Bigelovin inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth and metastasis by regulating the MAPT-mediated Fas/FasL pathway.

Bigelovin (BigV), as traditional Chinese medicine, has been shown to inhibit the malignant progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to investigate whether BigV affects the development of HCC by targeting the MAPT and Fas/FasL pathway. Human HCC cell lines HepG2 and SMMC-7721 were used for this study. Cells were treated with BigV, sh-MAPT, and MAPT. The viability, migration, and apoptosis of HCC cells were detected by CCK-8, Transwell, and flow cytometry assays, respectively. Immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation were used to verify the relationship between MAPT and Fas. Subcutaneous xenograft tumor and tail vein-injected lung metastases mouse models were constructed for histological observation. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to assess lung metastases in HCC. Western blotting was used to measure the expression of migration, apoptosis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker proteins, as well as Fas/FasL pathway-related proteins. BigV treatment inhibited the proliferation, migration, and EMT of HCC cells, whereas enhanced cell apoptosis. Moreover, BigV downregulated MAPT expression. The negative effects of sh-MAPT on HCC cell proliferation, migration, and EMT were enhanced by BigV treatment. Conversely, BigV addition attenuated the positive effects of MAPT overexpression on the malignant progression of HCC. In vivo experiments showed that BigV and/or sh-MAPT reduced tumor growth and lung metastasis while promoting tumor cell apoptosis. Furthermore, MAPT could act with Fas and inhibit its expression. sh-MAPT upregulated the expression of Fas/FasL pathway-associated proteins, which were enhanced by BigV administration. BigV suppressed the malignant progression of HCC via activating the MAPT-mediated Fas/FasL pathway.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the pancreatic neck: A case report and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a relatively rare disease that is often confused with pancreatic cancer or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. The histological features of IMTs show that tissue from this type of tumor contains an intermingling of fibroblast and myofibroblast proliferation, accompanied by a varying degree of inflammatory cell infiltration. CASE SUMMARY: The management of an IMT occurring at the neck of the pancreas is presented in this paper. A 66-year-old female patient was diagnosed with a pancreatic neck mass after a series of tests. The patient underwent enucleation of the pancreatic neck tumor after a pathological diagnosis of IMT. Previous research on the clinical features, pathological diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic IMTs was reviewed. Compared with previous reports, this is a unique case of enucleation of a pancreatic IMT. CONCLUSION: The enucleation of pancreatic IMTs may be a safe and efficient surgical method for managing such tumors with a better prognosis. Further cases are required to explore surgical measures for pancreatic IMTs.

Small bowel perforation caused by pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stent migration after pancreaticoduodenectomy: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) has been widely applied as a standard surgical procedure to treat periampullary diseases. The placement of a pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stent is considered an effective and safe method for preventing pancreatic fistula after PD. Recently, the role of pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stents has been challenged, as gradually increasing complications have been observed. Stent-related small bowel perforation has only occurred in 2 cases as long-term complications but has not been reported to occur within 1 week after surgery. PATIENT CONCERNS: Here, we report the case of a 71-year-old female patient complaining of painless jaundice who underwent PD with a pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stent for a duodenal papillary adenocarcinoma (T4N1M0). Four days after surgery, she had a sudden rise in temperature, high white blood cell count, significantly elevated C-reactive protein and 400 ml green-brown drainage fluid. Enhanced computed tomography showed hydrops abdominis. DIAGNOSIS: Small bowel perforation caused by stent migration was considered first. INTERVENTIONS: An emergency exploratory laparotomy was performed. We located the pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stent, which extended 2 cm from the small bowel, and sutured the jejunum hole after cutting away the protruding part of the stent. OUTCOMES: The patient recovered smoothly and was discharged on the 7th day after the second surgery. After more than 12 months of follow-up, the patient is doing well and is free of any symptoms related to the procedure. CONCLUSION: We caution that stent-related complications can occur when perioperative patients suffer from unexplained or sudden changes in vital signs after PD. In addition, the function of the pancreaticojejunal anastomotic stent needs to be reevaluated by future studies.

Survival comparison between primary hepatic neuroendocrine neoplasms and primary pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms and the analysis on prognosis-related factors.

BACKGROUND: Primary hepatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (PHNENs) are extremely rare and few articles have compared the prognosis of PHNENs with other neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). This study aimed to investigate the different prognosis between PHNENs and pancreatic NEN (PanNENs) and evaluate the relevant prognosis-related factors. METHODS: From January 2012 to October 2016, a total of 44 NENs patients were enrolled and divided into two groups according to the primary tumor location which were named group PHNENs (liver; n = 12) and group PanNENs (pancreas; n = 32). Demographic, clinical characteristics and survival data were compared between the two groups with Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests. Prognostic factors were analyzed using the Cox regression model. RESULTS: The overall survival of group PHNENs and group PanNENs were 25.4 ±â€¯6.7 months and 39.8 ±â€¯3.7 months, respectively (P = 0.037). The cumulative survival of group PanNENs was significantly higher than that of group PHNENs (P = 0.029). Univariate analysis revealed that sex, albumin, total bilirubin, total bile acid, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, α-fetoprotein and carbohydrate antigen 19-9, histological types, treatments and primary tumor site were the prognostic factors. Further multivariate analysis indicated that albumin (P = 0.008), histological types NEC (P = 0.035) and treatments (P = 0.005) were the independent prognostic factors. Based on the histological types, the cumulative survival of patients with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor was significant higher than that of patients with poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma in group PHNENs (P = 0.022), but not in group PanNENs (P > 0.05). According to the different treatments, patients who received surgery had significantly higher cumulative survival than those with conservative treatment in both groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PHNENs have lower survival compared to PanNENs. Histological types and treatments affect the prognosis. Surgical resection still remains the first line of treatment for resectable lesions and can significantly improve the survival.

