Lymphatic metastasis is the main metastatic route for colorectal cancer, which increases the risk of cancer recurrence and distant metastasis. The properties of the lymph node metastatic colorectal cancer (LNM-CRC) cells are poorly understood, and effective therapies are still lacking. Here, we found that hypoxia-induced fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAPα) expression in LNM-CRC cells. Gain- or loss-function experiments demonstrated that FAPα enhanced tumor cell migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, stemness, and lymphangiogenesis via activation of the STAT3 pathway. In addition, FAPα in tumor cells induced extracellular matrix remodeling and established an immunosuppressive environment via recruiting regulatory T cells, to promote colorectal cancer lymph node metastasis (CRCLNM). Z-GP-DAVLBH, a FAPα-activated prodrug, inhibited CRCLNM by targeting FAPα-positive LNM-CRC cells. Our study highlights the role of FAPα in tumor cells in CRCLNM and provides a potential therapeutic target and promising strategy for CRCLNM.

BACKGROUND:It was found that the ligands and receptors of Notch are both cell membrane surface proteins,which are important proteins to mediate intercellular communication,and the Notch signaling pathway plays a crucial regulatory role in the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. OBJECTIVE:To review the regulatory mechanism of the Notch signaling pathway on the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells,summarize and clarify the research advance in how the Notch signaling pathway regulates the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells,and provide theoretical support for the future use of stem cells to treat various related diseases. METHODS:By using the computer,the first author searched the relevant studies involving Notch signaling pathway regulation of mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and differentiation on CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,PubMed,Web of Science,and Nature databases with Chinese search terms"mesenchymal stem cells,Notch,Notch signaling pathway,proliferation,differentiation"and the English search terms"mesenchymal stem cells,MSC,Notch,Notch signaling pathway,proliferation,differentiation".Part of the literature was searched in combination with the literature tracing method.Finally,87 articles were included in the review analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Notch signaling pathway is a conserved signaling pathway in multicellular organisms,which plays an important role in regulating cell differentiation,proliferation,apoptosis,and the cell cycle by mediating communication between neighboring cells through receptor-ligand binding.(2)Mesenchymal stem cells are a class of adult stem cells with self-proliferative and multi-directional differentiation potential,which can be regulated by external signaling pathways to affect their proliferation and differentiation.Notch signaling pathway,as one of them,when Notch ligands are activated,the Notch proteins will undergo two protein hydrolysis cleavages to release Notch intracellular structural domain NICD,which then enters the nucleus and thus promotes the transcription of target genes to regulate the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from different sources,such as bone marrow,adipose,and umbilical cord.However,the specific mechanisms that regulate the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from different tissue sources of the same species are different.(3)The Notch signaling pathway can regulate the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into different target cells,but due to different target cells,the expression levels of receptors or ligands in the Notch signaling pathway vary.(4)Clinical targeting of the Notch signaling pathway to promote mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of various refractory diseases,such as aplastic anemia,severe joint injuries,ischemic strokes,and myocardial infarctions,has a promising application.(5)By exploring the Notch signaling pathway via regulating the expression levels of its receptors and ligands in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells from rat,mouse,and human,it can be found that the Notch signaling pathway expression levels in the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells from different species origins are also different.(6)The role of mesenchymal stem cells in tissue engineering has been gradually highlighted due to their advantages of safety,low immune rejection,and wide therapeutic prospects.The Notch signaling pathway regulates the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells with a wide range of influencing factors,and subsequent studies should further optimize the influencing factor variables and explore the standardized studies of regulating the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

Objective:To prospectively observe the changes of tumor-related symptoms in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma following the administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy.Methods:Non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with positive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression and symptoms caused by the primary lesion or metastatic cervical lymph nodes admitted to Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were prospectively recruited. Investigators recorded tumor-related symptoms in recruited patients one day before the first administration of nimotuzumab (D0) and conducted follow-up visits from day 2 to day 7 after the first administration (D2-D7) to document symptom changes. All recruited patients were asked to assess tumor-related symptoms on D0 and D7 by visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. VAS scores were analyzed by paired t-test. Results:From June 2020 to April 2023, a total of 21 patients met the inclusion criteria. The median age was 49 years (range: 27-69 years), with a male-to-female ratio of 1.3:1. Among the patients, 17 patients (81%) received concurrent nimotuzumab for 8 cycles, 7 cycles for 3 cases (14%), and 6 cycles for 1 case (5%), respectively. All patients completed symptom assessments as required. The overall response rate of symptoms after the first administration of nimotuzumab was 62%, with response rates of 4/6、5/8、4/10、4/10、4/11、3/11 for tinnitus, headache, aural fullness, secondary pain caused by neck mass, nasal bleeding, and nasal obstruction, respectively. The VAS scores for overall symptoms were significantly decreased after the administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy ( P<0.001), with the most significant decrease in VAS scores for tinnitus, aural fullness, and headache. Conclusion:The administration of nimotuzumab one week before radiotherapy significantly alleviates tumor-related symptoms in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, particularly in alleviating tinnitus, aural fullness, and headache.

