OBJECTIVETo investigate the therapeutic effectiveness and side effects of decitabine combined with or without cytarabine-based low dose regimen for acute myeloid leukemia in geratic patients.

METHODSClinical data of 8 geratic patients (aged over 70 years) suffered from acute myeloid leukemia from September 2009 to March 2012 were analyzed retrospectively, including age, sex, peripheral blood and bone marrow characteristics and so on. These patients were treated by an 1-hour intravenous infusion of decitabine 20 mg/mper day for 5 consecutive days every 4 weeks combined with or without low dose regimen dominantly consisting of cytarabine 20 mg per day as subcutaneous injection for seven consecutive days. The therapeutic effectiveness and side-effects were evaluated.

RESULTSAmong 8 patients, incinding 3 males and 5 females aged between 71-84 years old, their median white blood cell count was 31.2(1.38-179)× 10/L, and median bone marrow blast cell ratio was 42.7(23-94)% at the initial diagnosis.The median treatment courses was 2.5 (1-20).After treatment by this protocol,2 patients achieved complete remission(CR) (25%), 2 patients achieved partial remission (PR)(25%), 3 were not relieved, and 1 died, thus the overall response rate reached to 50% (4/8). The median overall survival time was 9.5 (2-36) months, and the overall survival time of 3 patients reached 1 year or more. The main side-effects of treatment were grade III-IV of myelosuppression (87.5%) and pneumonia (50%).

CONCLUSIONDecitabine combined with or without cytarabine-based low dose regimen is promising for the treatment of geriatric acute myeloid leukemia, thus improving the overall response rate, and prolonging overall survival time.

As an outstanding representative of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) prescriptions accumulated from famous TCM doctors' clinical experiences in past dynasties, classical TCM excellent prescriptions (cTCMeP) are the most valuable part of TCM system. To support the research and development of cTCMeP, a series of regulations and measures were issued to encourage its simplified registration. There is still a long-way to go because many key problems and puzzles about technology, registration and administration in cTCMeP R&D process are not resolved. Based on the analysis of registration and management regulations of botanical drug products in FDA of USA and Japan, and EMA of Europe, the possible key problems and countermeasures in chemistry, manufacture and control (CMC) of simplified registration of cTCMeP were analyzed on the consideration of its actual situation. The method of "reference decoction extract by traditional prescription" (RDETP) was firstly proposed as standard to evaluate the quality and preparation uniformity between the new developing product under simplified registration and traditional original usages of cTCMeP, instead of Standard Decoction method in Japan. "Totality of the evidence" approach, mass balance and bioassay/biological assay of cTCMeP were emphatically suggested to introduce to the quality uniformity evaluation system in the raw drug material, drug substance and final product between the modern product and traditional decoction.

Esophagustype cervical spondylosis is easily misdiagnosed or missed diagnosed for its lower incidence. The pathological basis manily concerned with compression of osteophyte for esophageal and tracheal wall and local inflammatory reaction. The diagnosis of disease is generally not difficult. Especially dynamic esophagogram could not only show degree of cervical degeneration and osteophyte shape, but also could clearly observe location and degree of osteophytosis indenting esophageal and tracheal. Recently, the treatment of esophagustype cervical spondylosis has been the focus of attention. It is generally believed that conservative treatment could alleviate disease but could not cure it. More and more scholars tend to treat disease by surgical resection of osteophyte to relieve compression for esophagus, and clinical symptoms could obviously improved. However, long-term follow up is lack, and further follow-up effect is lack of powerful support, anddifferent treatment methods and surgical procedures are lack of comparative research.

We assessed the prevalence of non- communicable diseases (NCDs) risk factors with a focus on their clustering among healthy adults in Shenzhen, China. Data from the 2011 China Health and Nutrition Survey, comprising a regionally representative sample of 806 healthy adults aged 35 years or older, were obtained to determine the prevalence of five risk factors for NCDs. The prevalence of current smoking, central obesity, impaired fasting glucose, borderline hypertension, and borderline high total cholesterol was 19.97%, 28.29%, 4.47%, 10.55%, and 36.10%, respectively. A total 63.77% of participants had at least one risk factor. Upon examination of risk factor clustering, we observed that 7.57% of participants had at least three risk factors. Using this threshold as a cutoff, clustering of risk factors was associated with sex [odds ratio (OR) = 3.336, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.782 to 6.246], physical activity (OR = 1.913, 95% CI: 1.009 to 3.628), and BMI (OR = 7.376, 95% CI: 3.812 to 14.270). The prevalence of risk factors for NCDs is fairly high among healthy adults in Shenzhen, with a clustering tendency.
Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Cluster Analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Noncommunicable Diseases ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors

Based on the field investigation, this paper researched the germplasms and geoherbs habitat of Chonglou in ancient herbal books systematically. The results showed that, Chonglou in ancient herbal books sometimes referred to certain specific germplasm, while sometimes it referred to many species derived from genus Paris except Sect. Paris. The medicinal material Chonglou in Chinese Materia Medica Bencaotujing and Bencaomengquan was verified as P. polyphylla var. chinensis, which could be P. polyphylla in Xinxiubencao, and it should include P. polyphylla or P. polyphylla var. stenophylla in Bencaogangmu. However, it proved to be a variety of species from Paris that can used as Chonglou in Diannanbencao and Zhiwumingshitukao. Moreover, the origins of Chonglou were correspondingly more diverse, with its producing areas changed from North to South. Therefore, with the resources increasing endangered, the botanical origin of Chonglou should be further studied.

