Gastrointestinal carcinomas are among the malignancies with highest morbidity and mortality. The survival rates of these tumors remain pretty low in spite of advancements of traditional treatments. As the fourth treatment method besides surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, biotherapy has shown promising prospect in improving the prognosis of gastrointestinal carcinomas. In this manuscript, we summarized the current progress of biotherapy in gastrointestinal tumors including gene therapy, immune therapy and molecular targeted therapy.
Biological Therapy ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; therapy ; Genetic Therapy ; Humans ; Immunotherapy

Objective To investigate the value of ~1H-MRS in the diagnosis and prognosis of diffuse axonal injury(DAI).Methods A prospective imaging study was performed in 63 patients with craniocerebral injury admitted from October 2002 to April 2004.Sixty-three patients were divided into DAI group(27 cases)and Non-DAI group(36 cases)according to the result of the MRI.Then,the ratio of NAA/Cr,Cho/Cr,mINs/Cr,and GIx/Cr at basal ganglia and genu and splenium of corpus callosum was quantified using ~1H-MRS and compared between DAI group and Non-DAI group.Twenty healthy persons were served as control group.The relation between ~1H-MRS indexes and period of primary uneonciousness post-injury was analyzed.Results The results of NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr at genu and splenium of corpus callosum and basal ganglia of control group were 1.19?0.18,1.21?0.24;1.89?0.17,1.84?0.14; 1.57?0.16,1.85?0.25,which of DAI group were 0.83?0.24,2.92?0.78;1.25?0.35,2.54? 0.42;1.33?0.17,2.38?0.44,and those of Non-DAI group were 1.11?0.23,1.61?0.33;1.61? 0.22,1.93?0.26;1.49?0.23,1.89?0.29.The differences between them were statistically significant (P

OBJECTIVETo explore the expression and distribution of calcineurin (CaN) in normal and failing human myocardium.

METHODSLeft and right ventricles were obtained from end-staged heart failure patients (n = 12) undergoing heart transplantation and donor hearts (n = 5) taken from victims of vehicle accidents. Immunohistochemistry and SDS-PAGE technique were used to demonstrate expression and distribution of CaN.

RESULTSPositive immunoreactive staining for CaN was detected in human cardiomyocytes, cardiac fibroblasts and epicardial mesothelial cells, but not detected in cardiac vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. There was no difference in CaN protein levels between failing hearts and donor hearts (Band intensity of right ventricle in failing hearts and donor hearts was 130.20 +/- 8.66 and 139.87 +/- 6.21, P = 0.33. Band intensity of left ventricle in failing hearts and donor hearts was 106.45 and 126.34 +/- 12.09) and between left ventricular and right ventricular myocardium (Band intensity of left and right ventricles in failing hearts was 96.99 +/- 10.67 and 104.58 +/- 13.18, P = 0.63. Band intensity of left and right ventricles in failing hearts was 132.12 and 120.74).

CONCLUSIONSCaN is expressed in human cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts and epicardial mesothelial cells and the protein level and distribution of CaN are similar in failing and donor hearts.

Adult ; Calcineurin ; metabolism ; Female ; Heart Failure ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardium ; metabolism

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEIn patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving potentially curative minimally invasive therapy, autologous cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells were used to reduce recurrence. In this study we observed the changes in serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) after the treatment with CIK cells to explore if AFP could serve as a marker for predicting immunotherapeutic clinical outcome.

METHODSA total of 122 patients with HCC and elevated AFP (>25 ng/mL) received a curative treatment of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus radiofrequency ablation (RFA) at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. Of these patients, 83 patients without residual tumor or extrahepatic metastasis and with AFP level less than 1.5 times the normal range (AFP<37.5 ng/mL) were randomly assigned to the study group (n=42) and the control group (n=41). In the study group, CIK cells were transfused intravenously or via common hepatic arteries every week for at least 4 times, and the T-lymphocyte subset data before and after CIK cell infusions was examined by flow cytometry. All the two groups of patients were screened by tomography every 2 months to observe tumor recurrence. Serum AFP was collected at baseline and at different time points after treatment in parallel with radiologic response and clinical outcome.

