Impact of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy for primary liver cancer / 南方医科大学学报

OBJECTIVE@#To assess the impact of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on clinical outcomes of patients receiving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.@*METHODS@#We conducted a retrospective study among 215 patients with primary liver cancer receiving immunotherapy between June, 2018 and October, 2020. The patients with balanced baseline characteristics were selected based on propensity matching scores, and among them 33 patients who used NSAIDs were matched at the ratio of 1∶3 with 78 patients who did not use NSAIDs. We compared the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and disease control rate (DCR) between the two groups.@*RESULTS@#There was no significant difference in OS between the patients using NSAIDs (29.7%) and those who did not use NSAIDs (70.2%). Univariate and multivariate analyses did not show an a correlation of NSAIDs use with DCR (univariate analysis: OR=0.602, 95% CI: 0.299-1.213, P=0.156; multivariate analysis: OR=0.693, 95% CI: 0.330-1.458, P=0.334), PFS (univariate analysis: HR=1.230, 95% CI: 0.789-1.916, P=0.361; multivariate analysis: HR=1.151, 95% CI: 0.732-1.810, P=9.544), or OS (univariate analysis: HR=0.552, 95% CI: 0.208-1.463, P=0.232; multivariate analysis: HR=1.085, 95% CI: 0.685-1.717, P=0.729).@*CONCLUSION@#Our results show no favorable effect of NSAIDs on the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with advanced primary liver cancer, but this finding still needs to be verified by future prospective studies of large cohorts.

Correlation of casein kinase 2β overexpression to the metastatic ability of colorectal cancer cells in vitro / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of casein kinase 2β (ck2β) in colorectal cancer in relation to the metastatic ability of the cancer cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of ck2β in 46 normal colorectal mucosa, 20 colorectal adenomas and 66 colorectal cancers were detected immunohistochemically. In colorectal cancer cells, Ck2β protein expression was knockdown by RNA interference using ck2β-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) and the interference efficiency was assessed by Western blotting. The effect of ck2β gene knockdown on the proliferation of the colorectal cancer cells was tested with colony formation assay, and the changes in the invasive ability of the cells were observed using Transwell chamber assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Negative or weak ck2β expression was detected in normal colorectal mucosa, with nuclear positivity in 8.7% and cytoplasmic positivity in 13.0% of the cases. Colorectal adenomas showed moderate ck2β expression, with 60% cases showing positivity in the cell nuclei and 40% in the cytoplasm. In colorectal cancers, significantly stronger expression of ck2β was found than that in colorectal adenomas and normal colorectal mucosa (P<0.05), and 75.8% cases showed positivity in the cell nuclei and 62.1% showed cytoplasmic positivity; the expression of ck2β protein in colorectal cancers with lymph node metastasis was even higher (P<0.05). Ck2β knockdown obviously inhibited the proliferation and invasiveness of colorectal cancer cells in vitro.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The high expression of ck2β in colorectal cancer is closely correlated to the carcinogenesis and metastasis of the tumor.</p>

Clinical investigation on intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period to prevent bladder carcinoma recurrence / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period to prevent bladder carcinoma recurrence.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out. A total of 120 patients with bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TNM I-II) underwent partial cystectomy or transurethral resection of bladder tumour were randomly divided into 2 groups, which were chosen from the patients were hospitalized during June 2003 to May 2009. There were 62 patients were in group A and 58 patients were in group B. In group A, intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period was conducted. In group B, intravesical perfusion of pirarubicin was performed regularly after operation. All the patients were followed up in order to record the relapse rates and adverse reaction.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No significant difference was found between group A and group B from gender, age, pathological stage and operation methods (P > 0.05). The recurrence rates were 8.1% in group A, and 20.7% in group B. The adverse effect rates of urethrostenosis in group A and group B were 3.2% and 18.9%. The adverse effect rates of cystic stimulation including irritation signs of bladder and hematuria in group A and group B were 4.8% and 27.6%. There were significant differences in recurrence rates and adverse effect rates between the two groups (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Intravesical instillation of high-dose pirarubicin during perioperative period is an effective procedure for the prevention of bladder cancer recurrence.</p>