Objective To investigate the clinical value of tumor-stroma ratio (TSR) in combination with KRAS, BRAF, NRAS, and microsatellite status for prognostic assessment of patients with colorectal cancer. Methods A total of 51 colorectal cancer cases meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in this study. TSR levels were evaluated through optical microscopy. The KRAS/NRAS/BRAF mutation profiles and microsatellite status were determined in accordance with genetic testing results. Clinical data, pathological characteristics, and survival outcomes were systematically recorded. Results Among the 51 patients with colorectal cancer, 19 (37.3%) were categorized into the low stromal group and 32 (62.7%) into the high stromal group. Statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in drug resistance, M stage, TNM stage, neural invasion, and microsatellite status (P<0.05). Compared with patients exhibiting high TSR, those with low TSR demonstrated significantly increased recurrence rates (5 vs. 21 cases, P=0.007), shortened disease-free survival (34.21 vs. 14.34 months, P=0.001), and reduced overall survival (38.79 vs. 23.09 months, P=0.021). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified N stage, M stage, TNM stage, neural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and TSR as independent risk factors for disease-free survival. N stage, M stage, neural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, and TSR emerged as independent prognostic factors for overall survival (P<0.05). Although the combined models of TSR with KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and microsatellite status, respectively, demonstrated overall statistical significance (P<0.05), none of the dummy variables in these models reached individually statistical significance (P>0.05), and therefore cannot be considered independent prognostic factors. Conclusion TSR serves as an independent predictor of poor prognosis in advanced colorectal cancer, with patients exhibiting low TSR demonstrating a significantly higher risk of recurrence and metastasis than those with high TSR. For patients with colon cancer undergoing first-line palliative chemotherapy after postoperative recurrence, histopathological assessment of TSR in primary tumor sites holds prognostic value and may serve as a relevant factor for evaluating treatment resistance in clinical management.

Objective To evaluate the risk of cardiac adverse events in patients with malignant tumors after chemotherapy by using a combination of acoustic cardiography and blood indices.Methods A total of 171 patients with malignant tumor who received chemotherapy were included.They were divided into cardiac adverse event group and non-cardiac adverse event group in accordance with whether cardiac adverse events occurred after chemotherapy.The general data,blood indices before chemotherapy,and acoustic cardiography-related indices in the early stage(1-3 cycles)of chemotherapy of the two groups were analyzed.The possible influencing factors were determined by binary logistic regression analysis,and the nomogram was drawn.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was used to evaluate the prediction ability of the nomogram.Results Cardiac adverse events occurred in 44 of 171 patients with malignant tumors after chemotherapy,and the incidence of cardiac adverse events was 25.73%.Binary logistic regression results showed that age,red blood cell distribution width(RDW)before chemotherapy,activated partial throm-boplastin time(APTT),and electromechanical activation time(EMAT)at the early stage of chemother-apy were independent predictors of cardiac adverse events in chemotherapy patients.The area under the ROC curve of the nomogram was 0.768(95%CI:0.693-0.843,P<0.001).Conclusion A nomogram based on age,pre-chemotherapy RDW,APTT,and EMAT at the early stage of chemotherapy is useful for early assessment of the risk of cardiac adverse events in chemotherapy patients.

In recent years, immunotherapy, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors, has shown obvious advantages in prolonging the survival of patients with advanced tumors, and the tumor microenvironment is one of the important factors affecting the efficacy of immunity. Patients with microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer exhibit immune responses in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. In-depth exploration of the tumor microenvironment characteristics of microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer and the application of combined immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy can provide new ideas and directions for colorectal cancer immunotherapy.

Objective:To analyze risk factors for duration of small or medium-sized coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) so as to provide clinical guidance for early and full course treatment.Methods:The clinical data of 68 children diagnosed with KD in the Department of Pediatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University from January 2018 to January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed.According to duration of CAA, all cases were divided into 2 groups, duration of CAA ≥ 8 weeks group and duration of CAA <8 weeks group.Risk factors associated with CAA duration were screened using univariate analysis, and then independent risk factors for CAA duration in children with KD were analysed using multiple Logistic regression analysis. Results:A total of 68 cases were enrolled in this study.Among these cases, 45 cases (66.18%) were male and 23 cases (33.82%) were female.The onset age was from 3 months to 10 years old, and the median onset age was 1.59 (1.02-3.19). There were 31 cases in the group with CAA duration ≥8 weeks and 37 cases in the group with CAA duration <8 weeks.Univariate analysis showed that patients with the total fever course >10 days[45.16%(14/31 cases) vs.21.62%(8/37 cases)], time of treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)>10 days[54.84%(17/31 cases) vs.16.22%(6/37 cases)], platelet (PLT)>600×10 9/L[32.26%(10/31 cases) vs.10.81%(4/37 cases)], hypersensitive C-reactive protein (HsCRP) >100 mg/L[38.71%(12/31 cases) vs.13.51%(5/37 cases)] (all P<0.05 ) in the group with CAA duration ≥8 weeks were significantly more than those in the group with CAA duration <8 weeks.However, there were no significant differences in gender, age, type of KD, etiology evidence, hormone application, duration of fever before IVIG application, IVIG sensitivity, IVIG application way, urine leukocytes, white blood cells, hemoglobin, percent of neutrophilic granulocyte, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase between the 2 groups (all P>0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the course of IVIG before application >10 days ( OR=6.589, 95% CI: 1.678-25.867, P=0.007)and HsCRP >100 mg/L ( OR=7.949, 95% CI: 1.947-32.461, P=0.004)were independent risk factors for predicting the duration of KD complicated with small and medium-sized CAA ≥8 weeks. Conclusions:The course of IVIG before application >10 days and HsCRP>100 mg/L are independent risk factors for KD complicated with small and medium-sized CAA lasting ≥8 weeks.

