Surgical management of intrahepatic vessels in children with stage III/IV hepatoblastoma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Hepatoblastoma (HB) is a rare childhood tumor. We investigated the effect of intraoperative management of the intrahepatic major vessels in children with HB.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between April 2005 and August 2012, surgical resection was performed on 50 children with hepatoblastoma. These children were divided into a vessel-ligation group (n = 20) and a vessel-repair group (n = 30). In the vessel-ligation group, the intrahepatic major vessels were ligated and removed together with the tumor and the affected liver lobe/liver parenchyma. In the vessel-repair group, the affected intrahepatic major vessels were dissected and preserved as much as possible and the normal liver lobe/liver parenchyma and blood supply from these vessels were also preserved. The outcomes were analyzed by postoperative follow-up.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In the vessel-ligation group, two patients gave up surgery, six patients underwent palliative resection, and 12 patients underwent en bloc resection; four patients died of liver failure and eight patients fully recovered and were discharged. In the vessel-repair group, all 30 patients underwent en bloc resection and were discharged after satisfactory healing. After a follow-up time of 5 - 36 months (median: 20 months), two patient in the vessel-ligation group survived and 22 patients in the vessel-repair group survived.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Patients with HB can be successfully treated by tumor resection with vascular repair. This method prevents postoperative liver failure, ensures patient safety during the perioperative period, and allows for early chemotherapy.</p>

Effect of growth hormone on the immune function of dendritic cells / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Dendritic cells (DCs) are one of the most important antigen presenting cells in the human body, and DCs at various stages of maturation possess different or even opposite functions. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of growth hormones on the functional status of cord blood-derived DCs encompassing immunophenotype, ability to excrete interleukin (IL)-12 and provoke autologous leukomonocyte.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Mononuclear cells were isolated from fresh cord blood, with IL-4 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) used to induce and stimulate the mononuclear cells. Growth hormone at different concentrations was used to modify DCs, and then DCs morphology, number and growth status were observed. The immunophenotype of DCs was detected with a flow cytometer. The concentration of IL-12 in the DCs supernatant was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and DCs functional status was evaluated by autologous mixed lymphocyte reactions.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Mononuclear cells from cord blood can be differentiated into DCs by cytokine induction and growth hormone modification. With the increase in growth hormone concentrations (5 - 100 microg/L), the expression of DCs HLA-DR, CD1alpha, CD80 and CD83 were significantly increased (P < 0.05). The ability of DCs to secrete IL-12 was significantly improved (P < 0.05), and the ability of DCs to activate autologous lymphocytes was significantly enhanced (P < 0.05). Pegvisomant was able to ablate the effects of growth hormone on DCs.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Growth hormone may facilitate DCs induction and maturation, and improve the reproductive activity of autologous lymphocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Growth hormone may serve as a factor of modifying DCs to achieving maturity.</p>

Detection and identification of specific serum biomarkers in papillary thyroid cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect and identify the potential specific serum biomarkers for diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Samples of 35 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma, 40 patients with benign thyroid nodule and 34 healthy individuals were analyzed using the SELDI-TOF ProteinChip System and bioinfomation technology to find the differential peaks which were separated by HPLC and then further analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The protein sequences were analyzed by SEQUEST software and searched in Bioworks database.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The top six mass-to-charge ratio (M/Z) peaks with the smallest P value were 6651, 6452, 7653, 7932, 15 106 and 15 848 Da, respectively. The 6651 and 6452 Da proteins were weakly expressed in papillary thyroid carcinoma but highly expressed in benign thyroid nodules and healthy individuals. The differences had statistical significance (P < 0.01). The 7653, 7932, 15 106, 15 848 Da proteins were highly expressed in papillary thyroid carcinoma but weakly expressed in benign thyroid nodules and healthy individuals. The differences were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Combination of these six proteins, using the method of leave-one-out to make crossing detection, the specificity of discriminating papillary thyroid carcinoma and non-cancer was 88.0%, and its sensitivity was 92.5%. The 6651 and 6452 Da proteins were identified as apolipoprotein C-I and apolipoprotein C-III, respectively. The 7653 and 15 106 Da proteins were identified as the same protein-alpha-globin, and the 7932 and 15,848 Da proteins were identified as the same protein-beta-globin.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The detection of differentially expressed apolipoprotein C-I, apolipoprotein C-III, alpha-globin, and beta-globin may have utility for diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma and are worthy of further investigation.</p>

Detection of methylation of hMSH2 gene promoter region of esophageal cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To detect methylation in promoter region of hMSH2 gene in esophageal cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Specimens of cancer and normal tissues freshly removed from 32 cases of esophageal cancer patients without previous radiotherapy, chemotherapy or other treatment were preserved at -80 degrees C within 30 min. Methylation specific PCR (MSP) was used to detect methylation of mismatch repair gene (MMR) hMSH2 in promoter region in esophageal cancer and normal esophageal tissues.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The frequencies of methylation of hMSH2 gene in promoter region of cancer and normal esophageal tissues were 32.4% (11/32) and 0/30 (0%), respectively, and significant difference was found between the two groups (P < 0.01). The frequency of methylation in elder patients (> or = 70 years old) was significantly higher than that in younger patients (< 70 years old) (P < 0.05). Methylation was less frequently found in grade I-II (18.2%) than in grade III-IV (70.0%) (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Methylation of hMSH2 gene in promoter region is related to patients' age and histopathological grade of the esophageal cancer.</p>