Objective To probe the gene expression of normal epithelial cell specific-1 (NES1) in normal liver cells and liver cancer cell lines , and investigate the gene methylation status and its impacts on gene expression and cell biology .Methods The expression level of NES1 mRNA was detected in HepG2 and L02 cells by RT-PCR and RT-QPCR, and the level of gene methylation was examined by MSP .We de-tected cell viability by MTT , NES1 mRNA by RT-QPCR and cyclinD1, P21 and P53 level by Western blot after treating cells with 5-Aza-CdR.Results Compared with L02, NES1 mRNA expression in HepG2 was significantly reduced, and the level of NES1 exon 3 CpG island methylation in HepG2 cells was much higher than that in L02 cells.After demethylation , NES1 mRNA expression and protein level of p 21 and p53 in HepG2 cells were up-regulated , while the cell viability and the level of CyclinD 1 were decreased .Conclu-sions In hepatocellular carcinoma , low expression of NES1 mRNA is related to the gene exon 3 CpG island methylation .NES1 exon 3 methylation may be one of the molecular mechanisms for reducing NES 1 mRNA level, and 5-aza-dC could inhibit cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest in HepG 2 cells.

Objective To investigate the risk factors of portal venous thrombosis ( PVST) following laparoscopic splenectomy ( LS) in cirrhotic patients with hypersplenism .Methods The clinical data of 62 patients with secondary hypersplenism due to cirrhotic portal hypertension admitted to the Clinical Medical College of Yangzhou University were retrospectively analyzed .These patients underwent LS from January 2013 to April 2014.Based on whether the patients had PVST on postoperative day (POD) 7 or not, the pa-tients were categorized into the non-PVST and PVST groups .Fifteen perioperative variables were analyzed in these two groups .Results On univariate analysis , age and portal vein diameter in the PVST group were significantly higher and velocity of portal blood flow in the PVST group were significantly lower than those in the non-PVST group, (all P<0.05).Bivariate correlation analysis performed for the relationship between these variables and occurrence of PVST on POD 7 showed age >50 years, portal vein diameter >13 mm and velocity of portal blood flow >18 cm/s were significantly correlated .Multivariate logistic regression showed that age >50 years and portal vein diameter >13 mm were significantly independent risk factors of PVST, and velocity of portal blood flow >18 cm/s was an independent protective factor .Conclusion Age>50 years and portal vein diameter >13 mm were independent risk factors , while velocity of portal blood flow >18 cm/s was an independent protective factor of postoperative PVST .

Objective To study the clinicopathological features , surgical techniques and prognosis of patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma ( ICC) .Methods The data of 104 patients with ICC trea-ted from Jan.2008 to Dec.2013 at the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital were retrospectively re -viewed.The overall survival (OS) rate and the independent risk factors related to survival were analyzed . Rseult s The 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates of these patients were 72.1%, 56.1%and 43.7%, respective-ly, and the median survival was 34 months.The 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates in the hepatic hilum lymphade-nectomy group were 42.9%, 28.6%and 28.6%, which were significantly lower than the non-lymphadenec-tomy group (78.9%, 62.5%and 47.8%).The 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates in the extended hepatic hilum lymphadenectomy group(75.0%, 66.7% and 33.3 %) was not significantly different from the other two groups.Univariate analysis showed that age , gender, AJCC stage, differentiation, ferritin (Fer), CA19-9, CEA, lymph node metastasis and lymph node dissection were prognostic factors of long -term survival for pa-tients with ICC (P<0.05).Multivariate analysis revealed that age , AJCC stage, differentiation, Fer, and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors of survival ( P<0.05 ) .Conclusions Patients with ICC would not benefit from lymphadenectomy if no lymph node involvement was present .Systematic lymph-adenectomy improved the outcomes of patients with lymph node metastasis .Age, AJCC stage, differentia-tion, Fer and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors of survival .

