Primary CNS lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare malignancy with peculiar clinical and biologic features,aggressive course,and unsatisfactory outcome.the particular microenvironment of this malignancy,and sanctuary sites where tumor cells grow undisturbed, strongly affects treatment efficacy. The execution of prospective trials is also difficult because of the rarity of the tumor and the impaired general condition and poor performance status of patients. Chemotherapy is indispensable for the treatment of PCNSL. High-dose methotrexate is the most effctive drug.PCNSL is sensitive to irradiation,but responses to radiotherapy alone are short-lived. MTX-based chemotherapy followed by whole-brain radiotherapy prolonged survival but is associated with delayed neurotoxicity especially in patients older than 60 years. A new approach is attempted to treat PCNSL with chemotherapy alone with defered radiotherapy in old patients with similar survival rencenfly. High-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation HDC/ASCT yielded promising results for recurent PCNSL.Clinical investigation with Temozolomide or rituximab have been reported.Further studies with these new drugs are needed.

Objective: To investigate the expression of Notch1 and NF-κB in gastric cancer and discuss the association between the expressions of both and their relationship with the clinicopathological features. Methods: The expression of Notch1 and NF-κB in 168 specimens of gastric cancer and 27 specimens of normal gastric tissues were detected by SP immunohistochemistry. Results: The expression of Notch1 was significantly upregulated in gastric cancer as compared with normal gastric tissues (P < 0.0 1). It was closely related with tumor size, differentiation grade, depth of invasion, and vessel invasion. The expression of NF-κB in gastric cancer was remarkably higher than that in control group (P < 0.01) and was significantly associated with tumor size, differentiation degree, depth of invasion, distant metastasis, and vessel invasion. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that Notch1- and NF-KB positive patients had poor prognosis than Notch1- and NF-κB-negative patients. Cox regression multivariate analysis showed that Notch1 was one of the independent prognostic factors for gastric cancer (P <0.05). Conclusion: The over-expression of NF-κB may be involved in the carcinogenesis and progression of gastric cancer mediated by Notch1 signaling pathway. Notch1 may become a potentially useful marker for evaluating the prognosis and survival of gastric cancer and a new therapeutic target.

Objective Cavernous hemangioma of infant was reported as an obscure diagnosis with the different sensitivity to corticosteroid therapy and various natural courses. Therefore, a clinical studies for the biological classification of deep subcutanious vascular lesions might be needed, which was alluded by Mulliken two decades ago. Methods Infants with cavernous hemangiomas accepted normal system corticosteroid therapy during the first 6 months of life before eight-year-follow-up, which continued until the children were 9 to 10 years old. The expression of PCNA and bFGF, and cellular histological characteristics were observed in 12 cases by biopsy. Results There were two major categories of subcutaneous vascular lesions groups: deep capillary hemangiomas, a lesion regressing slowly, and venous malformation, a lesion growing commensurated with the child. They will be also distinguished on the basis of diverse final treatment results, expression of cellular markers, microscopical characteristics, and physical signs. Conclusion The new classification appears to be helpful to make the choice of therapy for infants with "cavernous hemangiomas" , which is proven to be a terminologic confusion.

Trypanosoma is a human parasite severely affecting poor tropical areas.However,current frontline drugs for Trypanosoma treatment have severe side-effects with decreased effectiveness.Based on the fact that aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase is a bonafide drug target for several microorganisms,including bacteria and fungi,it is plausible that it may also be effective target of Trypanosoma.The Trypanosoma brucei leucyl-tRNA synthetase(tbLeuRS)was cloned,expressed and purified to develop an in vitro enzymatic assay system.The assay conditions were further optimized for the effective screening of tbLeuRS inhibitors thus establishing an anti-Trypanosoma drug screening system targeting tbLeuRS.The results indicated that this system can be employed for the effective screening of anti-Trypanosoma drugs with satisfactory specificity.In addition,this system can also be used for compound optimization,as well as IC50 testing.Using this system a series of compounds are identified that are effective Trypanosoma inhibitors without toxicity to human cells.Therefore,targeting tbLeuRS may represent a new venue for the development of anti-Trypanosoma drugs.

