Establishment of a Bayesian network model to predict the survival of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma patients after cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: To establish a Bayesian network (BN) model to predict the survival of patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) treated with cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). METHODS: The clinicopathological data of 154 MPM patients treated with CRS + HIPEC at our hospital from April 2015 to November 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. They were randomly divided into two groups in a 7:3 ratio. Survival analysis was conducted on the training set and a BN model was established. The accuracy of the model was validated using a confusion matrix of the testing set. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve were used to evaluate the overall performance of the BN model. RESULTS: Survival analysis of 107 patients (69.5%) in the training set found ten factors affecting patient prognosis: age, Karnofsky performance score, surgical history, ascites volume, peritoneal cancer index, organ resections, red blood cell transfusion, pathological types, lymphatic metastasis, and Ki-67 index (all p < 0.05). The BN model was successfully established after the above factors were included, and the BN model structure was adjusted according to previous research and clinical experience. The results of confusion matrix obtained by internal validation of 47 cases in the testing set showed that the accuracy of BN model was 72.7%, and the area under ROC was 0.74. CONCLUSIONS: The BN model was established successfully with good overall performance and can be used as a clinical decision reference.

Key factors for successful cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy to treat diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: results from specialized peritoneal cancer center in China.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate independent factors for the efficacy and safety of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) for the treatment of diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (DMPM). METHODS: The clinical database of 110 DMPM patients treated with CRS + HIPEC at our hospital was retrospectively analyzed. Independent prognostic factors were screened using univariate and multivariate analyses and the safety of the perioperative period was evaluated based on adverse events. RESULTS: Among the 110 patients with DMPM, 34 (30.9%) had a peritoneal cancer index (PCI) < 20 and 76 (69.1%) had PCI ≥20; 59 (53.6%) patients achieved completeness of cytoreduction (CC) 0/1 and 51 (46.4%) cases achieved CC 2/3. At the median follow-up of 43.3 (95%CI: 37.3-49.4) months, 48 (43.6%) patients were still alive and 62 (56.4%) patients died. The median overall survival was 32.6 months. Serious adverse events (SAEs) occurred in 41 patients (37.3%) and the perioperative mortality rate was 2.7%. Univariate analysis identified nine prognostic factors: Karnofsky performance status score, perioperative tumor markers, PCI, red blood cell infusion, pathological type, vascular tumor emboli, lymphatic metastasis, Ki-67 index, and perioperative SAEs (all p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis identified four independent prognostic factors: pathological type (p = 0.007), vascular tumor emboli (p = 0.044), Ki-67 index (p = 0.044), and SAEs (p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: CRS + HIPEC for DMPM treatment resulted in prolonged survival with acceptable safety. Tumor pathology and SAEs are key factors for successful CRS + HIPEC.

[Effect of Guanmaitong Tablet on ERK and p38 Protein of TLR2 Pathway Expression in Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Rats: an Experimental Study].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the inflammatory cascade mechanism through Toll like receptor 2 (TLR2) pathway after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, and to study molecular mechanisms of Guanmaitong (GMT) Tablet for protecting brain damage. METHODS: We used bolt-line method to block/release the middle cerebral artery, causing cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury model. GMT Tablet was given by gastrogavage. Rats were then divided into the high dose GMT group (1200 mg/kg), the middle dose GMT group (600 mg/kg), the low dose GMT group (300 mg/kg), the positive control group (Tanakan, 20 mg/kg). Their right brain tissues were fixed in 10% neutral formalin. TLR2 expressions were detected by immunofluorescence staining. The total protein was extracted from right brain tissues by ultrasonica- tion. Expression levels of extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK), phospho-extracellular regulated protein kinases (p-ERK), p38-mitogen activated protein kinases (p-ERK), phospho-p38-mitogen activated protein kinases [p-p38-MAPKs(p-p38)] were assessed by Western blot. Abdominal aortic blood was withdrawn. IL-6 and IL-1ß levels were detected by ELISA in brain tissues and serum. RESULTS: Compared with the sham-oepration group, expression levels of TLR2, ERK, p-ERK, p38, p-p38 protein were up-regulated (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and contents of IL-6 and IL-1ß in brain tissues and serum were increased in the model group (P < 0.01). Expression levels of TLR2, ERK, p-ERK, p38, p-p38 were down-regulated (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and contents of IL-6 and IL-1ß were reduced in brain tissues and serum in middle and high dose GMT groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: TLR2 pathway was involved in cerebral I/R injury. GMT protected neurons by down-regulating protein expressions of TLR2, ERK, p-ERK, p38, p-p38 and contents of IL-1ß and IL-6.