SELE gene as a characteristic prognostic biomarker of colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and clinical value of the E-selectin gene (SELE) in colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: Using gene expression profiles and clinicopathological data for patients with CRC from The Cancer Genome Atlas, and tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 31 patients with CRC from Xianyang Central Hospital, we studied the correlation between SELE gene expression and clinical parameters using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses. RESULTS: Higher expression of SELE was significantly associated with a poorer prognosis and shorter survival in patients with CRC. The median expression level of SELE was significantly higher in CRC tissues compared with healthy adjacent tissue. Cox regression analysis showed that the prognosis of CRC was significantly correlated with the expression of SELE. Immunohistochemical analysis also showed that positive expression of E-selectin increased significantly in line with increasing TNM stage.Conclusion: This study confirmed that SELE gene expression is an independent prognostic factor in patients with CRC.

Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids.

BACKGROUND: Haemorrhoids is a common perianal disease, which often causes haematochezia. Besides a surgical operation or minimally invasive treatment, a variety of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs (TCMHs) have been used to treat bleeding haemorrhoids. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids and the adverse effects caused by these herbs. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Colorectal Cancer Group Trials Register, Cochrane Central Register of Contolled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CMCD (Chinese Medicine Conference Disc) and CBMD (Chinese Bio-Medicine Disc). SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of Chinese herbs for bleeding haemorrhoids were included. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors independently extracted the data, which were analysed using RevMan 5.0 software. We estimated the relative risk for dichotomous data and calculated the weighted mean difference for continuous data. MAIN RESULTS: Nine trials involving 1822 patients with bleeding haemorrhoids were identified. The included trials were generally not of high quality and used one TCMH preparation compared with another TCMH preparation (Type I) (five trials) or western medicines (Type II) (four trials). We could not pool the data to perform a meta-analysis as only two of the included trials used the same intervention or comparison.In the nine trials, TCMHs showed a statistically significant difference for the improvement in the general curative effects or total grade of symptoms in six trials (P < 0.05; P < 0.01), of hematochezia in three trials (P < 0.05; P < 0.001), and of inflammation of perianal mucosa in one trial (P < 0.05). The adverse effects reported were not serious and were scarce. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review did not provide strong evidence concerning the effectiveness of TCMHs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids. Most of the included studies were of low quality and there was a scarcity of eligible trials and numbers of participants. Limited, weak evidence showed that some herbal formulae, when including Radix Sanguisorbae, Radix Rehmanniae, Fructus Sophorae, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Radix Scutellariae, etc., may alleviate some symptoms caused by haemorrhoids. These include hematochezia, congestive haemorrhoidal cushions and inflammation of perianal mucosa in the short term. Well-designed clinical trials are required urgently before any confident conclusions can be drawn about the value of TCMHs for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids.At present, the evidence is not enough that clinical practice should be changed immediately on the basis of these results.

[Effect of KDR recombinant adenovirus containing double suicide gene on the proliferation of human colon adneocarcinoma SW620 cells].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of adenovirus (Ad)-mediated fusion gene system driven by the KDR promoter on the proliferation of human colon adenocarcinoma SW620 cells. METHODS: The KDR-expressing SW620 cells and LS174T cells not expressing KDR were both infected with AdEasy-KDR-CDglyTK followed by treatment with the prodrugs 5-FC and/or ganciclovir at different concentrations. The effect of the transfection on the cell proliferation was evaluated. RESULTS: The expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) was observed in 95% of the infected SW620 and LS174T cells with a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 100. Significant difference was not founded in the growth of SW620 and LS174T cells with or without the transfection. The infected SW620 cells exhibit high sensitivity to the prodrugs, but the infected LS174T cells did not (P<0.01). The CDglyTK fusion gene produced much stronger killing effect of on the target cells than either of the single suicide genes (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: CDglyTK fusion gene system driven by the KDR promoter selectively kills the KDR-CDglyTK SW620 cells and inhibits the cell proliferation.