Objective:To investigate whether the nutrition support team (NST) benefits esophageal carcinoma (EC) patients who are concurrently undergoing chemoradiotherapy. Methods: Between June 2012 and December 2013, 40 EC patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy were divided into the NST group and routine treatment (RT) group, with 20 patients in each group. At the end of chemoradiotherapy, the nutritional status, incidence of complications, and completion rates of radiotherapy were evaluated. The length of hospital stay (LOS) and cost were also compared between the two groups. Results:The nutrition and blood parameter values of the NST group were better (P<0.05) than those of the RT group. The incidence of complications was lower in the NST group (P<0.05) than that in the RT group. In addition, all patients in the NST group achieved the treatment plan, whereas five of the patients in the RT group interrupted or delayed the plan (P<0.05). The average LOS decreased by 3.8 d (P<0.05), and the hospitalization costs were reduced to 6300 RMB person-times (P>0.05) for the patients of the NST group. Conclusion: NST could maintain the nutritional status and improve the treatment compliance and tolerance of EC patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy, thereby shortening the LOS time and reducing the costs.

Objective:To evaluate the accuracy of white light conventional endoscopy (CE), endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and narrow-band imaging with magnifying endoscopy (ME-NBI) in evaluating the invasion depth of early gastric cardiac cancer, and to explore the diagnostic strategy of preoperative evaluation of invasive depth of early gastric cardiac cancer.Methods:From January 2016 to June 2019, the endoscopic images of 135 patients with early gastric cardiac cancer confirmed by pathology in Fujian Provincial Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Intramucosal carcinoma (M) and superficial submucosal invasive carcinoma (SM1) were classified as M-SM1 cancer and compared with deep submucosal invasive cancer. The pathological diagnosis after operation was used as gold standard. The accuracy of CE, EUS, ME-NBI and the combination of them in determining the invasion depth of early gastric cardiac cancer was evaluated. Kappa test was performed for consistency test. Kappa value < 0.2 was considered as poor consistency, 0.2 to 0.4 as general consistency, more than 0.4 to 0.6 as medium consistency, more than 0.6 to 0.8 as high consistency, and 0.8 to 1.0 as close to full consistency. Results:The data of 73 patients with early gastric cardiac cancer were enrolled in this study. According to the pathological results after operation, 47 cases were M-SM1 cancer and 26 cases were deep submucosal invasive cancer. The diagnostic accuracy of CE, EUS, ME-NBI and the combination of them before operation were 79.5% (58/73), 72.6% (53/73), 65.7% (48/73) and 87.7% (64/73), respectively. The results of consistency test indicated that the consistency of CE diagnosis and pathological results after operation was medium ( Kappa=0.540, P<0.01), that of EUS and pathological results after operation was general ( Kappa=0.346, P=0.002), that of ME-NBI and pathological results after operation was poor ( Kappa=0.175, P=0.108), while that of the combination of them and pathological results after operation was high ( Kappa=0.724, P<0.01). Conclusions:Compared with single examination method, the combination of CE, EUS and ME-NBI is more accurate in evaluating the invasive depth of early gastric cardiac cancer.

BACKGROUNDMetastasis is not only the malignant characteristics of lung can- cer, but also the chief cause of failure to cure and high mortality of lung cancer. To better explore and understand the mechanism of lung cancer metastasis and to search for potential markers for early diagnosing and reversing lung cancer metastasis, differential proteomic analysis is conducted in two human large cell lung cancer cell lines with high metastasis potentials (L9981) and low metastasis potentials (NL9980) by two-dimension gel electrophoresis (2-DE).

METHODSThe total proteins of the two cell lines were separated by immobilized pH gradient (IPG)-based 2-DE. The differentially expressed proteins of the two cell lines were analyzed using image analysis software.

RESULTSA high resolution and reproducible 2-DE image was successfully obtained. Average deviations for protein position in IEF direction were (0.858±0.076)mm and (1.514±0.127)mm in SDS-PAGE direction. The relative standard deviation for protein volume was (12.06±0.580)% in L9981 and (12.22±0.640)% in NL9980. The average total number of protein spots was 902±169 in L9981 cells and 941±173 in NL9980 cells in three repeated experiments. Image analysis of siliver-stained 2-DE image revealed that 4 protein spots had significant differential expressions in L9981 and NL9980 (student's t-test, P < 0.05). Fifteen protein spots were only detected in L9981, and 27 protein spots were only detected in NL9980.

CONCLUSIONSThe results in this study suggest that an obviously differential proteomic expression exists between the human high- and low-metastatic large cell lung cancer cell lines. It will be helpful to further understand the molecular mechanisms of lung cancer invasion and metastasis, and provide new experimental evidence for searching metastatic-related molecule of lung cancer.