Purpose: We aimed to explore whether the prognosis of patients treated with capecitabine and oxaliplatin (XELOX) or S-1 and oxaliplatin (SOX) regimens who received fewer cycles of chemotherapy after D2 radical resection for gastric cancer (GC) would be non-inferior to that of patients who received the standard number of cycles of chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: Data on patients who received XELOX or SOX chemotherapy after undergoing D2 radical resection at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital between January 2011 and May 2016 were collected. Results: In patients who received 4, 6, and 8 cycles of chemotherapy, the 5-year overall survival (OS) rates were 59.4%, 64.8%, and 62.7%, respectively. Compared to patients who received 4 cycles of chemotherapy, those who received 6 cycles (hazard ratio [HR], 0.882; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.599–1.299; P=0.52) or 8 cycles (HR, 0.882; 95% CI, 0.533–1.458; P=0.62) of chemotherapy did not exhibit significantly prolonged OS. The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate of patients who received 4, 6, and 8 cycles of chemotherapy was 62.1%, 67.2%, and 60.8%, respectively. Compared to patients who received 4 cycles of chemotherapy, those who received 6 cycles (HR, 0.835; 95% CI, 0.572–1.221; P=0.35) or 8 cycles (HR, 0.972; 95% CI, 0.606–1.558; P=0.91) of chemotherapy did not show significantly prolonged DFS. However, the 3-year DFS and 5-year OS rates of patients who received 6 cycles of chemotherapy appeared to be superior to those of patients who received 4 and 8 cycles of chemotherapy. Conclusions For patients with stage III GC, 4 to 6 cycles of XELOX or SOX chemotherapy may be a favorable option. This study provides a rationale for further randomized clinical trials.

Objective:To explore the effect of "training in groups" (TIG) model in clinical first-line nurses' stratified training.Methods:This study was a pre- and post-control study of its own. Using the convenience sampling method, 755 clinical first-line nurses who participated in the stratified training in 2018 from the Yantai Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical College were selected as the research subjects, and they were trained in the "TIG" model from January to December 2019. Before and after training in the "TIG" model, the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse and self-made Satisfaction of Inpatients with Nurses' Work Ability Questionnaire were used for investigation and analysis.Results:After training, the total average score of the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse for 755 clinical nurses was (3.32±0.59) , which was higher than the score before training (2.59±0.56) . The score of the Satisfaction of Inpatients with Nurses' Work Ability Questionnaire was (3.36±0.52) , which was higher than the score before the training (4.27±0.45) . The differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The implementation of the "TIG" model can effectively improve the core competence of clinical first-line nurses and the satisfaction of inpatients with nurses' work, which is worthy of popularization.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with radiation-induced rat lung injury, and to reveal the protective mechanism for mild hypothermia in the radiation-induced lung injury in rats at the transcriptome level. METHODS: A total of 10 male SD rats aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into 2 groups to establish a rat model of radiation-induced lung injury, and one group was treated with mild hypothermia. RNA was extracted from left lung tissue of each group, and sequenced by BGISEQ-500 platform. Significance analysis of DEGs was carried out by edgeR software. Gene ontology (GO) function enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis were used to analyze the gene function. Then 5 key DEGs were verified by real-time reverse transcription PCR (real-time RT-PCR). RESULTS: There were 2 790 DEGs (false discovery rate<0.001, |log CONCLUSIONS The DEGs and pathways related to mild hypothermia protection against radiation-induced lung injury in rats are obtained, which provides an experimental basis for the protection of mild hypothermia against radiation-induced lung injury.
Animals ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Hypothermia ; Lung Injury ; Male ; RNA-Seq ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transcriptome

Breast cancer is the malignant tumor with the highest incidence among women in the worldwide. The triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has the strongest immunogenicity. Because of the lack of clear molecular targets, TNBC is a subtype of breast cancer with more difficulties in the treatment and poorer prognosis compared to other breast cancer subtypes. Blocking the programmed death-1 (PD-1)/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) signaling pathway has been a hot spot of research and treatment of tumors. PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors provide new treatment options for TNBC. This article reviews the research progress of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors alone or in combination with other drugs in treatment of TNBC, intending to provide the theoretical basis for basic or clinical studies.

