[Expression and Clinical Significance of Exosome Component 4 in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the expression of Exosome Component 4（EXOSC4） in the tissues of newly diagnosed patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and its clinical significance. METHODS: The expression of EXOSC4 protein in the tissues of 181 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining. Clinical data were collected. The correlation between EXOSC4 protein expression in the tissues of newly diagnosed DLBCL patients and clinical features were analyzed and its prognostic significance. RESULTS: The positive rate of EXOSC4 protein expression was 68.51% in the tissues of 181 newly diagnosed DLBCL patients. These patients were divided into two groups, with 44 cases in high expression group and 137 cases in low expression group. There were no significant differences in age, gender, B symptoms, serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, Ann Arbor stage, extranodal disease, International Prognostic Index (IPI) score, National Comprehensive Cancer Network IPI (NCCN-IPI) score, and cell origin between the two groups (P>0.05). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that high EXOSC4 protein expression in tissues was an independent poor prognostic factor for OS and PFS in newly diagnosed DLBCL patients (all P<0.05). K-M survival analysis showed that newly diagnosed DLBCL patients with high EXOSC4 protein expression had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) than those patients with low EXOSC4 protein expression (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION: High EXOSC4 protein expression in tissues of newly diagnosed DLBCL patients is an independent poor prognostic factor for survival.

Male accessory breast cancer on the abdominal wall: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Accessory breast cancer is very rare, particularly in men. Male accessory breast cancer on the abdominal wall has not been documented in the scientific literature so far. We describe a case of male accessory breast cancer on the abdominal wall. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a male patient suffering a swelling and erosive, enlarged, and hardened abdominal wall mass with pain due to abdominal wall accessory breast cancer. The patient had no obvious disease history, and the initial clinical symptom was a small mass on the abdominal wall. B-ultrasound revealed a solid subcutaneous nodule in the right abdomen with a size of ~2.8 × 2.5 × 1.5 cm. The abdominal wall tumor resection was performed with local anesthesia. Pathological testing revealed a grade II infiltrating ductal carcinoma derived from the accessory mammary gland (right abdominal wall) with neuroendocrine characteristics, showing ER (100% strong positive), PR (100% strong positive), HER-2 (-), ki67 (40% positive), Syn (+), CgA (+), and GCDFP15 (+). CONCLUSION: Nonaxillary accessory breast cancer in males is very rare, with no obvious clinical manifestations, and could be easily ignored. This disease requires great attention from clinicians.

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells induced by inflammatory cytokines produce angiogenetic factors and promote prostate cancer growth.

BACKGROUND: Prostate is susceptible to infection and pro-inflammatory agents in a man's whole life. Chronic inflammation might play important roles in the development and progression of prostate cancer. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are often recruited to the tumor microenvironment due to local inflammation. We have asked whether stimulation of MSCs by pro-inflammatory cytokines could promote prostate tumor growth. The current study investigated the possible involvement of MSCs stimulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines in promotion and angiogenesis of prostate cancer through relative pathway in vitro and in vivo. METHODS: A syngeneic mouse model of C57 was established. The murine prostate cancer cells (RM-1) mixing with MSCs treated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) or vehicle were subcutaneously injected into C57 mice. Tumor volume of C57 mouse model was estimated and serum level of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was test by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). A hen egg test-chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) assay was applied to test the effect of conditioned media of stimulated MSCs in chorioallantoic membrane angiogenesis. Short interfering RNA (siRNA) knocked down either hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α) or nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (NRF2) were employed. mRNA of PDGF and VEGF in MSCs, as well as NRF2 and HIF-1α was test by Real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses. Protein expression levels of PDGF and VEGF from conditioned medium, NRF2, HIF-1α, as well as PDGF and VEGF in MSCs were detected by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: MSCs treated with TNF-α and IFN-γ promote tumor growth in C57 syngeneic mouse model, correlating with increased serum level of PDGF, VEGF. HET-CAM assay shows the angiogenic effect of conditioned medium of MSCs pre-treated with the pro-inflammatory cytokines. mRNA and protein levels of two pro-angiogenic factors (PDGF and VEGF) and key hypoxia regulators (HIF-1α and NRF2) in MSCs were induced after MSCs' pretreatment. siRNA knockdown either HIF-1α or NRF2 results reduction of PDGF and VEGF expression. CONCLUSIONS: MSCs stimulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines increase the expression of PDGF and VEGF via the NRF2-HIF-1α pathway and accelerate prostate cancer growth in mice.

Updated incidence rates and risk factors of esophageal cancer in Nan'ao Island, a coastal high-risk area in southern China.

