College of American Pathologists Tumor Regression Grading System for Long-Term Outcome in Patients with Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Rectal Cancer Guideline Panel recommends American Joint Committee of Cancer and College of American Pathologists (AJCC/CAP) tumor regression grading (TRG) system to evaluate pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Yet, the clinical significance of the AJCC/CAP TRG system has not been fully defined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a multicenter, retrospectively recruited, and prospectively maintained cohort study. Patients with LARC from one institution formed the discovery set, and cases from external independent institutions formed a validation set to verify the findings from discovery set. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank test, and Cox regression model. RESULTS: The discovery set (940 cases) found, and the validation set (2,156 cases) further confirmed, that inferior AJCC/CAP TRG categories were closely /ccorrelated with unfavorable survival (OS, DFS, LRFS, and DMFS) and higher risk of disease progression (death, accumulative relapse, local recurrence, and distant metastasis) (all p < .05). Significantly, pairwise comparison revealed that any two of four TRG categories had the distinguished survival and risk of disease progression. After propensity score matching, AJCC/CAP TRG0 category (pathological complete response) patients treated with or without adjuvant chemotherapy displayed similar survival of OS, DFS, LRFS, and DMFS (all p > .05). For AJCC/CAP TRG1-3 cases, adjuvant chemotherapy treatment significantly improved 3-year OS (90.2% vs. 84.6%, p < .001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated the AJCC/CAP TRG system was an independent prognostic surrogate. CONCLUSION: AJCC/CAP TRG system, an accurate prognostic surrogate, appears ideal for further strategizing adjuvant chemotherapy for LARC. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recommends the American Joint Committee of Cancer and College of American Pathologists (AJCC/CAP) tumor regression grading (TRG) four-category system to evaluate the pathologic response to neoadjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer; however, the clinical significance of the AJCC/CAP TRG system has not yet been clearly addressed. This study found, for the first time, that any two of four AJCC/CAP TRG categories had the distinguished long-term survival outcome. Importantly, adjuvant chemotherapy may improve the 3-year overall survival for AJCC/CAP TRG1-3 category patients but not for AJCC/CAP TRG0 category patients. Thus, AJCC/CAP TRG system, an accurate surrogate of long-term survival outcome, is useful in guiding adjuvant chemotherapy management for rectal cancer.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Although the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in gastric cancer has been extensively studied, the data of survival benefit are still controversial. The purpose of this work was to assess the effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery in patients with gastric cancer. METHODS: We searched systematically electronic through the databases of PUBMED, EMBASE, China Biological Medicine, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure Whole Article for studies published from 1975. Two reviewers independently evaluated the relevant reports and searched manually reference from these reports for additional trials. Outcomes assessed by meta-analysis included overall survival rate, progression-free survival rate, R0 resection rate, downstaging effect, postoperative complications, and perioperative mortality. RESULTS: Six randomized, controlled trials with 781 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Odds ratio (95% confidence interval; P-value), expressed as neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery versus surgery alone, was 1.16 (0.85-1.58; P = 0.36) for overall survival, 1.24 (0.78-1.96; P = 0.36) for R0 resection, 1.25 (0.75-2.09; P = 0.39) for postoperative complications, and 3.60 (0.59-22.45; P = 0.17) for perioperative mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with surgery alone, neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery was not associated with a higher rate of overall survival or complete resection (R0 resection). It does not increase treatment-related morbidity and mortality. This meta-analysis did not demonstrate a survival benefit for the combination of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery.

Phylogeny and Genetic Divergence among Sorghum Mosaic Virus Isolates Infecting Sugarcane.

Sorghum mosaic virus (SrMV, the genus Potyvirus of the family Potyviridae) is a causal agent of common mosaic in sugarcane and poses a threat to the global sugar industry. In this study, a total of 901 sugarcane leaf samples with mosaic symptom were collected from eight provinces in China and were detected via RT-PCR using a primer pair specific to the SrMV coat protein (CP). These leaf samples included 839 samples from modern cultivars (Saccharum spp. hybrids) and 62 samples from chewing cane (S. officinarum). Among these, 632 out of 901 (70.1%) samples were tested positive for SrMV. The incidences of SrMV infection were 72.3% and 40.3% in modern cultivars and chewing cane, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all tested SrMV isolates were clustered into three clades consisting of six phylogenetic groups based on 306 CP sequences (this study = 265 and GenBank database = 41). A total of 10 SrMV isolates from South America (the United States and Argentina) along with 106 isolates from China were clustered in group D, while the remaining 190 SrMV isolates from Asia (China and Vietnam) were dispersed in five groups. The SrMV isolates in group F were limited to Yunnan province in China, and those in group A were spread over eight provinces. A significant genetic heterogeneity was elucidated in the nucleotide sequence identities of all SrMV CPs, ranging from 69.0% to 100%. A potential recombination event was postulated among SrMV isolates based on CP sequences. All tested SrMV CPs underwent dominant negative selection. Geographical isolation (South America vs. Asia) and host types (modern cultivars vs. chewing cane) are important factors promoting the genetic differentiation of SrMV populations. Overall, this study contributes to the global understanding of the genetic evolution of SrMV and provides a valuable resource for the epidemiology and management of the mosaic in sugarcane.

