Objective To evaluate the clinical factors associated with pathological complete response (pCR) after preoperative neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 116 patients with rectal cancer,who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy followed by radical surgery from January 2009 to December 2012.All patients received pelvic intensity-modulated radiotherapy (50 Gy/25 fractions) with concurrent fluorouracilbased chemotherapy and then underwent radical surgery 4-8 weeks later.The clinical factors associated with pCR or non-pCR were analyzed by Logistic regression.Results Of the 116 patients,20 (17.2％) achieved a pCR after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.The univariate analysis showed that percentage of circumference of the rectal tube invaded by the tumor,preoperative serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level,T stage,N stage,distance from the anal verge,degree of tumor differentiation,and maximum tumor diameter were associated with pCR or non-pCR after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer.The multivariate analysis revealed that percentage of circumference of the rectal tube invaded by the tumor,preoperative serum CEA level,and T stage were predictive factors for pCR or non-pCR after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer.Conclusions Non-circumferential tumor (percentage of circumference of the rectal tube invaded by the tumor ＜ 75 ％),low CEA level,and early T stage before treatment may be associated with pCR after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer.

AIM:ToobservetheeffectofcepharanthineonhumanlungadenocarcinomaLTEP-a-2cellgrowth, and to explore the changes of related microRNA ( miRNA) expression in the cells .METHODS:LTEP-a-2 cells were trea-ted with cepharanthine at concentrations of 0μmol/L, 10μmol/L, 20μmol/L and 40μmol/L.The growth inhibition rate was detected by MTT assay , and the cell morphological changes were observed under light microscope .The cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry .The expression of let-7c, miR-34a and miR-34b was measured by real-time PCR.RE-SULTS:Cepharanthine inhibited the cell activity of LTEP-a-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner .With the increase in cepharanthine concentration , the pyknosis of the cells was visible under the inverted microscope .Flow cytometry analysis found that different concentrations of cepharanthine induced the increase in the apoptotic rates of LTEP -a-2 cells.The re-sults of real-time PCR showed that the cepharanthine also increased the expression of let -7c, miR-34a and miR-34b.CON-CLUSION:Cepharanthine inhibits the growth of LTEP-a-2 cells, and induces apoptosis .Cepharanthine increases the ex-pression of let-7c, miR-34a and miR-34b, indicating that these miRNAs in LTEP-a-2 cells has the function as tumor sup-pressor genes .

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and Chemokine CX3C ligand 1 (Fractalkine/CX3CL1) play important roles in vascular inflammation and injury. To study if STAT3 promotes vascular endothelial cell proliferation and migration through fractalkine, we overexpressed or knocked down STAT3 in vascular endothelial cells, and used quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting to determine the effect of STAT3 on fractalkine expression. The wild type and STAT3 binding site mutant fractalkine promoter luciferase reporter plasmids were constructed, and luciferase activity assays were used to explore the effect of STAT3 on the transcriptional activity of the fractalkine promoter. MTT assays were used to detect the effect of overexpression or knockdown of STAT3 or fractalkine on the proliferation rate of vascular endothelial cells. Scratch assays were used to detect the effect of overexpression or knockdown of STAT3 or fractalkine on vascular endothelial cell migration. There results showed that overexpression of STAT3 could promote fractalkine expression, and knockdown of STAT3 could down-regulate fractalkine expression. STAT3 could directly bind to the promoter of fractalkine to promote its transcriptional activity via binding the GAS site of the fractalkine promoter. Knockdown of STAT3 could inhibit the migration of vascular endothelial cell, and overexpression of fractalkine antagonized this inhibition. Our data concluded that STAT3 promotes the proliferation and migration of vascular endothelial cell by binding the GAS site of the fractalkine promoter to promote fractalkine transcriptional activity and expression.
Cell Proliferation ; Chemokine CX3CL1 ; Endothelial Cells ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; STAT3 Transcription Factor

Objective : To explore the relationship between geriatric nutritional risk index( GNRI) and perioperative nutritional status，postoperative recovery and complications in elderly patients with gastric cancer． Methods : In this retrospective study，212 elderly patients ( aged ≥60 years ) with gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy were recruited．GNRI was used to retrospectively assess the patients' preoperative nutritional status ，and analyze the relationship between GNRI and perioperative nutritional status，postoperative recovery and complications．The ROC curve was applied to explore the value of GNRI in predicting postoperative complications. Results : The inci- dence of preoperative nutritional risk in elderly patients undergoing gastric cancer surgery was 45. 07%．Compared with the patients whose GNRI＞98 points，the patients whose GNRI≤98 points had different degrees of decrease in serum total protein，albumin，prealbumin，hemoglobin and lymphocyte counts before surgery，day 1 and day 5－8 after surgery (P ＜0. 05) ．The patients whose GNRI ＜92 points had longer postoperative hospital stay than those with GNRI＞98 points (P＜0. 05) ．With the decrease of GNRI scores，the incidence of complications showed an upward trend(P＜0. 001) ．The multivariate analysis of the relationship between GNRI and postoperative complica- tions showed that TNM staging of III －IV and GNRI ＜92 points were independent risk factors for complications. GNRI had a good predictive value for the occurrence of complications (AUC = 0. 639，95% CI : 0. 570－0. 703，P = 0. 001，Cut-off value : 92. 21) ． Conclusion GNRI can be used for preoperative nutritional assessment for eld- erly gastric cancer patients．Patients with GNRI＜92. 21 points should be actively given nutritional therapy to im- prove perioperative nutritional status，speed up postoperative recovery，and reduce the occurrence of complications.