Objective:To improve the prognosis stratification, especially early mortality(EM), of elderly patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma(NDMM).Methods:In this retrospective study, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were conducted to identify the independent prognostic factors associated with overall survival(OS)and the chi-square test and multivariate Logistic analysis were used to identify the prognostic factors associated with EM in 223 elderly patients(age≥65 years)with NDMM from three centers in the country.Results:Increased NT-pro-BNP(≥300 pg/ml), ECOG-PS≥2 and stage Ⅲ R-ISS were identified as three independent adverse prognostic factors of OS.The rates of EM3, EM6, EM12 and EM24 were 12.1%, 20.1%, 32.2% and 60%, respectively.The most common cause for EM6(particularly EM3)was disease-related complications resulting from ineligibility for treatment due to poor physical performance, severe organ dysfunction or treatment discontinuation due to treatment intolerance, while the most common cause for EM12(particularly EM24)was disease progression or relapse mainly as a result of inadequate treatment.R-ISS staging failed to predict EM, while decreased eGFR, ECOG-PS≥2, and increased NT-pro-BNP were able to estimate the risk of EM, with increased NT-pro-BNP as a common independent factor for EM12( P=0.03)and EM24( P=0.015). Conclusions:R-ISS staging, which primarily reflects MM biology, cannot predict EM.However, factors such as NT-pro-BNP, eGFR and ECOG-PS associated with frailty and impairment of organ functions can be used to estimate the risk of EM, among which NT-pro-BNP may be the most important independent factor for EM.Therefore, incorporation of these frailty-related biomarkers into R-ISS staging may be able to more precisely estimate the prognosis and particularly early death of elderly patients with NDMM.

Objective: To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis, occurrence sequence and clonal origin of chronic lymphocytic leukemia complicated with multiple myeloma. Methods: The diagnosis and treatment of one patient with multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia who was admitted to the First Hospital of Jilin University in May 2018 was retrospectively analyzed, and the related literatures were reviewed. Results: This patient began with lumbosacral pain, and he was diagnosed as chronic lymphocytic leukemia complicated with multiple myeloma after bone marrow aspiration, flow cytometry, and blood and urine immunofixation electrophoresis. It is recommended that Rd (lenalidomide + dexamethasone) or MPV (melphalan + prednisone + bortezomib) regimen, but the patient did not receive chemotherapy and died of infectious diarrhea 1 month later. Conclusions The occurrence of multiple myeloma and chronic lymphoblastic leukemia may originate from the same clone or different new clone. It is very rare that multiple myeloma and chronic lymphoblastic leukemia can co-occur. Therapeutic options tend to be more aggressive multiple myeloma-based regimen.

Objective: To evaluate the prognostic value of kinetic changes in minimal residual disease (MRD) status, as well as its relationship with risk stratification, therapeutic response and treatment in patients with newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) . Methods: A total of 135 patients with newly-diagnosed MM were screened, and 105 patients who achieved VGPR or more as the best responses were included into this study. The MRD status was determined by multiparameter flow cytometry (MFC) at multiple intervals after two cycles of treatment until clinical relapse, death, or last follow-up. The statistical methods included Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox regression, etc. Results: ①In all 135 patients, 57.8% (78/135) patients achieved MRD negativity (MRD^-) after treatment. In 105 patients who achieved VGPR and thus included in this study, the MRD^- rate was 72.4% (76/105) , with a median interval of 3 months from starting treatment to achievement of MRD^- status. ②The 2-year PFS rate of patients with MRD^- status was significantly higher than that of MRD⁺ status (62.2% vs 41.3%, P=0.001) , while MRD persistence (MRD⁺) was an independent factor for poor prognosis (multivariate analysis for PFS: P=0.044, HR=3.039, 95%CI 1.029-8.974) . ③Loss of MRD^- status (i.e., MRD reappearance) showed inferior outcomes compared with MRD sustained negative ones, the PFS was 18 months versus not reach (P<0.001) and the OS was not reach for both (P=0.002) . ④The 2-year PFS and OS rates of patients with duration of MRD^-status≥12 months were significantly higher than those of the control group (PFS: 77.7% vs 36.7%, P<0.001; OS: 96.4% vs 57.9%, P<0.001 respectively) . Duration of MRD^- status was associated with a marked reduction in risk of relapse or death (univariate analysis for PFS: P<0.001, HR=0.865, 95%CI 0.815-0.918; for OS: P=0.001, HR=0.850, 95%CI 0.741-0.915 respectively) . ⑤Moreover, even in patients carrying high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities (CA) or ineligible for ASCT, MRD negativity remained its prognostic value to predict PFS (high-risk CA medianPFS: not reach vs 19 months, P=0.006; ineligible for ASCT medianPFS: not reach vs 25 months, P=0.052 respectively) . ⑥Last, treatment with the bortezomib-based regimens contributed to prolonged MRD^- duration (median MRD^- duratio: 25 months vs 10 months, P=0.034) . Conclusion Our findings supported MRD⁺ status as an independent poor prognostic factor in MM patients, which implicated that duration of MRD^- status also played a significant role in evaluation of prognosis, while loss of MRD^-status might serve as an early biomarker for relapse. Therefore, monitoring of MRD kinetics might more precisely predict prognosis, as well as guide treatment decision, especially for when to start retreatment in relapsed patients.