OX40 is a costimulatory receptor that is expressed primarily on activated CD4⁺, CD8⁺, and regulatory T cells. The ligation of OX40 to its sole ligand OX40L potentiates T cell expansion, differentiation, and activation and also promotes dendritic cells to mature to enhance their cytokine production. Therefore, the use of agonistic anti-OX40 antibodies for cancer immunotherapy has gained great interest. However, most of the agonistic anti-OX40 antibodies in the clinic are OX40L-competitive and show limited efficacy. Here, we discovered that BGB-A445, a non-ligand-competitive agonistic anti-OX40 antibody currently under clinical investigation, induced optimal T cell activation without impairing dendritic cell function. In addition, BGB-A445 dose-dependently and significantly depleted regulatory T cells in vitro and in vivo via antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. In the MC38 syngeneic model established in humanized OX40 knock-in mice, BGB-A445 demonstrated robust and dose-dependent antitumor efficacy, whereas the ligand-competitive anti-OX40 antibody showed antitumor efficacy characterized by a hook effect. Furthermore, BGB-A445 demonstrated a strong combination antitumor effect with an anti-PD-1 antibody. Taken together, our findings show that BGB-A445, which does not block OX40-OX40L interaction in contrast to clinical-stage anti-OX40 antibodies, shows superior immune-stimulating effects and antitumor efficacy and thus warrants further clinical investigation.
Mice ; Animals ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor/physiology* ; Receptors, OX40 ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; Ligands ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/pharmacology* ; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology*

Objective:This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features and treatment outcomes of the value of response-adapted treatment following radiotherapy and induction chemotherapy follwing subsequent comprehensive therapy in patients with resectable locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods:This cohort study was conducted from September 2010 to September 2020 in our hospital, 231 patients pathologically confirmed stage Ⅲ and ⅣB resectable locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma included. For the IC-directed ART strategy, IC is used to select good candidates to receive radical RT or CCRT, and others undergo surgery. He response-adapted strategy was determined based on the primary tumor response, which was evaluated at a dose of 50 Gy. If the response reached complete response or partial response（more than 80% tumor regression）, patients received radical RT or CCRT; otherwise, they received surgery, if possible, at 4 to 6 weeks after RT. The end points of the study were OS（overall survival）, progression free survival（PFS）, locoregional recurrence-free survival（LRRFS） and LDFS. Results:In IC-directed group, 75.0%（57/76） patients reached PR after 2 cycles of induction chemotherapy. While in RT-directed group, 70.3%（109/155） patients reached large PR at dose of 50 Gy. The median interquartile range follow-up period of the whole cohort was 63.8 months. The 5-year OS, PFS, LRRFS and SFL of the whole cohort were 47.9%、39.6%、44.3% and 36.2%, respectively. In evaluations based on the different treatment strategies, the 5-year OS and SFL were 51.3% versus 37.0%（HR 0.67; 95%CI 0.43-1.05; P=0.07） and 27.8% versus 39.8%（HR 0.68; 95%CI 0.46-0.99; P=0.04） between IC-directed and RT-directed groups. In additional, surgery complications did not significantly differ between these two groups. Conclusion:In this cohort study, the response-adapted strategy based on an early RT response facilitated better treatment tailoring, and higher laryngeal preservation compared with IC-directed strategies. This approach could provide a feasible laryngeal preservation strategy in patients with resectable locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma.
Male ; Humans ; Cohort Studies ; Chemoradiotherapy ; Carcinoma ; Hypopharyngeal Neoplasms/therapy* ; Induction Chemotherapy

Objective:To analysis the clinical features and prognosis in oropharyngeal carcinoma with secondary primary tumor. Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on 468 pathologically confirmed oropharyngeal cancer as the primary tumor patients with p16 status, excluded distant metastasis, and admitted to the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2010 to December 2020. The clinical features and prognosis of the secondary primary tumor were analyzed. Results:Among 468 patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated at initial diagnosed, 222 cases were P16-negative. With a median follow-up time of 64.3 months, 66 cases developed second primary cancer, with an incidence of 29.3%, among which 63.6%（42/66） were synchronous and 36.4%（24/66） were heterochronous, esophagus was the most commonly involved site. The 5-year OS of p16-negative oropharyngeal carcinoma with synchronous second primary cancer, without second primary cancer and with heterogeneous second primary cancer were 26.3% and 57.3% and 73.2%（P=0.001）; The second primary cancer accounted for 11.2%（12/107） of the deaths in the whole group, among them, the heterochronous second primary accounted for 75.0%（9/12）. There were 246 patients with p16 positive, with a median follow-up time of 52.4 months, 20 patients developed second primary cancer（8.1%）. Among them, 65.0%（13/20） were synchronous and 35.0%（7/20） were heterochronous. Esophagus was the most commonly involved site. The 4-year OS of p16-positive with synchronous, heterochronous and non-second primary cancer group were 51.9%, 80.7% and 83.3%. Secondary primary cancer accounted for 3.8%（2/52） of all deaths in p16 positvie group. Conclusion:The incidence of second primary cancer of p16 positive and negative oropharyngeal carcinoma were different. The esophagus was the most commonly involved site regardless of p16 status. Regardless of p16 status, the survival of patients with synchronous second primary cancer was worse than those without second primary cancer. For p16-negative oropharyngeal carcinoma, the prognosis was better in patients with heterogeneous second primary cancer, the second primary cancer is one of the main causes of death.
Humans ; Carcinoma/diagnosis* ; Oropharyngeal Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Neoplasms, Second Primary/diagnosis*

Objective:To summarize and analyze the current application status of oral mucosal graft (OMG) technique in the repair of ureteral strictures in China, and clarify the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of this technique.Methods:The 175 patients who underwent repair of ureteral stricture using oral mucosal patches from June 2015 to February 2022 were etrospectively analyzed in 14 medical centers in China, including 49 cases in Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 32 cases in Affiliated Seventh Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, 3 cases in The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 6 cases in The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 56 cases in Peking University First Hospital, 3 cases in Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 3 cases in Shanghai Sixth People' s Hospital, 4 cases in General Hospital of Estern Theater Command, 4 cases in Lanzhou University Second Hospital, 2 cases in Guizhou Province People 's Hospital, 2 cases in Peking University People' s Hospital, 5 cases in Jinzhou First People's Hospital, 5 cases in The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, 1 case in Shandong Provincial Hospital. In this study, 127 patients (72.6%) used lingual mucosal patches, 32(18.3%) labial mucosa, and 16(9.1%) buccal mucosa. The surgical approach for OMG ureteral reconstruction was mainly minimally invasive, with robot-assisted laparoscopy in 84 patients (48.0%), traditional laparoscopic surgery in 87 patients (49.7%), and open surgery in only 4 patients (2.3%). There were 133 males and 42 females with an average age of (35.0±17.2) years. The mean body mass index (BMI) and stenosis length were (23.1±4.1) kg/m 2 and (4.7±1.8) cm, respectively. The stricture was located in the left ureter in 116 patients, right ureter in 58 case and bilateral ureter in 1 case. The most common causes of ureteral stricture were endoscopic surgery in 88(50.3%)patients, congenital stricture in 55(31.4%)patients, failed ureteroplasty in 29(16.6%)patients, history of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in 13(7.4%)patients, radiotherapy history in 3(1.7%)patients and other causes in 6(3.4%)patients. Strictures were mainly located in the upper ureter, accounting for 61.7% (108/175 cases), followed by 36.0% (63/175) at the ureteropelvic junction and 2.3%(4/175)in the middle ureter. According to the surgical methods, the patients were divided into robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery group ( n=84), traditional laparoscopic surgery group ( n=87)and open surgery group ( n=4). Subgroup analysis of patients in robot-assisted laparoscopic and traditional laparoscopic surgery groups was performed. There were no significant difference in preoperative data between the two groups except for age (32.0±18.3) years vs.