Objective:To evaluate the effect of postoperative adjuvant therapy on patients with locally advanced pathologic T3N0M0 (pT3N0M0)esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC).Methods:In this retrospective study,we evaluated patients who underwent esophagectomy at Lanzhou University Second Hospital.Patients were divided into 4 groups:surgery-alone(S),surgery+radiotherapy group(S+RT),surgery+chemotherapy(S+CT),and surgery+chemoradiotherapy(S+CRT)groups.Both the clinicopathologic informa-tion and the long-term follow-up results were analyzed.Results:From January 2010 to April 2014,a total of 177 patients with a medi-an age of 61 years(range 43-78),were enrolled into the study.Among them,79 received surgery alone;the remaining 98 patients re-ceived adjuvant therapy,of whom 28 patients received adjuvant radiotherapy,38 received adjuvant chemotherapy,and 32 received ad-juvant chemoradiotherapy.Overall survival and disease-free survival were better in Group S+Adjuvant than in Group S(P=0.012,P=0.007,respectively).Comparisons among the four groups showed that the overall survival was higher in Group S+CRT than in Group S (P=0.031).Group S+RT was associated with better overall survival and disease-free survival than Group S(P=0.038,P=0.011,respec-tively).Conclusions:Patients with pT3N0M0 ESCC could benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy,as radiotherapy could help achieve better locoregional control.

Objective To study the relativity between imageology and pathology during lung cancer,and estimate whether the lung cancer is preinvasive lesions,which can support evidences for the operation methods.Methods Clinical data of 624 patients who were diagnosed as lung adenocarcinoma and had solitary pulmonary nodule(diameter≤3 cm) were collected,all of them were scanned by thin layer CT scan(1 mm).The correlation between imageology and pathology data were analyzed.Results In 125 cases of GGO,the ratio of invasive lesions were 0 (0/72),6.1％ (3/49) and 100％ (4/4) in stage T1a,T1b and T1c respectively.In 285 cases of mGGO,if solid component was less than 0.5 cm,the ratio of invasive lesions were 1.7％ (1/58),6.9％ (2/29) and 50.0％ (2/4) in stage T~,T1b and Tic;but the ratio of invasive lesions were 81.3％ (13/16),94.1％ (96/102) and 97.4％ (74/76) respectively when the solid component was more than 0.5 cm.In 214 cases with solid nodules,the ratio of invasive lesions were 87.1％ (27/31),98.8％ (84/85) and 99.0％ (97/98) in stage T1 a,T1b and T1c.Conclusion The ratio of invasive lesions and solid component increased gradually along with the growing of tumor diameter in stage T1 lung cancer.CT imaging was highly correlated with the pathology diagnosis of preinvasive lesions and invasive lesions,which can be used as the guidance for operation methods.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of artificial intelligence assisted pulmonary nodule diagnosis system in detection pulmonary nodule and predicting the malignant probability of pulmonary nodule.Methods:A retrospectively analyze the clinical data of 199 patients with lung nodules in the Thoracic Surgery Department of Lanzhou University Second Hospital from May 2016 to July 2020. The preoperative chest CT was imported into the artificial intelligence system to record the detected lung nodules, to measure nodal diameter and density classification and malignant probability prediction value of each nodule. The detection rate of pulmonary nodules by artificial intelligence system was calculated, and the sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio of artificial intelligence system in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules were calculated and compared with manual film reading. and the sensitivity and specificity in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules under the condition of different size and density of pulmonary nodules.Results:A total of 204 pulmonary nodules were pathologically diagnosed by surgical resection, and the detection rate of pulmonary nodules by artificial intelligence system was 100%. The artificial intelligence system can distinguish benign and malignant pulmonary nodules with a sensitivity of 95.83%(95% CI: 0.8967-0.9883), specificity 25.00%(95% CI: 0.1717-0.3425), and a positive likelihood ratio of 1.27(95% CI: 1.14-1.44), negative likelihood ratio 0.17(95% CI: 0.06-0.46), Manual reading for the differentiation of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules has a sensitivity of 87.36%(95% CI: 0.7850-0.9352), specificity 72.17%(95% CI: 0.6214-0.8079), and a positive likelihood ratio of 3.14(95% CI: 2.26-4.37), the negative likelihood ratio is 0.18(95% CI: 0.10-0.31). 5mm≤diameter of pulmonary nodule<10 mm, sensitivity 100%(95% CI: 0.6637-1.0000), specificity 50.00%(95% CI: 0.01258-0.98740), 10 mm≤diameter of pulmonary nodule <20 mm, sensitivity 94.29%(95% CI: 0.8084-0.9930), specificity 29.83%(95% CI: 0.1843-0.4340), 20 mm≤ diameter of pulmonary nodule ≤30 mm, sensitivity 96.15%(95% CI: 0.8679-0.9953), specificity 18.37%(95% CI: 0.0876-0.9953), sensitivity of subsolid lung nodules: 100%(95% CI: 0.9051-1.0000), specificity 20.00%(95% CI: 0.0051-0.7164), solid lung nodule sensitivity 93.22%(95% CI: 0.8354-0.9812), specificity 25.24%(95% CI: 0.1720-0.3476). Conclusion:The artificial intelligence assistant diagnosis system of pulmonary nodules has a strong performance in the detection of pulmonary nodules, but it can not meet the clinical requirements in the differentiation of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules. At present, the artificial intelligence system can be used as an auxiliary tool for doctors to detect pulmonary nodules and assist in the diagnosis of benign and malignant pulmonary nodules.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the inhibitory effect of matrine on the proliferation of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and explore the possible molecular mechanism. METHODS: Cultured human NSCLC A549 cells were treated with 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6, and 2.0 g/L matrine for 24, 48 or 72 h. CCK-8 assay was used for measuring the changes in A549 cell viability. The morphological changes of the cells were observed under a fluorescence microscope, and flow cytometry was employed for analyzing the cell apoptosis. The effects of matrine and the PI3K specific inhibitor LY294002 (10 nmol/L) on AKT pathway and autophagy-related proteins in A549 cells were investigated using Western blotting. RESULTS: Matrine significantly inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner ( < 0.05). At the concentration of 1.6 g/L or higher, matrine caused obvious cell shrinkage and fragmentation and significantly increased floating cells; autophagy vacuoles could be observed in the cells after acridine orange staining. Within the concentrations range of 0.8-1.6 g/L, matrine time- and dosedependently increased the cell apoptosis. Treatment of the cells with 1.6 g/L matrine and 10 nmol/L LY294002 resulted in significantly lowered expressions of p-AKT and p-mTOR proteins and increased the expression of light chain 3B (LC 3B), an autophagy-related protein, as compared with those in the control cells ( < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS We demonstrate that matrine inhibits the proliferation and induces autophagy and apoptosis of A549 cells by deactivating AKT pathway, suggesting the potential of matrine as an anti-cancer agent for lung cancer.
Alkaloids ; Apoptosis ; Autophagy ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; Quinolizines ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases

Objective To observe the growth of xenografted tumor in nude mice after DDX46 expression decreased, and to further study the role of DDX46 in the development and progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods DDX46-shRNA mediated RNAi was applied to silencing DDX46 in Eca-109 cells. Twenty-five female BALB/c nude mice were divided into 3 groups: an experiment group (DDX46-shRNA-LV, n=10), a control group (Control-LV, n=10) and a blank control group (Het-1A, n=5). The prepared Eca-109 cells of DDX46-shRNA-LV and Control-LV were subcutaneously injected into the right armpit of mice (4×106 cells per mouse), while Het-1A cells were subcutaneously injected into the bilateral armpits of mice (4×106 cells per side). Tumor growth was monitored twice a week on the 14th day after injection. Tumor volume was measured with calipers, in vivo imager to observe the fluorescence of each group. Further, western blotting analysis was used to detect the changes of apoptosis signaling molecules in xenografted tumor after DDX46 silence. Results The growth of xenografted tumor in nude mice was significantly slower in the DDX46-shRNA-LV group than that in the Control-LV group throughout the study period (P<0.001). Western blotting analysis showed that silencing DDX46 effectively suppressed the expression of DDX46, and upregulated the expression of cleaved Caspase-3 and cleaved PARP-1 in xenografted tumor (P<0.01). Conclusion DDX46 is involved in the development and progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and the silence of DDX46 expression can inhibit the growth of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, which probably by positive regulation of apoptosis signaling pathway.

Objective    To explore the mechanism of DDX46 regulation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods    Picture signals of fluorescence in gene array were scanned and differential expression of gene in two groups (a DDX46-shRNA-LV group and a control-LV group) were compared by GCOSvL.4 software. These differential expressed genes were analyzed by bioinformatics methods finally, and validated by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis. Results    According to the screening criteria of fold change ≥2 and P<0.05, 1 006 genes were differentially expressed after DDX46 knockdown, including 362 up-regulated and 644 down-regulated genes. Bioinformatics analysis and gene co-expression network building identified that these differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in cell cycle, proliferation, apoptosis, adhesion, energy metabolism, immune response, etc. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) was the key molecule in the network. The results of RT-qPCR were completely consistent with the results of gene microarra. Conclusion    Bioinformatics can effectively exploit the microarray data of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after DDX46 knockdown, which provides a valuable clue for further exploration of DDX46 tumorigenesis mechanism and helps to find potential drug therapy.

Objective    To evaluate the clinical efficacy of fistula repair by stapler technique in patients with cervical tracheoesophageal fistula. Methods    Retrospective analysis of 8 patients with cervical tracheoesophageal fistula who accepted operative treatment in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Lanzhou University Second Hospital from October 2014 to October 2016 was conducted. There were 5 males and 3 females at a mean age of 46.4±13.9 years ranging from 23 to 67 years. The fistula was induced by tracheal intubation in 4 patients, by esophageal foreign bodies in 2, by tracheal stent in 1 and by esophageal diverticulum in 1. The fistula was closed by stapler technique. The surgical effects were evaluated through Karnofsky performance score (KPS), image assessment, patient satisfaction score and assessment of improvement in feeding-induced bucking. Results    The operations were performed successfully with time of 117.5±6.6 min and intraoperative blood loss of 60.0±7.0 ml. After the operations, the patients did not suffer incision bleeding and infection, hoarseness, dyspnea, drinking-induced bucking, fistula relapse, tracheoesophageal stenosis or any other complications, and no death occurred during the perioperative period. The chest X-ray test was performed 1 week later showed that the pulmonary infection disappeared, and only 1 patient suffered from esophageal stenosis 1 year later. The postoperative KPS score was 90.0±7.0 points, which significantly improved in contrast to preoperation (P<0.01).   Postoperative pulmonary infection area reduced significantly (P<0.05), tracheoesophageal fistula disappeared, postoperative patients satisfaction rate was 90%, and assessment of feeding-induced bucking was excellent. Conclusion    Using stapler technique to repair cervical tracheoesophageal fistula is safe, easy and useful, with less operation time and postoperative complications.

Objective    To explore the mechanism of dihydrouridine synthase 4-like (DUS4L) on the development of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Methods    The RNA-seq expression data of LUAD was downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the relationship between its clinical pathological characteristics and DUS4L mRNA expression was evaluated. The effect of DUS4L knockdown on the proliferation of A549 cells was detected by EDU proliferation assay. The gene expression profile of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells in the DUS4L knockdown group (KD group) and control group (NC group) was detected by transcriptome sequencing technique. The differential genes were screened by DESeq2. ClusterProfiler was used to perform GO functional enrichment analysis of differential genes. Results    The expression of DUS4L mRNA in LUAD tissues was higher than that in normal tissues, and the up-regulation of DUS4L was related to the clinical pathological characteristics of LUAD patients. EDU proliferation assay suggested that knocking down DUS4L could inhibit the proliferation of A549 cells. A total of 456 differential genes were screened, including 289 up-regulated genes and 167 down-regulated genes [|log2(fold change)|>1 and Padj<0.05]. STC2 and TRIB3 were significantly down-regulated (P<0.05). Differential genes were mainly involved in the production of interleukin-8, angiogenesis, vascular endothelial cell proliferation and other biological pathways. Conclusion    DUS4L can widely regulate the gene expression of LUAD cells, which provides a new idea for further studying the function and role of DUS4L in the occurrence and development of LUAD and finding new therapeutic targets for LUAD.

Objective    To investigate the prognostic survival status and influence factors for surgical treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in pathological stage T1b (pT1b). Methods    The patients with ESCC in pT1b undergoing Ivor-Lewis or McKeown esophagectomy in Lanzhou University Second Hospital from 2012 to 2015 were collected, including 78 males (78.3%) and 17 females (21.7%) with an average age of 61.4±7.4 years. Results    The most common postoperative complications were pneumonia (15.8%), anastomotic leakage (12.6%) and arrhythmia (8.4%). Ninety-three (97.9%) patients underwent R0 resection, with an average number of lymph node dissections of 14.4±5.6. The rate of lymph node metastasis was 22.1%, and the incidence of lymph vessel invasion was 13.7%. The median follow-up time was 60.4 months, during which 25 patients died and 27 patients relapsed. The overall survival rate at 3 years was 86.3%, and at 5 years was 72.7%. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that lymph node metastasis (P=0.012, HR=2.60, 95%CI 1.23-5.50) and lympovascular invasion (P=0.014, HR=2.73, 95%CI 1.22-6.09) were independent risk factors for overall survival of pT1b ESCC. Conclusion    Esophagectomy via right chest approach combined with two-fields lymphadenectomy is safe and feasible for patients with pT1b ESCC. The progress of pT1b ESCC with lymph node metastasis or lymphovascular invasion is relatively poor.