The establishment of immune system is an orchestrated process from hematopoietic stem cells to immune effector cells.Hematopoietic stem cells development into variety of immune cell subsets with high pluripotency.However,effector immune cells possess specific function with limited pluripotency.Recently,researchers found that differentiated immune cells were able to transdifferentiate to other cell types accompanied with the conversion of effector functions.The plasticity of immune cell subsets were confirmed in many subsets such as T cell,innate lymphoid cell,macrophage,neutrophil and so on.The transdifferentiation of immune cells is accompanied with the process of many diseases.Study on plasticity of immune cells will provide important theoretic basis to clinic trail.In this review,we summarized the subsets,regulatory mechanism,and related diseases about immune cell plasticity.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with recurrent colorectal cancer.

METHODSClinicopathological characteristics and postoperative survival of 235 patients with recurrent colorectal cancer after radical resection were retrospectively analyzed, and was compared with that of 993 patients with radical resection.

RESULTSThe overall 5- and 10-year survival rates after radical resection were 67.7% and 55.8%, respectively. The 5- and 10-year survival rates in patients with recurrent colorectal cancer was 43.9% and 28.1% (P=0.000), respectively. Among patients with recurrent colorectal cancer, the 5- and 10-year survival rates of the patients underwent second radical resection were 50.2% and 32.7%, while the 5- and 10-year survival rates of the patients without second surgery were 25.8% and 0, respectively (P=0.000). On univariate analysis, postoperative recurrence was associated with age at diagnosis, cancerous ileus, ascites, lymphs nodes involvement, gross types, infiltration of tumor and Duke's stage. Multivariate analysis revealed that cancerous ileus, ascites, gross types and Duke's stage were independent predictive factors for postoperative recurrence.

CONCLUSIONCancerous ileus, ascites, gross types and Duke's stage were independent predictive factors for recurrence and metastasis of colorectal cancer after radical resection. The 5- and 10-year survival rates and quality of life could be improved by second radical resection.

Adult ; Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; mortality ; pathology ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; mortality ; pathology ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo investigate the lymph nodes distribution and metastatic pattern of the ultra-low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy.

METHODSA total of 21 rectal cancer gross specimen after neoadjuvant therapy and 23 rectal cancer gross specimen without neoadjuvant therapy were investigated by whole mount section and tissue microarray techniques with CK20. All the patients were treated by abdominoperineal resection.

RESULTSThere were 138 lymph nodes retrieved from the mesorectum in the neoadjuvant group including 39 metastatic lymph nodes and 12 micro-metastatic lymph nodes. Among these nodes, there were 7 rectal cancer cases with lymph nodes and 2 cases with micro-metastatic lymph nodes, and 6 cases had pathological complete remission. There were 415 lymph nodes retrieved from the mesorectum in the group without neoadjuvant therapy including 169 metastatic lymph nodes and 59 micro-metastatic lymph nodes. Among these nodes, there were 12 rectal cancer cases with lymph nodes and 4 cases with micro-metastatic lymph nodes. The proportions of metastatic lymph nodes in outer zone between the two groups were 21.5% and 29.0%, and those in pre-zone were 17.6% and 17.2% respectively. The ratio of metastatic lymph nodes in ischiorectal fossa between the two groups were 25.0% vs. 22.2% respectively. The rate of metastatic or micro-metastatic lymph nodes cases between the two groups were 4.8% vs. 13.0% respectively.

CONCLUSIONSThe lymph nodes distribution and metastatic pattern of the ultra-low rectal cancer are affected by neoadjuvant therapy. The proportions of the anal sphincter invasion and metastatic or micro-metastatic lymph nodes in ischiorectal fossa are lower after neoadjuvant therapy. Abdominoperineal resection as the standard treatment of the ultra-low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy should be re-evaluated.

Biopsy ; Digestive System Surgical Procedures ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Rectal Neoplasms ; pathology ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo search for differentially expressed proteins in the serum of patients with Crohn's disease.

