INTRODUCTIONThe exposed section of a traditional nasogastric (NG) tube can interfere with patients' social activities and thereby result in distress. This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a novel two-piece NG tube for patients with dysphagia.

METHODSTen patients with dysphagia were recruited between November 2011 and May 2012. Patients who were unconscious or in critical condition, had a traditional NG tube < 50 cm or > 60 cm in fixed length, or were unable to follow instructions or sign consent forms were excluded. The two-piece NG tube, which was placed in the patients for one week, comprised a removable external tube that can be joined to an internal tube via a T-connector, which was placed close to the naris. Events related to safety (e.g. nasal pressure sores, number of unplanned extubation, displacement and spontaneous migration of the NG tube, other unpredictable injuries) and effectiveness (e.g. liquid food spills, tube obstruction, perfusion rate, other adverse circumstances) were assessed daily.

RESULTSAll patients received feeding without complication using the two-piece NG tube and none experienced premature removal of the tube. No serious NG tube complications or malfunctions were observed.

CONCLUSIONThe results of this study indicate that the two-piece NG feeding tube is a feasible option for patients with dysphagia. Future improvements to the connector may help enhance its performance. A rigorous randomised controlled trial to examine the effects of the two-piece NG tube on patients' quality of life and quality of medical care is being planned.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Deglutition Disorders ; therapy ; Enteral Nutrition ; instrumentation ; methods ; Equipment Design ; Female ; Humans ; Intubation, Gastrointestinal ; adverse effects ; methods ; Male ; Middle Aged

Background: Feline mammary carcinoma (FMC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies of female cats. FMC is highly metastatic and thus leads to poor disease outcomes. Among all metastases, liver metastasis occurs in about 25% of FMC patients. However, the mechanism underlying hepatic metastasis of FMC remains largely uncharacterized. Results: Herein, we demonstrate that FMC-derived extracellular vesicles (FMC-EVs) promotes the liver metastasis of FMC by activating hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) to prime a hepatic premetastatic niche (PMN). Moreover, we provide evidence that sphingosine kinase 1 (SK1) delivered by FMC-EV was pivotal for the activation of HSC and the formation of hepatic PMN. Depletion of SK1 impaired cargo sorting in FMC-EV and the EV-potentiated HSC activation, and abol‑ ished hepatic colonization of FMC cells. Conclusions Taken together, our findings uncover a previously uncharacterized mechanism underlying liver-metas‑ tasis of FMC and provide new insights into prognosis and treatment of this feline malignancy.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate apoptotic effects of cisplatin and cordycepin as single agent or in combination with cytotoxicity in oral cancer cells.

METHODSThe influences of cisplatin (2.5 μg/mL) and/or cordycepin treatment (10 or 100 μmol/L) to human OC3 oral cancer cell line were investigated by morphological observation for cell death appearance, methylthiazoletetrazolium (MTT) assay for cell viability, flow cytometry assay for cell apoptosis, and Western blotting for apoptotic protein expressions.

RESULTSData demonstrated that co-administration of cisplatin (2.5 μg/mL) and cordycepin (10 or 100 μmol/L) resulted in the enhancement of OC3 cell apoptosis compared to cisplatin or cordycepin alone treatment (24 h), respectively (P <0.05). In flow cytometry assay, percentage of cells arrested at subG1 phase with co-treatment of cordycepin and cisplatin (30%) was significantly higher than cisplatin (5%) or cordycepin (12%) alone group (P <0.05), confirming a synergistically apoptotic effect of cordycepin and cisplatin. In cellular mechanism study, co-treatment of cordycepin and cisplatin induced more stress-activated protein kinase/Jun terminal kinase (JNK), the expressions of caspase-7, and the cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) as compared to cisplatin or cordycepin alone treatment (P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONCisplatin and cordycepin possess synergistically apoptotic effect through the activation of JNK/caspase-7/PARP pathway in human OC3 oral cancer cell line.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspase 7 ; metabolism ; Cell Count ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Shape ; drug effects ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Cisplatin ; pharmacology ; Deoxyadenosines ; pharmacology ; Drug Synergism ; G1 Phase ; drug effects ; Humans ; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; Mouth Neoplasms ; pathology ; Phosphorylation ; drug effects ; Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases ; metabolism

OBJECTIVE: The malignant transformation (MT) of ovarian mature cystic teratoma (MCT) to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is very rare. This study analyzed cases from multiple medical centers in Taiwan to investigate the clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment, and prognostic factors of this disease and reviewed related literature. METHODS: Pathological reports of 16,001 patients with primary ovarian cancer who were treated at Taiwan medical centers from 1990 to 2011 were reviewed. In total, 52 patients with MT of MCT to SCC were identified. RESULTS: Among all ovarian MCTs, the incidence of MT to SCC is 0.2%. The median age of patients was 52 years (range, 29–89 years), and the mean tumor size was 10.5 cm (range, 1–40 cm). We analyzed the patients in our study and those in the literature and determined that early identification and complete surgical resection of the tumor are essential for long-term survival. In addition, adjuvant chemotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy can be used to treat this malignancy. Old age, large tumor size (≥15.0 cm), and solid components in MCTs are suitable indicators predicting the risk of MT of MCT to SCC. CONCLUSION: Similar to general epithelial ovarian cancers, the early detection of MT of MCT to SCC is critical to long-term survival. Therefore, older patients with a large tumor or those with a tumor containing a solid component in a clinically diagnosed MCT should be evaluated to exclude potential MT to SCC.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell* ; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Epithelial Cells* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Taiwan ; Teratoma*