Laparoscopy-assisted versus open distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer: evidence from randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) in patients with early gastric cancer (EGC) to determine whether LADG is an acceptable alternative to open distal gastrectomy (ODG). BACKGROUND: LADG combined with less than D2 or D2 lymphadenectomy for EGC is still a controversial surgical intervention for its uncertain oncological safety and economic benefit. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis that included randomized control trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs of LADG versus ODG to evaluate whether the safety and efficacy of LADG in patients with EGC are equivalent to those of ODG. METHODS: A comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database was performed. Eligible trials published between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 2010, were included in the study. Data synthesis and statistical analysis were carried out by RevMan 5.0 software. The quality of evidence was assessed by GRADEpro 3.2.2. RESULTS: Twenty-two studies with 3411 participants were included in this study. The mean number of lymph nodes retrieved in LADG was close to that retrieved in ODG (in the less than D2 resection: weighted mean difference [WMD] = -1.79; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], -5.78 to 2.19; P = 0.38; heterogeneity: P < 0.00001, I = 98%; and in the D2 resection: WMD = -1.53; 95% CI, -3.56 to 0.51; P = 0.14; heterogeneity: P = 0.23, I = 26%). The overall postoperative morbidity was significantly less in LADG than in ODG (relative risk = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.46-0.74; P < 0.00001; heterogeneity: P = 0.94, I = 0%). LADG reduced the intraoperative blood loss, postoperative analgesic consumption, and hospital duration, without increasing the total hospitalization costs and cancer recurrence rate. The long-term survival rate of patients undergoing LADG was similar to that of patients undergoing ODG. However, LADG was still a technically dependent and time-consuming procedure. Conversion rate of LADG was 0% to 2.94%. The reported reasons for conversion were bleeding, adhesion, and safety resection margin requirement. LIMITATIONS: : There were potential biases and significant heterogeneity in some clinical outcome measures in this study. Methodologically high-quality controlled clinical trials were sparse for this new surgical intervention. According to The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach, when assessing the safety and efficacy of LADG by comparing with those of ODG with the defined clinical outcomes in patients with EGC, the quality of the currently available clinical evidence was very low. CONCLUSIONS: LADG may be a technically feasible alternative for EGC when it is performed in experienced surgical centers in which patients undergoing LADG may benefit from the faster postoperative recovery. However, the currently available evidence cannot exclude the potential clinical benefits or harms, especially in the node-positive cases. Methodologically high-quality comparative studies are needed for further evaluation.

Meta-analysis of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy and conventional open distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: With the application of laparoscopy, laparoscopic gastrectomy for the treatment of patients with early gastric cancer has been performed, but the safety and effectiveness of this method need to be explored. This study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of laparoscopy-assisted and conventional open distal gastrectomy for patients with early gastric cancer. METHODS: A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) identified all the randomized clinical trials that compared laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy with open distal gastrectomy for patients with early gastric cancer published in the last 10 years. Quality assessment was done on each trial and relevant data were extracted from qualified trials. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 4.2.2 software (Cochrane). RESULTS: Six randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 218 patients were included. Comparing laparoscopic resection with open resection, results showed less estimated blood loss (WMD (weighted mean difference): -121.86; 95% CI (confidence interval): -145.61, -98.11; P < 0.001), earlier postoperative first flatus (WMD: -0.95; 95% CI: -1.09, -0.81; P < 0.001), and shorter durations of hospital stays (WMD: -2.27; 95%CI: -3.47, -1.06; P = 0.0002), but longer surgery times (WMD: 58.71; 95% CI: 52.69, 64.74; P < 0.001) and fewer lymph nodes dissected (WMD: -3.64; 95% CI: -5.80,-1.47; P = 0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in postoperative complications (OR (odds ratio): 0.57; 95% CI: 0.31,1.03; P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: The short-term outcome of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for patients with early gastric cancer is superior to the open procedure, but its long-term outcome should be proven by further outcomes of RCTs.

