Hybrid argon plasma coagulation for the treatment of Barrett's esophagus: A prospective, multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of Barrett's esophagus (BE) in China is lower compared to the Western populations. Hence, studies conducted in the Chinese population has been limited. The current treatment options available for BE treatment includes argon plasma coagulation (APC), radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation, all with varying degrees of success. AIM: To determine the efficacy and safety of HybridAPC in the treatment of BE. METHODS: The study cohort consisted of patients with BE who underwent HybridAPC ablation treatment. These procedures were performed by seven endoscopists from different tertiary hospitals. The duration of the procedure, curative rate, complications and recurrent rate by 1-year follow-up were recorded. RESULTS: Eighty individuals were enrolled for treatment from July 2017 to June 2020, comprising of 39 males and 41 females with a median age of 54 years (range, 30 to 83 years). The technical success rate of HybridAPC was 100% and the overall curative rate was 98.15%. No severe complications occurred during the operation. BE cases were classified as short-segment BE and long-segment BE. Patients with short-segment BE were all considered cured without complications. Thirty-six patients completed the one-year follow-up without recurrence. Twenty-four percent had mild dysplasia which were all resolved with one post-procedural treatment. The mean duration of the procedure was 10.94 ± 6.52 min. CONCLUSION: Treatment of BE with HybridAPC was found to be a simple and quick procedure that is safe and effective during the short-term follow-up, especially in cases of short-segment BE. This technique could be considered as a feasible alternative ablation therapy for BE.

SpyGlass in Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Right Hepatic Duct Tumor Thrombus Hemorrhage: A Case Report.

Hepatocelluar carcinoma presenting as a biliary duct tumor thrombus is a relatively rare entity, with poor prognosis. The primary clinical manifestation of this disease is obstructive jaundice, which can often be misdiagnosed. A 59-year-old female patient was admitted with sudden onset of abdominal pain. Laboratory tests suggested obstructive jaundice, and enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the upper abdomen did not show obvious biliary dilatation. Endoscopic ultrasound and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography suggested an occupying lesion in the upper bile duct. SpyGlass and biopsy finally confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma with right hepatic duct tumor thrombus hemorrhage. The SpyGlass Direct Visualization System, as an advanced biliary cholangioscopy device, showed the advantages of single-person operation as well as easy access to and visualization of the lesion.

Clinical outcomes and risk factors of non-curative endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer: a retrospective multicenter study in Zhejiang, China.

Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer (EGC) does not always lead to curative resection. Risk factors of lymph node metastasis (LNM)/local cancer residue after non-curative ESD for EGC have not been fully elucidated. We therefore aimed to clarify them and evaluate whether the "eCura system" is reliable for the risk stratification of LNM after non-curative ESD. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective study at seven institutions in Zhejiang, China, on 128 patients who underwent non-curative ESD for EGC. We divided the patients into two groups according to their therapeutic regimen after non-curative ESD. We analyzed the risk factors for LNM, local cancer residue, cancer recurrence, and cancer-specific mortality. Furthermore, we compared the outcomes in each risk category after applying the "eCura system". Results: Among 68 patients undergoing additional surgery, LNM was found in three (4.41%) patients, while local cancer residue was found in eight (11.76%) patients. Multivariate analysis showed that upper third location and deep submucosal invasion were independent risk factors of LNM and local cancer residue. Among 60 patients who underwent simple follow-up, local cancer recurrence was found in four (6.67%) patients and cancer-specific mortality was found in one (1.67%) patient. There were no independent risk factors of cancer recurrence and cancer-specific mortality in our study. During the follow-up period, 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were 93.8% and 88.9%, respectively. Additionally, LNM and cancer recurrence were significantly associated with the eCura scoring system (p = 0.044 and p = 0.017, respectively), while local cancer residue and cancer-specific mortality were not (p = 0.478 and p = 0.131, respectively). Conclusion: Clinicians should be aware of the risk factors for the prognosis of patients with non-curative ESD to determine subsequent treatment. Through the application of the "eCura system", additional surgery should be performed in patients with intermediate/high risk of LNM.

Fecal microbial biomarkers combined with multi-target stool DNA test improve diagnostic accuracy for colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major global health burden. The current diagnostic tests have shortcomings of being invasive and low accuracy. AIM: To explore the combination of intestinal microbiome composition and multi-target stool DNA (MT-sDNA) test in the diagnosis of CRC. METHODS: We assessed the performance of the MT-sDNA test based on a hospital clinical trial. The intestinal microbiota was tested using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. This case-control study enrolled 54 CRC patients and 51 healthy controls. We identified biomarkers of bacterial structure, analyzed the relationship between different tumor markers and the relative abundance of related flora components, and distinguished CRC patients from healthy subjects by the linear discriminant analysis effect size, redundancy analysis, and random forest analysis. RESULTS: MT-sDNA was associated with Bacteroides. MT-sDNA and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were positively correlated with the existence of Parabacteroides, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was positively associated with Faecalibacterium and Megamonas. In the random forest model, the existence of Streptococcus, Escherichia, Chitinophaga, Parasutterella, Lachnospira, and Romboutsia can distinguish CRC from health controls. The diagnostic accuracy of MT-sDNA combined with the six genera and CEA in the diagnosis of CRC was 97.1%, with a sensitivity and specificity of 98.1% and 92.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION: There is a positive correlation of MT-sDNA, CEA, and AFP with intestinal microbiome. Eight biomarkers including six genera of gut microbiota, MT-sDNA, and CEA showed a prominent sensitivity and specificity for CRC prediction, which could be used as a non-invasive method for improving the diagnostic accuracy for this malignancy.