Bigelovin, a sesquiterpene lactone, suppresses tumor growth through inducing apoptosis and autophagy via the inhibition of mTOR pathway regulated by ROS generation in liver cancer.

Bigelovin (BigV) is a sesquiterpene lactone, isolated from Inula helianthus aquatica, which has been reported to induce apoptosis and show anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic activities. Nevertheless, the effects of BigV on liver cancer and the underlying mechanisms have not been investigated. In the study, we found that BigV exhibited potential anti-tumor activities against human liver cancer in vitro and in vivo. BigV reduced the cell proliferation and colony formation. BigV induced apoptosis through improving the cleavage of Caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1). The process was along with the activation of autophagy, as proved by the enhanced accumulation of autophagosomes, the microtubule-associated light chain 3B-II (LC3B-II) and Beclin-1, and p62 decrease. Further, the autophagy blockage markedly sensitized BigV-induced cell death, indicating the cytoprotective function of autophagy in liver cancer cell lines. In addition, BigV treatment inactivated the pathway of protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K). Of note, BigV-induced cell death was abolished by over-expressing the phosphorylation of mTOR. Intriguingly, the induction of apoptosis and autophagy were eliminated by the pretreatment of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC), suggesting that ROS played an important role in the regulation of BigV-induced cell death. Finally, in vivo studies demonstrated that BigV significantly suppressed the growth of HepG2 cancer xenograft tumors through the activation of apoptosis and autophagy in a dose-dependent manner with low systemic toxicity. In conclusion, the results revealed that BigV had significant antitumor effects against human liver cancer and it may potentially be used as a novel antitumor agent for the prevention of liver cancer.

Hepatic schwannoma: A case report and an updated 40-year review of the literature yielding 30 cases.

Hepatic schwannoma is a rare benign disease with a good prognosis. Early diagnosis is difficult due to the absence of specific clinical presentations and its rarity. The present study briefly described a 64-year-old female patient with hepatic schwannoma mimicking intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Furthermore, the clinical data of 30 patients with hepatic schwannoma were also reviewed and analyzed. The mean age of the 30 patients was 51.7 years (range, 21-83 years) and ~2/3 were female. All patients in the benign group underwent surgical treatment and survived until the last follow-up, of whom 19 received complete resection and the remaining 1 underwent liver transplantation. However, in the malignant group, only three cases who underwent the surgical resection remained alive at last follow-up. Another seven cases were succumbed to mortality, 4 cases of whom had deteriorated to have no operation opportunity by the time they saw a doctor, and among the remaining three cases with hepatectomy, 1 died of liver dysfunction at 21 days postoperatively, 2 succumbed to recurrences at 18 and 23 months postoperatively. In conclusion, hepatic schwannoma is a rare benign disease with a good prognosis. However, once the malignant transformation occurs, the prognosis is not satisfied. Complete resection is the mainstay for cure and liver transplantation is often necessary.

Carcinosarcoma of the Lesser Omentum: A Unique Case Report and Literature Review.

Carcinosarcoma is a rare tumor consisting of epithelial and mesenchymal components, both of which are histologically malignant. It usually runs an aggressive clinical course, with higher metastatic potential than other kinds of carcinomas or sarcomas.Here, we present an extremely uncommon case of carcinosarcoma occurred in the lesser omental bursa in a 65-year-old Chinese man. Metastasis was observed 2 months after operation and disappeared completely after chemotherapy. Until now, 3 years after surgery, the patient is still alive without any signs or symptoms of recurrence.To our knowledge, this is the first case of carcinosarcoma originated from lesser omentum. Surgical resection and the ifosfamide-based combination chemotherapy may be effective to carcinosarcoma in the lesser omentum.

Porta hepatic schwannoma: case report and a 30-year review of the literature yielding 15 cases.

BACKGROUND: Schwannomas located in the periportal region are extremely rare. Only 14 cases have been reported in the medical literature worldwide. Cases of porta hepatic schwannomas reported in the literature worldwide were reviewed. As a result, it is very challenging for surgeons to make a preoperative diagnosis due to its rarity and nonspecific imaging manifestations. CASE PRESENTATION: A 57-year-old Chinese female was admitted to our institution with complaint of upper abdominal distension and the abdominal CT in the local hospital revealed a hypodense mass in the porta hepatis. A fine needle aspiration (FNA) was made to confirm the diagnosis, but the result was just suggestive of spindle cell neoplasia. Eventually, the patient underwent surgery and postoperative pathology confirmed schwannoma in porta hepatis. The patient recovered uneventfully with no evidence of recurrence after a follow-up period of 41 months. CONCLUSIONS: It is essential for the final diagnosis of porta hepatic schwannomas to combine histological examination with immunohistochemistry after surgery. The main treatment of porta hepatic schwannomas is complete excision with free margins and no lymph node dissection. In some cases, biliary reconstruction or the proper hepatic and the gastroduodenal artery resection was performed because the tumor was inseparably attached to the extrahepatic bile duct or the proper hepatic and the gastroduodenal artery. Malignant transformation of schwannomas is very rare and the overall prognosis is satisfactory.