Objective To compare the clinical value of XELOX and FOLFOX6 in the treatment of elderly patients with colorectal cancer. Methods Clinical data of 68 elderly patients(aged>60 years)with colorectal cancer were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into XELOX group(n =32)and FOLFOX6 group(n =36) according to the chemotherapy regimen.The response evaluation criteria in solid tumors,progression free survival, 2 -year mortality,chemotherapy related adverse reactions and health related quality of life in the two groups were compared.Results Compared with the FOLFOX6 group,the neurotoxicity incidence in the XELOX group was signifi-cantly lower (3.13% vs.22.22%,χ2 =5.380,P =0.020).The neutrophils reduced incidence was significantly lower(9.38% vs.30.56%,χ2 =4.649,P =0.039).The hand foot syndrome complications significantly increased (34.38% vs.8.33%,χ2 =7.027,P =0.008).There was no significant difference in the incidence of nausea,vomi-ting,diarrhea,oral mucosal ulcer,thrombocytopenia and elevation of transaminase in the two groups(χ2 =0.001, 0.000,0.008,2.102,1.071,1.851,all P >0.05).The quality of health related quality of life was significantly higher in the XELOX group than in the FOLFOX6 group at 6 months after the operation[(67.94 ±12.49)points vs. (57.39 ±13.59)points,t =3.198,P =0.015].There were no significant differences in the curative effect grade at 6 months after the operation,2 -year mortality rate and progression free survival time between the two groups(χ2 =0.949,0.008,t =0.573,all P >0.05).Conclusion Although XELOX increases the incidence of hand foot syn-drome in elderly patients with colorectal cancer,but it significantly reduces the incidence of neurotoxicity and neutro-phil,and improves the quality of life of patients after surgery.

Object To observe the effect of Guizhi Fuling Capsule (GFC) on prostatic hyperplasia in rats induced by testosterone propionate. Methods Seven days after the male rats were castrated, testosterone propionate (3 mg/kg) was sc injected in rats. Meanwhile, the rats were administered GFC (2.16, 1.08, 0.54 g/kg) once a day, and the treatment continued for 30 d. An hour after the final administration, the rats were put to death, and the weight and volume of prostates were measured. The construction of prostate cells was also observed under light microscope. Results In the GFC group, the weight and volume of prostate was significantly decreased compared with that in the model group (P

Objective To investigate the expression of EphrinB2 and microvessel density(MVD) in colorectal carcinoma and to analyze the relationship between the expression of EphrinB2 and the biological characteristics of colorectal carcinoma. Methods EphrinB2 and MVD of 63 colorectal carcinoma diagnosed by pathology were examined by immunohistochemistry, and 25 specimens from normal colorectal tissue were examined as controls. Results The expression of EphrinB2 protein was 82.0 % (51/63) in colorectal carcinoma and 32.0 % (8/25) in the normal colorectal tissues, the difference was significant (P <0.05). Meanwhile, MVD was significantly higher in EphrinB2 positive group (39.39±8.97) than that in negative group (33.00 ±10.19) (P<0.05). The expression of EphrinB2 protein had significant positive correlation with differentiation grade, infiltration, lymph node metastases and clinical stage (P <0.05), and had no relation to age, sex, tumor size and location(P >0.05). Conclusion The EphrinB2 protein expression increase may be involved in development of colorectal carcinoma and play important roles in the tumorigenesis and progression of colorectal carcinoma.

Objective: To create and validate a scoring system for predicting clinical prognosis in patients with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Methods: A cohort of 367 consecutive patients received CRT in our hospital from 2010-01 to 2015-12 were enrolled. The endpoint follow-up events were all-cause death including heart transplantation and heart failure re-admission. The patients were randomly categorized into 2 groups: Modeling group, to develop HEAL scoring system,n=300 and Veriifcation group, to validate HEAL model,n=67. HEAL system was established by Cox proportional hazards regression model, discrimination between HEAL and EARRN scoring systems was evaluated by AUC of ROC, HEAL calibration was assessed by Hosmer-Lemeshow test and clinical endpoint evaluation by 2 scoring systems were compared by Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Modeling group analysis indicated that hs-CRP (HR=1.137, 95% CI 1.072-1.205,P<0.001), big endothelin-1 (HR=1.934, 95% CI 1.066-3.507,P=0.03), left atrial diameter (HR=1.045, 95% CI 1.007-1.084,P=0.02) and NYHA IV (HR=2.583, 95% CI 1.331-5.013,P=0.005) were the independent risk factors of adverse prognosis in CRT patients. Based on β partial regression coefifcient, HEAL scoring system was established to classify the patient's risk levels: low risk<4, moderate risk 4-10 and high risk>10. AUC for risk classification in Modeling group and Verification group were 0.719(95% CI 0.629-0.809) and 0.708 (95% CI 0.539-0.878), HEAL can well distinguish clinical prognosis in patients at different risk levels (log-rank test showed in Modeling groupP<0.001 and in Veriifcation groupP=0.002); Hosmer-Lemeshow test presented good calibration,P=0.952. All 367 patients were respectively evaluated by HEAL and EARRN scoring systems, HEAL had the better discrimination than EARRN as AUC 0.763 (95% CI 0.692-0.833) vs AUC 0.602 (95% CI 0.517-0.687). Conclusion: HEAL scoring system can effectively predict adverse prognosis in CRT patients, it had the better discrimination than EARRN system and was valuable to distinguish high risk patients in clinical practice.

