Analysis of clinical effect of the four-step pouch approach in ocular plastic surgery.

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical effect of the four-step pouch plastic surgery in ocular plastic surgery. METHODS: Patients with ocular plastic surgery admitted to our hospital from January 2018 to October 2019 were selected as the study subjects. The patients were divided into the observation group (n=41) and the control group (n=43) according to the different surgical modalities received. The traditional skin approach of lower eyelid, and the four-step pouch plastic surgery were used as the control group and observation group, respectively. The operation time, postoperative recovery time of the eye skin, clinical effect, postoperative complications, and satisfaction rate were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The operation time was compared between the two groups, indicating no significant difference (P > 0.05). The postoperative recovery time of the eye skin was significantly shorter in the observation group than the control group (P < 0.05). The total clinical effective rate (95.12%) was significantly higher in the observation group than that in the control group (79.07%) (P < 0.05). The total incidence of complications (7.32%) was significantly lower in the observation group than that in the control group (25.58%) (P < 0.05). The overall satisfaction rate was significantly higher in the observation group than the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The clinical effect of four-step pouch plastic surgery in ocular plastic surgery is significant.

ZNF750 inhibits the proliferation and invasion of melanoma cells through modulating the Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway.

INTRODUCTION: The abnormal expression of Zinc Finger Protein 750 (ZNF750) has been reported in neoplastic diseases. This study investigated the functional role of ZNF750 in the progression of melanoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to detect the expression levels of ZNF750 in patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous malignant melanoma. The correlation between clinical-pathological features and ZNF750 expression were clarified. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation and transwell assays were used to explore the effects of ZNF750 on the proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of melanoma cells. Western blot assay was used to evaluate the effects of ZNF750 on regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related proteins. RESULTS: ZNF750 expression was down-regulated in human melanoma tissues and cells, and correlated with the clinical-pathological features including tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and Clark classification in patients with melanoma. In addition, overexpression of ZNF750 decreased the proliferation, invasion and suppressed EMT of melanoma cells, whereas ZNF750 depletion showed the opposite effects. Importantly, mechanistic analyses implied that upregulation of ZNF750 inhibited the expression of b-catenin and the downstream targets (cyclin D1, c-Myc, Bcl-2, MMP2 and MMP9), indicating it could block the activation of Wnt/b-catenin pathway. Consistently, knockdown of ZNF750 led to the opposite results. CONCLUSIONS: Together, ZNF750 serves as a tumor suppressor for the development and progression of melanoma through regulating the Wnt/b-catenin pathway. This study confirms the involvement of ZNF750 in melanoma progression and may provide a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma.

Functional promoter -308G>A variant in tumor necrosis factor α gene is associated with risk and progression of gastric cancer in a Chinese population.

BACKGROUND: Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) plays a crucial role in the development and progression of gastric cancer. A functional polymorphism, -308 G>A (rs1800629), which is located in the promoter of TNFA gene, has been suggested to alter the production of TNF-α and influence cancer risk. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether this polymorphism has effects on the risk and progression of gastric cancer in a Chinese population. METHODS: We genotyped the TNFA -308 G>A polymorphism using the TaqMan method in a two-stage case-control study comprising a total of 1686 gastric cancer patients and 1895 cancer-free subjects. The logistic regression was used to assess the genetic associations with occurrence and progression of gastric cancer. RESULTS: We found a significant association between the variant genotypes and increased risk of gastric cancer [P = 0.034, odds ratio (OR) = 1.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-1.67, GA/AA vs. GG]. Similar results were observed in the follow-up replication study. When combined the data from the two studies, we found a more significant association (P = 0.001, OR = 1.34, 95%CI = 1.13-1.59), especially for older subjects (>65 years). Furthermore, the patients carrying the variant genotypes had a significantly greater prevalence of T4 stage of disease (P = 0.001, OR = 2.19, 95%CI = 1.39-3.47) and distant metastasis (P = 0.013, OR = 1.61, 95%CI = 1.10-2.35). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the functional promoter -308 G>A polymorphism in TNFA influence the susceptibility and progression of gastric cancer in the Chinese population.