Objective To investigate the organ function survival and late effects and secondary malignancy of childhood neuroblastoma (NB) with high intensity comprehensive treatment.Methods A total of 23 children with NB who received comprehensive treatment in Shanghai Children's Medical Center from December 1998 to October 2010 were enrolled.All tests were formulated according to the Children's Oncology Group (COG)'s guidelines with the approval of parents.The late side effects were graded by CTCAE v3.0,and hearing loss related to platinum was graded by Brock and Chang.Results The median follow-up was 96 (65-170) months.All the patients had at least one late side effect.The occurrence rate of 1-2 adverse effects was 100％,and 17.4％ (4/23 cases) of patients had grade 3-4 adverse effects.90.5％ of children (19/21 cases)developed hearing loss on both sides.Eleven children (52.4％,11/21 cases) developed dental abnormities,comprising microdontia,missing teeth,root stunting and enamel hypoplasia.9.5％ of children (2/12 cases) had scoliosis.42.8％ of children (9/12 cases) developed hypogonadism with the approval of parents or delayed growth.47.4％ of children (9/19 cases) had abnormal respiratory function.36.8％ of children (7/19 cases)had abnormal cardiac function.33.4％ of children (7/21 cases)developed renal damage.23.8 ％ of children (5/21 cases) had abnormal liver function.66.7％ of children (14/21 cases) had low level of cortisol,but adrenocorticotrophic hormone was normal.All children had normal function of thyroid.Three children developed secondary malignancy:leukemia,malignant fibroma and liver tumor.Conclusions The incidence of long-term adverse reactions of patients with neuroblastoma treated with high intensity comprehensive treatment is very high and the patients may have adverse effects,like hearing loss,dental abnormality,cardiopulmonary function abnormality,musculoskeletal problems and secondary malignancy.The upmost importance is to establish long-term follow-up program to detect the life quality of children and amend current therapeutic schemes improve life quality.

Objective To evaluate the differentiation-inducing effect of phenylacetate on pancreatic carcinoma cells and underlying mechanism of RNA editing deaminase in cell proliferation and differentiation. Methods The effect of phenylacetate on cell proliferation and cell cycle were investigated in cultured pancreatic carcinoma BXPC-3 cell lines by methylthiazoletetrazolium( MTT) assay, and flow cytometry. The effect of phenylacetate on the expression of RNA editing deaminase (ADAR2 mRNA) in BXPC-3 cells and fresh pancreatic carcinoma specimen was evaluated by RT-PCR. Results ADAR1 mRNA expression was positive in human pancreatic carcinoma tissues and BXPC-3 cell lines. After application of 1.0 and 2.0 mmol/L phenylacetate for 24 h and 72 h, BXPC-3 cell growth inhibition rate increased, G0/G1 phase cells decreased, S phase cells increased, ADAR2 mRNA expression decreased ( P < 0.01 ). Conclusion ADAR2 mRNA played a vital role of regulation in the process of pancreatic carcinoma cells growth and differentiation. Phenylacetate could regulate the proliferation and differentiation of pancreatic carcinoma cells through the regulation of ADAR2 mRNA expression.

Objective To investigate the regularity and predictors of weight loss during concurrent chemo-radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Methods A retrospective study was carried out on 82 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma ,with average age of 45 years ,who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy at the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. Paired t-test was used to analyze the weight loss pattern during chemoradiotherapy. The Spearman′s rank correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between high weight loss(HWL)and the clinical factors. Results The paired t-test showed that the weight of the patients decreased continuously every week during chemoradiotherapy(P < 0.05),and the value dropped most significantly during the 4th week. Among these 82 patients,32 were determined as HWL(weight loss > 10%). Spearman′s rank correlation analysis showed that HWL was associated with older age,female,higher T and TNM stage,3D-CRT technology,the higher dose of radiotherapy in nasopharynx and in neck lymph node,and decreases of leukopenia and hemoglobin over degree Ⅱ(P<0.05). Conlousions Weight may decrease continuously every week during chemoradiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Age,gender,T stage,TNM stage,radio-therapy dose,and leukopenia and hemoglobin decreases may be predictors for weight loss degree during concurrent chemoradiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.

OBJECTIVETo analyze clinical features, outcomes and correlative prognostic factors of the disease.

