Surgical and survival outcomes of laparoscopic colectomy for trans-verse colon cancer in elderly patients.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to compare the survival and surgical outcomes of laparoscopic colectomy (LC) in elderly and non-elderly patients with transverse colon cancer (TCC). METHODS: From January 2011 to January 2018, 44 elderly (aged ≥70 years) and 72 non-elderly (aged <70 years) patients with TCC underwent LC at our institution. The survival and surgical outcomes of the two groups were compared retrospectively. RESULTS: Preoperatively, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and American Society of Anesthesiologists score were higher in the elderly group than in the non-elderly group. There were no significant differences between the groups in operating time, intraoperative blood loss, conversion rate, pathologic data, 30-day postoperative mortality rate, incidence of 30-day postoperative complications, incidence of major complications, or compliance with adjuvant chemotherapy. During the follow-up period, differences in recurrence rate, 5-year overall survival (OS) rate, and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate between the groups were not significant. CONCLUSION: Although elderly patients with TCC have higher surgical risk than non-elderly patients, performing LC in elderly patients is safe and effective. The survival and surgical outcomes in elderly patients were similar to those in non-elderly patients.

Short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision for transverse colon cancer.

PURPOSE: To compare the short- and long-term outcomes of open and laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (CME) for transverse colon cancer (TCC) using propensity score matching (PSM). METHODS: The clinical and follow-up data of 97 TCC patients who were subjected to CME in our institution from January 2012 to October 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into the laparoscopic and open group according to the surgical approaches. The patients were 1:1 matched using the PSM method. The matching variables included age, sex, body mass index (BMI), clinical stage, and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score. Forty-three patients were included in each study group. Short- and long-term outcomes were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Compared with the open group, the laparoscopic group showed benefits including less intraoperative blood loss, faster postoperative recovery, and shorter hospital stay. There was no significant difference in the incidence of 30- day postoperative complications, the incidence of major complications, and the pathological results between the two groups. The intraoperative and postoperative 30-day mortality rates in both groups were 0%. There was no significant difference in the tumor recurrence rate, 5-year overall survival (OS), and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Short-term outcomes were better with laparoscopic CME than with open surgery although the long-term outcomes were similar in both groups.

Histone deacetylase HDAC4 promotes gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells progression via p21 repression.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world. The role of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) in specific cell and tissue types has been identified. However, its biological roles in the development of gastric cancer remain largely unexplored. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) and western blot were used to analyze the expression of HDAC4 in the clinical samples. siRNA and overexpression of HDAC4 and siRNA p21 were used to study functional effects in a proliferation, a colony formation, a adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) assay and reactive oxygen species(ROS) generation, cell cycle, cell apoptosis rates, and autophagy assays. HDAC4 was up-regulated in gastric cancer tissues and several gastric cancer cell lines. The proliferation, colony formation ability and ATP level were enhanced in HDAC4 overexpression SGC-7901 cells, but inhibited in HDAC4 knockdown SGC-7901 cells. HDAC4 knockdown led to G0/G1 phase cell arrest and caused apoptosis and ROS increase. Moreover, HDAC4 was found to inhibit p21 expression in gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells. p21 knockdown dramatically attenuated cell proliferation inhibition, cell cycle arrest, cell apoptosis promotion and autophagy up-regulation in HDAC4-siRNA SGC-7901 cells. We demonstrated that HDAC4 promotes gastric cancer cell progression mediated through the repression of p21. Our results provide an experimental basis for understanding the pro-tumor mechanism of HDAC4 as treatment for gastric cancer.

Generation of rat monoclonal antibodies against human RANTES.

RANTES (or regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted) belongs to the rapidly growing chemokine family. It is mainly produced by T cells, epithelial cells, monocytes, fibroblasts, and mesanglial cells. Increased RANTES expression has been associated with a wide range of inflammatory disorders and pathologies. Mouse RANTES is the homolog molecule of human RANTES. The two have considerable homology in both sequence and structure. Using hRANTES as immunogen and the technique of rat B lymphocyte hybridoma, we raised two hybridoma cell lines secreting monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to hRANTES, designated no. 1 and no. 2. Both MAbs can bind the hRANTES in FCM, Western blot analysis, and immunocytochemistry. No. 1 also worked well in immunohistochemistry of rat transplanted intestine, which may recognize the same epitope on human RANTES and rat RANTES. Thus, successful production of rat anti-human RANTES MAbs may provide a useful tool in further exploration of the biological function and pathological significance of RANTES and may provide a new method to judge early rejection after small bowel transplantation.

[Preparation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies against human RANTES molecule].

AIM: To prepare monoclonal antibodies against human RANTES molecule and identify the expression of RANTES in rat small intestine after small bowel transplantation. METHODS: Murine mAbs were prepared by B lymphocyte hybridoma technique. The expression of RANTES in rat small intestine after small bowel transplantation was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Four hybridoma cell lines secreting monoclonal antibodies to human RANTES, FMU-RANTES 1, FMU-RANTES 2, FMU-RANTES 3 and FMU-RANTES 4, were established. The titers of a scetic mAbs reached to 1 x 10(-6) and the Ig subclass of FMU-RANTES 1, FMU-RANTES 3 and FMU-RANTES 4 was IgG1(kappa) and that of FMU-RANTES 2 was IgG2b(kappa). Among these mAbs, FMU-RANTES 1, FMU-RANTES 2 and FMU-RANTES 3 could bind human RANTES protein in Western bolt. FMU-RANTES 1, FMU-RANTES 2 and FMU-RANTES 4 could be used in immunohistochemistry staining. Rat RANTES molecule could be detected in the cyto plasm of epithelial cells in rat small intestine after small bowel transplantation. CONCLUSION: Four mAbs against RANTES molecule were prepared, which can provide a useful tool in research on the structure and function of RANTES molecule. High expression of RANTES may be involved in the rejection of allogeneic graft.