Objective To investigate the combined effect of exemestane and low-dose methotrexate on exemestane-resistant MCF-7 human breast cancer cells( MCF-7/EXE). Methods Antiproliferative effects of exemestane and low-dose of methotrexate, alone and in combination on growth of MCF-7/EXE cells were assessed by using the MTT assay. Synergistic interaction between the two drugs was evaluated in vitro by using the combination index ( CI) method. The cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometry in a half inhibitory concentration of exemestane and low-dose of methotrexate . The changes of apoptosis on MCF-7/EXE cells exposed to two drugs alone or in com-bination were observed by fluorescence microscope. The expression of Bcl-2,AKT,P-AKT and cyclooxygenase-2 was investigated by Western blot. Results MTT assays indicated that the combination treatment apparently decreased the viability of MCF-7/EXE cells compared to single drug treatment (CI<0. 9). In addition, the combination of exemestane and low-dose methotrexate exhibited a synergistic inhibition of cell proliferation, arrested the cell cycle in the S phase significantly and produced a stronger inhibitory effects on P-AKT, Bcl-2 and cyclooxygenase-2 ex-pression than control or individual drug treatment. Conclusion The combination of the two inhibitors significantly increases the response as compared to single agent treatment, suggesting that combination treatment which can re-verse the resistance of exemestane could be a more effective approach to breast cancer.

This article emphasizes the importance of medical communication and expounds how to strenthen medical communication by some principles and methods,like paying attention to and lov-ing patients,listenning carefully,explaining patiently and confidently,learning modestly and so on.

Objective To explore the value of serum thyroid hormones in assessing the severity of acute pancreatitis early in its course.Methods Fifty-two patients with acute pancreatitis were included in this prospective study.Attacks were classified as severe ( n =32) or mild ( n =20) according to the Atlanta criteria.Serum levels of thyroid hormones,including FT4,FT3,rT3 and TSH,were measured at admission.Each of the thyroid hormone levels was compared between the severe and mild groups,and the relationships of these thyroid hormones with APACHE Ⅱ scores and CT severity grading were analyzed.Effectiveness of thyroid hormone for the prediction of disease severity was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.Results Serum FT3 levels were decreased significantly in severe acute pancreatitis compared with those in mild acute pancreatitis (P ＜ 0.01 ) ; whereas no significant difference was noted in the levels of FT4,rT3 and TSH between groups (P ＞ 0.05 ).Serum FT3 levels were negatively correlated with APACHE Ⅱ scores ( r =- 0.687,P ＜ 0.01 ) and CT severity grading ( r =- 0.720,P ＜ 0.01 ).The area under curve of FT3 was 0.875.With an optimum cutoff value of 2.87 pmol/L for FT3,the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive and negative predictive values for the prediction of severe acute pancreatitis were 75％,95％,93.8％,and 79.2％,respectively.Conclusions Serum FT3 level is an acceptable indicator for early assessment of the severity of acute pancreatitis.