Objective To retrospectively analyze the ultrasonic imaging features and clinical out-comes of biliary complications after percutaneous ablation for hepatic malignant tumors .Methods The cli-nical data of patients with postablation biliary complications who underwent percutaneous ablation for hepatic malignant tumors in the past 7 years in our department were retrospectively analyzed .The ultrasonic imaging features and the clinical outcomes of biliary complications on follow-up of these patients were analyzed .Re-sults Postablation biliary complications occurred in 65 patients , including 34 patients with bile duct dilata-tion and 31 patients with biloma .In patients with bile duct dilatation , the dilated bile ducts were located dis-tal to the ablation lesions in all these patients .Among 30 patients with bile duct dilatation , the dilatation was progressive in 9 patients (9/30, 30.0%) and stable in 20 patients (20/30, 66.7%), while in one patient (1/30, 3.3%) it resolved on follow-up.The radiologic features of bilomas mainly manifested as four types:crescent , interspersed , circumferential and solitary nodular , and the number of patients with the four types were 13 (13/31, 41.9%), 13(13/31, 41.9%), 3(3/31, 9.7%) and 2(2/31, 6.5%), respectively. In 6 patients (6/31, 19.4%) the bilomas were subjected to interventional or surgical therapy while for the remaining 25 patients (6/31, 19.4%) they were treated conservatively .Three (3/25, 12.0%) of the lat-ter 25 patients had spontaneously disappearance of the biloma and 2 (2/25, 8.0%) of the remaining 22 pa-tients appeared to have progressive increase in size .In 17 (17/25, 68.0%) patients the biloma remained stable in size and in the remaining 3 patients (3/25, 12.0%) the bilomas resolved.Conclusions Postab-lation biliary complications of ultrasound-guided percutaneous ablation for hepatic malignant tumors mainly presented as biloma and bile duct dilatation .Dilated bile ducts were located in the distal side of the ablation zones.Crescent type and interspersed type were the most common morphological types of biloma .Although most patients with postablation biliary complications of ultrasound-guided percutaneous ablation remained sta-ble or resolved on follow-up, interventional or surgical therapy was necessary in the minority of patients .

Primary liver cancer ( PLC) , the most com-mon malignant carcinoma in the world , greatly impairs the hu-man health .Various treatments for PLC have been practiced but the therapeutic effects are still unsatisfied .Nowadays, interven-tional therapy , chemotherapy , radiotherapy , molecular targeted therapy and radiofrequency ablation are playing a key role in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment .In near future , more ad-vancements on comprehensive therapy for PLC are being expec-ted.This review aimed to describe the recent scenario and cur-rent advancement on non-surgical treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma .

Transforming growth factor β( TGF-β) plays an important role in regulating cell proliferation , differentiation and apoptosis , and also in the carcinogenesis .Unlike its tumor suppressor function in normal tissue , continuous activation of TGF-βsignaling pathway in inflammatory microenvironment and cancer tissue promotes the progression of hepatocellular carcino-ma ( HCC) .Loss of Smad4 and epithelial to mesenchymal tran-sition ( EMT ) may be the potential mechanisms how TGF-βtransforms from a tumor suppressor to a tumor promoter .Further studies on regulatory mechanism of TGF-βsignaling pathway are of great significance , which could provide new evidence for pre-venting and treating HCC .

Recurrent pancreatitis ( RP) can be further divided into two items , including recurrent acute pancreatitis ( RAP ) and recurrent chronic pancreatitis ( RCP ) .In recent years, with the rising incidence of pancreatitis , the incidence of RP has also been increased .During the development of pancre-atic diseases, RP may serve as a transitional disease .Thus, this article reviewed the latest research progress on RP in order to discuss its role in the development of the related pancreatic di-seases and the effects on clinical prognosis , and provide a refe-rence for preventing and treating RP and even cancer .

