Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)is a kind of cytokines with a wide range of biological activity,which is closely related to the occurrence and development of various diseases.Nowadays,a number of researchers use TNF-α as a radiation-sensitizing agent to evaluate the effect of radiation sensitivity of tumor cells.The scheme may have correlation with cell apoptosis,cell cycle,hypoxic cells,repair of DNA damage,etc.

Objective To explore the effectiveness and esophageal strictures of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with cervical and upper-thoracic esophageal cancer (EC) and middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC.Methods Between January 2011 and December 2014,ninety patients with different parts of EC were treated with radiotherapy combined with concurrent chemotherapy in People's Hospital of Subei.The median irradiation dose was 60 Gy.The chemotherapy regimens consisted of Paclitaxel and Nedaplatin.Of all the patients,48 patients had cervical and upper-thoracic EC,42 patients had middle-thoracic and lowerthoracic EC.The response rates,the local control rates,the survival rates and esophageal strictures were evaluated between two groups.Results The follow-up rate was 100％.The response rates of the patients with cervical and upper-thoracic EC and middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC were 81.2％ and 73.8％ (x2 =0.717,P =0.397),respectively.The 1-year local control rates of the patients with cervical and upper-thoracic EC and middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC were 90.3％ and 71.8％ (x2 =5.865,P =0.015),respectively.The 1-year survival rates of the patients with cervical and upper-thoracic EC and middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC were 87.5％ and 69.0％ (x2 =4.580,P =0.032),respectively.The moderate-to-severe esophageal strictures rates of the patients with cervical and upper-thoracic EC and middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC were 55.6％ and 29.4％ (x2 =5.360,P =0.021),respectively.There were no significant differences in shortterm effects between the cervical and upper-thoracic EC and middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC.The patients with cervical and upper-thoracic EC showed significantly higher 1-year local control rates,1-year survival rates and esophageal strictures rates than those with middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC.Conclusion The effectiveness of concurrent chemoradiotherapy is better in the patients with cervical and upper-thoracic EC than in those with middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC,but the esophageal stenosis is more severe in the patients with cervical and upper-thoracic EC than in those with middle-thoracic and lower-thoracic EC.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of Deinococcus radiodurans pprI gene in enhancing mice radioresistance to γ-rays by transfecting it in vivo.Methods The male Kunming mice were randomly divided into control group,irradiated group,pCMV-HA transfected group and pCMV-HA-pprI transfected group.The pCMV-HA-pprI plasmid contained pprI gene was injected into the muscle of mice which were exposed to total 6 Gy of γ-ray irradiation.After injection,the in vivo gene electroporation technology was used to transfect the pprI gene into the cells,and Western blot was used to identify the PprI protein,mammalian homolog protein Rad51 corresponding to recA gene downstream of pprI,and protein Rad52.Results In the muscle of the mice of transfected pCMV-HA-pprI group,the protein PprI expressed significantly at 1 d post-irradiation,but there was no expression of pprI gene 7 d post-irradiation and in other groups.In the mice of transfected with pCMV-HA-pprI,the expression of Rad51 protein was significantly increased in the lungs at 1,7 and 14 d post-irradiation,and significantly increased in the liver at 1 and 28 d post-irradiation and increased in the kidneys at 1 and 14 d post-irradition.However,there was no obvious change of Rad52 protein expression in the lungs and livers of mice in all groups.Conlusions The prokaryotic gene pprI could act on the mammalian homologisation analogues rad51 gene downstream of recA gene and then increase the expression level of protein Rad51 which results in the enhancement of radioresistance.