Clinical significance and potential application of cuproptosis-related genes in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, gastric cancer (GC) is a common lethal solid malignancy with a poor prognosis. Cuproptosis is a novel type of cell death mediated by protein lipoylation and may be related to GC prognosis. AIM: To offer new insights to predict GC prognosis and provide multiple therapeutic targets related to cuproptosis-related genes (CRGs) for future therapy. METHODS: We collected data from several public data portals, systematically estimated the expression level and prognostic values of CRGs in GC samples, and investigated related mechanisms using public databases and bioinformatics. RESULTS: Our results revealed that FDX1, LIAS, and MTF1 were differentially expressed in GC samples and exhibited important prognostic significance in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort. We constructed a nomogram model for overall survival and disease-specific survival prediction and validated it via calibration plots. Mecha-nistically, immune cell infiltration and DNA methylation prominently affected the survival time of GC patients. Moreover, protein-protein interaction network, KEGG pathway and gene ontology enrichment analyses demonstrated that FDX1, LIAS, MTF1 and related proteins play key roles in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and cuproptosis. Gene Expression Omnibus database validation showed that the expression levels of FDX1, LIAS, and MTF1 were consistent with those in the TCGA cohort. Top 10 perturbagens has been filtered by Connectivity Map. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, FDX1, LIAS, and MTF1 could serve as potential prognostic biomarkers for GC patients and provide novel targets for immunotarget therapy.

Signet ring cell carcinoma hidden beneath large pedunculated colorectal polyp: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Large pedunculated colorectal polyps are not frequent among colonic polyps. We present a clinical case of a large pedunculated colorectal polyp with signet ring cell cancer infiltrating the submucosa and lymph node invasion in a patient who ultimately underwent additional surgery. Clinicians should attach importance to pedunculated colorectal polyps and choose the most appropriate therapy. CASE SUMMARY: A 52-year-old female farmer underwent routine screening colonoscopy and denied constipation, diarrhea, hematochezia, or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Her past medical history and general biochemical examination results were unremarkable. During the colonoscopy, a 25-mm pedunculated polyp in the sigmoid colon was identified. The superficial epithelium was macroscopically congestive, rough, and granular, showing characteristic features of adenoma. We first ligated the root of the pedunculated polyp using nylon loops as well as a titanium clip. Histopathological examination revealed high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia of the tumor surface and a negative margin with signet ring cell adenocarcinoma infiltrating the submucosal layer. The deepest infiltration was approximately 0.9 cm from the tumor surface and 0.55 cm from the stratum basale. We performed radical resection of the left colon with lymph node dissection after two weeks. The lesion was completely resected, and pathological assessment revealed signet ring cell adenocarcinoma infiltrating the submucosal layer as well as lymph node invasion (stage PT1N1M0 and grade IIIA in pathological grading, NRAS-, BRAF V600E-, KRAS-). CONCLUSION: This case highlights the importance of paying attention to the malignancy of large pedunculated polyps. Polyps or adenomas removed via endoscopy must be evaluated histologically. Even if adenomas may be fragile, endoscopy doctors should still remove polyps as completely as possible and choose perpendicular sections through the stalk and base to fix by formaldehyde solution.

[The analysis of hepatitis B virus genetic characterization from immuned children and their mother].

OBJECTIVE: In order to investigate the characterization of mother to children transmission, the sequences of HBV were analyzed to offer the information about the effect of interrupt. METHODS: The sera of 75 mother with positive HBsAg are collected from 2003, and the ELISA was performed to determine the HBV infection of the child. The Large S sequence of HBV including preS and S gene are amplified and sequenced. The genotype was determined with the standard genotype sequence. The mutation ratios of group successfully interrupted and failed compared. RESULTS: The sera of 4 pairs mother-children were HBsAg positive, including one twins. The virus genes are successful amplified. Four of HBV genotype is B and one is C. Gene of twins has mutation of T143M. 43 HBV of successfully interrupted group were sequenced. There are 37 of genotype B and 6 of genotype C. Three have the mutation in "a" dominant, and the percentage is 7%. CONCLUSION: Most failed interrupted child have the same sequence with their mother, and the ratio is higher than the mother of successful group, however there have no statistical significance.