Claudin14 promotes colorectal cancer progression via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway.

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cancer in the world in terms of incidence and mortality. The role of differentially expressed Claudin-14 (CLDN14) in CRC has not been reported. We observed that CLDN14 was associated with the progression of CRC. Our functional studies have shown that CLDN14 promoted the proliferation of CRC cells. In addition, CLDN14 also increased the migration and invasion of CRC cells. In vivo experiments also showed that CLDN14 promoted the growth of colorectal cancer via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR. In summary, our research suggests that CLDN14 promotes the progression of colorectal cancer. Our findings may provide new strategies for clinical management and patient prognosis of CRC.

[Analysis of prognostic factors and treatment of pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate effect of the treatments and prognostic factors of patients with pulmonary metastasis from colorectal cancer. METHODS: Clinical data of 79 patients who suffered from lung metastatic diseases from colorectal cancer in 1990 - 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. The number of patients who had received lung operation was 22, and non-operated group contained 57 patients. Compared the prognosis of operated group and non-operated group and analyzed the prognostic factors. RESULTS: The median survival time after the pulmonary resections was 34.5 months; the overall survival of 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates were 90.9%, 45.4% and 4.5%, and the overall of 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rate in non-operated group were 59.6%, 14.0% and 0. The surgery (RR = 4.805, 95% CI: 1.864 - 12.384, P = 0.001) and the number of metastasis (RR = 2.177, 95% CI: 1.431 - 3.314, P = 0.010) were the factors that could influence the patients prognosis. CONCLUSION: The surgery for pulmonary metastases from colorectal cancer is effective.

Integrated ratio of metastatic to examined lymph nodes and number of metastatic lymph nodes into the AJCC staging system for colon cancer.

OBJECTIVE: At present, only the number of metastatic lymph nodes (LNs+) is used for the pN category of AJCC TNM system for colon cancer. Recently, the ratio of metastatic to examined lymph nodes (LNR) has been reported to represent powerful independent predictive capacity in colon cancer. We sought to propose a novel category (nLN) which intergrades LNR and LNs+ into the AJCC staging system for colon cancer. DESIGN: 34476 patients from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) dataset with stage III colon cancer were reviewed. Harrell's C statistic was used to evaluate the predictive capacity. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to construct a novel category. RESULTS: The LNR category had more predictive capacity than the pN category in whole groups of patients (Harrell's C index: 0.6194 vs 0.6113, p = 0.003). Subgroup analysis showed that the LNR category was not better than pN category in predictive capacity if the number of lymph nodes examined was more than 13. We also found that there was significant survival heterogeneity among different pN categories at the same LNR category (P<0.001). The Harrell's C index for our nLN category which intergrades LNR and LNs+ was 0.6228, which was significant higher than that of the pN category (Harrell's C index: 0.6113, P<0.001) or LNR category (Harrell's C index: 0.6194, P = 0.005), respectively. CONCLUSION: To evaluate the prognosis of colon cancer, our nLN category which intergrades LNR with LNs+ is more accurate than the pN category or LNR category, respectively.

Cost comparison between hand-assisted laparoscopic colectomy and open colectomy.

PURPOSE: Our aim was to compare the costs associated with hand-assisted laparoscopic colectomy (HALC) and open colectomy (OC). METHODS: The data of patients who underwent either HALC or OC between March 2009 and August 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. The assessed short-term outcomes included operative time, blood lost, retrieved lymph nodes, conversion rates, and complications. Direct costs of operating room, nursing, intensive care, anesthesia, laboratory, pharmacy, radiology, and other costs related to initial hospitalization were compared. RESULTS: Forty-two patients underwent HALC, whereas 45 underwent OC. Demographics in both groups were similar. The HALC patients had significantly shorter hospital stays and incision lengths, faster recovery of bowel function, and less blood loss (P<.001). There were no significant differences in operative time (169 minutes for HALC versus 171 minutes for OC), complication rates, or the number of retrieved lymph nodes. Although operative costs were higher for HALC (US $2260 versus $1992; P<.001), total costs were not significantly different between both methods (US $5593 vs. $5638; P=.29). CONCLUSION: Total costs of HALC are not significantly higher compared with OC. HALC is safe and leads to better short-term outcomes than OC.