BACKGROUNDThe emergency department (ED) has a pivotal influence on the management of acute heart failure (AHF), but data concerning current ED management are scarce. This Beijing AHF Registry Study investigated the characteristics, ED management, and short- and long-term clinical outcomes of AHF.

METHODSThis prospective, multicenter, observational study consecutively enrolled 3335 AHF patients who visited 14 EDs in Beijing from January 1, 2011, to September 23, 2012. Baseline data on characteristics and management were collected in the EDs. Follow-up data on death and readmissions were collected until November 31, 2013, with a response rate of 92.80%. The data were reported as median (interquartile range) for the continuous variables, or as number (percentage) for the categorical variables.

RESULTSThe median age of the enrolled patients was 71 (58-79) years, and 46.84% were women. In patients with AHF, coronary heart disease (43.27%) was the most common etiology, and myocardium ischemia (30.22%) was the main precipitant. Most of the patients in the ED received intravenous treatments, including diuretics (79.28%) and vasodilators (74.90%). Fewer patients in the ED received neurohormonal antagonists, and 25.94%, 31.12%, and 33.73% of patients received angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blockers, and spironolactone, respectively. The proportions of patients who were admitted, discharged, left against medical advice, and died were 55.53%, 33.58%, 7.08%, and 3.81%, respectively. All-cause mortalities at 30 days and 1 year were 15.30% and 32.27%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSSubstantial details on characteristics and ED management of AHF were investigated. The clinical outcomes of AHF patients were dismal. Thus, further investigations of ED-based therapeutic approaches for AHF are needed.

OBJECTIVETraditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is regarded as an important treatment for gastric cancer patients, especially for those in advanced stage. To evaluate the effects of TCM treatment on gastric cancer patients, the authors performed a retrospective study to report the result of the integrated treatment of TCM with chemotherapy for stage IV non-surgical gastric cancer.

METHODSIn this study, 182 patients with stage IV and non-surgical gastric cancer were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate the effects of TCM integrated with chemotherapy. Among the 182 cases, 88 cases received integrated therapy consisting of TCM and chemotherapy, while 94 cases received chemotherapy alone. The overall survival and Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score were measured as the main outcome.

RESULTSThe median overall survival of the integrated therapy group and chemotherapy group were 16.9 and 10.5 months, respectively. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates of integrated therapy group vs. chemotherapy group were 70% vs. 32%, 18% vs. 4%, and 11% vs. 0%, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups (χ= 42.244, P > 0.001). After six-month treatment, KPS scores of the integrated therapy group and the chemotherapy group were 75.00 ± 14.78 and 60.64 ± 21.39, respectively (P > 0.001). The Cox regression analysis showed that TCM treatment is a protective factor for patients' overall survival.

CONCLUSIONThis study demonstrated that TCM integrated with chemotherapy may prolong overall survival and improve survival rate and life quality of patients with stage IV non-surgical gastric cancer.

Identifying a target molecule that is crucially involved in pancreatic tumor growth and metastasis is necessary in developing an effective treatment. The study aimed to investigate the role of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3a (eIF3a) in the cell proliferation and motility in pancreatic cancer. Our data showed that the expression of eIF3a was upregulated in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma as compared with its expression in normal pancreatic tissues. Knockdown of eIF3a by a specific shRNA caused significant decreases in cell proliferation and clonogenic abilities in pancreatic cancer SW1990 and Capan-1 cells. Consistently, the pancreatic cancer cell growth rates were also impaired in xenotransplanted mice. Moreover, wound-healing assay showed that depletion of eIF3a significantly slowed down the wound recovery processes in SW1990 and Capan-1 cells. Transwell migration and invasion assays further showed that cell migration and invasion abilities were significantly inhibited by knockdown of eIF3a in SW1990 and Capan-1 cells. Statistical analysis of eIF3a expression in 140 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma samples revealed that eIF3a expression was significantly associated with tumor metastasis and TNM staging. These analyses suggest that eIF3a contributes to cell proliferation and motility in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Adenocarcinoma ; Animals ; Cell Movement ; Cell Proliferation* ; Mice ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pancreatic Ducts ; Pancreatic Neoplasms* ; Peptide Initiation Factors* ; RNA, Small Interfering ; Wounds and Injuries