RESULTSTwo patients in the control group were lost to follow-up after treatment. After CIK cell infusions, the downtrend of the AFP level was observed in the study group and not in the control group. There was a significant difference in the level of AFP between different time points after CIK infusions in both groups. The 1-year recurrence rate was 7.14% for the study group and 23.1% for the control group (P=0.044). In subgroup analysis, for patients with a slightly high level of AFP (25 ng/mL

CONCLUSIONSCIK cells transfusion may reduce the level of serum AFP and anti-HBV and decrease the 1-year recurrence rate of patients with HCC after curative TACE plus RFA. Serum AFP decrease after CIK cell treatment may serve as a useful marker for predicting immunotherapy clinical outcome in patients with HCC undergone curative minimally invasive therapy.

Adult ; Aged ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; metabolism ; CD4-CD8 Ratio ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; immunology ; therapy ; Catheter Ablation ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells ; transplantation ; DNA, Viral ; metabolism ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; immunology ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; metabolism

Serum levels of soluble MHC class I-related chain A (sMICA) are related with the prognosis of various types of cancer; however, few studies on the prognostic value of sMICA in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been reported. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the relationship between sMICA levels and clinical features of advanced HCC, and we assessed the prognostic value of sMICA in advanced HCC. Furthermore, the relationship of serum sMICA levels and natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D) expression on natural killer (NK) cells was also evaluated. We detected sMICA levels in the serum of 60 advanced HCC patients using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and measured expression levels of NKG2D on NK cells using flow cytometry. We found that serum sMICA levels in HCC patients were in the range of 0.10-6.21 ng/mL. Chi-square analyses showed that sMICA level was significantly related with only tumor size. Survival analysis showed that a high sMICA level was significantly related with poor prognosis among HCC patients. Multivariate analyses indicated that sMICA was an independent prognostic factor. In addition, the levels of CD56+NKG2D+ NK cells were within the range of 11.2%-55.4%, and correlation analyses indicated that sMICA level was negatively correlated with the level of NKG2D+ NK cells. Our results suggest that serum sMICA levels may be an independent prognostic factor for advanced HCC.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; immunology ; pathology ; Female ; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I ; blood ; Humans ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; immunology ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily K ; metabolism ; Neoplasm Staging ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Tumor Burden

Contributions of Xin'an medical school and physicians to acupuncture theory were introduced in the article. Academic theories or characteristics of several physicians of Xin'an school such as YANG Xuan-cao, WU Kun, WANG Ji, WU Yi-ding, ZHENG Mei-jian and XU Chun-fu, et al were sorted out. Contributions of inheriting and illustrations on acupuncture theory were analyzed so as to expound its significance and value on modern acupucture clinic.
Acupuncture ; education ; history ; manpower ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; History, Ancient ; Humans ; Physicians ; history ; Schools, Medical ; history ; manpower

Either cetuximab or bevacizumab can improve the survival of patients with metastastic colorectal cancer (mCRC) if administered combided with cytotoxic agents. However, the effect of two or more target agents in combination is uncertain in these patients. Here, we reported a patient with mCRC successfully treated by a combination of target agents after the failure of chemotherapy. The patient received palliative resection of primary tumor followed by 9 cycles of postoperative XELOX regimen, cytokine-induced killer cell (CIK)-based biotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, particle implantation in the lung metastatic lesions. The tumor progressed 20 months after the standard treatments. Then, the regimen cetuximab, bevacizumab and cefitinib was applied. During the treatment with targeted agents, grade IV acne-like rash and relatively severe parionychia of the toes occurred. Both of them recovered smoothly. The PET-CT reexamination at 40 days after the target treatment showed that the metabolism of mediastinal lymph nodes basically recovered to a normal level. The combination of multiple targeted agents obtained a progression-free survival(PFS) of 11 months and the patient with a good quality of life during this period.
Adenocarcinoma ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; pathology ; secondary ; Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bevacizumab ; Catheter Ablation ; Cetuximab ; Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells ; immunology ; Deoxycytidine ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Disease-Free Survival ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Fluorouracil ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive ; Liver Neoplasms ; secondary ; surgery ; Lung Neoplasms ; secondary ; surgery ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multimodal Imaging ; Neoplasm Staging ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Quality of Life ; Quinazolines ; therapeutic use ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Sigmoid Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether dendritic cells fused with tumor cells could elicit in vitro antitumor responses against renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells.