Objective To establish an isolation method for solid GTC in peripheral blood using EpCAM antibody-linked nanobeads and evaluate the sensitivity of the method and its application significance. Methods Five, ten, twenty, fifty and one hundred MCF7 (breast cancer), KYSE70 (esophageal cancer), BxPC-3 (pancreatic cancer) and 9811P (stomach cancer) cells were added into 7. 5 ml erythrocyte lysed peripheral blood obtained from healthy volunteers respectively. EpCAM antibodylinked nanobeads were used to enrich cancer cells. The recovery rates of the in vitro added cancer cells were evaluated by fluorescence microscopy. Then, the untreated thirty cases of esophageal cancer (six cases at stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ, twenty-four cases at stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ), thirty-five cases of breast cancer (fifteen cases at stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ , twenty cases at stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ), thirty cases of pancreatic cancer (five cases at stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ , twenty-five cases at stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ), thirty-three gastric cancer (thirteen cases for stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ ,twenty cases at stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ) were enrolled to enrich the peripheral blood CTC. Thirty healthy volunteers and thirty gastritis patients served as two groups of control. Meanwhile the enriched CTC was identified by IF and HE staining. FISH was used to analyze the copy number of chromosome 8 and chromosome 20 in two hundred esophageal cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic caner and gastric cancer CTC. Results After DAPI staining and mixing with 7.5 ml peripheral blood from healthy donors, the average cell recovery rates of KYSE70, MCF7, BxPC-3 and 9811P cells evaluated under fluorescence microscope were 87%, 87%, 86% and 88% (within group), and the recovery rates of 5 gradient dilution levels were 88%, 85%, 87%, 88% and 87% (intergroup). With a high sensitivity, this method was able to isolate one cancer cell in 107 white blood cells of peripheral blood. The positive rates of more than 2 CTC in the peripheral blood detected by this method were 50% (15/30) of esophageal cancer, 63% (22/35) of breast cancer, 70% (21/30) of pancreatic cancer and 61% (20/33) gastric cancer patients respectively,but no CTC was detected in the peripheral blood of healthy volunteers and gastritis patients (P = 0. 000).The aneusomy of chromosome 8 and chromosome 20 were found in 80% esophageal cancer, 75% breast cancer, 65% pancreatic cancer and 59% gastric cancer. Conclusions The CTC isolation technique with EpCAM antibody-linked nanobeads is sensitive and accurate. The aneusomy of chromosome 8 and 20 is frequent in CTC from esophageal cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and gastric cancer.

Objective: To investigate the percentage of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and T regulatory cells (Treg) in peripheral blood of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy alone. Methods: Sixty NPC patients who received radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy from September 2012 to November 2015 and 20 healthy individuals were included in this study. For the patients, the blood samples were collected at four time points: pre-radiation (Pre-RT), reaching a dose of 40 Gy (RT-40 Gy), finishing radiation (RT-finish) and three months after finishing radiation (3m-post-RT). Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the percentage of Treg (CD4⁺ CD25⁺ CD127^low/-) and MDSC (HLA-DR^-CD11b⁺ CD33⁺ ) cells in peripheral blood. Results: Treg and MDSC cells were present in peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy individuals as a percentage of (7.50±1.62)% and (1.08±0.48)%, respectively. The proportions of peripheral Treg cells in patients at Pre-RT, RT-40 Gy, RT-finish and 3m-post-RT time points were (8.42± 1.52)%, (9.10±1.57)%, (8.87±1.56)% and (7.31±1.43)%, respectively, showing a statistically significant difference between Pre-RT and the other groups (P<0.05). At Pre-RT point, the percentage of Treg cells in Stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ patients [(8.63±1.39)%] was higher than that in Stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ [(7.65±1.94)%, P=0.042]. Moreover, the proportions of peripheral MDSC cells in patients at Pre-RT, RT-40 Gy, RT-finish and 3m-post-RT time points were (2.14±1.21)%, (4.08±1.90)%, (3.76±1.31)% and (1.52±0.88)%, respectively. The percentages of MDSC cells at RT-40 Gy and RT-finish points were significantly higher than those at Pre-RT, while the percentage of MDSC cells at 3m-post-RT was significantly lower than those at Pre-RT (P<0.05). At Pre-RT point, the percentage of MDSC cells in Stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ patients [(2.25±1.26)%] was higher than that in Stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ [(1.35±0.66)%, P=0.007]. At RT-finish point, the proportions of MDSC and Treg cells in patients with Ⅲ-Ⅳ grade of radiation induced oral mucositis [(4.41±1.27)% and (9.91±1.23)%] were significantly higher than those in Ⅰ-Ⅱ grade patients [(3.15±1.04)% and (8.41±1.52)%, both of P<0.05]. Conclusions The proportions of MDSC and Treg cells in initial treated NPC patients are higher than healthy individuals, and they are also associated with the tumor stages. During the concurrent chemoradiotherapy and radiation, the percentage of MDSC and Treg cells is elevated, suggesting a decreased immune activity. The increase of MDSC and Treg cells is related to radiation induced oral mucositis.