Objective To study the expression of Snail in laryngeal carcinoma and to explore its relationship with invasion and metastasis in subgroup laryngeal carcinoma cells. Method The expression of Snail protein was examined by immunohistochemistry staining in the tissue of laryngeal carcinoma. The statistical evaluation was performed to detect the correlation between the Snail protein expression and clinical features. In different subgroups of laryngeal carcinoma cells (CD 44+CD 133+cells, CD 44 and CD 133-cells), the expression of Snail and adhesion molecules E-cadherin were detected by RT-PCR,Western blot test and immunochemical staining which were studied in the correlation with invasion and metastasis. Results The result of immunohistochemical staining revealed that Snail was moderately or highly expressed in the tissue of laryngeal carcinoma significantly and higher than those in adjacent non-cancerous tissues(P<0.01). Expression of Snail was highly correlated with lymph node metastasis, tumor differentiation and clinical classification(P<0.05).However, it was not related to the age , gender and clinical type. RT-PCR and Western blot test results confirmed that the expression level of Snail was significantly higher in CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cells than in CD 44-and CD 133-laryngeal cancer cells, otherwise the expression level of E-cadherin in CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cells was significantly lower than in the CD 44-and CD 133-laryngeal cancer cells. Cell immunohistochemical staining confirmed the expression of Snail and E-cadherin were negatively correlated in CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cells. Conclusion Over expression of Snail in laryngeal carcinoma is closely related to the development of laryngeal cancer and lymph node metastasis. The expression of Snail in the CD 44+CD 133+laryngeal cancer cell subgroup is negatively correlated with adhesion molecules E-cadherin, which is a close correlation with invasion and metastasis of laryngeal cancer cells.

Objective To summarize clinical experiences for the management of upper cervical fracture associated with mild to moderate craniocerebral injury in order to improve the outcome of patients with craniocervical injury.Methods Twenty-two cases (13 males and 9 females) of non-nerve damage treated surgically from June 2008 to June 2012 were enrolled.Mean age was 41 years (range,23-68 years).Mechanisms of injury were traffic accidents in 12 cases,high falls in 7 cases and violence or others in 3 cases.Dens fractures were noted in 7 cases,Jefferson fractures in 5 cases and axial vertebral arch fractures in 4 cases,and combined atlas and axis fractures in 6 cases.Admission Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) was 12-14 points in 10 cases and 9-11 points in 12 cases.All cases suffered some degree of brain damage including brain contusion and laceration,and epidural,subdural or intracerebral hematoma.Three cases of cervical fractures were misdiagnosed in the early stage.Twelve cases required emergent craniotomy due to the primary craniocerebral injury and had elective upper cervical spine surgery until the medical condition was stabilized.Another 10 cases underwent conservation treatment of craniocerebral injury and had cervical spine surgery within 1 week due to the severe dislocation of the upper cervical spine.Operation time,blood loss,hospital stay,hospitalization cost and perioperative complications were analyzed.Outcome was evaluated with Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at discharge.Fracture union,bone fusion and cervical stability were assayed with X-rays and CT films.Results All were followed up for a mean period of 18 months (range,12-36 months).Among the 12 cases of primary craniocerebral injury,operation time was (115 ± 22) min,blood loss was (280 ± 72) ml,hospitalization period was (23 ±7)d and overall cost was 88,000 yuan;one case sustained wound infection cured two weeks after debridement and dressing and two cases sustained pulmonary infection cured after antibiotic treatment;discharge GOS was grade Ⅳ in 2 cases and grade Ⅴ in 10 cases.Among the 10 cases of primary cervical injury,operation time was (125 ± 38) min,blood loss was (330 ± 90) ml,hospitalization period was (17 ± 6)d and overall cost was 61,000 yuan;no perioperative complications occurred;discharge GOS was grade Ⅳ in 1 case and grade Ⅴ in 9 cases.Pain radiating to occipital region,limited neck mobility and other clinical symptoms were alleviated at discharge.X-rays verified good healing of the bone and no malposition of the screws.Conclusion For cervical fracture associated with craniocerebral injury,cervical examination and protection are important.Once medical condition becomes stable,early surgery can be performed for upper cervical fracture.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of posterior short-segment pedicle screw fixation combined with vertebroplasty or injured vertebral transpedicular fixation in the treatment of osteoporotic thoracolumbar Magerl type A3 fractures.Methods A retrospective case control study was conducted on 39 patients with acute traumatic osteoporotic thoracolumbar burst fractures admitted from May 2007 to May 2016.There were 17 males and 22 females,aged 52-85 years (mean 61.3 years).All patients had single segment thoracolumbar fracture(T11-L2),with bone mineral density T value ＜-2.5 SD and the Frankel grade D or E.According to operation method,the patients were divided into Group A (n =22) which adopted short segment pedicle screw fixation combined with vertebroplasty and Group B (n =17) which adopted pedicle screw fixation combined with injured vertebra transpedicular fixation.The operation time and blood loss were compared between the two groups.VAS and Frankel grade were used to evaluate the patients' pain and the recovery of neurological function.The height recovery and Cobb angle of fracture vertebra were measured according to X-ray.Complications at follow ups were observed.Results All patients underwent the operations successfully with good healing.The mean follow-up time was 23.5 months (range,12-40 months).The operation time was (61.7 ± 6.7)minutes in Group A and (48.1 ± 7.5) minutes in Group B (P ＜ 0.05).The blood loss was (347.7 ± 44.9) ml in Group A and (288.3 ±41.6)ml in Group B (P ＜ 0.05).Postoperative VAS score and VAS at the final follow-up in both groups were significantly improved compared with those before operation (P ＜ 0.05),with no significant difference between the two groups.Four cases in Group A and two cases in Group B with Frankel grade D were classified as grade E.After operation,the recovery rate of injured vertebral Cobb angle and anterior height were significantly improved in both groups (P ＜ 0.05).The recovery rate of Cobb angle and anterior height at the last follow up was lower than that after surgery,but with no statistical difference (P ＞ 0.05),and no significant differences were found between the two groups either (P ＞ 0.05).The screws were removed from four patients in Group A and two patients in Group B.No complications or failure of internal fixation was found during follow-up.Conclusion Posterior shortsegment pedicle screw fixation combined with vertebroplasty or injured vertebra transpedicular fixation are both helpful to the height recovery of vertebral osteoporotic fractures and reduce kyphosis with similar efficacy,while the former has the advantages of shorter operation time and less bleeding.