METHODTotally 14 newly diagnosed children with pancreatoblastoma at Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center and Beijing Children's Hospital were enrolled into this study between April 2003 and July 2013. The clinical features, surgery, chemotherapy protocol and prognostic factors of patients were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTThe median age at diagnosis was 6.5 years (0.6 to 11 years). Four cases had local tumor, 9 cases had local invasion, and in 1 case lung and liver metastasis was found at diagnosis. Increased serum α-fetoprotein were found in 8 cases (66-54,000 μg/L). In 8 patients the tumor was resected at first. The remaining 6 patients had biopsy and in four of them the tumor was completely resected after 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy. Except for 2 patients who gave up treatment, all the other patients fulfilled the comprehensive treatment including surgery and chemotherapy. One patient received radiofrequency ablation. The median follow-up period was 26 months(16-140 months). The estimated 2 year event free survival was (66.7 ± 13.6)%.On univariate analysis, non-resectable tumor(χ(2) = 6.663, P = 0.010), progression and metastases during treatment(χ(2) = 14.927, P = 0.000), poor response to treatment(χ(2) = 12.293, P = 0.000)were independent predictors for poor prognosis.

CONCLUSIONComplete resection and complete remission after treatment were excellent prognostic factors. Some initially unresectable disease seems to be resectable after adjuvant chemotherapy, which may be a key point of treatment strategy.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Child ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

Objectives To evaluate the clinical features, treatment scheme and long-term outcomes of stage 1、2 childhood neuroblastoma (NB). Methods The retrospective study included 49 newly diagnosed NB stage 1、2 patients from June 1998 to December 2010. Clinical data and long-term outcomes were analyzed. Results Twenty-four patients with stage 1 NB and twenty patients with stage 2 NB were found among all 237 patients with NB enrolled in this study. The median age at diagnosis was 25 months( 2 week to 9 year old),29 males and 20 females. Thirty-one patients (63.6%) without symptoms were discovered with tumor by physical or imaging examination. Thorax and abdomen were the most common sites of primary tumor (21 and 22 cases, accounting for 42.9% and 44.9% of all patients, respectively). Forty (81.6%) NB patients had favorable pathology classification. One patient was of MYCN amplification status. Urine vanilla mandelic acid was normal in 32 (91.4%) patients, and serum lactate dehydrogenase was less than five times of the normal value in all patients. Ten NB patients were treated ac-cording to the low-risk protocol who received surgery alone.Thirty-nine patients were treated according to intermediate-risk protocol who received both surgery and chemotherapy. All the patients achieved very good partial remission (100%).The medi-an follow-up period was 60 months(22 months to148months). Nine patients were lost after a follow up of 3 months in medi-an. The 2-、3-、5-year event free survival and overall survial of all 49 patients was 100%. Conclusions The prognosis for neu-roblastoma of stage 1、2 in this study was with 100%survival, which provides opportunity for further reduction of dosage and/or duration of episodes in chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND:Some patients still have unsatisfactory improvement of operative limb fatigue and pain after total knee arthroplasty.Clinical findings show that Jianpi Yiqi Huoxue Formula can promote recovery after total knee arthroplasty,but the specific efficacy remains to be studied. OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of Jianpi Yiqi Huoxue Formula on the muscle strength and pain of the operated limb after the primary unilateral total knee arthroplasty. METHODS:A total of 74 patients undergoing primary unilateral total knee arthroplasty were randomly divided into a trial group and a control group with 37 patients in each group.All patients received the same prostheses and surgical methods during the operation.Patients in the control group were treated with routine analgesics,anticoagulant drugs and functional exercise after the operation.The trial group received Jianpi Yiqi Huoxue Formula after the treatment in the control group.Both groups were treated continuously and followed up for 1 month.The changes in isokinetic muscle strength(peak torque and total work amount of extensor and flexor),visual analog scale score and the hospital for special surgery score of the two groups were analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The trial group had better improvement in peak torque and total work amount of extensor and flexor and the hospital for special surgery score than the control group 14 days and 1 month after surgery(P<0.05).(2)In contrast to the control group,the visual analog scale score of the trial group improved better at 7 and 14 days and 1 month after surgery(P<0.05).(3)It is indicated that Jianpi Yiqi Huoxue Formula can effectively improve the muscle strength of the operated limb,enhance the degree of postoperative joint pain,and promote functional rehabilitation after total knee arthroplasty.

