Objective To investigate the features of lymph node metastasis and its effects on the prognosis of patients after radical operation for thoracic esophageal squamous cell cancer, and investigate the reasonable postoperative adjuvant protocol. Methods Multivariate analysis of the clinical data of 204 patients was carried out by Spearman correlation analysis, Cox model and Kaplan-Meier method. Results The lymph node metastasis rate was 40.2% (82/204), and 166 out of 2193 dissected lymph nodes had metastasis with the rate of 7.57%. The analysis of related factors revealed that the invasion depth, tumor length and differentiation grade were significantly associated with the postoperative lymph node metastasis (χ2 = 17.466, 11.494, 6.767, P <0.05), while age, tumor site were not significantly correlated with the postoperative lymph node metastasis (χ2=1.086, 3.897, P > 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates of patients with < 4 lymph nodes metastasis were significantly higher than those with ≥4 lymph nodes metastasis (χ2=4.493, 4.494, 4.450, P < 0.05). The recurrence and metastasis were more often occurred in patients with lymph node metastasis compared with those without lymph node metastasis (r=-2.060, -4.296, P <0.05). Multivariate analysis confirmed that the pathological stage, tumor differentiation grade, and the postoperative adjuvant treatment were the independent prognostic factors. Conclusions The invasion depth, tumor length and differentiation grade are significantly associated with the postoperative lymph node metastasis. The lymph node metastasis state and the number of involved lymph nodes affect the prognosis of patients. Oral administration of 5-FU is benefit to the patients without lymph node metastasis.

Objective To observe the short-term efficacy and toxicity of HEPP regimen in treatment of refractory Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Methods HEPP regimen: HCPT 8 mg/m2 iv gtt d1~ d5, VP16 100 mg/d iv gtt d1~d5, PDD 20 mg/d iv gtt d1~d5, PDN 60 mg/m2 po d1~d14. The chemotherapy was repeated every 4 weeks as a cycle.The clinical effect was evaluated after 2 cycles and toxicity was observed during every cycle. Results 25 patients were eligible for toxicity evaluation and 22 patients for clinical response evaluation. The objective response rate was 60.0 %, including three cases complete remission and ten cases partial remission. Six cases achieved stable disease and three cases progressive disease. The major toxicity was bone marrow suppression, including 24.0 % grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ leukopenia and 12.0 % grade Ⅲ/Ⅳ thrombocytopenia. The incidence of nausea/vomiting, mucositis and hepatic toxicity was low. Conclusion HEPP regimen can achieve a satisfy result in the treatment of refractory Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It is low toxic and well tolerated.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Arsenicals ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxides ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Remission Induction ; Treatment Outcome ; Vomiting ; chemically induced

OBJECTIVETo guide doctors in precisely positioning surgical operation, a new production method of minimally invasive implant guide template was presented.

METHODSThe mandible of patient was scanned by CT scanner, and three-dimensional jaw bone model was constructed based on CT images data The professional dental implant software Simplant was used to simulate the plant based on the three-dimensional CT model to determine the location and depth of implants. In the same time, the dental plaster models were scanned by stereo vision system to build the oral mucosa model. Next, curvature registration technology was used to fuse the oral mucosa model and the CT model, then the designed position of implant in the oral mucosa could be determined. The minimally invasive implant guide template was designed in 3-Matic software according to the design position of implant and the oral mucosa model. Finally, the template was produced by rapid prototyping.

RESULTSThe three-dimensional registration technology was useful to fuse the CT data and the dental plaster data, and the template was accurate that could provide the doctors a guidance in the actual planting without cut-off mucosa.

CONCLUSIONThe guide template which fabricated by comprehensive utilization of three-dimensional registration, Simplant simulation and rapid prototyping positioning are accurate and can achieve the minimally invasive and accuracy implant surgery, this technique is worthy of clinical use.

Computer-Aided Design ; Dental Implantation, Endosseous ; Dental Implants ; Dental Models ; Humans ; Jaw, Edentulous ; Mandible ; Patient Care Planning ; Surgery, Computer-Assisted

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of berbamine hydrochloride on sorafenib resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the underlying mechanisms. MethodThe sorafenib-resistant cell line SMMC-7721/S was selected by the concentration increment method starting at 1.25 μmol·L^-1 sorafenib. Both SMMC-7721 and SMMC-7721/S cells were treated with 0， 2.5， 5， 10， 15， 20 μmol·L^-1 sorafenib， and the cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） assay was employed to determine the half maximal inhibitory concentration （IC₅₀） and calculate the resistance index （RI）. Western blot was conducted to compare the expression of proteins involved in autophagy and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin （PI3K/Akt/mTOR） signaling pathway between SMMC-7721 and SMMC-7721/S cells. Furthermore， SMMC-7721/S cells were treated with 5 μmol·L^-1 berbamine hydrochloride alone or in combination with 2.5， 5， 10 μmol·L^-1 sorafenib， and the cell growth was assessed by the CCK-8 assay. In addition， SMMC-7721 and SMMC-7721/S cells were treated with 5 μmol·L^-1 berbamine hydrochloride alone or in combination with 5 μmol·L^-1 sorafenib， and the cell proliferation was examined by the colony formation assay. The immunofluorescence assays with Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 （LC3） and LysoTracker as probes were employed to assess the lysosomal acidification in SMMC-7721 cells treated with 5 μmol·L^-1 berbamine hydrochloride or 0.1 μmol·L^-1 autophagy inhibitor bafilomycin A1 （Baf）. Further， the expression of proteins involved in autophagy and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway was determined by Western blot and compared between groups. ResultSorafenib showed the IC₅₀ of 9.56 mol·L^-1 （P<0.01） and 7.99 mol·L^-1 for SMMC-7721/S and SMMC-7721 cells， respectively， at 24 h. The resistance index （RI） of SMMC-7721/S for sorafenib was 1.20 （P<0.01）， which indicated mild resistance. Compared with SMMC-7721 cells， SMMC-7721/S cells exhibited up-regulated expression of p-mTOR， p-Akt， and LC3Ⅱ， down-regulated expression of p62 protein （P<0.01）， and unchanged Akt protein level. CCK-8 and colony formation assays demonstrated that the combination of berbamine hydrochloride and sorafenib exhibited a synergistic effect （Q>1.15）， with berbamine hydrochloride partially reversing the resistance of liver cancer cells to sorafenib. The immunofluorescence detection of LC3 revealed that berbamine hydrochloride and Baf significantly increased LC3 in SMMC-7721 cells. The detection with LysoTracker as the probe showed that berbamine hydrochloride inhibited the acidity of lysosomes in SMMC-7721 cells （P<0.01）， indicating the suppression of autophagy. Berbamine hydrochloride further enhanced the downregulation of p-mTOR and p-Akt protein levels and did not change the Akt protein level in SMMC-7721 cells exposed to sorafenib. Berbamine hydrochloride inhibited the increase in p-mTOR expression， down-regulated the p-Akt protein level， and did not change the total Akt protein level in the SMMC-7721/S cells exposed to sorafenib. ConclusionBerbamine hydrochloride can ameliorate the resistance of liver cancer cells to sorafenib by inhibiting cellular autophagy and the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.