Objective:To preliminarily study the effect of Q self-traction endoscopic submucosal dissection (Q-ESD) on treatment of large early esophageal cancer (EEC).Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of 82 cases of large EEC (single lesion>1/2 cross-section diameter or longitudinal diameter length >5 cm) who underwent ESD on Fujian Provincial Hospital between January 2015 and December 2018. According to the treatment schedule, patients were divided into the conventional ESD group (n=44) and the Q-ESD group (n=38). The procedural area, time, and speed, en bloc resection rate, complete resection rate and complications of the two groups were analyzed.Results:All of the 82 lesions were resected completely under endoscope. There was no statistical difference in the procedural area [779.8 (329.9-2 552.5)mm 2 VS 875.7 (417.8-1 914.8)mm 2, U=155, P=0.636], procedural time [63 (41-177)min VS 59 (42-169)min, U=171, P=0.167] and complete resection rate [94.7% (36/38) VS 93.2% (41/44), χ2=0.086, P=0.769] between the Q-ESD group and the conventional ESD group. Compared with the conventional ESD group, the Q-ESD group had a faster dissection speed [14.9 (5.4-20.8) mm 2/min VS 9.0 (5.0-19.5) mm 2/min, U=142, P=0.035], lower muscularis propria injury rate [7.9% (3/38) VS 27.3% (12/44), χ2=5.123, P=0.023], and a lower stricture rate [5.3% (2/38) VS 20.5% (9/44), χ2=4.051, P=0.044]. No other adverse events occurred except for one case of perforation in the conventional ESD group. Conclusion:The new traction technique of Q-ESD is a safe and effective treatment for large EEC.

Objective:To investigate the clinical, endoscopic and pathological features, and treatment and prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland type of chief cell predominant type (GA-FG-CCP).Methods:Data of 40 GA-FG-CCP patients with 41 lesions diagnosed by histopathology at Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital and Shanghai East Hospital from January 2018 to May 2023 were collected. Their clinical and endoscopic features, pathological features, immunohistochemical results, endoscopic treatment, and prognosis were analyzed.Results:Among the 40 GA-FG-CCP patients, there were 15 males and 25 females, and the mean age was 60.03 years. Most of them had no obvious clinical symptoms or family history of tumor. Except one case, others had no helicobacter pylori infection. The endoscopic features of white light observation were: ① the main location was the upper part of the gastric body (63.41%, 26/41); ② faded or whitish mucosal surface (56.10%, 23/41); ③ dilated vessels with branch architecture (78.05%, 32/41); ④ no background mucosal atrophy (100.00%, 41/41). The features of magnifying endoscopy with narrow band imaging (ME-NBI) were: ① no obvious demarcation line (85.37%, 35/41); ② enlargement of the crypt opening (87.80%, 36/41); ③ widening of the intervening part (92.68%, 38/41); ④ lack of irregular microvascular pattern (95.12%, 39/41). All patients were confirmed gastric adenocarcinoma of the fundic gland by biopsy. The glands showed a low degree of dysplasia, similar to the differentiation of chief cell predominant pattern, also with scattered parietal cells, forming irregular and anastomosing cords. In the 40 patients, 20 did not receive endoscopic therapy. Twelve out of 21 lesions in 20 cases treated with endoscopic resection infiltrated into the submucosa (20-520 μm), 9 cases were intramucosal carcinoma. There was no lymphatic or venous infiltration, and horizontal and vertical margins were negative. Immunohistochemical staining results showed that the tumor was postive for pepsinogen-Ⅰ and MUC 6, with scattered postive for H +-K +-ATPase, but negative for MUC5AC, MUC2 and CD10, and the Ki-67 labeling index was low. No patients had recurrence or metastasis during mean follow-up of 15.85 months. Conclusion:GA-FG-CCP is rare and very well differentiated. Its clinical symptoms are not obvious, but there is endoscopic characteristics. The detection rate of GA-FG-CCP can be improved by white light and ME-NBI, and the diagnosis can be confirmed by pathology and immunohistochemical staining.

Proteases have a fundamental role in maintaining physiological homeostasis, but their dysregulation results in severe activity imbalance and pathological conditions, including cancer onset, progression, invasion, and metastasis. This striking importance plus superior biological recognition and catalytic performance of proteases, combining with the excellent physicochemical characteristics of nanomaterials, results in enzyme-activated nano-drug delivery systems (nanoDDS) that perform theranostic functions in highly specific response to the tumor phenotype stimulus. In the tutorial review, the key advances of protease-responsive nanoDDS in the specific diagnosis and targeted treatment for malignancies are emphatically classified according to the effector biomolecule types, on the premise of summarizing the structure and function of each protease. Subsequently, the incomplete matching and recognition between enzyme and substrate, structural design complexity, volume production, and toxicological issues related to the nanocomposites are highlighted to clarify the direction of efforts in nanotheranostics. This will facilitate the promotion of nanotechnology in the management of malignant tumors.

Iron (Fe) is an important trace element involved in many important plant physiological and metabolic processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and nitrogen metabolism. Plants maintain iron homeostasis through absorption, transporting, storage and redistribution of iron. Iron metabolism is strictly regulated in plants. Iron regulatory transcription factors and iron transporters constitute the regulatory network of plant iron absorption and transport in plants. Ferritin and iron transporter jointly regulate the response to excess iron in plants. In recent years, important progress has been made in understanding how abscisic acid (ABA) regulates iron metabolism in plants. ABA may be used as a signal to regulate the absorption, transportation and reuse of Fe, or to relieve the symptoms of iron stress by regulating the oxidative stress responses in plants. In order to gain deeper insights into the crosstalk of ABA and iron metabolism in plants, this review summarized the mechanisms of iron absorption and transport and metabolic regulatory network in plants, as well as the mechanisms of ABA in regulating iron metabolism. The relationship between ABA and FER-like iron deficiency-induced transcription factor (FIT), iron-regulated transporter 1 (IRT1), and oxidative stress of iron deficiency were highlighted, and future research directions were prospected.
Abscisic Acid/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Homeostasis ; Iron/metabolism* ; Plants/metabolism* ; Transcription Factors/metabolism*