Objective To explore the relationship between the abnormal expression of anti-oncogene PTEN in gastric carcinoma and the clinicopathological characteristics. Methods Mythylation specific PCR was applied to detect the expression of PTEN methylation in gastric carcinoma and their normal tissues from 45 patients. Results The methylation took place in 40.0 percent in gastric carcinoma and 2.2 percent in their normal tissues, and the difference was significant(P<0.05). The methylation rate in poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma was 60.0 percent ,while 15.0 percent in highly-moderately differentiated group, the difference was significant (P<0.05). In the 24 cases with lymph node metastasis, mythylation was observed in 13 cases, and the difference was significant (P<0.05). Conclusion The methylation of PTEN gene was associated with gastric carcinoma, it may play an important role in the development of the disease.

Background The data on the prognostic values of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels in patients with advanced symp-tomatic heart failure (HF) receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) are scarce. The aim of present study was to investigate the association of serum hsCRP levels with left ventricle reverse remodeling after six months of CRT as well as long-term outcome. Methods A total of 232 CRT patients were included. The assessment of hsCRP values, clinical status and echocardiographic data were performed at baseline and after six months of CRT. Long-term follow-up included all-cause mortality and hospitalizations for HF. Results During the mean follow-up periods of 31.3 ± 31.5 months, elevated hsCRP (>3 mg/L) prior to CRT was associated with a significant 2.39-fold increase (P=0.006) in the risk of death or HF hospitalizations. At 6-month follow-up, patients who responded to CRT showed significant reductions or maintained low in hsCRP levels (–0.5 ± 4.1 mg/L reduction) compared with non-responders (1.7 ± 6.1 mg/L increase, P=0.018). Com-pared with patients in whom 6-month hsCRP levels were reduced or remained low, patients in whom 6-month hsCRP levels were increased or maintained high experienced a significantly higher risk of subsequent death or HF hospitalizations (Log-rank P<0.001). The echocardio-graphic improvement was also better among patients in whom 6-month hsCRP levels were reduced or remained low compared to those in whom 6-month hsCRP levels were raised or maintained high. Conclusions Our findings demonstrated that measurement of baseline and follow-up hsCRP levels may be useful as prognostic markers for timely potential risk stratification and subsequent appropriate treatment strategies in patients with advanced HF undergoing CRT.

Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; standards ; Humans ; Mutation ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf ; genetics ; ras Proteins ; genetics

Background Intrathoracic impedance monitoring has emerged as a promising new technique for the detection of impending heart failure (HF). Although false positive episodes have been reported in case reports and clinical trials, the efficacy and false positive rate in real-world practice remain unclear. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the utility and reliability of the OptiVol alert feature in clinical practice. Methods We continuously recruited patients who underwent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or cardiac re-synchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) implantation with feature of intrathoracic impedance monitoring system in our center from Sep. 2010 to Oct. 2012. Regular in-office follow-up were required of all patients and the following information was collected at each visit: medical history, device interrogation, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measurement and an echocardiogram. Worsening HF was defined as hospitalization or the presentation of signs or symptoms of HF. Results Forty three patients (male:76.7%, mean age:57 ± 15 years, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF):33%± 14%) were included in this observational study. Fifty four alert events and 14 adjudicated worsening HF were detected within 288 ±163 days follow-up. Eleven (20.4%) alert episodes were associated with acute cardiac decompensation in 9 patients with a positive predictive value of 78.6%. Forty three audible alerts showed no connection to worsening HF. The unexplained alerts rate was 79.6%and 1.27 per person-year. Thirty seven alarm alerts were detected in patients with EF<45%, among which 9 accompanied with HF, 17 alerts detected in patients with LVEF≥45%and 2 associated with HF. There was no sig-nificant difference between the two groups (9/37 vs. 2/17;P=0.47). Conclusions Patients with normal or nearly normal left ventricular systolic function also exhibited considerable alert events. The OptiVol fluid index predicted worsening cardiac events with a high unex-plained detection rate, and any alert must therefore be analyzed with great caution. Efforts to improve the specificity of this monitoring sys-tem represent a significant aspect of future studies.