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common cancers in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the updated incidence rates and risk factors of EC in Nan'ao Island, where the EC incidence rate was chronically the highest in southern China. To calculate the annual incidence rate, data on 338 EC cases from Nan'ao Cancer Registry system diagnosed during 2005-2011 were collected. A case-control study was conducted to explore the EC risk factors. One hundred twenty-five alive EC patients diagnosed during 2005-2011 and 250 controls were enrolled into the case-control study. A pre-test questionnaire on demography, dietary factors, drinking water treatment, and behavioral factors was applied to collect information of all participants. The average EC incidence rates during 2005-2011 were 66.09/105, 94.62/105, 36.83/105 for both genders, males and females, respectively, in Nan'ao Island. The EC incidence rate in males was 2.40- to 4.55-fold higher than that in females in the period from 2006 to 2011 (P < 0.05). Considering the onset age, males tend to be much younger than females and reached peak incidence rate at a younger age (P < 0.05). Drinking water treatment by filter (odds ratio [OR] = 0.28, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.13-0.58) and fruit consumption (OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.32-0.94) reduced the risk for EC. On the contrary, the pickled vegetables consumption (OR = 2.64, 95% CI = 1.46-4.76) and liquor drinking (OR = 2.32, 95% CI = 1.21-4.44) increased the risk for EC. These results may be of importance for future research on EC etiology and prevention strategies.

Streptomyces tremellae sp. nov., isolated from a culture of the mushroom Tremella fuciformis.

A novel actinomycete strain, designated Js-1T, was isolated from Tremella fuciformis collected from Gutian, Fujian Province, in southeastern China. The taxonomic status of this strain was determined by a polyphasic approach, which demonstrated that the novel strain was a member of the genus Streptomyces. The cell walls of this strain were found to contain ll-diaminopimelic acid, muramic acid and glycine. An analysis of whole-cell hydrolysates revealed that no characteristic sugar was present. The key identified menaquinones were MK-9 (H6) and MK-9 (H8), while the diagnostic polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The main cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0. An analysis of an almost complete 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the strain shared the highest levels of sequence similarity with Streptomyces sannanensisKC-7038T (97.87 %), Streptomyces hebeiensis YIM 001T (97.84 %), Streptomyces pathocidini NBRC 13812T (97.80 %), Streptomyces cocklensis BK168T (97.25 %), Streptomyces coerulescens NBRC 12758T (97.12 %), Streptomyces aurantiogriseus NBRC 12842T (97.06 %) and Streptomyces rimosussubsp. rimosus ATCC 10970T (97.04 %). The DNA G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain Js-1T was 70.1 mol%. Furthermore, DNA-DNA hybridization tests revealed that the relatedness values between strain Js-1T and the most closely related species ranged from 15.10 to 47.20 %. Based on its phenotypic and genotypic characteristics, strain Js-1T (=CCTCC M 2011365T=JCM 30846T) is considered to represent a novel species within the genus Streptomyces, which we classified as Streptomycestremellae sp. nov.

[Analysis of the efficiency and influence factors of PBSC collection with AutoPBSC and MNC procedure of cell separator].

This study was aimed to analyze the efficiency and influence factors of PBSC collection by an automatic (AutoPBSC procedure) and a semiautomatic apheresis procedure ( MNC procedure) of COBE Spectra cell separators. According to the different objects, A total of 109 apheresis cases were divided into autologous cohort (patient) and allogeneic cohort (donor). The quantity and quality of the collections and the characteristics of apheresis procedure were compared, the yields and influence factors of two cohorts with two kinds of procedures were analyzed respectively. The results showed that the collections of two procedure in patients and donors which processed the similar blood volumes were insignificantly different in MNC%, CD34⁺ %, CD34⁺ cell counts and Hb concentration (P > 0.05) ; the collections by AutoPBSC procedure had got fewer platelets, less product volumes whereas more ACD-A used, longer apheresis time in comparison with MNC procedure (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that MNC (r = 0.314,P = 0.015) , CD34⁺ cell counts (r = 0.922, P = 0.000) in collections were positively correlated with preahperesis in the autologus cohort by two procedures, CD34⁺ cell counts were correlated with WBC (r = 0.369, P = 0.004) and MNC (r = 0.495,P = 0.000) in collections; MNC (r = 0.896, P = 0.000) was positive correlated with preahperesis by AutoPBSC procedures and CD34⁺ cell counts also (r = 0.666,P = 0.000) by MNC procedure in the allogeneic cohort. Male had got more MNC and CD34⁺ cell counts than female (P < 0.05), age ≤ 40 had got more MNC and CD34⁺ cell counts than age>40 (P < 0.05) in patients by AutoPBSC procedure; age > 40 had got more CD34⁺ cell counts than age ≤ 40 by MNC procedure(P < 0.05). Only male had got more MNC and CD34⁺ cell counts than female (P < 0.05) by MNC procedure in donors. It is concluded that with same amount of blood processing, the PBSC collections from autologous patients and allogeneic donors had got a high degree of uniformly in purity of MNC and purity and concentration of CD34(+) cell counts by two procedure, whereas sex and age imposed more influence on PBSC collection in autologous.

