Objective To investigate the role and implication of Engrailed-2 (EN2) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the effect of silencing EN2 genes on the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 cells by RNA interference.Methods Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of EN2 in the HCC tissues and corresponding non-cancerous adjacent liver tissues in 126 patients with HCC.The expressions of EN2 and the relationship between EN2 expression and clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed using the Chi-square test.The survival curve was drawn using the Kaplan-Meier method and the survival was analyzed using the log-rank test.EN2-small interfering RNA (siRNA) was transfected into HepG2 cell lines mediated by LipofectamineTM 2000,and the expression of EN2 were detected by Western blotting assay.The cell proliferation and invasion were measured by methyl thiazol tetrazolium (MTT) and Transwell assays.Results EN2 positive expression rate was high (62.7％) in HCC tissue but low in the corresponding peritumoral tissue (23.5％,P ＜ 0.01).The high expression of EN2 was strongly correlated with tumor size,metastasis and AJCC TNM stage.The cumulative 5-year survival rate was 33.9％ in the low EN2 expression group,whereas it was 5.1％ in the high EN2 expression group (P ＜ 0.01).Expression of EN2 in EN2 siRNA group was significantly lower than that in control siRNA group and control group (P ＜ 0.05),respectively.The cell proliferation and invasion ability were significantly reduced in the EN2 siRNA group.Conclusion The expression of EN2 is highly up-regulated in HCC tissues and down-regulation of EN2 could inhibit proliferation and invasion of HepG2 cells,which indicating that EN2 is involved in the process of HCC carcinogenesis and progression and may serve as a biomarker for predicting prognosis of HCC patients.

This study examined the role of regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and its receptor C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) in gastric cancer metastasis and the associated mechanism. The expression of RANTES and CCR5 was detected by using immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting in the gastric cancer tissues obtained from 60 gastric cancer patients with or without lymph node metastasis (n=30 in each). The results showed that the expression levels of RANTES and CCR5 were higher in gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis than in that without metastasis (P<0.05). The expression levels of RANTES in 30 lymph nodes with cancerous invasion were higher than in 30 normal lymph nodes (P<0.05). Chemotactic test revealed that the number of migrating gastric cancer cells (n=295.0±54.6) induced by the protein of cancer-invading lymph nodes was greater than that by the protein mixture from cancer-invading lymph nodes and RANTES antibody (n=42.5±11.6) (P<0.05). RT-PCR showed that the expression levels of the main Th1 cytokines (IL-2, Γ-IFN) were lower in gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis (2.22±0.90, 3.26±1.15 respectively) than in that without metastasis (3.07±1.67, 4.77±1.52 respectively) (P<0.05), but the expression level of the main Th 2 cytokine (IL-10) was higher in gastric cancer with lymph nodes metastasis (6.06±2.04) than in that without metastasis (4.88±1.87) (P<0.05). It was concluded that RANTES and its receptor CCR5 may contribute to gastric cancer metastasis through influencing the balance of Th1/Th2. RANTES and CCR5 may become a marker of gastric cancer metastasis.

This study examined the role of regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and its receptor C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) in gastric cancer metastasis and the associated mechanism.The expression of RANTES and CCR5 was detected by using immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting in the gastric cancer tissues obtained from 60 gastric cancer patients with or without lymph node metastasis (n=30 in each).The results showed that the expression levels of RANTES and CCR5 were higher in gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis than in that without metastasis (P＜0.05).The expression levels of RANTES in 30 lymph nodes with cancerous invasion were higher than in 30 normal lymph nodes (P＜0.05).Chemotactic test revealed that the number of migrating gastric cancer cells (n=295.0±54.6) induced by the protein of cancer-invading lymph nodes was greater than that by the protein mixture from cancer-invading lymph nodes and RANTES antibody (n=42.5+11.6) (P＜0.05).RT-PCR showed that the expression levels of the main Th1 cytokines (IL-2,γ-IFN) were lower in gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis (2.22±0.90,3.26±1.15 respectively)than in that without metastasis (3.07±1.67,4.77±1.52 respectively) (P＜0.05),but the expression level of the main Th 2 cytokine (IL-10) was higher in gastric cancer with lymph nodes metastasis (6.06±2.04)than in that without metastasis (4.88±1.87) (P＜0.05).It was concluded that RANTES and its receptor CCR5 may contribute to gastric cancer metastasis through influencing the balance of Th1/Th2.RANTES and CCR5 may become a marker of gastric cancer metastasis.

Objective:To investigate the current status and quality and safety of radiation therapy resources in medical institutions in Hunan province.Methods:The basic situation questionnaire, quality and safety self-assessment form were designed according to the content of the survey, distributed and recovered through the network, and the survey was conducted on all medical institutions (excluding military hospitals) conducting radiotherapy in Hunan province in 2022, and the quality and safety evaluation was checked by the Hunan Radiotherapy Quality Control Center using stratified sampling field inspection. The differences between the self-evaluation scores of radiotherapy quality and safety and the on-site inspection scores of each unit was compared using Wilcoxon test.Results:By the end of 2022, there were 76 medical institutions (excluding military hospitals) conducting radiotherapy in Hunan province, including 62 tertiary hospitals and 14 secondary hospitals, with a total of 44 253 radiotherapy patients admitted annually. The total number of personnel engaged in radiotherapy was 1 381, including 746 physicians, 205 physicists, 397 technicians and 33 maintenance engineers. There were a total of 88 accelerators (including 3 tomotherapy units), 10 gamma knives, and 28 rear-loading machines, with 1.33 gas pedals per million population. There were 36 units that were carrying out three-dimensional conformal technology, 60 static intensity modulation technology, 20 volumetric rotational intensity modulation, 27 stereotactic radiotherapy, 44 image-guided radiotherapy, 33 respiratory motion management, and 27 rear-loading radiotherapy. In the quality and safety evaluation situation, the basic requirements of radiotherapy specialty scored high, with 2 units achieving full marks and no failing units. Radiotherapy personnel and organization, radiotherapy process, documentation record score and other aspects of no full-score units, the score was concentrated in 60~＜80 points, and all have part of the unit failed.Conclusions:The radiotherapy industry in Hunan province has been developed steadily in recent years in general, and the structure of radiotherapy personnel tends to be reasonable, but there still exists uneven distribution of radiotherapy resources, poor utilization of equipment in some areas, and inadequate development of technology. The overall quality and safety evaluation are good, but there are still many deficiencies in the organizational requirements of radiotherapy personnel, process requirements and documentation, which need to be continuously optimized and improved in the future, and at the same time, field inspections will be intensified to ensure the quality and safety of radiotherapy.