Real-world treatment patterns and survival for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The "real world" treatment mode and clinical efficacy of locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (LAESCC) are unclear. Meanwhile, the role of immunotherapy in the clinical practice is also puzzling. We conducted the research to investigate the statue of "real world" LAESCC. The clinical data of patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma which met the criteria from January 2010 to December 2019 have been retrospectively analyzed, and the distribution of clinical treatment patterns has been analyzed. They cover such aspects as dfferences in survival time and further analysis of the differences in overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) between patients who received immunotherapy and those who did not receive immunotherapy. What is more, Cox risk regression model has also been used to evaluate the risk factors affecting the prognosis of LAESCC. The cases of a total of 5328 newly diagnosed patients with esophageal cancer were collected, and a total of 363 patients were included in the study, with a median age of (46.2 ± 7.8) years old; 84 (23.1%) and 279 (76.9%) patients received 1L and ≥ 2L, respectively; Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (74.1%) and paclitaxel combined with platinum-based chemotherapy (14.3%) were the main first-line treatment options; fluorouracil combined with cisplatin regimen-based chemotherapy (63.8%) was the main treatment option for ≥ 2L, of which 69 patients (25.3%) received immunization treatment; OS of patients with 1 line of therapy and ≥ 2L were (22.4 ± 7.2) months and (38.7 ± 8.5) months, respectively, and the comparison between groups was statistically significant (P < .05); among 69 patients with ≥ 2L who received immunotherapy, PFS and The OS was (14.6 ± 6.9) and (45.3 ± 9.7) respectively, and the comparison between the groups was statistically significant (all P < .05). Cox multivariate analysis has shown that clinical stage, immunotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and ≥ 2L are the main factors affecting OS. and immunotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and ≥ 2L are independent factors affecting PFS. Concurrent chemoradiotherapy is currently one of the standard treatments for LAESCC, and most patients are still willing to receive second-line or above treatments. Adding immunotherapy to standard treatment modalities may further optimize clinical treatment modalities and improve patient outcomes.

Overexpression of LMP-1 Decreases Apoptosis in Human Nucleus Pulposus Cells via Suppressing the NF-κB Signaling Pathway.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a prevalent disease characterized by low back pain. Increasing extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis and decreasing nucleus pulposus cell (NPC) apoptosis are promising strategies to recover degenerated NP. LIM mineralization protein- (LMP-) 1 has anti-inflammatory potential and is a promising gene target for the treatment of NP degeneration. In this study, we measured the expression of LMP-1 in the NP of patients. Then, we constructed LMP-1-overexpressing NPCs using lentiviral vectors and investigated the effects of LMP-1 on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and ECM synthesis in NPCs. The results showed that LMP-1 was highly expressed in the NP of patients. LMP-1 overexpression significantly increased proliferation and decreased apoptosis in NPCs. The expression of collagen II and sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) in NPCs was also upregulated after LMP-1 was overexpressed. Moreover, we demonstrated that LMP-1 decreased apoptosis of NPCs by inhibiting NF-κB signaling activation. These findings suggest that LMP-1 plays an essential role in mediating apoptosis in NPCs by regulating NF-κB signaling and can be used as a gene target for the treatment of IDD.