Objective:To study the survival and prognostic factors for the recurrent extracranial malignant germ cell tumors (MGCTs) in children, and to explore feasible salvage treatment.Methods:A retrospective study.Pediatric patients with recurrent extracranial MGCTs diagnosed in Shanghai Children′s Medical Center between January 2010 and January 2020 were retrospectively recruited.Comprehensive treatment regimens included surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression model were employed to analyze the survival and prognostic factors for children with recurrent extracranial MGCTs.Results:A total of 172 children with extracranial MGCTs were treated, including 21 (12.2%) recurrent cases.The median time of MGCT recurrence after the end of the first treatment was 11 months.Finally, 19 patients were recruited after excluding 2 non-eligible cases, including 10 boys and 9 girls with the age at recurrence of 26 (8-170) months.The follow-up time was 57 (13-122) months.Salvage chemotherapy, complete resection and radiotherapy were performed in 16, 14 and 4 patients, respectively.The 4-year overall survival (4yr-OS) rate was (82.5±9.2)%(19 cases). The 4yr-OS rate was significantly higher in patients managed with surgery but without adjuvant chemotherapy at the initial treatment (13 cases) than those managed with chemotherapy at the initial treatment (6 cases)[(92.3±7.4)% vs.(60.0%±21.9)%, P=0.002]. Univariant and Cox multivariant regression analyses showed that failure to achieve the normal range of alpha fetoprotein after 3 cycles of chemotherapy significantly influenced the survival of recurrent extracranial MGCTs. Conclusions:For patients with recurrent extracranial MGCTs, comprehensive treatment approaches like complete surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy offer a favorable survival rate.Specifically, recurrent and re-treated patients who initially received surgery alone without adjuvant chemotherapy have a higher survival rate compared to those who received chemotherapy during the initial treatment.

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is involved in diverse brain functions via its extensive projections to multiple target regions. There is a growing understanding of the overall outputs of the OFC at the population level, but reports of the projection patterns of individual OFC neurons across different cortical layers remain rare. Here, by combining neuronal sparse and bright labeling with a whole-brain florescence imaging system (fMOST), we obtained an uninterrupted three-dimensional whole-brain dataset and achieved the full morphological reconstruction of 25 OFC pyramidal neurons. We compared the whole-brain projection targets of these individual OFC neurons in different cortical layers as well as in the same cortical layer. We found cortical layer-dependent projections characterized by divergent patterns for information delivery. Our study not only provides a structural basis for understanding the principles of laminar organizations in the OFC, but also provides clues for future functional and behavioral studies on OFC pyramidal neurons.

Many people affected by fragile X syndrome (FXS) and autism spectrum disorders have sensory processing deficits, such as hypersensitivity to auditory, tactile, and visual stimuli. Like FXS in humans, loss of Fmr1 in rodents also cause sensory, behavioral, and cognitive deficits. However, the neural mechanisms underlying sensory impairment, especially vision impairment, remain unclear. It remains elusive whether the visual processing deficits originate from corrupted inputs, impaired perception in the primary sensory cortex, or altered integration in the higher cortex, and there is no effective treatment. In this study, we used a genetic knockout mouse model (Fmr1^KO), in vivo imaging, and behavioral measurements to show that the loss of Fmr1 impaired signal processing in the primary visual cortex (V1). Specifically, Fmr1^KO mice showed enhanced responses to low-intensity stimuli but normal responses to high-intensity stimuli. This abnormality was accompanied by enhancements in local network connectivity in V1 microcircuits and increased dendritic complexity of V1 neurons. These effects were ameliorated by the acute application of GABA_A receptor activators, which enhanced the activity of inhibitory neurons, or by reintroducing Fmr1 gene expression in knockout V1 neurons in both juvenile and young-adult mice. Overall, V1 plays an important role in the visual abnormalities of Fmr1^KO mice and it could be possible to rescue the sensory disturbances in developed FXS and autism patients.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein/metabolism* ; Fragile X Syndrome/metabolism* ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Neurons/metabolism*