[Development of CalliSpheres® embolic microspheres].

CalliSpheres® embolic microspheres for embolization of the vasculature of liver cancer are designed, manufactured, and verified, in order to improve the effect of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization in the treatment of primary liver cancer.

[Sole percutaneous microwave coagulation versus its combination with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for treatment of primary hepatoma: a comparison study].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and adverse effects of sole percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy (PMCT) compared to that of PMCT combining with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the treatment of primary hepatoma. METHODS: A total of 50 patients diagnosed with primary hepatocellular carcinoma were recruited and divided into two groups. Group A included 15 patients only treated with PMCT. The other 35 ones falling into group B were treated with PMCT in combination with TACE. Analysis of therapeutic efficacy and adverse effects were conducted. RESULTS: The objective effect rates in group A and group B were 40.0% and 62.8%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups(P = 0.136). The one-year survival rates of the two groups were 46.6% and 71.4%,respectively(P = 0.095);and the two-year survival rates were 26.7% and 42.8%,respectively (P = 0.048). No grade III adverse effects or beyond were observed. CONCLUSION: PCMT combining with TACE is safe and more effective in one-year survival than PCMT alone for the treatment of primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

[Clinical features and prognosis of patients with first-episode liver metastasis of different molecular subtypes of breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of patients with first-episode liver metastasis of different molecular subtypes of breast cancer and risk factors for liver metastasis of breast cancer. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for 122 breast cancer patients with first-episode liver metastasis from January 2009 to January 2014. According to the cell surface receptors of breast cancer, these patients were divided into the four molecular subtypes of Luminal A, Luminal B, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The association of patients' age at initial diagnosis, body mass index (BMI), menstruation status, clinical TNM (cTNM) stage, levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) at recurrence, liver metastasis, and treatment condition with the patients' prognosis were analyzed. The chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for categorical data, the Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, the log-rank test was used for univariate analysis of influencing factors, and the Cox regression model was used for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Among the 122 patients, 12 had Luminal A subtype, 61 had Luminal B subtype, 30 had HER2 overexpression subtype, and 19 had TNBC subtype. In the patients with Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2 overexpression, and TNBC subtypes, the median disease-free survival (DFS) was 32, 23, 16, and 10 months, respectively (P = 0.001), the median overall survival (OS) was 54, 35, 26, and 13 months, respectively (P = 0.003), and the median OS after liver metastasis was 30, 16, 10, and 9 months, respectively (P = 0.019). In HER2-positive patients, the application of trastuzumab in the past significantly prolonged the patients' DFS by 11 months and OS by 18 months (P < 0.05). The results of the multivariate analysis showed that cTNM stage, molecular subtype, and targeted therapy were independent influencing factors for DFS of breast cancer patients with liver metastasis (P < 0.05), and that BMI, increased LDH at recurrence, cTNM stage, molecular subtype, salvage chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy were independent influencing factors for OS of breast cancer patients with liver metastasis (P < 0.05). The patients with TNBC, HER2 overexpression, and Luminal B subtypes exhibited worse prognosis and had a risk of recurrence 15.97, 8.81, and 4.76 times higher than those with Luminal A subtype. The risk of death in the patients with TNBC, HER2 overexpression, and Luminal B subtypes was 8.42, 6.02, and 3.86 times that in those with Luminal A subtype. CONCLUSION: The prognosis of breast cancer patients with first-episode liver metastasis is associated with the increase in LDH when liver metastasis occurs, BMI, cTNM stage, and molecular subtype. Compared with the patients with Luminal subtypes, those with HER2 overexpression and TNBC subtypes tend to develop liver metastasis in early stage and have a shorter OS. Salvage chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and radiotherapy can significantly improve the prognosis of patients with liver metastasis.

Simultaneously improving yield under drought stress and non-stress conditions: a case study of rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Drought is the most important factor limiting rice productivity in the rainfed areas of Asia. In this study, 48 pyramiding lines (PLs) and their recurrent parent, IR64, were evaluated over two years for their yield performances and related traits under severe drought stress at the reproductive stage (RS), the vegetative stage (VS) and irrigated control in order to understand the relationship between drought tolerance (DT) and yield potential (YP) in rice and their underlying mechanisms. When compared with IR64, all PLs had significantly improved DT to RS and 36 PLs also had significantly improved DT to VS. In addition, 17 PLs had higher YP than IR64 and the remaining 31 PLs had a similar YP IR64 under irrigated conditions. Detailed characterization of the PLs revealed three possible mechanisms that functioned together to contribute to their improved DT. The most important mechanism was dehydration avoidance (DA), characterized by significantly higher growth rate and biomass of all PLs than IR64 under stress and no reduction in biomass under control conditions. The second mechanism was efficient partitioning, characterized by improved harvest index in all PLs compared with IR64, resulting primarily from heavier grain weight and/or higher spikelet fertility under control conditions, which was the major constituent of the improved YP in the 17 best performing PLs. Drought escape (DE) by accelerated heading under drought was the third mechanism that contributed to DT of the PLs to RS. The considerable variation in the measured traits among the PLs with similar levels of DT and YP implies the complex genetic control of the mechanisms for DT/YP and offers opportunities to improve DT and YP further by fine-tuning of a small number of QTLs segregating among the PLs using MAS. Finally, our results indicate that selection for yield plus some secondary traits under appropriate type(s) of stress and non-stress conditions similar to the target environments are critically important for improving both DT and YP in rice.

p53 gene (Gendicine) and embolisation overcame recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation (TACE) has become the standard treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, this method is often unsuccessful. The p53 gene, which is present as a mutant form in many human tumours, is known to have broad spectrum antitumour effects when expressed normally. In this study, we report a 23 year old patient with recurrent HCC who was treated with the p53 gene (Gendicine) combining TACE, which resulted in a good clinical prognosis.