A robust graph-based segmentation method for breast tumors in ultrasound images.

OBJECTIVES: This paper introduces a new graph-based method for segmenting breast tumors in US images. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION: Segmentation for breast tumors in ultrasound (US) images is crucial for computer-aided diagnosis system, but it has always been a difficult task due to the defects inherent in the US images, such as speckles and low contrast. METHODS: The proposed segmentation algorithm constructed a graph using improved neighborhood models. In addition, taking advantages of local statistics, a new pair-wise region comparison predicate that was insensitive to noises was proposed to determine the mergence of any two of adjacent subregions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Experimental results have shown that the proposed method could improve the segmentation accuracy by 1.5-5.6% in comparison with three often used segmentation methods, and should be capable of segmenting breast tumors in US images.

[Establishment and biological characteristics of a human ovarian carcinoma cell line originated from peritoneal effusion].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Establishing ovarian cancer cell lines will benefit researches on biological characteristics of ovarian cancer stem cells and antitumor drugs. This study was to establish a human ovarian carcinoma cell line from peritoneal effusion, and explore its biological characteristics. METHODS: Cells were isolated from peritoneal effusion of an ovarian carcinoma patient, purified and cultured in vitro. The morphology of the cells was observed under electromicroscope. The growth curve of cells was drawn to calculate cell doubling time (TD). Cell karyotype was analyzed. The levels of sex hormone, and the expression of CA125 and CA19-9 in cell culture supernate were detected by radioimmunoassay. The cells were transplanted into nude mice to observe tumor formation. RESULTS: A new ovarian carcinoma cell line was established, which had been maintained in vitro for over 100 passages in two years. Abnormal nuclei were observed under electromicroscope. TD was 40.8 h. The karyotype of the cells was hyperdiploid with 63-120 chromosomes. The level of estradiol in cell culture supernate was 45.0 pg/mL; the level of testosterone was 0.03 ng/mL; pregnendione was undetected; the level of CA125 was 4.49 U/mL; the level of CA19-9 was 4.09 U/mL. Poorly differentiated ovarian adenocarcinoma was formed subcutaneously in nude mice after transplantation. CONCLUSION: The new ovarian carcinoma cell line is proved to be an immortalized and malignant cell line.

[Analysis on the volatile oil of Xinhui Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae in different years by GC/MS].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the difference of the volatile oil of Xinhui Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae in different years. METHODS: The components and contents of the volatile oil of Xinhui Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae were analyzed in different years by GC/MS. RESULTS: The components and contents of the volatile oil of Xinhui Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae changed along with the years. CONCLUSION: With the years' extension, the components of the volatile oil changed slowly during 3 years but quickly after 3 years, a few new components appeared evenly, So there's relevance between using old Xinhui Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae and its component changing.

[Dieulafoy's disease of the bronchus: a case report and review of the literature].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of Dieulafoy's disease of the bronchus. METHODS: One patient with Dieulafoy's disease of bronchus was described and relevant literatures were reviewed. RESULTS: Bronchial Dieulafoy's disease is extremely rare, characterized by the erosion of an anomalous artery in the submucosa of bronchus. The etiology of Dieulafoy's disease of bronchus is still unknown, but congenital vascular malformation and airway chronic inflammation or bronchial injury have been postulated. The sudden onset of massive hemoptysis and fatal hemorrhage caused by biopsy injury are common manifestations. Bronchial and pulmonary angiography is a very useful examination before operation, and histopathological diagnosis can be made by the examination of the surgical specimen and the necroscopic specimen. Selective bronchial artery embolization could be proposed as a method for stopping the bleeding, but it may fail and bleeding may recur. At present, lobectomy of the lung is a fundamental approach. CONCLUSIONS: Bronchial Dieulafoy's disease should be included in the differential diagnosis of cryptogenic hemoptysis, and if a cone-shaped endobronchial protrusion is found by bronchoscopic examination, care should be taken for potential danger of a biopsy.