated with tumor invasion depth, poor differentiation, TNM stages, and lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05), not correlated with gender and age, and high GRP78 expression was associated with the chemoresistance of the gastric cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents. Negative GRP78 expression was associated with higher sensitivity to both drugs and regimens. The DFS of GRP78-positive group and GRP78-negative group was (53.6 ± 0.9) months and (38.3 ± 0.8) months, respectively (P = 0.041). Interestingly, subgroup analysis revealed that the DFS in GRP78-negative and-positive patients treated with taxane-containing chemotherapy was (58.6 ± 2.6) months and (49.1 ± 2.7) months, respectively, but the difference was statistically not significant (P = 0.111). In contrast, in the subset of GRP78-negative and- positive patients treated with taxane-containing regimens, the DFS was (45.5 ± 1.9) months and (35.1 ± 2.2) months, respectively, showing a significant difference (P = 0.038). In the group of patients with positive GRP78 expression, the patients treated with taxane-containing chemotherapy had a longer DFS [(49.1 ± 2.7) months] than those without that treatment [(35.1 ± 2.2) months], showing a significant difference (P = 0.017). Univariate analysis revealed that DFS was correlated with histological grade, GRP78 expression and lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that GRP78 expression and TNM staging were independent influencing factors for gastric cancer (both P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The results of our study suggest that GRP78 may be a novel biomarker for assessment of malignant degree and prediction of chemoresistance in gastric cancer, and may be helpful to chemotherapy planning and prognosis prediction in patients with gastric cancer.</p>