METHODSSerum protein samples obtained from 4 patients with Crohn's disease and 4 normal adults were cross-labeled with different CyDyes and underwent two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE) and imaging analysis. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins.

RESULTS2-D DIGE revealed that the protein on spot 973 was overexpressed by 2.55 folds in the serum of patients with Crohn's disease compared with that in normal adults (P<0.05). The protein was identified as CD45 using mass spectrometry.

CONCLUSIONCD45 overexpression in the serum of patients with Crohn's disease may play a role in the disequilibrium of the immune system.

Amino Acid Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; Crohn Disease ; blood ; immunology ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocyte Common Antigens ; blood ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization

OBJECTIVETo elucidate an adequate hepatectomy margin for simultaneous liver and colorectal resection in colorectal cancer liver metastasis.

METHODSClinical data of 39 patients, undergone simultaneous liver and colorectal resection for colorectal cancer liver metastasis from August 1994 to December 2004, were analyzed retrospectively. Two groups were divided according to the width of hepatectomy margin:less than 1 cm in group A, and equal or more than 1 cm in group B. The data were analyzed and compared between the 2 groups using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Log-rank test.

RESULTSThere were 14 patients in group A and 25 patients in group B. No significant differences in gender, age, primary tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, the number, distribution and size of liver metastasis, duration and blood lose of surgery were found between two groups. The median survival time was 17 months in group A, and 37 months in group B, and the overall 5-year survival rate in group B was much better than that in group A (19.8% vs 0, P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSimultaneous liver and colorectal resection in colorectal cancer liver metastasis should be performed with a hepatectomy margin equal or more than 1 cm.

Colorectal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Female ; Hepatectomy ; mortality ; Humans ; Liver ; pathology ; surgery ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; secondary ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of the methylation status and expression level of Syk gene with the clinicopathological characteristics in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients.

METHODSMethylation-specific PCR(MSP) and RT-PCR techniques were used to analyze the methylation status and expression level of Syk gene in cancer and normal tissues of 120 CRC patients, meanwhile, association of the methylation status and expression level of Syk gene with the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis were studied.

RESULTS(1) Syk gene expression was not found in 48 cancer tissues out of 120 patients and was found in all the normal tissues.The difference was significant. (2) Loss of Syk expression was found in 37 patients with Syk hypermethylation, and in 11 out of 83 patients with Syk nonmethylation. (3) The methylation status of Syk gene was correlated with the lymph node status and the Dukes stage, but not with other clinicopathological parameters. (4) The follow-up data revealed that the 3-year survival of patients with Syk hypermethylation was lower than that of patients without Syk hypermethylation(73.5% vs.95.7%,P=0.007),and postoperative recurrence rate significantly increased in the Syk hypermethylation group (32.4% vs. 8.4%,P=0.02).

CONCLUSIONHypermethylation leads to silence of Syk gene involved in the initiation of colorectal cancer, which increases the infiltration of colorectal cancer cells, postoperative relapse and decreases the postoperative 3-year survival time.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Spleen ; metabolism ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the relationship between clinicopathologic features and prognosis of colorectal cancer after surgical treatment.

METHODSThe clinical characteristics, pathologic features and survival rate of 761 patients with colorectal cancer after surgical treatment were univariately and multivariately analyzed.

RESULTSThe overall 3- and 5-year survival rates of patients with colorectal cancer after surgical treatment were 62.9% and 60.7% with a median survival of 1,825 days. The factors of gross findings, degree of differentiation, infiltration, nodal and distant metastasis and neoplastic intestinal obstruction influenced the survival rate by univariate analysis. The factors of Dukes stage, gross tumor configuration, intramural spread and differentiation degree were available independent prognostic factors through multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONDukes stage, as the most important available independent prognostic factor (P < 0.0005), is able to assess the postoperative survival.

Adult ; Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; mortality ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Regression Analysis ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopy- assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer.

METHODSLiterature search was performed in Pubmed, Medline, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) to identify controlled trials comparing LADG and open distal gastrectomy (ODG) for gastric cancer published between January 2005 and February 2010. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0 software.

