RESUMO
BackgroundAt present, there is a global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. For COVID-19 patients, cancer is a coexisting disease that should not be Here, we conducted a multicenter retrospective study to show the clinical information and outcomes of cancer patients infected with COVID-19. MeasurementsMedical records of COVID-19 patients with cancer admitted to hospitals from Jan 5, 2020 to Feb 18, 2020 were collected. ResultsOf the 67 patients (median age: 66 years), the median age of patients with severe illness was older than that of patients with mild symptoms (P<0.001). The proportion of severe patients had co-morbidities was higher than patients with mild disease (P=0.004). During the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia, tumor progression and recurrence was not observed for those patients still at the anticancer treatment phase. Lymphocytopenia was the main laboratory finding accompanying increased C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in cancer patients, especially in severe cases. By Mar 10, 2020, 18 (26.9%) patients died from COVID-19. The median age of survivors was younger than that of deaths (P=0.014). Lung cancer (n=15, 22.4%) was the most common cancer type and accounted for the highest proportion COVID-19 resulted deaths (33.3%, 5/15). We observed a tendency that patients at the follow-up phase had a better prognosis than that at anticancer treatment phase (P=0.095). ConclusionThis study showed COVID-19 patients with cancer seem to have a higher proportion of severe cases and poorer prognosis. We should pay more intensive attentions to cancer patients infected with COVID-19.
RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Malignant transformation of epithelial cell frequently coincides with loss of E-cadherin. Here we study the expression of Snail and E-cadherin and correlate their expression with cell differentiation and in vitro invasion.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression and localization of Snail and E-cadherin were studied by Northern blot and laser confocal microscopy in two normal cell lines (MDCK, NIH 3T3) and six carcinoma cell lines (A431, MCF-7, MDA-MB-453, HepG2, MDA-MB-435s, MDA-MB-231). Boyden chamber assay was done to detect the invasive ability of cells in vitro.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Snail mRNA and protein were detected in fibroblasts NIH 3T3 and poorly differentiated carcinoma cell lines HepG2, MDA-MB-435s and MDA-MB-231. On the contrary, E-cadherin mRNA and protein were detected in normal epithelial cell line MDCK and well differentiated carcinoma cell lines A431 and MDA-MB-453. In MCF-7 cells, Snail and E-cadherin expressions were revealed both at mRNA and protein levels. The cells with higher expression of Snail had stronger ability of invasion than those with lower expression of Snail.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There is an inverse correlation between Snail and E-cadherin expressions and their expressions are correlated with cell differentiation and tumor invasiveness.</p>
