OBJECTIVETo elucidate the significance of detecting cytokeratin gene (CK-20 mRNA) expression in metastatic lymph nodes of colon carcinoma patients.

METHODSThe expression of CK-20 mRNA was detected in 342 lymph nodes by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 49 colon carcinoma patients. Its incidence was compared with that by routine pathologic examination.

RESULTSThe positive rates of detecting metastasis in the lymph nodes were 21.9% by RT-PCR and 11.1% by routine pathologic examination.

CONCLUSIONThe detection of cancer metastasis in the lymph nodes in colon carcinoma is almost doubled (21.9% vs 11.1%) by CK-20 mRNA, which may provide a guiding significance in staging, treatment planning and prognosis in the prognostic estimation of colon carcinoma patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Colonic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Markers ; genetics ; Humans ; Intermediate Filament Proteins ; genetics ; Keratin-20 ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

By observations of the features of ultrastructure changes in the tissue engineered artificial tendon of vitreous cryopreservation, we investigated the repairing effect of tendon after an in-vivo implantation and hence we provided an important theoretical and experimental basis for the vitreous cryopreservation and application of tissue engineered artificial tendon. After vitreous cryopreservation, the implantation materials of tissue engineered artificial tendon dynamically constructed in vitro were implanted in rats for reparation of the tendon defect. A scanning electron microscope was used. At the 2nd week, the materials presented a reticular formation and there were juvenile tendon cells among materials. At the 6th week, materials were already degraded and absorbed, and then were substituted by neonatal tendon cells and collagen fibers. At the 8th week, dense tendon tissues containing uniform tendon cells and collagen fibers were found already formed; the density of collagen fibers significantly increased with time. Using a transmission electron microscope at the 2nd week, we found active proliferation of tendon cells; most of them were immature cells with a complete nuclear membrane, clear nucleolus and little collagen fibers. At the 6th week, tendon cells were more mature with a little-sized, deep-stained nucleolus surrounded by plenty of collagen fibers with complete fiber structure and clear cross striation. There was no significant difference between the two groups. Using an electron microscope, we found a very good agreement in observation of the tissue engineered artificial tendon after the in-vivo implantation in two groups. Neonatal tendon cells and collagen fiber tissues grew well and are in a similar form and order when compared versus normal tendon tissues. This proved that vitreous cryopreservation has no significant influence on the function of tendon cells. The neonatal tissue-engineered tendon exerts good function of growth and repair.
Achilles Tendon ; injuries ; surgery ; ultrastructure ; Animals ; Cryopreservation ; Female ; Male ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Tendons ; cytology ; transplantation ; Tissue Engineering ; methods ; Tissue Preservation ; methods ; Tissue Scaffolds ; Vitrification

OBJECTIVETo detect occult metastases in lymph nodes from patients with colorectal carcinoma and its clinical significance.

METHODSThe metastases in 260 lymph nodes from 39 histologically verified colorectal cancer patients were studied by both hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and cytokeratin-20 (CK20) specific RT-PCR. Ten normal lymph nodes were served as negative controls, and HT29 colon cancer cell line and 5 colorectal cancer specimens as positive controls.

RESULTSTen normal lymph nodes were CK20-negative, HT29 cells and 5 tumor specimens were all CK20-positive. All 29 lymph nodes from 16 patients which confirmed metastases by HE staining exhibited CK20 positive expression; an additional 28 lymph nodes from 5 patients with no histologically detectable metastases expressed CK20 mRNA, i.e. presence of metastases. The difference of the positivity was significant (11.1% vs 21.9%, P < 0.01). According to the HE staining, the cases of Dukes' A, B, C and D were 3, 20, 12 and 4, respectively. In the 20 patients of Dukes' B stage, 5 of them had CK20-positive lymph nodes.

CONCLUSIONCK20-specific RT-PCR is a highly sensitive, specific and simple method for detecting occult metastases in lymph nodes. The detection of CK20 mRNA expression in lymph nodes is recommended to precisely determine tumor stage and postoperative adjuvant therapy for patients with colorectal cancer, and further studies should be done in future to confirm the findings.

Adult ; Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Intermediate Filament Proteins ; genetics ; Keratin-20 ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; genetics ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of different doses of bortezomib combined with chemotherapy for multiple myeloma (MM).Methods:A prospective case series study was performed. A total of 81 MM patients at Leshan People's Hospital from February 2022 to May 2023 were collected as study subjects. According to the random number table method, patients were divided into high-dose bortezomib group (39 cases treated with 1.6 mg/m 2 bortezomib combined with dexamethasone and thalidomide) and low-dose bortezomib group (42 cases treated with 1.3 mg/m 2 bortezomib combined with dexamethasone and thalidomide). The clinical efficacy after 4 courses of treatment, adverse reactions, C-reactive protein (CRP), β 2 microglobulin (β 2-MG) and serum creatinine levels before and after treatment, survival and prognosis of patients in both groups were compared. Results:There were 29 males and 10 females in the high-dose bortezomib group and the age was (59±5) years; there were 31 males and 11 females in the low-dose bortezomib group and the age was (59±6) years. The differences in the general data of both groups were statistically significant (all P > 0.05). The overall effectiveness rate was 87.2% (34/39) and 80.9% (34/42), respectively in the high-dose bortezomib group and the low-dose bortezomib group, and the difference was not statistically significant of both groups ( χ2 = 0.58, P = 0.446). The incidence rate of adverse reactions was 30.8% (12/39), 19.0% (8/39), respectively in the high-dose bortezomib group and the low-dose bortezomib group, and the difference was not statistically significant of both groups ( χ2 = 1.49, P = 0.222). Before treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in the levels of CRP, β 2-MG and serum creatinine between the 2 groups (all P > 0.05); after treatment, there were statistically significant differences in the levels of CRP [(23.6±2.2) g/L vs. (31.5±3.6) g/L)], β 2-MG [(2 317±63) μg/L vs. (4 212±114) μg/L] and serum creatinine [(70±5) μmol/L vs. (79±7) μmol/L] in the high-dose bortezomib group and the low-dose bortezomib group ( t value was 4.28, 18.29, 4.00, all P<0.05); and the levels of above 3 indicators after treatment were lower than those before treatment of both groups (all P < 0.05). The mortality rate was 10.3% (4/39) and 14.3% (6/42), respectively in the high-dose bortezomib group and the low-dose bortezomib group 1-year follow-up after treatment, and the difference was not statistically significant ( χ2 = 0.30, P = 0.582). Conclusions:The efficacy and safety of high-dose bortezomib combined with chemotherapy are comparable to those of low-dose bortezomib combined with chemotherapy in treatment of MM, while the former could improve renal function and inflammatory status of MM patients.