RESULTSSeven controlled trials were included. One trail was randomized controlled trial. Compared to ODG, LADG had less blood loss[WMD: -132.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): -207.32 to -56.77], earlier postoperative first flatus (WMD: -0.82, 95% CI: -1.20 to -0.45], less complications [odds ratio (OR): 0.45, 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.78], shorter postoperative hospital stay (WMD: -3.63, 95% CI: -4.19 to -3.07), more harvested lymph nodes (WMD: 1.93, 95%CI: 0.36 to 3.50). There were no significant differences between the two groups in recurrence rate, metastasis rate, mortality and survival rate.

CONCLUSIONShort-term outcome of LADG with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer is superior to ODG.

Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic ; Gastrectomy ; methods ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of CK19 in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues in patients with low serum AFP concentration and the relationship between them and the recurrence and prognosis of HCC after R0 radical hepatectomy.

METHODSThe expressions of CK19 and Ki67 in HCC tissues of 235 cases were examined using tissue microarray and two-step methods of PV-6000 immunohistochemistry. The expression of CK19 mRNA in 20 frozen HCC specimens was examined by RT-PCR. The correlation between gene expressions and tumor recurrence and prognosis was analyzed.

RESULTSAmong the 235 HBV-related HCC patients after R0 radical hepatectomy, the median disease-free survival (DFS) was 31.2 months in the patients with serum AFP < 400 µg/L and 13.8 months in the patients with serum AFP ≥ 400 µg/L (P = 0.041), the overall survival (OS) was 84.0 and 58.6 months in the two subgroups (P = 0.125), and the tumor recurrence within one year was in 43 cases (27%) and 37 cases (49.3%), respectively, (P = 0.001). The DFS was 11.6 months in the CK19-positive cases and 27.0 months in the CK19-negative cases (P > 0.05). The OS was significantly lower in the CK19-positive cases than that in the CK19-negative cases (P = 0.023). Both DFS and OS in the CK19-positive cases with AFP < 400 µg/L were significantly lower than those in the CK19-negative cases with AFP < 400 µg/L (both P < 0.05). The CK19 expression was significantly correlated with histological differentiation (P = 0.023), number of tumor foci (P = 0.044), vascular tumor embolism (P = 0.005), regional lymph node metastasis (P = 0.023), and 1-year recurrence (P = 0.006). Among the patients with AFP < 400 µg/L, the 1-year recurrence was 53% in the CK19-positive cases and 23% in the CK19-negative cases (P < 0.001), the median DFS was 11.3 months in CK19-positive cases and 34.0 months in CK19-negative cases (P = 0.010), and the median OS was 19.5 months in the CK19-positive cases, significantly lower than 84.0 months in the CK19-negative cases (P = 0.001). Cox regression analysis showed that CK19-positive expression was an independent factor affecting early HCC recurrence and prognosis.

CONCLUSIONIn HBV-related HCC patients after radical hepatectomy with AFP < 400 µg/L, positive expression of CK19 indicates a higher proliferation and invasiveness of HCC, and is an important factor of early recurrence and poor prognosis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; virology ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Hepatectomy ; methods ; Hepatitis B virus ; Humans ; Keratin-19 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; virology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo search differentially expressed proteins in serum of patients with Crohn disease.

METHODSSerum protein samples from 4 patients with Crohn disease and 8 healthy adults were recruited cross-labeled with variant CyDye, and then followed by two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE), image analysis, and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS).

RESULTSThe 2-D electrophoresis results were compared between the Crohn disease patients and the healthy adults. The spot 1058 expression in serum of Crohn disease patients increased by 1.68 folds as compared with healthy adults (P<0.05). The protein was identified as haptoglobin by mass spectrometry.

CONCLUSIONUp-regulating expression of haptoglobin in serum of Crohn disease patients may play a role in disequilibrium of immunity system.

Adult ; Blood Proteins ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Crohn Disease ; blood ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Haptoglobins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Proteomics ; methods ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization