Prostate ultrasound imaging: evaluation of a two-step scoring system in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the feasibility and performance of a two-step scoring system of ultrasound imaging in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 75 patients with 888 consecutive histopathologically verified lesions were included in this study. Step 1, an initial 5-point scoring system was developed based on conventional transrectal ultrasound (TRUS). Step 2, a final scoring system was evaluated according to contrast-enhanced transrectal ultrasound (CE-TRUS). Each lesion was evaluated using the two-step scoring system (step 1 + step 2) and compared with only using conventional TRUS (step 1). RESULTS: 888 lesions were histologically verified: 315 of them were prostate cancer from 46 patients and 573 were benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) from 29 patients. According to the two-step scoring system, 284 lesions were upgraded and 130 lesions were downgraded from step 1 to step 2 (this means using step 2 to assess the results by step 1). However, 96 cases were improperly upgraded after step 2 and 48 malignant lesions were still missed after step 2 as score-1. For the two-step scoring system, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 84.7%, 83.2%, and 83.7%, respectively, versus 22.8%, 96.6%, and 70.4%, respectively, for conventional TRUS. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for lesion diagnosis was 0.799-0.952 for the two-step scoring system, versus 0.479-0.712 for conventional TRUS. The difference in the diagnostic accuracy of the two-step scoring system and conventional TRUS was statistically significant (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: The two-step scoring system was straightforward to use and achieved a considerably accurate diagnostic performance for prostate cancer. The application of the two-step scoring system for prostate cancer is promising.

[Effects of arsenic trioxide combined with bortezomib on proliferation and apoptosis of K562 cells and their mechanism].

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)) alone and in combination with bortezomib (Bor) on proliferation and apoptosis of leukemia cell line K562, and to analyze the potential mechanism. K562 cells were treated with different concentrations of As(2)O(3) or Bor (alone or combination) for 24, 48 h. MTT method was used to detect the cell proliferation. After K562 cells were treated with 0.5 µmol/L As(2)O(3) alone or in combination with 10 nmoL/L Bor, the apoptosis rate and cell cycle were measured by flow cytometry, and the activity of NF-κB was analyzed by SP immunohistochemistry. The results indicated that the different concentrations of As(2)O(3) and Bor could inhibit the K562 cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manners (P < 0.05). The IC(50) of Bor and As(2)O(3) in 48 h were 20 nmol/L and 0.6 µmol/L respectively. When K562 cells were treated with As(2)O(3) or Bor alone for 24 h, the apoptotic rate of K562 cells increased, and the apoptotic rate in combination group was higher than that in As(2)O(3) or Bor group. The cells were apparently arrested in G(2)/M phase in Bor group and G(0)/G(1) phase in As(2)O(3) group. The activity of NF-κB decreased significantly in As(2)O(3) or Bor group (P < 0.05), this effect was most significant in the combination group (P < 0.01). It is concluded that both As(2)O(3) and Bor can inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of K562 cells, a synergistic effect can be observed when a low dose of As(2)O(3) combined with low dose of Bor. The different cell cycle block site and the decrease of activity of NF-κB may be one of the mechanisms underlying their synergic effect.

[Effects of hyperbaric oxygenation combined with As(2)O(3) on proliferation of K562 cells and associated mechanism].

This study was aimed to explore the effects of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) alone or combined with As(2)O(3) on proliferation, apoptosis and expression of HIF-1a, VEGF, caspase-3 mRNA of K562 cells, and the molecular mechanism of As(2)O(3) enhancing the anti-leukemic effect of HBO so as to provide a scientific basis for clinical treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. The effects of drugs on proliferation of K562 cells was assayed by MTT method, the apoptosis rate of K562 cells was detected by flow cytometry with Annexin V/PI double staining, the expressions of HIF-1a, VEGF, caspase-3 mRNA of K562 cells were determined by real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed that as compared with As(2)O(3) alone, HBO combined with As(2)O(3) could increase inhibitory rate of K562 cell proliferation, and enhance apoptotic effect, obviously down-regulate expressions of HIF-1a and VEGF mRNA, up-regulate expression of caspase-3 mRNA. The effect of HBO combined with As(2)O(3) was higher then effect of As(2)O(3) alone, and their effects were synergistic (P < 0.05). It is concluded that HBO combined with As(2)O(3) can increase the expression of caspase 3 mRNA and decrease the expression of HIF-1a and VEGF mRNA, which may be one of molecular mechanisms underlying their synergistic antileukemia efficacy.