What factors may affect the effect of ICI-combined therapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma? A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The prognostic factors of ICI-including combined therapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma were analyzed by systematic review. METHOD: We searched Web of Science, Cochrane, PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang and other databases for randomized controlled trials and clinical trials of combination therapy including ICIs in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The search time was from the establishment of the database to September 2023. Data were extracted and evaluated with RevMan 5.4 software. RESULTS: Six studies were included, including 4723 patients. The results showed that ① in terms of progression-free survival, the factors of age < 65 years old, male sex, Canada and Western Europe, nephrectomy, different IMDC class, number of organs with metastases and PD-L1 expression ≥ 1% significantly prolonged PFS in patients with metastatic cancer treated by combination therapy including ICIs; ② in terms of overall survival rate, the factors of age < 65 years old, female sex, nephrectomy, different IMDC class and PD-L1 expression ≥ 1% significantly prolonged the OS of patients with metastatic cancer treated by combination therapy including ICIs. CONCLUSIONS: Age, sex, region, nephrectomy, different IMDC class, number of organs with metastases and PD-L1 expression are independent factors influencing the efficacy of combination therapy including ICIs in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Systematic evaluation of baseline indicators of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma to predict clinical benefits can effectively improve the benefit rate of patients.

Bibliometric analysis of RNA vaccines for cancer.

Cancer represents a challenging medical problem worldwide. Several exploratory studies have been conducted to overcome these limitations. RNA vaccines play an important role in cancer prevention and treatment. Recent studies have shown that RNA vaccines play an important role in cancer prevention. However, there are currently no relevant bibliometric studies. This study aimed to apply bibliometrics to summarize the knowledge structure and research hotspots regarding the role of RNA vaccines in cancer. Publications related to RNA vaccines in cancer were searched on the web of science core collection (WoSCC) database. VOSviewers, CiteSpace and R package "bibliometrix" were used to conduct this bibliometric analysis. A total of 1399 articles were included, comprising 803 original articles and 596 reviews. The number of studies on RNA vaccines against cancer has been increasing annually. China and the United States were the principal countries of origin of publications. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, NCI, and Duke University were the main organizations. Frontiers in Immunology is the leading journal in the field. Hot keywords included tumor antigens, lipid nanoparticles, emerging roles, and dendritic cells. This is the bibliometric study to summarize the research trends and development of RNA vaccines for cancer. This information will provide a reference for researchers studying RNA vaccines against cancer.

Lean body mass predicts postoperative liver failure in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Post-hepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) is a severe complication of liver surgery in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Reduced lean body mass (LBM) decreases the immune activity and increases adverse clinical outcomes among cancer patients. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the association between LBM and PHLF in HCC patients. METHODS: PHLF was defined and graded based on the International Study Group of Liver Surgery (ISGLS) criteria. Patients with Grade B or Grade C were included in PHLF ⩾ Grade B group, while others in PHLF < Grade B group. LBM was measured via preoperative computed tomography images. Binary logistic regression was applied for investigating the association between LBM and PHLF. The receiver operating characteristic curve was used to identify potential cut-off values and assess the predictive ability of the measured variables. RESULTS: The PHLF ⩾ Grade B group had significantly lower LBM levels (means ± standard deviation: 57.0 ± 14.1) than PHLF < Grade B group (67.2 ± 15.7) (p< 0.001). After controlling other variables, LBM was an independent protective factor for PHLF ⩾ Grade B (Odds Ratio: 0.406, 95% confidence interval: 0.172-0.957, p= 0.039). The prevalence of PHLF ⩾ Grade B in each quartile of LBM was 29.4% (15/51), 25.5% (13/51), 19.2% (10/52) and 4.0% (2/50), respectively (ptrend< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: LBM might be a protective factor for PHLF in HCC patients. Our findings might help to develop a novel strategy to reduce the occurrence of hepatic dysfunction following major liver resection. Multicentric prospective studies and further molecular biologic investigation are needed.

Efficient Quasi-2D Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes Enabled by Regulating Phase Distribution with a Fluorinated Organic Cation.

Metal halide perovskites have become a research highlight in the optoelectronic field due to their excellent properties. The perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) have achieved great improvement in performance in recent years, and the construction of quasi-2D perovskites by incorporating large-size organic cations is an effective strategy for fabricating efficient PeLEDs. Here, we incorporate the fluorine meta-substituted phenethylammonium bromide (m-FPEABr) into CsPbBr3 to prepare quasi-2D perovskite films for efficient PeLEDs, and study the effect of fluorine substitution on regulating the crystallization kinetics and phase distribution of the quasi-2D perovskites. It is found that m-FPEABr allows the transformation of low-n phases to high-n phases during the annealing process, leading to the suppression of n = 1 phase and increasing higher-n phases with improved crystallinity. The rational phase distribution results in the formation of multiple quantum wells (MQWs) in the m-FPEABr based films. The carrier dynamics study reveals that the resultant MQWs enable rapid energy funneling from low-n phases to emission centers. As a result, the green PeLEDs achieve a peak external quantum efficiency of 16.66% at the luminance of 1279 cd m-2. Our study demonstrates that the fluorinated organic cations would provide a facile and effective approach to developing high-performance PeLEDs.