METHODSRenal carcinoma cells were purified from tumor tissue excised from patients with metastatic RCC through tumor cell purifying technique and cultured in RPMI-1640 medium containing 10% FCS. Monocyte-derived DCs generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cell of RCC patients were cultured in the presence of human recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor and interleukin-4. Tumor cells and DCs were cocultured in the presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to generate cell fusion. The phenotype of tumor cells, DCs and fusion cells were detected by flow cytometry. MTT was used to measure the ability of fusion cells to stimulate T cell proliferation. T cell-mediated antitumor responses were measured by lactate dehydrogenase release (LDH) assay for lysis of autologous tumor cells.

RESULTSThe DCs expressed MHC class I, MHC class II and costimulatary molecules (CD80 and CD86), while the renal carcinoma cells expressed a high molecular glycoprotein MUC-1. The DC/tumor fusion cells coexpressed MUC-1 and the phenotype of DCs, and could stimulate T cell proliferation effectively. CTLs stimulated by the fusion vaccine showed distinct lytie activity in vitro to autologous tumor cells.

CONCLUSIONDendritic cells fused with tumor cells can elicit distinct antitumor responses in vitro against tumor cells from patients with metastatic RCC, providing a basis for further research on the clinical application of fusion vaccine in treatment for renal cancers.

B7-2 Antigen ; metabolism ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Fusion ; Cell Proliferation ; Coculture Techniques ; Cytotoxicity, Immunologic ; immunology ; Dendritic Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hybrid Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; metabolism ; Kidney Neoplasms ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Mucin-1 ; metabolism ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Objective To investigate the effect of the type of neighborhoods on the population structure and dynamics of mos-quitoes. Methods The adult population dynamics and larvae breeding of mosquitoes in four different types of neighborhoods were investigated in Yangzhou City. Results The number of trapped mosquitoes was the largest in the urban villages,and more than 800 adult mosquitoes were trapped in each urban village,which was significantly higher than that of ordinary and high qual-ity residences. Aedes albopictus and Culex pipiens pallens were dominant species(D>10％)in the four types of residential ar-eas,and Ae. albopictus was the most dominant species(D>57％). The peak occurrence of Ae. albopictus in different areas oc-curred in early June,and it occurred again in the urban village in the middle of September. The occurrence quantity of Cx. pipi-ens pallens was stable in the ordinary residence and high quality residence,while in the urban village and resettlement residen-tial area,the peak occurred in mid-October. The orders of positive rates,densities and the numbers of mosquitoes in the differ-ent types of residential areas were:the urban villages>the resettlement residence>the ordinary residence>the high quality resi-dence. The water vat had the highest positive rate in all kinds of larval habitats,followed by tires and green belt with garbage wa-ter. Conclusions The main mosquito species in the four different types of residential areas are all Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens pallens,but the positive rate,density and the number of mosquitoes in the different types significantly change,especially in the urban villages,the number and the occurrence peak are significant different from those in the other types of residential areas.

OBJECTIVETo identify a novel human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B allele and explore its family heritage.

METHODSA novel HLA allele was suspected upon routine HLA typing using a polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific oligonucleotide probe (PCR-SSOP) assay. The sequence was confirmed with DNA sequencing and compared with its closest matching allele, B*55:02. The family was also investigated.

RESULTSAn unusual reaction pattern was detected during routine HLA typing. The sequence was confirmed to be a novel HLA-B allele, which differed from the closest matching allele, B*55:02 in 7 nt positions in exon 2. Among the 7 mutations from 6 codons, there were two amino acids changes including 69Glu→Met and 70Glu→Ala.

CONCLUSIONA novel HLA-B allele has been identified and officially named as B*55:35 by the WHO Nomenclature Committee for Factors of the HLA System (GenBank accession number FJ898284).

Alleles ; Base Sequence ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; Histocompatibility Testing ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Sequence Analysis, DNA