AIM: To investigate the changes in serum levels of trefoil factor 1(Tff1)and bone morphogenetic protein 4(BMP4)in patients with diabetic retinopathy, and to evaluate their diagnostic value for diabetic retinopathy.METHODS: From January 2022 to January 2024, 186 patients with type 2 diabetes were selected as the study group and divided into a retinopathy subgroup(52 cases)and a non-retinopathy subgroup(134 cases)based on the presence of retinopathy. Another 186 healthy volunteers who underwent physical examinations during the same period were chosen as the control group. Serum Tff1 and BMP4 levels were measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). Pearson analysis was used to assess the correlation between serum Tff1, BMP4 levels, and clinical data. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors influencing the development of retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum Tff1 and BMP4 levels for retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients.RESULTS: Compared to the control group, serum Tff1 levels were lower and BMP4 levels were higher in both retinopathy and non-retinopathy subgroups(all P<0.05). Specifically, serum Tff1 levels were lower and BMP4 levels were higher in the retinopathy subgroup than in the non-retinopathy subgroup(all P<0.05). Pearson analysis revealed that Tff1 levels in type 2 diabetes patients were negatively correlated with disease duration, glycated hemoglobin levels, and triglyceride levels, while BMP4 levels were positively correlated(all P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis identified type 2 diabetes duration, glycated hemoglobin, triglycerides, Tff1, and BMP4 as influencing factors for retinopathy development in type 2 diabetes patients(all P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the combined diagnosis of serum Tff1 and BMP4 had an area under the curve(AUC)of 0.901, which was significantly higher than that of Tff1 alone(Z=2.069, P=0.039)and BMP4 alone(Z=2.072, P=0.038).CONCLUSION: Serum Tff1 levels are decreased and BMP4 levels are increased in patients with diabetic retinopathy, and the combined detection of these two markers offers high diagnostic value for diabetic retinopathy.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7) expression on overall survival for patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

METHODSThe data of 113 diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer patients from January 2002 to June 2010 were collected retrospectively, including patient's age at diagnosis, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level at diagnosis,Gleason score, clinical stage, PSA nadir during hormonal therapy, the time to PSA nadir, vital status, survival time and cause of death. The expression of AR-V7 in prostate cancer tissue was detected by using immunohistochemical staining. The correlation of AR-V7 expression and patient clinicopathological characteristics in all patients were analysed using Student t-test or Chi-square test. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate the predictive role of AR-V7 expression and patient characteristics for overall survival.

RESULTSThe median PSA nadir was 0.7 µg/L (ranged from 0.0 to 143.0 µg/L). The median time to PSA nadir was 8.1 months (ranged from 0.9 to 71.0 months). The follow-up was performed until March 12, 2014. During the follow-up period, 67 of 113 metastatic prostate cancer patients (59.3%) died and the median overall survival was 96 months (ranged from 5 to 135 months). The AR-V7 detection rate was 20.4% (23/113). The serum PSA level in patients with positively expression of AR-V7 was significantly higher than that without AR-V7 expression (t = 2.521, P = 0.013). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the expression of AR-V7 (HR = 2.421, P = 0.002) and time to PSA nadir (HR = 1.019, P = 0.022) were independent prognostic factors of overall survival for metastatic prostate cancer patients.

CONCLUSIONSThe expression of AR-V7 in prostate cancer tissues and time to PSA nadir during hormonal therapy are independent prognostic factors of overall survival for metastatic prostate cancer patients. Therapy targeting AR-V7 may improve prognosis of metastatic prostate cancer patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; blood ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; Protein Isoforms ; metabolism ; Receptors, Androgen ; metabolism ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo compare the clinical efficacy and safety among different chemotherapeutic regimens in treatment of refractory/relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

METHODSThe clinical data of 67 refractory/relapsed AML patients enrolled from September 2008 to April 2013 were collected. The differences of clinical outcome and adverse events among the patients treated with decitabine combined with DAG regimen, CAG regimen or "3+7" regimen were analyzed.

RESULTSAmong 19 patients in decitabine treatment group, 5 (26.3%) achieved complete remission (CR), 4 (21.1%) partial remission (PR), with overall response rate (ORR) of 47.4 %. Of 26 patients in CAG regimen group, 8 (30.8%) achieved CR, 1 (3.8%) PR, with ORR of 34.6%. Of 22 patients in "3+7" regimen group, 4 (18.2%) achieved CR, with ORR of 18.2%. The ORR of decitabine group was significantly higher than that of "3+7" group (P<0.05). However, no significant difference of ORR was observed among the three groups (P>0.05). It was interesting to note that in decitabine group, the marrow blast counts were lower in CR patients compared with those in non-CR patients (P<0.05), while this was not found in "3+7" group (P>0.05) and CAG regimen group (P>0.05). Adverse events in the three groups were similar, mainly including myelosuppression, pulmonary infection, nausea, vomiting and liver dysfunction, and could be well tolerated. Followed- up to September 2013, the median overall survival (OS) of decitabine group, CAG regimen group and "3+7" group after relapse was 7.5, 4 and 3 months, respectively (P>0.05), while significant difference was obtained between decitabine group and "3+7" regimen group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONDecitabine combined with DAG regimen is effective and well tolerated in refractory/relapsed AML patients who were unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and the patients with low marrow blast counts are more suitable for the application of decitabine combined with DAG regimen.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Azacitidine ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; drug therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult