Background and purpose:Cancer of unknown primary (CUP) represents approximately 5%~10%of malignant neoplasms. For CUP patients, identiifcation of tumor origin allows for more speciifc therapeutic regimens and improves outcomes.Methods:By retrieving the gene expression data from ArrayExpress and Gene Expression Omnibus data repositories, we established a comprehensive gene expression database of 5 800 tumor samples encom-passing 22 main tumor types. The support vector machine-recursive feature elimination algorithm was used for feature selection and classiifcation modelling. We further optimized the RNA isolation and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTQ-PCR) methods for candidate gene expression proifling and applied the RTQ-PCR assays to a set of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples.Results:Based on the pan-cancer transcriptome database, we identiifed a list of 96-tumor speciifc genes, including common tumor markers, such as cadherin 1 (CDH1), kallikrein-re-lated peptidase 3 (KLK3), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Furthermore, we successfully translated the microarray-based gene expression signature to the RTQ-PCR assays, which allowed an overall success rate of 88.4% (95%CI: 83.2%-92.4%) in classifying 22 different tumor types of 206 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples. Conclusion:The 96-gene RTQ-PCR assay represents a useful tool for accurately identifying tumor origins. The assay uses RTQ-PCR and routine formalin-ifxed, paraffn-embedded samples, making it suitable for rapid clinical adoption.

Objective To evaluate the health-related quality of life ( HRQL) of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis ( AIS) before treatment. Methods Sixty-two female patients with AIS were evaluated using the Chinese version of Scoliosis Research Society's outcomes instrument 22 ( SRS-22) HRQL questionnaire before treatment. The patients were categorized into thFee groups: a mild deformity group with a major curve Cobb angle less than 30° ( n =14),a moderate deformity group with Cobb angles of 30° to 50° ( n =42), and a severe deformity group with Cobb angles more than 50° ( n =6). Results The severe deformity group scored lowest in the self-image domain.There was,however,no significant difference in the functional activity,pain or mental health domain scores between the three groups. Conclusions The Chinese version of the SRS-22 HRQL questionnaire can be used to assess the HRQL of Chinese AIS patients.AIS patients with a major curve Cobb angle more than 50° have relatively low self-image scores.

Ziziphi Spinosae Semen (ZSS), a traditional Chinese medicine, is used in clinics for the treatment ofinsomnia in China and other Asian countries. Herein, we described for the first time a comparative pharmacokinetics study of the six major compounds of ZSS in normal control (NC) and para-chlor-ophenylalanine (PCPA)-induced insomnia model (IM) rats that were orally administered the aqueous extract of ZSS. An ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole orbitrap mass (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of coclaurine, magnoflorine, spinosin, 6'''-feruloylspinosin, jujuboside A (JuA), and jujuboside B (JuB) in ZSS in rat plasma. The established approach was successfully applied to a comparative pharmacokinetic study. The systemic exposures of spinosin and 6'''-feruloylspinosin were decreased in the IM group compared to the NC group, while plasma clearance (CL) was significantly increased. The Tmax values of JuA and JuB in IM rats were significantly lower than those in NC rats. The T1/2 of JuA in the IM group was significantly accelerated. The pharmacokinetic parameters of coclaurine and magnoflorine were not evidently affected between the two groups. These results indicate that the pathological state of insomnia altered the plasma pharmacokinetics of spinosin, 6'''-feruloylspinosin, JuA, and JuB in the ZSS aqueous extract, providing an experimental basis for the role of ZSS in insomnia treatment. The comparative pharmacokinetics-based UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS using full-scan mode can therefore provide a reliable and suitable means for the screening of potentially effective substances applied as quality markers of ZSS.

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility and safety of conditioning regimen containing fludarabine (Flud) for haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

METHODSPreparative regimen containing Flud 40 mgxm(-2)xd(-1) on day -7 to -3 in place of cyclophosphamide (CTX) for haploidentical HSCT was given to 35 patients with hematologic malignancies (4 standard risk, 16 high risk, 15 relapse with no remission). All donors received rhG-CSF followed by HSC harvest. One patient received peripheral blood HSCT (PBSCT), one bone marrow transplantation (BMT), and the others BM combination with PBSCT. The regimen-associated side effect, engraftment, incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and disease-free survival (DFS) probabilities were observed.

RESULTSAll patients achieved sustained, full donor-type engraftment. Thirty-four patients obtained primary durable engraftment, and 1 who rejected graft from his mother obtained successful durable engraftment after the second graft from his father. The cumulative incidence of grade III-IV acute GVHD and chronic GVHD was 12.1% and 31.7%, respectively. With a follow-up duration of 8-25 months, 6 patients were dead, in which 3 died of relapse, 2 of acute GVHD, 1 of fungal infection, none died of regimen-associated side effect. The other 29 patients remained alive and DFS probability was 79.7%.

CONCLUSIONFlud based conditioning regimens for haploidentical HSCT is safe and feasible, which reduces regimen-associated side effect, with no increasing the rate of relapse and infection, and decreases the incidence of aGVHD.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cyclophosphamide ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; prevention & control ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transplantation Conditioning ; adverse effects ; methods ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Vidarabine ; adverse effects ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Young Adult

ObjectiveTo optimize and establish a multiplex polymerase chain reaction （PCR） system to simultaneously identify Ziziphi Spinosae Semen （ZSS），Hovenia acerba semen （HAS），and Ziziphi Mauritianae Semen （ZMS）， etermine their content to solve the problem of adulteration of ZSS pieces and its preparations. MethodAfter the analysis and comparison of the internal transcribed spacer （ITS） sequence differences of ZSS and its adulterants，specific single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） sites were found，and specific primers for identification were designed. The samples of ZSS，HAS， and ZMS from different sources were specifically amplified under the conditions of optimized annealing temperature，the number of cycles， and concentration of primers，as well as different polymerases and PCR systems after evaluation. Identification was carried out according to the size of specific amplification bands，and the lower limit of detection （LOD） and adulteration LOD were studied. ResultWhen the annealing temperature was 63 ℃ and the number of cycles was 23，549，169，389 bp specific bands were amplified from ZSS，HAS， and ZMS. The lower LOD of this method was 0.24 ng and 1.2 ng for ZSS and HAS， respectively. The adulteration LOD for ZSS，HAS， and ZMS was 0.5%，2%， and 2% respectively. ConclusionThe established multiplex allele-specific PCR identification method can accurately identify ZSS，HAS， and ZMS at the same time，which can provide a basis for solving the problem of adulteration of ZSS and references for controlling the quality，security， and clinical application of ZSS.