Objective:To investigate the prognostic value of TCBI in middle-aged and elderly patients with thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who received radiotherapy.Methods:The clinical data of 191 patients with thoracic ESCC who underwent radiotherapy in the department of Radiation Oncology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2010 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the TCBI value on admission [TCBI=serum triglyceride (mg/dl) × total cholesterol (mg/dl) × body weight (kg)/1 000], patients were divided into TCBI low-value group ( n=79) and TCBI high-value group ( n=112). The relationships between TCBI and clinicopathological characteristics of patients were analyzed. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the overall survival (OS). The log-rank test was adopted to compare the differences in survival between different groups. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the factors affecting the prognosis of middle-aged and elderly patients with thoracic ESCC. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve was applied to verify the accuracy of TCBI for survival prediction. Results:The mean pre-radiotherapy TCBI was 1 082±945 in all patients. The cutoff value of the TCBI was 749. The patients with TCBI<749 served as the TCBI low-value group , and patients with TCBI≥749 served as the TCBI high-value group. TCBI was associated with treatment ( χ2=4.235, P=0.040) and geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI, χ2=8.795, P=0.003). Univariate analysis suggested that male ( HR=2.220, 95% CI: 1.223-4.030, P=0.009), stage N 1-3 ( HR=1.453, 95% CI: 1.023-2.065, P=0.037), GNRI<98 ( HR=1.949, 95% CI: 1.168-3.255, P=0.011) and TCBI<749 ( HR=1.846, 95% CI: 1.298-2.627, P=0.001) were risk factors affecting OS in middle-aged and elderly patients with thoracic ESCC. Besides, postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy ( HR=0.641, 95% CI: 0.449-0.915, P=0.014) was a protective factor. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that male ( HR=2.147, 95% CI: 1.173-3.929, P=0.013) and TCBI<749 ( HR=1.664, 95% CI: 1.166-2.376, P=0.005) were independent risk factors for OS. Besides, postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy ( HR=0.630, 95% CI: 0.439-0.903, P=0.012) was an independent protective factor. The area under the curve calculated by the ROC curve was 0.619, the sensitivity was 0.742, and the specificity was 0.496 ( P=0.007), confirming the role of TCBI in the prognostic evaluation. Survival analysis showed that the median OS of patients in the TCBI high-value group was 42 months, and the 1-year and 3-year survival rates were 86.6% and 52.7%, significantly higher than those in the TCBI low-value group (20 months, 68.4% and 29.1% respectively; χ2=12.286, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that among patients with radical radiotherapy, 3-year survival rate in patients with lower TCBI ( n=37) was lower than that in patients with higher values ( n=36) (21.6% vs. 44.4%, χ2=8.505, P=0.004). Conclusion:TCBI is a predictor of OS for middle-aged and elderly patients with thoracic ESCC who received radiotherapy. The lower the TCBI, the poorer the survival prognosis.

Objective:To analyze the efficacy, safety and prognostic factors of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer.Methods:A total of 87 patients with recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from January 2018 to June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. They were divided into non immunotherapy group ( n=32) and immunotherapy group ( n=55) according to whether immune checkpoint inhibition was applied after recurrence and metastasis. The disease control rate (DCR), progression free survival (PFS), overall survival 1 (OS1, date of pathology diagnosis to the end of follow-up or time of death), overall survival 2 (OS2, time of first immunotherapy/non-immunotherapy to the end of follow-up or time of death), safety and prognostic factors of the two groups were analyzed and compared. Results:In 87 patients with recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer, the DCR of the non immunotherapy group and immunotherapy group were 53.1% (17/32) and 72.7% (40/55) respectively ( χ2=3.44, P=0.064). The median OS1 of the non immunotherapy group was 51.0 months, while the immunotherapy group did not reach the median OS1, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=7.50, P=0.006). The median OS2 of the non immunotherapy group was 28.0 months, while the immunotherapy group did not reach the median OS2, with a statistically significant difference ( χ2=7.07, P=0.008). The median PFS of the non immunotherapy group and immunotherapy group were 18.0 months and 23.0 months respectively, with no significant difference ( χ2=0.01, P=0.915). In the immunotherapy group, 70.9% (39/55) of patients received immune checkpoint inhibitors as first-line treatment and 29.1% (16/55) received as second-line and above treatment. Both groups of patients did not achieve median OS2, with median PFS of 23.0 and 17.0 months respectively, and there were no statistically significant differences ( χ2=0.94, P=0.333; χ2=2.00, P=0.158) ; 38.2% (21/55) of patients received immune checkpoint inhibitor combined with local radiotherapy, 61.8% (34/55) patients did not receive radiotherapy. And neither group of patients achieved median OS2, with median PFS of 19.0 and 25.0 months respectively, with no statistically significant differences ( χ2=0.62, P=0.432; χ2=0.01, P=0.906). The incidences of grade 1-2 hematuria and hypothyroidism in the non immunotherapy group and immunotherapy group were 53.1% (17/32) vs. 27.3% (15/55, χ2=5.82, P=0.016), 3.1% (1/32) vs. 21.8% (12/55, χ2=4.19, P=0.041) respectively. The incidence of