(37.0±15.9)years, P=0.040], BMI[(22.5±4.3)kg/m 2 vs. (23.7±3.6)kg/m 2, P=0.028], and etiology of stenosis [endoscopic injury, 34(40.5%) vs. 53(60.9%), P=0.012]. Preoperative hydronephrosis and stricture length were assessed by CTU and ureterography. Ureterography 7-9 weeks after surgery showed patency of the reconstructed segment, or no recurrence of hydronephrosis was judged as success. Evaluate the operation method, operation time, success rate, length of OMG in repairing ureteral stricture between laparoscopic and robot-assisted groups. Results:The overall success rate of oral mucosal graft repair surgery reached 97.7%(171/175). The success rate of ureteral reconstruction in the two groups were 96.4%(81/84)and 98.9%(86/87), respectively ( P=0.351), and the difference was not statistically significant. There was no significant difference for operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and mean oral mucosal length between the robotic and laparoscopic groups[(244.7±85.8) min and (222.7±83.5)min ( P=0.116), (58.9±38.6) ml and (68.4±45.5) ml ( P=0.217), (5.0±2.0) cm and (4.6±1.5) cm ( P=0.350)], respectively.Postoperative complications were reported in 23 (13.1%) patients, such as fever, urinary leakage, lymphatic leakage, infection, but only 2 (1.4%) cases patients had complications of Clavien-Dindo score ≥ Ⅲ. The two patients developed urinary stricture after surgery with failed conservative treatment, and no urinary stricture occurred following endoscopic treatment.The short-term (three months after surgery)incidence of complications in the site where the oral mucosa was taken, such as difficulty in opening mouth, pain, and swelling, was 12.0% (21/175), and there was no significant difference for oral complications between patients harvesting different length of mucosal graft. Conclusions:Ureteroplasty with oral mucosal graft is a safe, feasible and reliable technique for ureteral reconstruction. At present, minimally invasive technology is the main surgical approach for ureteroplasty, and there is no significant difference in operation time and success rate between robotic surgery and laparoscopic surgery.

Objective:To evaluate the incidence, clinical characteristics and prognosis of second primary malignancies (SPMs) among patients with hypopharyngeal carcinoma (HPC) in real-world analysis.Methods:A total of 594 HPC patients admitted to Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College from 2010 to 2018 were retrospectively analyzed.The incidence and clinical characteristics of HPC patients complicated with SPMs were analyzed. Clinical efficacy was compared among different groups.Results:With a median follow-up time of 66.9 months, SPMs were present in 36.4% (216/594) of HPC patients: 22.2% (132/594) were synchronous and 14.1% (84/594) were metachronous. The upper aerodigestive tract was the most common involved region. Compared with patients without SPMs, patients with synchronous and metachronous carcinoma in situ had similar 5-year overall survival (OS) of 42.2% vs. 44.5% ( P=0.958) and 62.2% vs. 44.5% ( P=0.240), respectively. Patients with synchronous invasive SPMs had a worse 5-year OS of 27.2% vs. 44.5% in their counterparts without SPMs ( P=0.001). Patients with metachronous invasive SPMs had similar 5-year OS of 50.2% vs. 44.5% in their counterparts without SPMs ( P=0.587). SPMs accounted for 42.5% of total death in metachronous invasive SPMs group. Conclusions:Patients with HPC have a high probability of developing SPMs. Moreover, the incidence of complicated with esophageal/gastric carcinoma in situ or metachronous SPMs exerts no effect on prognosis, while the occurrence of synchronous SPMs significantly affectes the prognosis of patients. However, the incidence of SPMs is still one of the main death causes in metachronous invasive SPMs group.