Objective To indentify the cognitive status of Chinese patients to acne and the influencing factors to theirs' cognitive status,so as to provide solid evidences for the prevention and treatment of acne.Methods A self-designed questionnaire was made to conduct this survey of 16,156 acne patients,who seeked to the treatment in the dermatological departments from 112 hospitals in China.The survey consisted of several parts,including the general status of patients,the patients' cognition of occurrence,development and risk factors of acne,whether the first choice was seeking treatment at the hospital when the patients had acne and the condition of selection of skin care products.The factors were analyzed,which could impact the cognition of the patients' behavior of treatment,how did the patients' cognition to influence their medical behavior and skin care as well as the consistency of assessment of the severity of acne by doctors and patients themselves.Results The acne patients studied had the best knowledge of "acne is a skin disease","it not only occurs in the period of adolescence" and "the disease can be prevented and cured",which accordingly accounted for 80.65％,69.16％ and 65.49％ of the total patients respectively.However,the awareness of acne patients to heredity,high sugar and dairy products as risk factors for acne was insufficient,which accounted for 48.72％,42.40％ and 18.25％ of the total patients,respectively.Gender,age,educational level,occupation and health knowledge were the main factors affecting the cognitive level of patients;the survey also found that men,patient with educational level of junior high or even lower educational condition,occupation of labor workers or farmers and patients were lack of health education with poor knowledge of the genetics and dietary were risk factors for acne;patients with age over 36 years or with mild illness had poor knowledge of dietary risk factors for acne;the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The analysis of the influence of cognitive status on medical treatment behavior and skin care showed that the better the cognition,the higher the probability of patients would choose medical treatment as the first choice as well as choosing functional skin care products;the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05).The consistency of assessment of the severity of acne by doctors and patients was poor (Kappa value ＜0.4),and the assessment of severity of acne by patients was more serious than doctors' assessment.Conclusions Patient's cognitive status will affect their medical behavior and skin care,and there is also a phenomenon that patients have a more serious assessment of their acne condition.It is suggested that health education for acne patients should be strengthened in clinical medicine so as to improve their knowledge of acne as well as preventing from acne effectively.

By reviewing the literature regarding the development mechanism of myocardial stunning, effects of acupuncture on myocardial ischemic injury, and correlation between acupuncture and κ-opioid receptor, it was suggested that acupuncture was highly likely to act on κ-opioid receptor in myocardial cells, and directly treated myocardial malfunction induced by myocardial stunning through κ-opioid receptor and its signaling pathway. In addition, acupuncture could inhabit the signaling pathway of adrenoceptor β1, one of the main functional receptors, to indirectly improve myocardial ischemic injury. From κ-opioid receptor signaling pathway, the action mechanism of acupuncture for prevention and treatment of myocardial stunning was discussed in this paper, hoping to provide new ideas for possible mechanism of acupuncture for myocardial ischemic injury.

PURPOSE: The long non-coding RNA H19, a conservatively imprinted gene, acts as a molecular sponge for the let-7 family, which has been identified as a set of tumor suppressors. However, the combined prognostic value of H19 and let-7a signature in breast cancer patients remains unclear. METHODS: In this research we assessed the prognostic value of the combined H19 and let-7a signature in breast cancer patients by retrospectively reviewing that data of 79 patients who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy; we also investigated the expression and function of H19 in breast cancer cell lines in vitro. Survival data were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were conducted using the Cox proportional hazards regression method. As determined using X-tile, the optimal cutoff value for the risk score to assess progression-free survival (PFS) based on the combined signature was –0.1. RESULTS: Patients with an overall positive treatment response had higher let-7a and lower H19 levels. In addition, let-7a expression was negatively correlated with H19 expression. Patients with a risk score of >–0.1 had shorter overall survival and PFS. In vitro data showed that chemoresistant cell lines exhibit higher H19 and lower let-7a levels and knockdown H19 restores paclitaxel sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the combined let-7a and H19 signature is a novel prognostic factor for breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Cell Line ; Disease-Free Survival* ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Methods ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Paclitaxel ; Porifera ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; RNA, Long Noncoding

Objective To investigate the effects of small interfering RNA (siRNA) CXCR4 gene on proliferation, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition factors including Twist, Slug and E-cadherin (E-cad)in HeLa cells of human cervical carcinoma.Methods HeLa cells were cultured in vitro and CXCR4-siRNA was transfected into HeLa cells. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was used to detect the changes of cell proliferation. Transwell experiment was used to observe the changes of cell invasion, and the expressions of CXCR4,Twist,Slug and E-cad protein were detected by Western blot.Results Compared with the blank control group and the negative control group,CXCR4-siRNA transfected into HeLa cells significantly inhibited the expression of CXCR4 protein (0.959±0.197, 0.932±0.141 vs. 0.379±0.022 respectively; F=16.286, P =0.004). MTT results showed that the proliferation of HeLa cells was inhibited at 48 h and 72 h (48 h: 0.846 ± 0.034, 0.823 ± 0.025 vs. 0.744 ± 0.039, F = 7.379, P= 0.024; 72 h: 0.996±0.026, 0.964± 0.059 vs. 0.829±0.051, F = 10.425, P= 0.011). Transwell results showed that the invasiveness of HeLa cells in CXCR4-siRNA group was inhibited at 48 h and 72 h(cell membrane number,48 h:37.4±8.1,33.6±6.2 vs.25.4 ±3.2, F = 4.830, P= 0.029. 72 h: 48.4 ±7.6, 43.0 ±5.4 vs. 33.4 ±6.7, F = 6.579, P= 0.012). After transfection for 48 h, the expression of Twist and Slug protein was decreased and E-cad protein was increased in CXCR4-siRNA group (Twist: 0.93±0.11, 1.00±0.17 vs. 0.53±0.07, F = 10.962, P= 0.010; Slug: 0.515± 0.084,0.470±0.055 vs.0.190±0.028,F =25.579,P=0.001;E-cad:0.53±0.04,0.55±0.24 vs.1.11±0.14,F =12.494, P= 0.007). Conclusions Silencing CXCR4 gene can inhibit the proliferation and reduce the invasiveness of HeLa cells. Inhibiting EMT of HeLa cells can be achieved by down-regulating the expressions of Twist and Slug protein,and up-regulating the expression of E-cad.

