Extracellular vesicles as a new frontier of diagnostic biomarkers in osteosarcoma diseases: a bibliometric and visualized study.

The use of liquid biopsy in cancer research has grown exponentially, offering potential for early detection, treatment stratification, and monitoring residual disease and recurrence. Exosomes, released by cancer cells, contain tumor-derived materials and are stable in biofluids, making them valuable biomarkers for clinical evaluation. Bibliometric research on osteosarcoma (OS) and exosome-derived diagnostic biomarkers is scarce. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a bibliometric evaluation of studies on OS and exosome-derived biomarkers. Using the Web of Science Core Collection database, Microsoft Excel, the R "Bibliometrix" package, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer software, quantitative analyses of the country, author, annual publications, journals, institutions, and keywords of studies on exosome-derived biomarkers for OS from 1995 to 2023 were performed. High-quality records (average citation rate ≥ 10/year) were filtered. The corresponding authors were mainly from China, the USA, Australia, and Canada. The University of Kansas Medical Center, National Cancer Center, Japan, and University of Kansas were major institutions, with limited cooperation reported by the University of Kansas Medical Center. Keyword analysis revealed a shift from cancer progression to mesenchymal stem cells, exosome expression, biogenesis, and prognostic biomarkers. Qualitative analysis highlighted exosome cargo, including miRNAs, circRNAs, lncRNAs, and proteins, as potential diagnostic OS biomarkers. This research emphasizes the rapid enhancement of exosomes as a diagnostic frontier, offering guidance for the clinical application of exosome-based liquid biopsy in OS, contributing to the evolving landscape of cancer diagnosis.

Nano hydrogel-based oxygen-releasing stem cell transplantation system for treating diabetic foot.

The employment of stem cells and hydrogel is widespread in contemporary clinical approaches to treating diabetic foot ulcers. However, the hypoxic conditions in the surrounding lesion tissue lead to a low stem cell survival rate following transplantation. This research introduces a novel hydrogel with superior oxygen permeability and biocompatibility, serving as a vehicle for developing a stem cell transplantation system incorporating oxygen-releasing microspheres and cardiosphere-derived stem cells (CDCs). By optimizing the peroxidase fixation quantity on the microsphere surface and the oxygen-releasing microsphere content within the transplantation system, intracellular oxygen levels were assessed using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) under simulated low-oxygen conditions in vitro. The expression of vascularization and repair-related indexes were evaluated via RT-PCR and ELISA. The microspheres were found to continuously release oxygen for three weeks within the transplantation system, promoting growth factor expression to maintain intracellular oxygen levels and support the survival and proliferation of CDCs. Moreover, the effect of this stem cell transplantation system on wound healing in a diabetic foot mice model was examined through an in vivo animal experiment. The oxygen-releasing microspheres within the transplantation system preserved the intracellular oxygen levels of CDCs in the hypoxic environment of injured tissues. By inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors and stimulating the upregulation of pertinent growth factors, it improved the vascularization of ulcer tissue on the mice's back and expedited the healing of the wound site. Overall, the stem cell transplantation system in this study, based on hydrogels containing CDCs and oxygen-releasing microspheres, offers a promising strategy for the clinical implementation of localized stem cell delivery to improve diabetic foot wound healing.

A novel therapeutic strategy of combined camrelizumab and apatinib for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: 83 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) admitted to the interventional oncology department were randomly divided into two groups. Apatinib and camrelizumab were administered to 42 patients in group A, whereas sorafenib was administered to 41 patients in group B for three months. The clinical efficacy was evaluated in terms of objective response rate (ORR), and disease control rate (DCR). Certain tumor markers like alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1), immune function T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+) were determined before and after treatment. The serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), osteopontin (OPN), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and epidermal growth factor 7 (EGF7)] were observed. The survival time between the two groups was compared, such as progression-free survival (PFS) and median survival (MS). Finally, the toxicity and side effects data were also obtained. Results: The ORR and DCR of group A were 69.05% and 88.10%, respectively, which were significantly higher (P<0.05) than group B (ORR=53.66% and DCR=70.73%). After treatment, the AFP, CA199, CEA, and HIF-1 levels of both groups decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the respective biomarker levels of group A were lower than those of group B (P<0.05). Following treatment, CD3+, CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ index in group A significantly increased (P<0.05) while CD8+ level was significantly decreased (P<0.05). Compared to group B, a significant increase was observed in group A's CD3+, CD4+, and CD4+/CD8+ index. There were no significant changes in CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+ indexes before and after treatment in group B (P>0.05). The serum level of VEGF, OPN, EGF-7 and AST indexes of group A&B were decreased significantly (P<0.05). Compared with group B, the VEGF, OPN, EGF7 and AST indexes of group A were significantly reduced (P<0.05). PFS and MS in group A were significantly higher than in group B (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between groups A and B in terms of toxicity and adverse effects (P>0.05). Conclusion: In treating HCC, combining apatinib and camrelizumab can reduce tumor markers, enhance the immune system and curative effect, and prolong patient survival. The underline mechanism is related to the down-regulation of VEGF, OPN and HIF-1 indexes.

LncRNA OIP5-AS1 promotes cell proliferation and migration and induces angiogenesis via regulating miR-3163/VEGFA in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to play a significant role in the occurrence and progression of tumors. In different tumors, they can either act as an oncogene or tumor suppressor via modulating various target mRNAs. OIP5-AS1 belongs to lncRNA family. It has been reported to be involved in the tumorigenesis of some cancers, such as bladder cancer, gastric cancer, and multiple myeloma. However, the role it plays in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study aims to explore the inherent mechanism of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 in HCC. In the first place, qRT-PCR found that OIP5-AS1 and VEGFA expressions were significantly increased while miR-3163 was obviously reduced in HCC cells and tissues. Next, a series of functional experiments found that knockdown of OIP5-AS1 suppressed HCC cell proliferation, migration and angiogenesis abilities while promoting cell apoptosis simultaneously. Last but not least, miR-3163 inhibition or VEGFA overexpression can reverse the anti-tumor effect of OIP5-AS1. In summary, OIP5-AS1 affects HCC proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis in HCC by regulating VEGFA expression through sponging miR-3163.

Safety and efficacy analysis of DEB-TACE treatment in elderly patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: a comparative cohort study.

The aim of this study was to explore the difference of liver function change, safety profiles and efficacy of drug-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization (DEBTACE) therapy between elderly and middle-aged hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. 91 HCC patients were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. They were treated by DEB-TACE therapy and divided into elderly group (age >= 65 years, n=30) and middle-aged group (age < 65 years, n=61), liver function, safety profiles and treatment response were recorded. No difference of liver function was found between two groups before operation and at 1 week post DEB-TACE treatment. While the portion of abnormal total protein (TP) in elderly group was elevated than that in middleage group at 1-3 months after operation. During operation, elderly group presented with raised incidence of vomiting compared with middle-aged group, whereas elderly patients displayed lower incidence of pain than middle-aged patients at 1 month post treatment. No other difference of safety profiles was found between the two groups. At 1-3 months after treatment, elderly patients achieved complete response (CR) of 26.7% and overall response rate (ORR) of 93.3%, meanwhile, middle-aged patients obtained CR of 23.0% and ORR of 90.2%. No difference of CR and ORR was found between elderly and middle-aged patients, in addition, no difference of OS was observed between the two groups. In conclusion, DEB-TACE therapy was well tolerated in elderly HCC patients, and it possessed equal efficacy in elderly patients compared with middle-aged patients.