Objective:To explore the effects of apatinib on the proliferation and apoptosis of FLT3-ITD mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, and to explore the related mechanisms.Methods:The logarithmic growth phase FLT3-ITD mutant AML cell lines MV4-11 and MOLM-13 were treated with different concentration of apatinib for 48 hours. The cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 method. Flow cytometry was performed to examine the effect of apatinib on apoptosis. The cell mitochondrial membrane potential changes were detected by JC-1. Then the expression changes of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) pathway-related proteins were examined by Western blot.Results:Apatinib had proliferation inhibitory effects on both MV4-11 and MOLM-13 cells, and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50) at 48 hours was (2.23±0.42) μmol/L and (4.08±2.62) μmol/L, respectively. After exposure to apatinib with increasing concentrations (10, 20, 30, and 40 μmol/L) for 48 h hours, the percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly increased in MV4-11 cells [(81.95±1.15)%, (88.80±0.23)%, (97.46±0.49)%, and (99.29±0.05)%] and MOLM13 cells [(47.30±0.87)%, (67.00±3.71)%, (82.60±2.89)%, and (98.06±5.34)%] in a dose-dependent manner, and the differences were statistically significant ( F = 6 915.0, P < 0.01; F = 5 385.0, P < 0.01). Detection of mitochondrial membrane potential by JC-1 method showed that after MV4-11 and MOLM-13 cells were treated by 10, 20, 30, and 40 μmol/L apatinib for 24 hours, the JC-1 aggregate/monomer mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) ratios were 0.45±0.06, 0.19±0.07, 0.12±0.03, 0.09±0.01, and 0.84±0.05, 0.66±0.13, 0.35±0.11, 0.27±0.02, which were different from the control group (0.67±0.15 and 0.97±0.42), and the differences were statistically significant ( F = 372.3, P < 0.05; F = 276.4, P < 0.05). Western blot was performed to detect different concentration of apatinib (2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 μmol/L) on the MV4-11 cells for 24 hours, the results showed that apatinib could down-regulate the phosphorylation of VEGFR2, Src and Stat3 in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions:Apatinib can inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in AML with FLT3-ITD mutation. The possible mechanism is related to the down-regulation of phosphorylation of VEGFR2 and its downstream targets Src and Stat3.

Objective:To detect the expressions of chemokine receptor 6 (CCR6), CC chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) E-cadherin and vimentin in tissues of colorectal cancer and their paired liver metastases, and to investigate the possible mechanism of CCR6 in liver metastasis of colorectal cancer.Methods:A total of 62 cases (54 cases of colon cancer and 8 cases of rectal cancer) of primary colorectal adenocarcinoma resection with wax lumps were selected from the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University and Shanxi Oncology Hospital from 2009 to 2017 with complete data, including 20 samples of colorectal cancer resection with liver metastasis during the same period. The expressions of CCR6, CCL20, E-cadherin and vimentin in colorectal cancer and liver metastases tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry, and the relationships between the expressions of CCR6, E-cadherin and vimentin and the clinicopathological features of patients were analyzed. Logistic multivariate regression was used to analyze the relationship between liver metastasis and clinicopathological features, CCR6, E-cadherin and vimentin. Spearman correlation was used to analyze the correlations between CCR6 and E-cadherin and vimentin.Results:The positive expression rate of CCR6 in colorectal cancer tissues was 66.1% (41/62), 85.0% (17/20) in colorectal cancer with liver metastasis and 70.0% (14/20) in liver metastasis tissues. The positive expression rate of CCL20 in colorectal cancer tissues was 83.9% (52/62), 90.0% (18/20) in colorectal cancer with liver metastasis and 90.0% (18/20) in liver metastasis tissues. The positive expression rate of E-cadherin in colorectal cancer tissues was 67.7% (42/62), 50.0% (10/20) in colorectal cancer with liver metastasis and 65.0% (13/20) in liver metastasis tissues. The positive expression rate of vimentin in colorectal cancer tissues was 79.0% (49/62), 85.0% (17/20) in colorectal cancer with liver metastasis and 90.0% (18/20) in liver metastasis tissues. The expression of CCR6 was closely related to lymph node metastasis ( χ2=11.142, P=0.001), liver metastasis ( χ2=4.694, P=0.030) and TNM stage ( χ2=21.785, P<0.001). E-cadherin was closely related to lymph node metastasis ( χ2=4.694, P=0.030), liver metastasis ( χ2=4.253, P=0.039) and TNM stage ( χ2=7.867, P=0.005). Vimentin was closely related to lymph node metastasis ( χ2=7.293, P=0.007) and TNM stage ( χ2=5.712, P=0.017). CCR6, E-cadherin and vimentin were independent of gender, age, tumor site, tumor size and differentiation degree of colorectal cancer patients (all P>0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the expressions of CCR6 ( OR=6.812, 95% CI: 1.206-38.474, P=0.030) and E-cadherin ( OR=0.256, 95% CI: 0.069-0.945, P=0.041) were independent factors affecting the liver metastasis of colorectal cancer. Spearman correlation analysis showed that CCR6 was associated with E-cadherin expression ( r=0.454, P=0.044) and vimentin expression ( r=0.509, P=0.022) in 20 iver metastasis tissues of colorectal cancer. Conclusion:CCR6 may promote colorectal cancer progress and liver metastasis by part of epithelial-mesenchymal transition.