Prognostic value of autophagy related proteins ULK1, Beclin 1, ATG3, ATG5, ATG7, ATG9, ATG10, ATG12, LC3B and p62/SQSTM1 in gastric cancer.

Autophagy-related (ATG) genes contributed to tumorigenesis and cancer progression. This study aims to investigate the expression of ATG proteins and their clinicopathological significance in gastric cancer. Nine well-known ATG proteins, (ULK1, Beclin 1, ATG3, ATG5, ATG7, ATG9, ATG10, ATG12 and LC3B) and p62/SQSTM1, which represented key regulators that participated in whole autophagosomes stepwise processes, were detected in a large cohort of 352 primary gastric cancer patients. Among these 352 patients, 117 cases were randomly assigned to the training set to detect the clinicopathological value of ATG proteins, and another 235 patients were used as the testing set for further validation. Except for Beclin 1, ATG9 and ATG10, another six ATG proteins and p62/SQSTM1 were closely correlated with histological types for gastric cancer. Moreover, low expression of ULK1, Beclin 1 and ATG10 were associated with lymph node metastasis. In addition, down-regulation of ULK1, Beclin 1, ATG7 and ATG10, up-regulation of ATG12 correlated with advanced TNM stage. Importantly, multivariate cox analysis identified ULK1, Beclin 1, ATG3 and ATG10 as favorable independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Combination analysis of ULK1, Beclin 1, ATG3, ATG10 revealed the improved prognostic accuracy for gastric cancer. Our study showed that ATG proteins might serve as novel prognostic biomarkers in gastric cancer, and supply a new valuable insight into cancer treatment targeting autophagy for patients.

Deletion polymorphism in wheat chromosome regions with contrasting recombination rates.

Polymorphism for deletions was investigated in 1027 lines of tetraploid and hexaploid wheat and 420 lines of wheat diploid ancestors. A total of 26 deletions originating during the evolution of polyploid wheat were discovered among 155 investigated loci. Wheat chromosomes were divided into a proximal, low-recombination interval containing 69 loci and a distal, high-recombination interval containing 86 loci. A total of 23 deletions involved loci in the distal, high-recombination interval and only 3 involved loci in the proximal, low-recombination interval. The rates of DNA loss differed by several orders of magnitude in the two intervals. The rate of diploidization of polyploid wheat by deletions was estimated and was shown to have proceeded faster in the distal, high-recombination interval than in the proximal, low-recombination interval.

[Multi-variate regression analysis of clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of colorectal cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship between clinicopathologic features and prognosis of colorectal cancer after surgical treatment. METHODS: The clinical characteristics, pathologic features and survival rate of 761 patients with colorectal cancer after surgical treatment were univariately and multivariately analyzed. RESULTS: The overall 3- and 5-year survival rates of patients with colorectal cancer after surgical treatment were 62.9% and 60.7% with a median survival of 1,825 days. The factors of gross findings, degree of differentiation, infiltration, nodal and distant metastasis and neoplastic intestinal obstruction influenced the survival rate by univariate analysis. The factors of Dukes stage, gross tumor configuration, intramural spread and differentiation degree were available independent prognostic factors through multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Dukes stage, as the most important available independent prognostic factor (P < 0.0005), is able to assess the postoperative survival.

Snail promotes lymph node metastasis and Twist enhances tumor deposit formation through epithelial-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer.

Snail and Twist, transcriptional repressors of E-cadherin as well as inducers of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, play pivotal roles in tumor invasion and metastasis. We investigated the expression of Snail, Twist, and E-cadherin by immunohistochemistry in 193 colorectal cancers, including 79 with positive lymph nodes, 36 with tumor deposits, 39 with both, and 39 with no metastases. Snail was expressed to a greater extent in the group with positive lymph nodes (68.4%), whereas Twist was overexpressed in patients with other metastases (75.0%). Ectopic expression of Snail and Twist correlated with reduced membranous expression of E-cadherin. Importantly, Snail overexpression correlated significantly with lymph node metastasis (P < .0001), whereas Twist up-regulation correlated strongly with other metastases (P < .0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Snail was an independent predictor of lymph node metastasis (odds ratio, 4.445; 95% confidence interval, 2.250-8.781; P < .0001), whereas Twist displayed predictive value for metastasis formation (odds ratio, 5.606; 95% confidence interval, 2.829-11.111; P < .0001), suggesting that lymph node and other metastases may follow different signaling pathways. In conclusion, ectopic expression of Snail and Twist contributed to lymph node and disseminated metastasis, respectively, by reducing E-cadherin expression, providing a novel role for Snail and Twist in the progression of colorectal cancer.

