Objective: To investigate the effect of Twist, β-catenin and E-cadherin on the recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its correlation with clinical prognosis.Methods; Immunohistochemical staining (SP) was conducted to detect the expression of Twist, β-catenin and E-cadherin in 97 hepatocellular carcinoma patients (49 with recurrence and metastasis and 48 without recurrence and metastasis).Results: The recurrence and metastasis of HCC were correlated with clinical stage (P=0.000), but were not correlated with sex or age (P=0.424, P=0.738).The abnormal expression of Twist and β-catenin in the recurrence and metastasis group was higher than that in the group without recur-rence or metastasis (,0=-0.000, P=0.000).The positive ratio of E-cadherin in the recurrence and metastasis group was lower than that in the group without recurrence or metastasis (P=0.027).The mean survival was 28.880±3.285 months in patients with positive expression of Twist and 31.477±3.359 months in patients with positive expression of β-catenin.The median survival time of them was 26 and 28 months, respctively.The mean survival was 44.603±3.521 months in patients without Twist expression and 42.009±3.720 months in patients without β-catenin expression.The median survival time of them was 49 and 45 months, respectively.The survival of patients with positive expression of Twist and β-catenin was shorter than that in patients without expression of Twist and β-catenin (P=0.002, P=0.029).The mean survival time and median survival time of patients with Twist and β-catenin expression were 44.514±3.447 months and 49 months, respectively, significantly higher than those in patients without Twist and β-catenin expression (P=0.002), which were 29.110±3.581 months and 25 months, respectively.Conclusion: The overexpression of Twist and β-catenin as well as decreased expression of E-cad-herin may play critical roles in the recurrence and metastasis of HCC and indicate poor prognosis.

Objective To analyze the clinic features and hereditary characteristics of three subtypes of porokeratosis, namely disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis (DSAP), porokeratosis palmaris et plantaris disseminata(PPPD) and porokeratosis of Mibelli (PM) in five pedigrees with porokeratosis. Meth-ods After clinical and pathological diagnosis, every living family member of the five pedigrees with poro-kerotosis was undergoing medical examination and genetics analysis. These five pedigrees consisted of three DSAP pedigrees (totally 266 family members including 100 patients), and one PPPD pedigree (composing of 90 members including 26 patients), one PM pedigree (cornposing of 34 members including 17 patients). Results While diagnosed as porokeratosis, the five pedigrees included three distinctive variants, each with its own clinic characteristics. The lesions was initiated on the face in DSAP subtype, on palms and the flex-ion side of fingers in PPPD subtype; or involving sun-covered areas in PM subtype. Of the three subtypes of porokeratosis, the onset age in DSAP subtype was earliest, usually about 8-20 years old, about 14-20 years old in PPPD subtype, but PM subtype about 20-30 years old. Conclusions As a group of autosomal dominant genodermatosis, porokeratosis presented various clinic variants with different genetic basis. And, different subtype could be seen in a same patient or same pedigree.

OBJECTIVETo observe the expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) in human tongue squamous carcinoma cells (Tca8113) under hypoxia, in order to explore the relation between hypoxia and invasion and metastasis of oral cancer.

METHODSUnder different hypoxic times(0, 3, 6, 12, 24 h), the expression of uPA protein was examined quantitatively using immunohistochemical technique (IH) and flow cytometry (FCM).

RESULTSHypoxia promoted the expression of uPA. The longer hypoxic time was, the higher expression of uPA was.

CONCLUSIONHypoxia can promote invasion and metastasis of oral squamous carcinoma through stimulating the expression of uPA.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Humans ; Mouth Neoplasms ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Tongue Neoplasms ; Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator