[Association between the time of neutrophils to the lowest and prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with non-operative therapy].

Objective: To investigate the association between the time of neutrophils to the lowest and prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) treated with non-operative therapy. Methods: The clinical data of 325 non-operative treated ESCC patients were collected in this study. The X-title software was applied to establish optimal threshold of neutrophil reduction to the lowest value. According to the optimal threshold, the patients were divided into early group (115 cases) and late group (210 cases). The clinical features and survival time of the two groups were compared, and the factors of prognosis were analyzed by Cox regression model with univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: The X-title software demonstrated the optimal cutoff values for the time of neutrophils to the lowest was 39 days. The median overall survival time was 21.0 months in the early group which was significantly higher than that in the late group (16.0 months). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the treatment methods and the time of neutrophils to the lowest were independent factors for overall survival of patients with ESCC treated by non-surgical therapy. Compared with radiotherapy alone, concurrent chemoradiation could benefit the survival (HR=0.64, P=0.026). The prognosis of patients in the late group of neutrophils to the lowest (HR=1.38, P=0.038) was poor compared with the early group. Furthermore, stratified by treatment methods, the overall survival of two groups showed statistically significant difference only in patients received concurrent chemoradiation. The mortality risk in the late group was higher than that in the early group (HR=3.53, P=0.010). Conclusion: The time of neutrophils to the lowest is an independent prognosis factor for non-operative treated ESCC patients. The prognosis of patients in the early group is better than that in the late group.

Effects of cordyceps sinensis on natural killer activity and colony formation of B16 melanoma.

This paper reports the study on the effects of the ethanol extract of Cordyceps sinensis (CS-II), a potent herbal tonic, on murine and human in vitro natural killer cell (NK) activities and on murine in vivo NK activity (by 125I clearance assay), and on colony formation of B16 melanoma in mouse lungs. The results revealed that: 1. the in vivo and in vitro NK activities of mouse were both significantly augmented by intraperitoneal (ip) injection of CS-II. Besides, the inhibition of mouse NK activity by cyclophosphamide (Cy) was prevented following the administration of CS-II; 2. the in vitro NK activity of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMs) was elevated by preincubation of PBMs with CS-II; and 3. the colony formation of B16 melanoma in mouse lungs was reduced significantly by ip pretreatment of the mice with CS-II. This study indicates that CS-II may be used as an immunopotentiating agent in treating cancer and immunodeficient patients.

Capillary cloning of primary human tumor cells: assay miniaturization for drug efficacy testing.

The conventional double-layer agar method of cloning human tumor cells requires a substantial number of viable tumor cells and 14-21 days of culture. These prerequisites frequently limit its utility as an assay. In an attempt to circumvent these limitations and to reduce the amount of drug that is needed in the assay, we have further developed and miniaturized the assay in which human tumor cells are cloned in glass microcapillary tubes. Cultures consisted of 50 microliters containing 15,000 nucleated cells in 975 mm capillary tubes which were incubated for seven days. The results from 50 consecutive tumor biopsies resulted in cloning efficiencies, ranging from 0.007% to 1.0% with an overall successful cloning of 88% of all tumors tested and a good linear growth relationship and chemotherapy sensitivity. This miniaturized assay offers distinct advantages for drug efficacy testing including high cloning efficiencies, small tumor sample and drug requirements, quicker assay turnaround time and a general conservancy of reagents and incubator space.