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nimotuzumab in the treatment of advanced head and neck tumors by using meta-analysis.Methods:Randomized controlled trials (RCT) of locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-HNSCC) treated with nimotuzumab were searched from databases (Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Wanfang Data and CNKI) for meta-analysis. The efficacy evaluation indexes included overall survival, progression-free survival, disease-free survival, objective response rate, and complete response rate. Adverse reactions were analyzed for safety evaluation. The heterogeneity results were evaluated by Chi-square test, the degree of heterogeneity was evaluated by I2, and the literature was statistically analyzed by random effects model. Results:A total of 11 RCT were included, consisting of 1 202 patients (602 in the intervention group and 600 in the control group). Compared with the control group, the overall survival was significantly prolonged, death risk was decreased by 22% ( HR=0.78, 95% CI=0.63-0.95, P=0.014), the progression-free survival was prolonged and the risk of disease progression was declined by 35% ( HR=0.65, 95% CI=0.53-0.81, P<0.01), and the disease-free survival was prolonged and the risk of recurrence was decreased by 29% ( HR=0.71, 95% CI=0.55-0.91, P<0.01), the objective response rate ( RR=1.37, 95% CI=1.20-1.55, P<0.01) and complete response rate ( RR=1.30, 95% CI=1.15-1.46, P<0.01) were significantly improved in the intervention group. In addition, adding nimotuzumab did not increase the incidence of adverse reaction ( RR=0.98, 95% CI=0.93-1.03, P=0.41). Conclusion:Nimotuzumab can significantly prolong long-term survival and improve short-term efficacy with high safety in LA-HNSCC patients.

Objective:To evaluate the prognostic value of pretreatment systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in non-metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Methods:We retrospectively collected the data of 839 patients with non-metastatic NPC from National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between January 2007 and October 2015. All patients received intensity modulated radiation based treatment. Optimal cutoff value of SII and LDH were determined by X-title software. The association between SII, LDH and clinical prognosis of non-metastatic NPC patients were analyzed. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and Log rank test was used for comparison of survival rates between groups. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was carried out to minimize the effects of confounding factors. The risk stratification model of prognosis by combining N stage, SII and LDH was constructed to compare the prognosis of patients in high risk group, middle risk group and low risk group, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate its prognostic value.Results:The optimal cutoff value of SII is 447.2×10 9/L for predicting the 5-year overall survival (OS) of NPC patients, and the best cutoff value of LDH is 198.9 U/L. The proportion of patients with stage T3-4 and stage III-IVB in high SII group was higher than that in low SII group ( P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that N stage, SII and LDH were independent factors of OS, progression-free survival (PFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) of NPC patients (N stage, HR=1.705, 95% CI: 1.247-2.332; HR=1.755, 95% CI: 1.342-2.295; HR=2.161, 95% CI: 1.515-3.082. SII, HR=1.525, 95% CI: 1.097-2.119; HR=1.518, 95% CI: 1.150-2.004; HR=1.837, 95% CI: 1.272-2.653. LDH, HR=2.041, 95% CI: 1.403-2.968; HR=1.725, 95% CI: 1.233-2.414; HR=2.492, 95% CI: 1.690-3.672, respectively). After PSM, SII was still an independent prognostic factor of OS, PFS and DMFS in NPC patients ( HR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.09-2.12; HR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.15-2.00; HR=1.82, 95% CI: 1.26-2.63, respectively). Combined with N 2-3 stage, SII (>447.2×10 9/L), and LDH (>198.9 U/L), patients were divided into high-(3 risk factors), intermediate- (2 risk factors) and low-risk (0-1 risk factors) groups. The 5-year OS rates of patients in low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups were 86.1%, 79.8% and 41.2% respectively, the 5-year PFS rates were 80.7%, 70.2% and 33.9% respectively, and the 5-year DMFS rates were 88.9%, 79.2% and 47.5% respectively. There were significant differences in OS, PFS and DMFS among these three groups ( P<0.001). Distant metastasis was the main failure pattern in low-, intermediate- and high-risk groups, and the highest rate of distant metastasis was 83.3% (15/31) in high-risk group. ROC curve of the risk stratification model for predicting 5-year OS of NPC patients is 0.610, which is higher than TNM stage (0.609), SII (0.574) and LDH (0.558). Conclusions:Pretreatment SII and LDH are significantly correlated with the prognosis of patients with non-metastatic NPC. The combination of SII, LDH and N stage can stratify the prognostic risk of NPC patients. The risk stratification model can enhance the accuracy of prognosis.