Ectopic pregnancy adjacent to iliac vessels managed successfully by minimally invasive treatment using local methotrexate injection: An extremely rare case and literature review.

A case report of successfully treated retroperitoneal ectopic pregnancy (REP) is presented. A 36-year-old woman, gravida 3, para 2, was admitted to hospital for suspected ectopic pregnancy with light vaginal bleeding and mild abdominal pain for 3 days at 45 days of gestation by the last menstrual period.Multiple transvaginal ultrasonography and two times laparoscopic probes led to the diagnosis of REP located to the iliac blood vessels closely. Eventually the patient was cured with the treatment using local methotrexate injection under real-time ultrasound guidance and systemic methotrexate administration. We also summarized another 31 cases of REP to further understand this disease, sharing them to arouse clinical attention for the diagnosis and treatment of REP timely.

Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Technique Contrasted with Conventional Laparoscopy in Cystectomy for Benign Ovarian Cysts.

Objective: To compare the laparoendoscopic single-site (LESS) technique with conventional laparoscopy in cystectomy for benign ovarian cysts. Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis was performed at Yixing People's Hospital from April 2020 until December 2021. Results: Thirty-seven patients using the LESS technique were compared with a control group of 45 patients who underwent a traditional laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy. There was no statistically significant difference in the perioperative hemoglobin level changes, cyst rupture rate, postoperative recovery of exhausting time, or pain score at 24 hours after surgery between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). The mean operating time was significantly longer in the LESS group than that of the control group (88.38 ± 30.57 minutes vs 59.44 ± 24.22 minutes; P = 0.001). However, the length of postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in the LESS group (3.70 ± 0.57 days vs 4.38 ± 0.86 days; P = 0.001). In addition, total hospitalization expenses were higher in the LESS group (14,709.78 ± 1618.63 yuan vs 12,676.73 ± 1411.78 yuan; P = .001) and the satisfaction score was also significantly higher in the LESS group (z = -2.272; P = 0.023). After a follow-up time of 12 to 24 months, no patient in either group showed wound infection, umbilical hernia, or recurrent cysts. Conclusions: The LESS technique for benign ovarian cystectomy is safe, feasible, and equally effective compared with the multiport laparoscopic oophorocystectomy. Although it currently costs more, patients with benign ovarian cysts are highly satisfied with the LESS technique.

Long non­coding RNA LINC01224 promotes cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis by regulating AKT3 expression via targeting miR­485­5p in endometrial carcinoma.

Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the most common cancer in women worldwide, yet little is known about the underlying molecular basis of EC development. LINC01224, a novel long non­coding (lnc)RNA, was recently identified as an oncogene in various types of cancer. However, the function and underlying mechanism of LINC01224 in EC is still unclear. A total of 50 pairs of tumor and adjacent normal tissue from patients with EC, three EC cell lines and one human normal endometrial stromal cell (ESC) line were subjected to reverse transcription­quantitative PCR assay to evaluate the expression levels of LINC01224. Cell Counting Kit­8, colony formation and flow cytometry assays were used to assess cell proliferation and apoptosis. Western blotting was used to measure expression levels of apoptosis­ and proliferation­associated proteins and AKT3 protein. A xenograft model of HEC1A cells was established to validate the in vivo function of LINC01224 in EC tumor growth. Starbase 3.0 database prediction and luciferase reporter and RNA pull­down assays were performed to verify the binding sites between LINC01224 and microRNA (miR)­485­5p and miR­485­5p and AKT3. LINC01224 expression was significantly upregulated in both EC tumor tissue and cell lines. The upregulation of LINC01224 was negatively associated with survival of patients with EC. Functionally, LINC01224 promoted proliferation and inhibited apoptosis of EC cells; LINC01224 directly bound to and downregulated miR­485­5p to elevate the expression levels of AKT3, thereby promoting EC progression. LINC01224 depletion in EC cells hindered tumor growth in a xenograft model. The tumor suppressing effect of LINC01224­knockdown on EC progression was partly rescued by treatment with miR­485­5p inhibitor. The present data demonstrated the expression levels, clinical relevance and functional mechanism of LINC01224 in EC. LINC01224 promoted EC development via sponging miR­485­5p to elevate AKT3 expression levels; this may provide a promising therapeutic target pathway for EC treatment.

Progesterone receptor inhibits the proliferation and invasion of endometrial cancer cells by up regulating Krüppel-like factor 9.

BACKGROUND: Krüppel-like factor 9 (KLF9) is one of the most important members of the KLF family, and is abnormally expressed in many tumors. However, the detailed function of KLF9 in endometrial cancer (EC) was barely investigated. METHODS: In this study, a total of 52 paired EC tissues were recruited to detect the KLF9 expression. Then a serial of phenotypic experiments and mechanism researches were performed. RESULTS: The results showed that KLF9 expression was decreased in EC tissues, and the reduced expression of KLF9 is associated with highly metastatic capacity of EC cells. KLF9 could inhibit the proliferation and invasion of EC cells by inhibiting the Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway. Progesterone receptor (PR) could bind to KLF9 promoter and a positive correlation between KLF9 and PR expression was witnessed. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the reduction of KLF9 induced by PR might participate in the development of EC and targeting KLF9 may provide a novel strategy for EC management.

Down-regulation of miR-140 induces EMT and promotes invasion by targeting Slug in esophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are reported to regulate cell invasion and functions by interfering with the translation of target mRNAs, but the role of miRNAs in esophageal cancer (EC) remains unclear. METHODS: RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of miRNAs and candidate genes in EC samples (n=89). miR-140 mimics and inhibitor were tansfected in human TE-1 and Eca-109 cells. The transwell assay was used to examine the cell invasive ability. The regulation mechanism was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. The markers of EMT were detected by using Western blot. RESULTS: miR-140 expression was decreased in the EC tissues compared with the corresponding adjacent tumor tissues. Low expression of miR-140 promotes cell invasion by using transwell assay, while the effect of miR-140 high expression is reverse. Slug, a target gene of miR-140, was examined by luciferase assay and Western blot. CONCLUSIONS: miR-140 may regulate the cell invasion of EC via controlling Slug expression.