Low-dimensional phase suppression and defect passivation of quasi-2D perovskites for efficient electroluminescence and low-threshold amplified spontaneous emission.

Quasi-2D metal halide perovskites are promising candidates for light-emitting applications owing to their large exciton binding energy and strong quantum confinement effect. Usually, quasi-2D perovskites are composed of multiple phases with various numbers of layers (n) of metal halide octahedron sheets, enabling light emission from the lowest-bandgap phase by cascade energy transfer. However, the energy transfer processes are extremely sensitive to the phase distribution and trap density in the quasi-2D perovskite films, and the insufficient energy transfer between different-n phases and the defect-induced traps would result in nonradiative losses. Here, significantly reduced nonradiative losses in the quasi-2D perovskite films are achieved by tailoring the low-dimensional phase components and lowering the density of trap states. Butylammonium bromide (BABr) and potassium thiocyanate (KSCN) are employed to synergistically decrease the nonradiative recombination in the quasi-2D perovskite films of PEABr : CsPbBr3. The incorporation of BABr is found to suppress the formation of the n = 1 phase, while adding KSCN can further reduce the low-n phases, passivate the notorious defects and improve the alignment of the high-n phases. By incorporating appropriate contents of BABr and KSCN, the resultant quasi-2D perovskite films show high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) and highly ordered crystal orientation, which enable not only the green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 16.3%, but also the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with a low threshold of 2.6 µJ cm-2. These findings provide a simple and effective strategy to develop high-quality quasi-2D perovskites for LED and laser applications.

Nano-Cerium Oxide Promotes Proliferation of Hepatoma Cells and Regulates mRNA Expression of Apoptosis-Related Genes Bcl-2 and Bax, as Detected Through Real-Time Fluorescent Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction.

In this study, we aim to investigate the effects of nano-cerium oxide (CNPs) on the proliferation of hepatoma cells and expression of the Bcl-2 and Bax mRNAs. Huh7, 7721 and HepG2 liver cancer cells were cultured in vitro and treated with CNPs at concentrations of 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 1 µg/mL. The effect of the CNPs on the proliferation of hepatoma cells were detected by an electrochemical method. The expressions of the Bcl-2 and Bax mRNAs were evaluated by qRT-PCR. Additionally, the effect of CNPs on the cell cycle was investigated by flow cytometry. Low concentrations of CNPs have a proliferative effect on hepatoma cells. qRT-PCR showed that CNPs could inhibit the apoptosis of hepatoma cells. Flow cytometry showed that CNPs had no effect on the hepatocellular carcinoma cell cycle. Low concentrations of CNPs have a proliferative effect on hepatoma cells.

The Association Between hMLH1 and hMSH2 Polymorphisms and Renal Tumors in Northeastern China.

Aim: Although hMLH1 and hMSH2 are closely associated with the development and drug resistance of multiple types of tumors, their role in renal tumors remains unclear. This study was designed to examine the relationship between renal tumor development and polymorphisms in the hMLH1 and hMSH2 genes. Methods: The study included 180 patients with renal tumors that were confirmed by pathological examination and 199 healthy controls. The clinical and pathological stages of the tumor samples were determined, and DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of the subjects. Polymorphisms in the hMLH1 and hMSH2 loci were identified using the 1000 genomes database and the multiplex ligase detection method. Correlation analyses was performed using single nucleotide polymorphism tests. Results: 88.9% (160/180) of the tumor specimens were identified as clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRC) and 89.4% (161/180) were stage I carcinomas. Three hMLH1 and nine hMSH2 polymorphic sites were identified, and the frequency of the AA genotype of the hMSH2 rs2303424 variant was found to be significantly higher in the renal tumor group (odds ratio [OR] = 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02-1.86) in the additive model (p = 0.029), the recessive model (p = 0.005), and codominant model (p = 0.02). Multiple testing corrections were performed and the differences between the clear cell carcinoma and control samples remained significant. Compared with the controls, the distribution of the GG genotype of the hMSH2 rs11886591 locus was significantly higher in the clear cell carcinoma group (OR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.59-1.10, p = 0.04) after multiple testing corrections in the dominant model. Conclusion: The AA genotype at the rs2303424 locus and GG genotype at rs11886591 locus of the DNA repair gene hMSH2 were closely associated with the development of renal tumors. Further studies are needed on larger cohorts to confirm this correlation.