[Clinical significance of survivin expression in colorectal cancer and its relationship with cell apoptosis and angiogenesis].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Expression of survivin, an apoptosis suppressor gene, in colorectal cancer(CRC), and its relationship with pathologic factors, cell apoptosis, and angiogenesis are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect of survivin on cell apoptosis, and its relation with angiogenesis, and to further explore the effects of survivin on development and prognosis of CRC. METHODS: Protein expression of survivin, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in 91 specimens of CRC was detected by immunohistochemistry, apoptosis index (AI) of tumor cells was detected by TUNEL method. RESULTS: Positive rate of survivin in CRC with distant metastasis was 56.0% (14/25), significantly higher than that in CRC without metastasis (48.5%, 32/66) (P<0.05); and that in 5-year survival patients(42.9%,30/70) was lower than that in patients died within 5 years (76.2%,16/21) (P<0.01). The average survival time of patients with positive expression of survivin was 91.3 months, and that of patients with negative expression of survivin was 116.4 months; 5-year survival rate of the former (65.2%, 30/46) was significantly lower than that of the latter (88.9%, 40/45) (P<0.01). The average AI of patients with positive expression of survivin was lower than that of patients with negative expression of survivin [(0.74+/-0.19)% vs. (1.07+/-0.24)%, P<0.01]; the expression of survivin significantly correlated with that of VEGF (pearson: 0.721). CONCLUSION: Survivin may promote metastasis, and affect prognosis of CRC through inhibiting cell apoptosis, and regulating angiogenesis of CRC.

[Retrospective analysis of 1905 patients with skin cancer from two general hospitals in western China from 1981 to 2000].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features and changes in the incidence of skin cancer in two hospitals located in western China. METHODS: The patients diagnosed pathologically as skin cancer from 1981 to 2000 were retrospectively collected from the two hospitals. Clinical data of patients with skin cancer were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: (1) Of the 1 905 patients with skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma accounted for 29.4%(560 patients), basal cell carcinoma 28.0% (534), and cutaneous malignant melanoma(CMM) 16.0% (305). (2) There were 591 patients with skin cancer diagnosed between 1980 and 1990, and 1 314 between 1991 and 2000, and accounted for 0.34% and 0.58% of all biopsy cases, respectively. The number of total biopsy patients increased 1.6% every year during the 20 years. The number of biopsy patients with skin cancer and with CMM increased 3.5% and 3.9% every year,respectively. (3) Of the 305 CMM patients, 63.3% located on the acra. These patients were elder, and have a higher rate of trauma and a higher incidence in the male than that in patients with CMM located on the other sites. (4) Of the 305 CMM patients, 64 (21%) had history of trauma at the primary onset sites, and 47 (15.4%) had history of small congenital nevi at the primary sites. CONCLUSION: There are some differences in the clinical features such as location and age between the skin cancer patients in our study and those in white population. The incidence of skin cancer in the two hospitals had been increasing in the 20 years (between 1981 and 2000). Both trauma and small congenital nevi are important risk factors of CMM.

[Research advances on inhibitor of apoptosis, survivin].

Survivin, a novel inhibitor of apoptosis, expressing in a cell cycle-dependent manner,regulates the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle by associating with mitotic spindle microtubules; it directly inhibits caspase-3 and caspase-7activity. During tumorigenesis, survivin expression is inversely correlated with apoptosis and is positively correlated with proliferation and angiogenesis. Survivin expression up-regulation predicts short survival and poor prognosis in human cancers. Survivin targeting antisense nucleotide and survivin mutants induce apoptosis, reduce tumor growth potential, and sensitize tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs and X-irradiation in vitro and in vivo. These results suggest that survivin may has the potential function as a new target for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

[Role of tumor metastasis suppressor gene KAI1 in development of colorectal cancer].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The study of tumor metastasis suppressor gene KAI1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) is limited nowadays. There are some controversies about the expression of KAI1 and its relationship with pathologic classification of CRC, and up today, the reports of the correlation between KAI1 and the prognosis of CRC still be few. This study was designed to investigate the role of KAI1 in development of CRC and its value in predicting the prognosis of CRC. METHODS: The expression of KAI1 in 91 cases of primary CRC and 25 cases of lymph node metastases were determined using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The positive cases of KAI1 in primary CRC were 54 (59.3%), the weak positive cases were 22 (24.2%), the negative cases were 15 (16.5%). KAI1 expression reduced significantly in the cases with low differentiation, lymph node metastasis and distant metastatic tumor (P< 0.01). The positive expression rate of KAI1 in the patients who survived more than 5 years (67.14%) was higher than that in the patients who survived less than 5 years (33.33%) (P< 0.05). The 5-year survival rates of the patients with positive, weak positive, and negative expression of KAI1 decreased in turn (87.04%, 63.34%, 60.00%; P< 0.05). KAI1 expression in lymph node metastases was lower than that in primary locus (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: The abnormal expression of KAI1 participates in malignant progression of CRC. Detecting the expression of KAI1 probably possesses clinical significance in evaluating the differentiation, lymph node metastasis,and distant metastasis of CRC, and predicting the prognosis of CRC.

[Clinical significance of E-cadherin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression in adenoid cystic carcinoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The recurrence and metastasis after treatment of adenoid cystic carcinoma was usually observed in the clinical practice. There is no good indicator to evaluate the prognosis of ACC at present. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the expression of cell adhesion molecules E-cadherin (E-cad) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and prognosis in the patients with ACC. METHODS: The expression of E-cad and PCNA in 34 patients with ACC were detected by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: The 5-year survival rate of the patients was significantly lower in solid type of ACC than in cribriform or tubular type (P < 0.01). Clinical stages were significantly related to local recurrence and/or distant metastasis of the tumor (P < 0.01) and to 5-year survival rate of the patients with ACC (P < 0.01). Absent or low E-cad expression (50.0%) was observed more frequently in ACC with local recurrence and/or distant metastasis and with less than 5-year survival period (P < 0.05). The rate of local recurrence and/or distant metastasis of the tumor was significantly higher in high PCNA expression group (P < 0.005) than in low PCNA expression group, while the 5-year survival rate of the former was significantly lower (P < 0.005). The expression of E-cad was in high correlation with that of PCNA (P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: E-cad, PCNA expression, and clinical stages could be regarded as effective indices for evaluating the prognosis of ACC. E-cad may cooperate with PCNA in the malignant development of ACC.