Prognostic value of the combined preoperative plasma fibrinogen and systemic inflammatory indexes in ESCC patients.

The prognostic indexes based on the combination of preoperative fibrinogen and systemic inflammatory indexes may have greater predictive value in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). It was found that the predictive ability of F-NLR was more valuable than other systemic inflammatory indexes. The preoperative F-NLR score was closely related to the TNM stage, and could be used as an important independent prognostic index for patients with ESCC. Then the nomogram model constructed by F-NLR and TNM stage had higher prognostic ability than that of AJCC stage for ESCC patients. Preoperative F-NLR is a new independent prognostic index and a potential marker for treatment response monitoring in patients with ESCC.

Concurrent use of anlotinib overcomes acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI in patients with advanced EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Acquired resistance development is a major challenge in the epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we investigated the potential effects of the concurrent use of anlotinib and EGFR-TKI to overcome acquired resistance. METHODS: We conducted a preclinical study to evaluate the antitumor effects of gefitinib + anlotinib in gefitinib-resistant lung adenocarcinoma models in vitro and in vivo. We then investigated the treatment effect of EGFR-TKI + anlotinib therapy in 24 advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients after EGFR-TKI acquired resistance between January 2018 and August 2020. RESULTS: Anlotinib reversed gefitinib resistance in gefitinib-resistant lung adenocarcinoma models by enhancing the antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects of gefitinib. The gefitinib + anlotinib treatment exerted a synergistic antitumor effect by downregulating the activation of VEGFR2 and downstream effectors, Akt and ERK. The EGFR-TKI + anlotinib therapy exhibited an objective response rate of 20.8% and a disease control rate of 95.8%. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 11.53 ± 2.41 months, but median overall survival was not reached. The median PFS was longer in patients experiencing gradual progression (13.30 ± 1.69 months) than in patients with dramatic progression (6.80 ± 1.75 months, p = 0.017). One grade 3 adverse event was noted (diarrhea, n = 2, 8.3%), and grade 4 or 5 adverse events were absent. CONCLUSIONS: EGFR-TKI combined with anlotinib demonstrated powerful antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Concurrent use of anlotinib overcomes acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI in advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC patients.

Nomogram Based on Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index to Predict Overall Survival in Gastric Cancer Patients.

BACKGROUND: The systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), based on peripheral lymphocytes, neutrophils, and platelet count, has been used as a prognostic marker for several tumors. However, use of the SII has not been reported for gastric cancer. METHODS: We evaluated the prognostic value of the SII in primary and validation cohorts. We also established an effective prognostic nomogram for gastric cancer based on R language. The predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of the nomogram were determined using the concordance index (C index) and a calibration curve and were compared with TNM classifications. RESULTS: The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis results showed that the high SII was associated with poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients in the primary and validation cohorts. SII proved to be related to tumor location, histological grade, tumor size, TNM stage, and perineural infiltration in patients with gastric cancer and was an independent prognostic factor for patients with gastric cancer. SII has a better predictive ability than other existing prognostic indexes based on inflammation, such as NLR, PLR, and MLR. The nomogram established can accurately predict the 3- and 5-year survival rates of patients with gastric cancer after operation, and its accuracy is significantly higher than that of the 8th edition of the AJCC staging system. CONCLUSION: SII can independently predict the overall survival of patients with gastric cancer after operation, which is superior to the existing systemic inflammatory indexes. The prognostic nomogram based on SII is a reliable model for predicting the postoperative survival of patients with gastric cancer.

Effects of fermentation by Ganoderma lucidum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on rape pollen morphology and its wall.

This study investigated the mechanism of wall rupture fermentation of the rape bee pollen by Ganoderma lucidum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The enzymatic activities and broken-wall ratios were determined, and the results suggested the involvement of cellulase, protease, and pectinase in the wall rupture fermentation. Among the five substrate inducers, CMCase, protease, and pectinase had the highest enzymatic activities at 23.13 ± 1.09, 63.44 ± 1.35, and 118.61 ± 2.07 U/mL, respectively. The broken-wall ratios of G. lucidum and S. cerevisiae were 85.08 ± 3.92 and 88.31 ± 2.51%, respectively. The wall rupture of rape pollen was closely related to the enzymes of the fermenting species. The wall rupture process was determined through enzyme assay, light microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, and the broken-wall ratios provide further information on the said mechanism. The process follows three steps, namely, removal of coating on the pollen surface, continuous opening of three germinal apertures to allow enzymatic breakdown of the intine, and release of contents from the degradation of the exine.

Study Physicochemical Characteristics of Spring Honeys from Yunnan with the Application of HPLC-RI and FAAS.

Many special honeys are produced in Yunnan province due to abundant nectar plants and minerals resources provided by the unique natural environment in this area. In this work, the physicochemical property of three honeys (Viciacracca honey, Hevea brasiliensis honey and Punica granatum honey) from Yunnan was studied. The results showed that in different honeys the moisture content, electrical conductivity and dynamic viscosity were different. The sugar contents of each honey were determined with HPLC-RI. The results showed that P. granatum honey had the most abundant glucose [35.62 g·(100 g)-1], and H. brasiliensis honey had the most abundant fructose [41.03 g·(100 g)-1]. Thirteen different mineral elements in three honey species were determined with FAAS. It was found that the mineral level was from 167.24 mg·kg-1 in P. granatum honey to 437.34 mg·kg-1 in H. brasiliensis. Based on the mineral content the three honey species were classified following the principal component analysis (PCA) method. The result showed that Cu, Zn and Na could act as the elemental markers for V. cracca honey, while Mg, K, Ca, As and Cd act as the elemental markers for H. brasiliensis honey, and Fe, Mn, Ni, and Cr act as the elemental markers for P. granatum honey. This study reported the physicochemical property of three special Yunnan honeys, which could help the further study and utilization of these honeys.