Objective To investigate the compliance with endocrine therapy(ET) and assess the factors associated with treatment accuracy for breast cancer.Methods 379 patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer undergoing complete treatment from Jun.2006 to Jun.2008 in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital were followed up.Factors related to compliance were analyzed.Results Among the 322 (85.0％) patients successfully interviewed,15 (4.7％) patients did not receive ET,43 (13.4％) patients stopped taking drugs after discharge,14 (4.3％)patients had intermittent ET,and the rest 250 patients obeyed 5-year oral ET regularly.The treatment accuracy was 77.6％ (250/332).We found that majority of withdraw occurred within 2 months and within 2 years,accounting for 39.5％ and 48.8％,respectively.Job and education status were relevant to these patients.Moreover,too much concern of adverse drug effects and difficulty of long-term medication were the main reasons to noncompliance.Conclusions ET is effective in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients and has been used as a conventional therapy.However,due to the long therapeutic period and lack of medical supervision after discharge,its treatment accuracy and compliances are becoming low,resulting in decreased efficiency.It is therefore necessary to investigate such patients' management to improve the compliance and treatment accuracy of ET.

Adenocarcinoma ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Aged ; Humans ; Male ; Treatment Outcome ; Ureteral Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery

Objective:To develop a catalytic system for the asymmetric Morita-Baylis-Hillman ( MBH) reaction of conjugated ni-troalkene with activated aldehyde, and screen out the chiral catalysts with high activity and enantioselectivity. Methods: Totally 21 chiral organocatalysts were applied in the asymmetric MBH reaction ofβ-nitrostyrene with ethyl glyoxylate, and the ee value was deter-mined by chiral HPLC. The effects of temperature, solvent and substrate ratio on the catalytic reaction were investigated. Results: In the presence of cinchona alkaloid catalyst (DHQ)2AQN, β-nitrostyrene reacted with ethyl glyoxylate in toluene at 0℃ affording the MBH adduct in 60% yield with good enantioselectivity (up to 56.9% ee). Conclusion: The bis-cinchona alkaloids with aromatic bridging group are the efficient catalysts for the asymmetric MBH reaction ofβ-nitrostyrene with ethyl glyoxylate, and moderate isolated yield and enantioselectivity are obtained.

Objective To evaluate the effect of hydrogen on the activation of caspase-3 in brain tissues during cerebral ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats.Methods Thirty-six healthy adult male Sprague-Dawley rats,weighing 220-250 g,were divided into 3 groups (n=12 each) using a random number table:sham operation (group S),I/R group and hydrogen group (group H).Cerebral ischemia was induced by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery followed by reperfusion in I/R and H groups.In group H,hydrogen-rich saline 5 ml/kg (0.6 mmol/L) was injected intraperitoneally at 3 days before establishment of the model and immediately after the onset of reperfusion.At 24 h of reperfusion,the rats were sacrificed,and hippocampal tissues were obtained for determination of neuroapoptosis (by TUNEL),apoptotic neuron count and expression of activated caspase-3 (by Western blot).The brain tissues in the ischemic area were obtained and stained with haematoxylin and eosin for examination of the pathological changes.Results Compared with group S,the expression of activated caspase-3 was significantly up-regulated,and the apoptotic neuron count was increased in I/R and H groups (P<0.05).Compared with group I/R,the expression of activated caspase-3 was significantly down-regulated,the apoptotic neuron count was decreased (P<0.05),and the pathological changes of brain tissues were significantly reduced in group H.Conclusion The mechanism by which hydrogen inhibits neuroapoptosis during cerebral I/R is probably related to inhibited activation of caspase-3 in brain tissues of rats.

Whether cultured bovine trabecular meshwork cells and trabecular tissue ex vivo express insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein was investigated. Total RNA of cultured bovine trabecular meshwork cells as well as trabecular meshwork tissue freshly excised from bovine eyes was extracted, and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect IGF-I mRNA. RT-PCR product was verified by sequencing. Immunohistochemical stain was used to detect IGF-I protein. The results showed that a single PCR amplified product was obtained, and the sequence was homologous to the known sequence.. IGF-I immunostain was positive in the cytoplasm of trabecular meshwork cells. It was concluded that trabecular meshwork cells produce IGF-I and contribute to the presence of IGF-I in trabecular meshwork microenvironment as well as aqueous humor. Trabecular meshwork cells were affected by IGF-I not only through paracrine, but also autocrine action. Whether abnormal down-regulations in IGF-I production may contribute to the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma and the possibility of promoting the autocrine action of IGF-I by trabecular meshwork cells to treat the disease is worth further investigation.
Cells, Cultured ; Cloning, Molecular ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle/etiology ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle/metabolism ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I/biosynthesis ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I/*genetics ; RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis ; RNA, Messenger/genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Trabecular Meshwork/cytology ; Trabecular Meshwork/*metabolism