Metabolic disorders of fatty acids and fatty acid amides associated with human gastric cancer morbidity.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common types of cancer in the world. A change in the metabolism of lipids in tumor cells could lead to the pathogenesis of cancer. In this study, we investigated fatty acid and fatty acid amide metabolic perturbations associated with GC morbidity. METHODS: Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was utilized to analyze fatty acids (FAs) and fatty acid amides (FAAs) of GC tissues and matched normal mucosae from 30 GC patients. Acquired lipid data was analyzed using non parametric Wilcoxon rank sum test to find the differential biomarkers for GC and diagnostic models for GC were established by using orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). RESULTS: A total of 13 FAs and 4 FAAs were detected using GC/MS and 5 differential FAs as well as oleamide were identified with significant difference (P<0.05). The OPLS-DA model generated from lipid profile showed adequate discrimination of GC tissues from normal mucosae while the OPLS-DA model failed to separate GC specimens of different TNM stages. A total of 8 variables were obtained for their most contribution in the discriminating model (Variable importance in the projection (VIP) value>1.0), five of which were detected with significant difference (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: FA and FAA metabolic profiles have great potential in detecting GC and helping understand perturbations of lipid metabolism associated with GC morbidity.

[Meta-analysis of efficacy and safety on neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of neoadjuvant therapy for resectable rectal cancer and the impact on postoperative complications. METHODS: Literature search was performed in PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science, Springer-Link and Elsevier ScienceDirect for randomized controlled trials published before May 2010 that compared neoadjuvant therapy with surgery alone or postoperative adjuvant therapy. The computer search was supplemented with hand search of reference lists for available primary studies. Inclusion criteria and quality assessment were performed. RESULTS: Eleven studies including 7407 patients were enrolled for analysis. Neoadjuvant therapy group had significant advantages in local recurrence (OR=0.43, 95%CI:0.37-0.50, P<0.01), distant recurrence (OR=0.85, 95%CI:0.76-0.95, P<0.01), 5-year overall survival (RR=1.15, 95%CI:1.04-1.28, P<0.01), and sphincter-saving surgery (RR=1.48, 95%CI:1.17-1.87, P<0.01). There were no significant difference in postoperative mortality rate(OR=1.20, 95%CI:0.68-2.13, P=0.53) and anastomotic complications (OR=1.04, 95%CI:0.73-1.48, P=0.84). CONCLUSION: Neoadjuvant therapy improves local control, distant recurrence and long-term survival without increasing postoperative complications.

Serum metabolic profiling of human gastric cancer based on gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Research on molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis plays an important role in diagnosing and treating gastric cancer. Metabolic profiling may offer the opportunity to understand the molecular mechanism of carcinogenesis and help to non-invasively identify the potential biomarkers for the early diagnosis of human gastric cancer. The aims of this study were to explore the underlying metabolic mechanisms of gastric cancer and to identify biomarkers associated with morbidity. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to analyze the serum metabolites of 30 Chinese gastric cancer patients and 30 healthy controls. Diagnostic models for gastric cancer were constructed using orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Acquired metabolomic data were analyzed by the nonparametric Wilcoxon test to find serum metabolic biomarkers for gastric cancer. The OPLS-DA model showed adequate discrimination between cancer and non-cancer cohorts while the model failed to discriminate different pathological stages (I-IV) of gastric cancer patients. A total of 44 endogenous metabolites such as amino acids, organic acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, and steroids were detected, of which 18 differential metabolites were identified with significant differences. A total of 13 variables were obtained for their greatest contribution in the discriminating OPLS-DA model [variable importance in the projection (VIP) value >1.0], among which 11 metabolites were identified using both VIP values (VIP >1) and the Wilcoxon test. These metabolites potentially revealed perturbations of glycolysis and of amino acid, fatty acid, cholesterol, and nucleotide metabolism of gastric cancer patients. These results suggest that gastric cancer serum metabolic profiling has great potential in detecting this disease and helping to understand its metabolic mechanisms.

[Lymph nodes distribution and metastatic pattern of ultra-low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the lymph nodes distribution and metastatic pattern of the ultra-low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy. METHODS: A total of 21 rectal cancer gross specimen after neoadjuvant therapy and 23 rectal cancer gross specimen without neoadjuvant therapy were investigated by whole mount section and tissue microarray techniques with CK20. All the patients were treated by abdominoperineal resection. RESULTS: There were 138 lymph nodes retrieved from the mesorectum in the neoadjuvant group including 39 metastatic lymph nodes and 12 micro-metastatic lymph nodes. Among these nodes, there were 7 rectal cancer cases with lymph nodes and 2 cases with micro-metastatic lymph nodes, and 6 cases had pathological complete remission. There were 415 lymph nodes retrieved from the mesorectum in the group without neoadjuvant therapy including 169 metastatic lymph nodes and 59 micro-metastatic lymph nodes. Among these nodes, there were 12 rectal cancer cases with lymph nodes and 4 cases with micro-metastatic lymph nodes. The proportions of metastatic lymph nodes in outer zone between the two groups were 21.5% and 29.0%, and those in pre-zone were 17.6% and 17.2% respectively. The ratio of metastatic lymph nodes in ischiorectal fossa between the two groups were 25.0% vs. 22.2% respectively. The rate of metastatic or micro-metastatic lymph nodes cases between the two groups were 4.8% vs. 13.0% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The lymph nodes distribution and metastatic pattern of the ultra-low rectal cancer are affected by neoadjuvant therapy. The proportions of the anal sphincter invasion and metastatic or micro-metastatic lymph nodes in ischiorectal fossa are lower after neoadjuvant therapy. Abdominoperineal resection as the standard treatment of the ultra-low rectal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy should be re-evaluated.

[Systematic review on safety and efficacy of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopy- assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer. METHODS: Literature search was performed in Pubmed, Medline, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) to identify controlled trials comparing LADG and open distal gastrectomy (ODG) for gastric cancer published between January 2005 and February 2010. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0 software. RESULTS: Seven controlled trials were included. One trail was randomized controlled trial. Compared to ODG, LADG had less blood loss[WMD: -132.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): -207.32 to -56.77], earlier postoperative first flatus (WMD: -0.82, 95% CI: -1.20 to -0.45], less complications [odds ratio (OR): 0.45, 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.78], shorter postoperative hospital stay (WMD: -3.63, 95% CI: -4.19 to -3.07), more harvested lymph nodes (WMD: 1.93, 95%CI: 0.36 to 3.50). There were no significant differences between the two groups in recurrence rate, metastasis rate, mortality and survival rate. CONCLUSION: Short-term outcome of LADG with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer is superior to ODG.

[Expression of CD45 in the serum of patients with Crohn's disease].

OBJECTIVE: To search for differentially expressed proteins in the serum of patients with Crohn's disease. METHODS: Serum protein samples obtained from 4 patients with Crohn's disease and 4 normal adults were cross-labeled with different CyDyes and underwent two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE) and imaging analysis. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins. RESULTS: 2-D DIGE revealed that the protein on spot 973 was overexpressed by 2.55 folds in the serum of patients with Crohn's disease compared with that in normal adults (P<0.05). The protein was identified as CD45 using mass spectrometry. CONCLUSION: CD45 overexpression in the serum of patients with Crohn's disease may play a role in the disequilibrium of the immune system.

A simple taurocholate-induced model of severe acute pancreatitis in rats.

AIM: To investigate gut barrier damage and intestinal bacteria translocation in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), a simple rat model of SAP was induced and studied. METHODS: Pancreatitis was induced by uniformly distributed injection of 3.8% Na taurocholate (1 mL/kg) beneath the pancreatic capsule. Rats in the control group were injected with normal saline in the identical location. RESULTS: Serum amylase, plasma endotoxin, intestinal permeability, and pancreatitis pathology scores were all markedly higher in the pancreatitis group than in the control group (P < 0.01). The bacterial infection rate was significantly higher in the SAP group than in the control group (P < 0.01), observed in parallel by both bacterial culture and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Acute damage of the pancreas was observed histologically in SAP rats, showing interstitial edema, leukocyte infiltration, acinar cell necrosis and hemorrhage. The microstructure of the intestinal mucosa of SAP rats appeared to be destroyed with loose, shortened microvilli and rupture of the intercellular junction, as shown by electron microscopy. CONCLUSION: Significant gut barrier damage and intestinal bacterial translocation were definitely observed with few potential study confounders in this SAP rat model, suggesting that it may be an appropriate animal model for study of gut barrier damage and bacterial translocation in SAP.

[Impact of width of hepatectomy margin on survival after simultaneous liver and colorectal resection for colorectal cancer liver metastasis].

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate an adequate hepatectomy margin for simultaneous liver and colorectal resection in colorectal cancer liver metastasis. METHODS: Clinical data of 39 patients, undergone simultaneous liver and colorectal resection for colorectal cancer liver metastasis from August 1994 to December 2004, were analyzed retrospectively. Two groups were divided according to the width of hepatectomy margin:less than 1 cm in group A, and equal or more than 1 cm in group B. The data were analyzed and compared between the 2 groups using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Log-rank test. RESULTS: There were 14 patients in group A and 25 patients in group B. No significant differences in gender, age, primary tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, the number, distribution and size of liver metastasis, duration and blood lose of surgery were found between two groups. The median survival time was 17 months in group A, and 37 months in group B, and the overall 5-year survival rate in group B was much better than that in group A (19.8% vs 0, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Simultaneous liver and colorectal resection in colorectal cancer liver metastasis should be performed with a hepatectomy margin equal or more than 1 cm.

[Association between hypermethylation of Syk gene and clinicopathological characteristics in colorectal cancer patients].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of the methylation status and expression level of Syk gene with the clinicopathological characteristics in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. METHODS: Methylation-specific PCR(MSP) and RT-PCR techniques were used to analyze the methylation status and expression level of Syk gene in cancer and normal tissues of 120 CRC patients, meanwhile, association of the methylation status and expression level of Syk gene with the clinicopathological characteristics and the prognosis were studied. RESULTS: (1) Syk gene expression was not found in 48 cancer tissues out of 120 patients and was found in all the normal tissues.The difference was significant. (2) Loss of Syk expression was found in 37 patients with Syk hypermethylation, and in 11 out of 83 patients with Syk nonmethylation. (3) The methylation status of Syk gene was correlated with the lymph node status and the Dukes stage, but not with other clinicopathological parameters. (4) The follow-up data revealed that the 3-year survival of patients with Syk hypermethylation was lower than that of patients without Syk hypermethylation(73.5% vs.95.7%,P=0.007),and postoperative recurrence rate significantly increased in the Syk hypermethylation group (32.4% vs. 8.4%,P=0.02). CONCLUSION: Hypermethylation leads to silence of Syk gene involved in the initiation of colorectal cancer, which increases the infiltration of colorectal cancer cells, postoperative relapse and decreases the postoperative 3-year survival time.

[Serum proteomic variation study in patients with Crohn disease].

OBJECTIVE: To search differentially expressed proteins in serum of patients with Crohn disease. METHODS: Serum protein samples from 4 patients with Crohn disease and 8 healthy adults were recruited cross-labeled with variant CyDye, and then followed by two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2-D DIGE), image analysis, and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). RESULTS: The 2-D electrophoresis results were compared between the Crohn disease patients and the healthy adults. The spot 1058 expression in serum of Crohn disease patients increased by 1.68 folds as compared with healthy adults (P<0.05). The protein was identified as haptoglobin by mass spectrometry. CONCLUSION: Up-regulating expression of haptoglobin in serum of Crohn disease patients may play a role in disequilibrium of immunity system.

[Biological mechanism of full-length form of spleen tyrosine kinase regulating gene transcription in breast cancer cells].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Full-length form of spleen tyrosine kinase [Syk(L)] is a tumor suppressor gene in breast cancer, which may translocate into cell nucleus and act as a transcriptional repressor. This study was to explore the mechanism of Syk(L) regulated gene transcription in breast cancer cells. METHODS: Flag-tagged Syk(L) was transfected into human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells, and the interaction of Syk(L) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) was detected by immunoprecipitation. The binding of endogenous HDAC1 and Syk(L) in breast cancer cell line MB468 was also detected by immunoprecipitation. Flag-tagged Syk(L) domains SH2, KD, and IDB(L) were transfected into HEK293 cells, respectively, and their interaction with HDAC1 was detected. The activity of HDACs in the immunoprecipited complexes of Syk(L) was tested by HDAC activity detecting system. RESULTS: Exogenous Syk(L) was bound with HDAC1, 3, 6, and 7 in HEK293 cells, and endogenous Syk(L) was bound with HDAC1 in MB468 cells. SH2 and KD, but not IDB(L), were coimmunoprecipitated with HDAC1. The activity of HDACs was detected in the immunoprecipited complexes of Syk(L). CONCLUSIONS: Syk(L) regulates gene transcription in breast cancer by binding with HDACs to form transcription repressive complexes.