Cyclophilin A Is Overexpressed in Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Is Associated with the Cell Cycle.

AIM: To investigate the expression of cyclophilin A (CypA) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and explore the effects of CypA on the cell cycle in HCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CypA expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in 48 cases of HCC tissues and paired adjacent tissues. CypA plasmid was transfected into HCC cells and the cell cycle was analyzed. RESULTS: Positivity for CypA was higher in HCC tissues than in adjacent tissues (79.1% vs. 12.5%, p<0.05). Positivity for CypA was significantly higher in stage III and IV HCC than in stage I and II (p<0.05). Elevated CypA induced an increase of the percentage of S-phase cells (from 34.79% to 42.14%) and a decrease of G0-G1 phase cells (from 58.10% to 50.64%). CONCLUSION: CypA is overexpressed in HCC and is associated with TNM stage. CypA also appears to promote the transition of the cell cycle from G1 to S phase.

Severe Cardiotoxicity in a Patient with Colorectal Cancer Treated with Bevacizumab.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Bevacizumab combined with standard chemotherapeutics has become a choice of treatment for several kinds of cancers. Hypertension, third-degree albuminuria, thrombosis and cardiotoxicity are the reported side-effects of bevacizumab. Among them, cardiotoxicity is a most severe, but rare outcome. We report a case of a 62-year-old female with colorectal carcinoma who was given bevacizumab-containing chemotherapy for more than 20 months and achieved a stable disease during the entire course of treatment. Thereafter, she developed cardiotoxicity including grade 3 hypertension, tricuspid regurgitation, pulmonary hypertension, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and pericardial effusion, and was discontinued from the regimen with bevacizumab. CONCLUSION: Although clinically-effective, the severe cardiotoxicity of bevacizumab developed after over 20 courses of treatment prompted us to look for optimal chemotherapy prescription in order to achieve a better clinical outcome.

Better Clinical Efficiency of TILs for Malignant Pleural Effusion and Ascites than Cisplatin Through Intrapleural and Intraperitoneal Infusion.

BACKGROUND/AIM: To evaluate the clinical efficiency of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) compared to cisplatin for malignant pleural effusion and ascites through intrapleural and intraperitoneal infusion. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirteen patients with malignant pleural effusion and ascites were divided into a TIL-treated group and a cisplatin-treated group. Patients were given TILs or cisplatin, through intrapleural and intraperitoneal infusion respectively, after drainage of the malignant serous effusion by thoracentesis or abdominocentesis. RESULTS: The overall response rate and disease control rate of the TIL-treated group (33.33% and 83.33%) were higher than that of the cisplatin-treated group (28.57% and 71.43%). The progression-free survival for the TIL-treated group was significantly longer (p=0.002) and better than that of the cisplatin-treated group (66.67% vs. 28.57%). Quality of life apparently improved in the TIL-treated group and was clearly higher than that in the cisplatin-treated group. CONCLUSION: The use of TILs has a better clinical efficiency for malignant pleural effusion and ascites than cisplatin through intrapleural and intraperitoneal infusion without severe adverse effects.

Cyclosporin A Reversed Chemoresistance of a Patient with Pure Red Cell Aplasia Secondary to Thymoma.

CASE REPORT: This case study reports on a patient who relapsed with thymoma (mixed type) nine years after tumor resection. After four courses of rescue chemotherapy (docetaxel and cisplatinum), the patient was further diagnosed with pure red cell aplasia. It was noticed that cyclosporin A (CsA), which was administered to treat aplasia, could reverse chemoresistance. Its mechanism is not completely clear, but the hypothesis of CsA inhibiting P-glycoprotein mediated drug efflux is the most acceptable.

The Efficacy of CIK-Based Immunotherapies for Advanced Solid Tumors.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of cytokine-induced killer cell-based immunotherapies in patients with advanced malignant solid tumors and the difference in clinical efficiency among 3 kinds of cytokine-induced killer cell-based immunotherapies. METHODS: One hundred forty-six cases with advanced solid tumor, 230 cycles of cytokine-induced killer cell-based immunotherapies, were involved in this study. T-lymphocyte subsets, carcinoembryonic antigen, and adverse reactions were recorded. RESULTS: CD3+ T lymphocyte, Th, NKT, and Th/Tc were increased after cytokine-induced killer cell-based treatment, from 55.67 ± 3.64 to 84.12 ± 5.15, 26.56 ± 4.47 to 42.76 ± 3.68, 1.82 ± 0.58 to 7.08 ± 0.92, 0.79 ± 3.64 to 1.35 ± 0.20, respectively ( P < .001). Carcinoembryonic antigen was decreased from 398.39 ± 219.16 to 127.26 ± 153.41 ( P < .001). Difference values were greater than 0 ( P < .001). Difference value of carcinoembryonic antigen was obviously less than 0 ( P < .001). There was no obvious difference in all variations between cytokine-induced killer cell and DC+CIK groups ( P > .05). The highest amount of CD3+ T lymphocyte and Th was recorded after at least 4 cycles of immunotherapy. And CD8+ T/CD4+ T also began to decrease after 4 cycles of immunotherapy. Difference value of T lymphocyte and Tc of patients with surgery is higher than that of patients without surgery. CONCLUSION: Cytokine-induced killer cell-based immunotherapy is capable of increasing T-lymphocyte subsets, recovering cellular immunity without severe side effects, and is suitable for different kinds of solid cancer. Clinical efficiency of cytokine-induced killer cell-based immunotherapy is influenced by many factors such as surgery, stage.

Undiagnosed Borrmann type IV gastric cancer despite repeated endoscopic biopsies and PET-CT examination: A case report.

Borrmann type IV gastric cancer is a particular histological type of carcinoma, which has the characteristic of diffused infiltration that invades the entire stomach, resulting in the thickening and stiffness of the stomach wall. Borrmann type IV gastric cancer is known for the difficulty of detecting tumor cells in endoscopic biopsy specimens. This is crucial in obtaining the pathological results to make a therapeutic decision. The case reported in the present study was highly suspected to be Borrmann type IV gastric cancer according to the clinical manifestations and gastrointestinal barium meal examinations, but demonstrated negative results in multiple endoscopic biopsies and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) examination. The patient was discharged as no affirmative diagnosis was specified. Two weeks after discharge, the patient was administered to another hospital under emergency treatment due to frequent urination. Cystoscopy examination revealed marked thickening of the right bladder wall over a large area. Biopsy specimens were sampled. Pathological consultation suggested a gastrointestinal original of the lesion, which was most likely poorly differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma with neuroendocrine metastasis to the bladder.

Gastric adenocarcinoma concurrent with paravertebral plasmacytoma: A case report.

Here, we report the case of a 77-year-old male patient who was revealed to have an unsuspected case of gastric adenocarcinoma with paravertebral plasmacytoma following biopsy. Plasmacytoma may be classified into two main groups: Multiple myeloma and plasmacytoma without marrow involvement. It comprises isolated plasmacytoma of the bone and extramedullary plasmacytoma. Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) accounts for 3% of all plasmacytomas; however, ~80% are located in the upper respiratory tract and upper gastrointestinal tract. It occurs extremely rarely in paravertebral areas. Case reports of EMP and other types of malignant tumor occurring at the same time have not been identified in searches of the literature. In the present study, we describe the diagnosis and treatment process of a case of gastric adenocarcinoma concurrent with paravertebral plasmacytoma. It may be helpful for early clinical diagnosis and treatment of such cases.