myelosuppression in the non immunotherapy group [grade 1-2: 59.4% (19/32), grade 3-4: 34.4% (11/32) ] was significantly different from that in the immunotherapy group [grade 1-2: 80.0% (44/55), grade 3-4: 3.6% (2/55) ; Z=3.50, P<0.001]. There were no statistically significant differences between creatinine increase, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase increase, lymphocyte decrease, hypoproteinemia, proteinuria, rash, fatigue (all P>0.05). Univariate regression analysis showed that the use of immune checkpoint inhibitor was an independent protective factor affecting the prognosis of patients ( HR=0.31, 95% CI: 0.12-0.77, P=0.012) . Conclusion:Whether used as first-line or second-line or above treatment, the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with recurrent and metastatic cervical cancer prolongs their OS1, OS2, and has good safety. The application of immune checkpoint inhibitors is an independent protective factor affecting the prognosis of patients.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and mechanism of polysaccharide in water extract of Cyclocarya paliurus （CPWP） in inhibiting benign prostatic hyperplasia （BPH）. MethodsCPWP was obtained by heating reflux， aqueous extraction， alcohol precipitation， and freeze drying. The chemical composition and structural properties of CPWP were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with 1-pheny-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone pre-column derivatization and infrared spectroscopy. Male SD rats were randomly assigned into control， model， finasteride （ig 5 mg·kg^-1）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose （ig 50， 75， 100 mg·kg^-1） CPWP groups， with 8 rats in each group. The BPH model was established by subcutaneously injecting propionate testosterone in castrated rats. The rats in the drug intervention groups were administrated with corresponding drugs， and those in the control group were administrated with an equal volume of normal saline each day. After 30 consecutive days， the rats were sacrificed， and the prostate tissue was separated and weighed. The effects of drug interventions on the body weight， prostate wet weight， and prostate index of rats were examined. The prostate tissue was stained with hematoxylin-eosin （HE） for observation of pathological changes. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to measure the level of dihydrotestosterone （DHT）， and immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expression of steroid 5 alpha-reductase 2 （SRD5A2） and Ki67 in the prostate tissue. ResultsCPWP was identified as a saccharide， with characteristic absorption peaks of saccharides. CPWP showed the total sugar content of 44.15% and molecular weight within the range of 5.5-78.8 kDa， being composed of mannose， rhamnose， galacturonic acid， glucose， galactose， xylose， and arabinose. Compared with the control group， the model group had significantly increased prostate wet weight and prostate index （P<0.01）， thick and tall prostate epithelial cells， increased internal wrinkles， papillary expansion into the cavity， an elevation in DHT level in the serum， and up-regulated expression of SRD5A2 and Ki67 in the prostate tissue （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， both the finasteride and CPWP groups showed decreases in prostate wet weight and prostate index （P<0.05， P<0.01）， thinned prostate epithelial cells， with only a small portion of internal wrinkles and papillary expansion into the cavity， shortened papillary protrusions， lowered DHT level in the serum， and down-regulated expression of SRD5A2 and Ki67 in the prostate tissue （P<0.01）. Moreover， CPWP exerted effects in a dose-dependent manner. ConclusionCPWP inhibits BPH by regulating the expression of SRD5A2.

【Objective】 To investigate the effect of autologous blood transfusion(ABT) drainage system and simple drainage(using drainage bags) on the prognosis of patients after lumbar surgery. 【Methods】 The patients admitted to the Department of Orthopedics of our hospital from August 2018 to September 2020 who underwent posterior open lumbar internal fixation and fusion were divided into two groups according to different drainage methods adopted after surgery: 50 patients were randomly selected from the patients who received postoperative ABT system for drainage as ABT group, and 50 patients were randomly selected from the patients who received postoperative drainage by drainage bag as simple drainage bgroup(the control group). The postoperative drainage volume, actual postoperative drainage, total dominant blood loss, total autologous blood transfusion volume, as well as the postoperative anemia indexes, infection indexes and albumin levels in d1, d3 and d7 of the 2 groups were retrospectively analyzed. 【Results】 The gender, age, operation duration and operation segment of the 2 groups were comparable (P>0.05), and preoperative Hb, Hct, ALB, WBC, NE%, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative autologous blood transfusion volume and actual postoperative drainage volume were similar (P>0.05). There were no significant differences in Hb, Hct, ALB, WBC, NE% and CRP in postoperative d1, d3 and d7, as well as in preoperative and postoperative Hb, Hct and ALB, and in postoperative and preoperative WBC, NE% and CRP (P>0.05). The postoperative drainage volume (mL) and total dominant blood loss (mL) in ABT group and the control group were 554.40±176.82 vs 337.80±102.43, and 1 048.40±282.87 vs 791.80±277.02, respectively (P<0.05). 【Conclusion】 The use of ABT drainage system after lumbar surgery increased the drainage volume compared with simple drainage, but the improvement of anemia, albumin and infection was not obvious. ABT system should not be used routinely for drainage after lumbar surgery.