Objective To investigate the effect of portal vein ligation combined with in situ splitting on liver regeneration in rats .Methods Seventy-five healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were selected and randomly assigned into sham operation group ( S) , portal vein ligation group ( PVL) and portal vein ligation combined with in situ splitting group ( ALPPS) .On 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 10 d, 14 d after operation , the hepatic regeneration rate ( HRR) of right median lobe was calculated , the serum alanine aminotransferase ( ALT) , aspartate aminotransferase (AST), IL-6, HGF, VEGF were detected.mRNA of IL-6, HGF, TNF-α, TGF-βwas assayed by real-time PCR, and the hepatic proliferating cell nuclear antigen ( PCNA) labeling index was evaluated by immunohistochemistry .Results Comparing with PVL group , the HRR of the right median lobe obviously increased on day 3, 7, 10 and 14 in ALPPS group (P<0.05), and ALT and AST level were increased on 1 d (P<0.05).On day 1 and 3, the content of serum IL-6, HGF and VEGF were all in-creased in ALPPS group [(70.7 ±14.6) pg/ml vs.(134.2 ±31.4) pg/ml; (0.70 ±0.04) ng/ml vs. (0.74 ±0.02) ng/ml;(82.1 ±12.6) pg/ml vs.(103.5 ±14.7) pg/ml], respectively (P<0.05).The mRNA expression of IL-6, HGF, TNF-α, TGF-βand the PCNA labeling index were also increased in ALPPS group in comparison with those in PVL group on day 1 and 3 (P<0.05).All the indexes in the two groups were all higher than those in the group S ( P<0 .05 ) .Conclusions Portal vein ligation combined with in situ splitting could significantly enhance liver regeneration .The possible mechanisms were related to the inflammation reaction and stress response caused by in situ splitting and up-regulation of cytokines in the regenerating lobe after portal vein ligation combined with in situ splitting , especially IL-6, HGF and TNF-α.

Objective To establish the vein bypass assisted porcine liver auto transplantation model and study the methods of liver cold storage during the operation , in order to provide experience for the clini-cal application of liver auto transplantation and experimental evidence for liver machine perfusion .Methods A total of 5 pigs were operated to establish the portal-vein bypass by inserting cannula into vena jugularis in-terna, femoral vein and splenic vein , with liver being hypothermic perfused and stored in situ by 4℃ UW solution through hepatic artery and portal vein .Vital signs and clinical outcomes were monitored during the operation, and the changes of liver function indexes such as aminotransferase , total bilirubin and albumin were detected at different time points .Results During the operation , the vital signs kept steady and liver were perfused well , achieving fully blood supply after reperfusion .All animals survived over 120 h.Both al-anine aminotransferase and aspartate transaminase peaked at 24 h after blood reperfusion (69.8 ±16.2 U/L and 457.7 ±50.1 U/L), and then dropped within normal range at 96 ho after reperfusion.Total bilirubin peaked at 48 h after blood reperfusion (7.1 ±3.3μmol/L), and then decreased rapidly .The plasma albu-min kept falling after blood reperfusion , reaching the minimum of 11.1 ±2.7 g/L at 4 h after reperfusion, and then rose to normal level steadily at 16 h.Conclusions The vein bypass assisted liver auto transplanta-tion could guarantee the steady vital signs and survival rate , which may supply an experimental basis for de-veloping new efficient liver preservation and restoration methods .

Objective To investigate the expression of miRNA-301a-3p in pancreatic cancer and to correlate the expression on invasion , migration and colony formation of pancreatic cancer cells .Methods The expression of miRNA-301a-3p in 20 paired pancreatic cancer tissues and matched adjacent tissues , and pancreatic cancer cell lines and normal pancreatic ductal cells were detected by real -time PCR.miRNA-301a-3p mimics or inhibitors were used to up-regulate or down-regulate the miRNA-301a-3p level in pancre-atic cancer cell lines in order to figure out the effects of miRNA-301a-3p on cell invasion, migration and col-ony formation of pancreatic cancer cells , respectively .Results In pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines , miRNA-301a-3p was significantly up-regulated when compared with the matched adjacent tissues ( P <0.05) and normal pancreatic ductal cells (P<0.05), respectively.Overexpression or downexpression of miRNA-301a-3p enhanced or suppressed colony formation , invasion and migration abilities of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro.Upregulation of miRNA-301a-3p promoted tumorigenesis in vivo.Conclusion miR-NA-301a-3p might function as an oncogene to promote tumorigenesis in pancreatic cancer .