AIM: To investigate the effect of norcantharidin(NCTD)on proliferation and invasion of human breast cancer cell line SKBR3 in vitro and its anticancer mechanisms.METHODS: MTT assay was used to determine SKBR3 cell proliferation. Light and FACScan were used to detect apoptosis and cell cycle. The invasiveness of SKBR3 was evaluated by the adhesion test,Matrigel experiment and the crossing-river test.RESULTS: NCTD had inhibitive effects on growth of SKBR3 cells in a dose and time-dependent manner, with the IC50 value of 12.5 mg/L at 24 h.The cells treated with 10 mg/L NCTD for 24 h and 48 h showed typical apoptotic morphology and hypodiploid peak before G1 phase. The cell cycle was arrested at G2/M phase. The apoptosis percentage was up to 3.44% and 6.17%, and the G2/M percentage was up to 35.82% and 38.70%. NCTD also could inhibit obviously the adhesion, movement and invasive capability simulating human basement membrane of SKBR3. Its effect was also in a dose-dependent manner. In the NCTD-treated group, crossing-river time was prolonged significantly and passing-membrane cells markedly decreased. CONCLUSION: NCTD in vitro inhibits not only the proliferation and growth of human breast cancer cells but also invasion and metastasis of the cells at relatively low concentration. NCTD shows prominent anti-tumor effects.

Objective: To analyze the feasibility and safety of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in colorectal surgery in municipal hospitals. Methods: The clinical data of patients with colorectal cancer in Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from June 2016 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 50 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery combined with ERAS in the perioperative period were selected as the ERAS group, and 50 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery combined with conventional methods in the perioperative period were treated as the control group. The general data were compared in the two groups, including age, gender, body mass index and the tumor site. The postoperative recovery was compared including fart time, defecation time, total fluid food intake time, nutritional indexes, postoperative leaving hospital time. And the postoperative complications were also compared, including wound infection, lung infection, anastomotic fistula, abdominal infection as well as the urinary infection. Results: The first fart time and total fluid food intake time in the ERAS group were earlier than those in the control group [(1.5±0.5) d vs. (2.1±0.8) d, (2.2± 0.8) d vs. (3.4±1.6) d], and the differences were statistically significant (t = 4.907, t = 4.604, both P < 0.01). The albumin and hemoglobin in the ERAS group were higher than those in the control group [(32.7±3.1) g/L vs. (30.9±2.1) g/L, t = -3.188, P = 0.002; (115±3) g/L vs. (103± 16) g/L, t = -3.916, P < 0.01], and the postoperative hospital stay in the ERAS group was shorter than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant [(7.2±1.2) d vs. (9.5±3.6) d; t = 4.095, P = 0.001]. And the incidence of postoperative complications in the ERAS group was lower than that in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant [14% (7/50) vs. 38% (19/50), χ² = 7.484, P = 0.008]. Conclusions ERAS combined with laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery can accelerate the postoperative rehabilitation, shorten the length of hospital stay, and reduce postoperative complications. It has high feasibility and safety in the application of colorectal surgery in municipal hospitals, but the individualized treatment must be taken into consideration.

The E3 ligase HERC4 is overexpressed in human breast cancer and its expression levels correlated with the prognosis of breast cancer patients. However, the roles of HERC4 in mammary tumorigenesis remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that the knockdown of HERC4 in human breast cancer cells dramatically suppressed their proliferation, survival, migration, and tumor growth in vivo, while the overexpression of HERC4 promoted their aggressive tumorigenic activities. HERC4 is a new E3 ligase for the tumor suppressor LATS1 and destabilizes LATS1 by promoting the ubiquitination of LATS1. miRNA-136-5p and miRNA-1285-5p, expression of which is decreased in human breast cancers and is inversely correlated with the prognosis of breast cancer patients, are directly involved in suppressing the expression of HERC4. In summary, we discover a miRNA-HERC4-LATS1 pathway that plays important roles in the pathogenesis of breast cancer and represents new therapeutic targets for human breast cancer.