Objective: To investigate the effect of 1q21 amplification (1q) on the therapeutic response and prognosis of bortezomib(Btz) in the treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Methods: A total of 180 newly diagnosed MM were included for analyses of clinical characteristics, cytogenetics, objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), retrospectively. Gene expression profiling (GEP) was analyzed using publicly available R2 platform. Results: ① In 180 patients, 1q was found in 51.1% cases. Of them, 174 patients had complete follow-up data, including 88 cases with 1q and 86 without 1q (non-1q). ②Incidence of 1q was positively associated with percentage of IGH rearrangement (72.2%, P=0.017) and 1p deletion (1p) (27.8%, P=0.040). ③ The median PFS was 15.0 and 20.3 months for the 1q group and non-1q group, and the median OS was 29.4 and 44.0 months, respectively. Both PFS and OS of 1q group was significantly shorter than those of the non-1q group (P=0.029 and 0.038, respectively). Multivariate analysis further revealed that 1q was an independent prognostic factor for both PFS (HR=1.910, 95% CI 1.105-3.303, P=0.020) and OS (HR=2.353, 95% CI 1.090-5.078, P=0.029). ④ In 91 evaluable cases with 1q, very good partial remission (VGPR) rate was higher after treatment with Btz than those without Btz (62.1% vs 40.0%, P=0.032). Of note, the patients with 1q who received auto-HSCT after induction with Btz had significantly longer PFS than those without auto-HSCT (19 months vs 13 months, P=0.048). ⑤GEP analysis revealed that 1q21 amplification predominantly up-regulated expression of >50% genes within 1q21 region, and also altered expression of 28% genes in chromosome 1 and 10% genes in whole genome, particularly related to DNA repair and cell cycle. Conclusions 1q is an independent adverse prognostic factor in patients with newly diagnosed MM. It is often associated with 1p deletion and IGH rearrangement. Patients with 1q respond well to Btz-based regimen, but they fail to gain long-term benefit from this treatment itself. However, auto-HSCT following Btz induction might improve survival of patients with 1q, suggesting a potential strategy to treat this high-risk subset of MM. GEP analysis warrants further attention in understanding the mechanisms underlying the high-risk of 1q.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide in a real-world clinical practice in Chinese patients with multiple myeloma (MM).Methods It was a prospective,multi-center,observational study.A total of 165 consecutive patients with MM treated with lenalidomide-based regimens were enrolled in 12 hospitals from June 2013 to November 2015.Relevant information was recorded,such as baseline clinical data,cytogenetic abnormalities,treatment regimens,and duration of treatment,safety,and survival.Results (1)There were 126 relapsed and refractory MM (RRMM) patients,25 newly diagnosed patients and 19 maintenance patients.The evaluable RRMM patients accounted for 120 cases,among which 74 cases(61.7％) reached the partial response (PR) or above,and a very good partial response (VGPR) in 16 patients (13.3％),a complete response (CR) in 14 cases (11.7％),a strictly complete response (sCR) in 4 cases (3.3％).Thus,a VGPR or above in 34 patients accounted for 28.3％.(2)The median follow-up was 13 months,the median time to progression 12 months.The median survival after receiving lenalidomide was 19 months,and the median overall survival (OS) was 62 months.(3) The univariate analysis in 120 RRMM patients suggested that prognostic factors for significant improvement in PFS included normal karyotype,international staging system (ISS) Ⅰ-Ⅱ,t(4;14) negative (detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization),non-bortezomib resistance and response to previous regimens.As to OS,nonbortezomib resistance,response to previous regimens and non-primary refractoriness were positive factors.Multivariate analysis showed that the response to previous regimens (PR or better) was an independent good prognostic factor for progress-free survival (PFS),non-bortezomib resistance and non-primary refractoriness for OS.(4) Grade 3 or 4 adverse events that occurred in more than 10％ of all enrolled patients were neutropenia (12.7％),leukocytosis (11.5％) and thrombocytopenia (12.7％).Owing to intolerance of toxic side effects,7 cases withdrew lenalidomide.Conclusions No matter what combination,regimens containing lenalidomide are effective to RRMM patients with overall response rate 61.7％,a time to progression 12 months and an overall survival 62 months.The toxicity is quite tolerable and manageable.In addition,the response to previous treatment (reached PR or above) is the independent good prognostic factor for PFS,non-bortezomib resistance and non-primary refractoriness for OS.Clinical trail registration Clinicaltrials.gov,NCT01947309

This study was aimed to examine the effect of Shaoyao Tang (SYT) on the treatment of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental colitis in mice via targeting the Notch signaling pathway.The mice were equally and randomly divided into the normal control group (control),model group (DSS),DSS + SYT group (17.8 g· kg-1),n=10.Mice were administered with 3.5％ DSS for 7 days for the model establishment.And then,SYT was given to the model group on the second day after the induction of colitis with DSS for 7 days.The effects were studied by the disease activity index (DAI),histological analysis by HE staining,myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity.ELISA was used to measure secretion of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the colon tissues.The expression of mRNA and protein of Notch-1,Hes-1,Math-1 and Mucin-2 (Muc-2) were detected using real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry.The results showed that compared with the model group,SYT attenuated symptoms of colitis by decreasing DAI score,histopathologic score and MPO activity,as well as increasing the colon length.SYT treatment also inhibited the production of IL-6 and TNF-a in colon tissues of mice.Furthermore,SYT significantly blocked the expression of mRNA and protein of Notch-1 and Hes-1,but increased the expression of Math-1 and Muc-2.It was concluded that SYT exerted the anti-inflammatory activity in mice model of DSS-induced colitis by inhibiting the Notch signaling pathway.