Objective:To investigate the effect of thoracolumbar osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) combined with lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (LDS) on spinopelvic sagittal parameters in the elderly.Methods:A case-control study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 77 patients with thoracolumbar OVCF admitted to Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from December 2016 to December 2021. There were 16 males and 61 females with the age of 61-92 years [(73.9±8.4)years]. All patients had single-level thoracolumbar fractures (T 11-L 2). Simple thoracolumbar OVCF was found in 49 patients (OVCF group) and thoracolumbar OVCF combined with LDS in 28 (OVCF+LDS group). The pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT), sacral slope (SS), lumbar lordosis (LL), thoracic kyphosis (TK), thoracolumbar kyphosis (TLK), sagittal vertical axis (SVA) and Roussouly types were detected and compared between the two groups before operation. Results:There was no significant difference in PT and SVA between the two groups (all P>0.05). The PI, SS, LL, TK and TLK in OVCF+LDS group were (55.8±11.0)°, (34.1±10.9)°, (45.7±9.1)°, (35.7±6.1)° and (24.8±5.2)°, significantly larger than (47.9±8.8)°, (27.0±9.4)°, (33.1±7.9)°, (29.5±6.2)° and (18.4±5.5)° in OVCF group (all P<0.01). Roussouly types I-IV counted 22, 16, 5 and 6 patients in OVCF group, compared to 8, 5, 6 and 9 patients in OVCF+LDS group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:Elderly patients with thoracolumbar OVCF combined with LDS can significantly alter spinopelvic sagittal parameters, and LDS may aggravate the thoracolumbar kyphosis of OVCF. To avoid sagittal imbalance, surgery should be performed as soon as possible.

T cell immune checkpoint pathways contribute to tumor immune escape. Many studies have shown that immune checkpoint is demonstrably correlated with tumor grade or prognosis in several types of malignancies and immune checkpoint has become a new biological index for tumor detection and prognosis. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown promising tumor outcomes in clinical trials for some advanced solid tumors and it will become a new target for cancer immunotherapy. In this review we will explore the correlation between expressions of immune checkpoint-associated genes and proteins in immune microenviroment and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and specifically will discuss how this pathway can be manipulated with immune therapeutic drugs.