[Effects of high-intensity focused ultrasound on apoptosis-associated gene expression in xenografts with human pancreatic cancer].

Objective: To identify the expression of apoptosis-associated genes of high- intensity focused ultrasound(HIFU) in xenograft with human pancreatic cancer. Methods: Mice implated with human pancreatic cancer cells (YY-1) were divided into HIFU group or control group. Tumor cell apoptosis was verified by TUNEL. The expression of the apoptosis-associated genes was analyzed by Agilent Human Gene Expression. Selected genes was validated by quantitative real-time PCR(RT-PCR)and Western blot. Results: The rate of tumor cell apoptosis in HIFU group was higher than that of control group at 7, 14 days after HIFU treatment ((63.6%±15.2%)vs (19.0%±2.4%), P<0.01)and ((41.4%±7.3%)vs(18.0%±2.4%), P<0.01). Gene expression profiling revealed a total of 69 differentially expressed genes in related to apoptosis pathway, among which 44 genes were up-regulated, and 25 genes down-regulated. The RT-PCR results of selected 4 genes were consistent with those of gene expression profiling. The results of Western blot analysis at 7, 14 days after HIFU treatment showed that the expressions level of Bax protein in HIFU group was greater that of in control group ((0.39±0.11)vs (0.20±0.09), P<0.05)and ((0.46±0.12)vs(0.24±0.10), P<0.05), while the expressions level of Bcl-2 protein in HIFU group was lower than that of in control group ((0.68±0.14)vs(1.56±0.21), P<0.05)and((0.51±0.16)vs(1.57±0.22), P<0.05). Conclusions: HIFU could induce apoptosis and results in dramatic changes in gene expression, indicating that multiple pathways are involved. Although intrinsic pathway might be predominantly involved in HIFU-elicited apoptosis, further research is needed to clarify the detailed mechanisms.

[Clinical characteristics of 13 neuroendocrine prostate cancer patients].

Objective: To explore the radiological, pathological features and clinical characteristics of neuroendocrine prostate cancer patients(NEPC). Methods: The clinical characteristics and pathology data of 13 neuroendocrine prostate cancer patients treated in the Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin Medical University from January 2004 to January 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Of all 13 patients, three cases were primally diagnosed small cell cancer, and 10 cases were translated to neuroendocrine type from adenocarcinoma after endocrine therapy. Frequent urination, urgency, nocturia, and dysuria were main symptoms. Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was (14.5±3.2)µg/L; the volume of prostate was enlarged, mean volume, range 28-176(45±4)ml. The lesion was moderately low signal intensity in T(2)WI, while slightly higher signal in DWI. Signal characteristic of dynamic enhanced MRI was "fast in fast out" . The expression of Synaptophysin, Chromogranin A , CD56 and Ki-67 in NEPC were highly expressed by immunohistochemistry analysis. Among them, five patients accepted intravenous chemotherapy, two cases received external radiation therapy, three cases received cryoablation and three cases received palliative therapy. Median survival time in all 13 patients was 10 months, while median survival time in patients treated by chemotherapy was 16 months . Conclusion: NEPC is a highly aggressive subtype of prostate cancer characterized by rapid disease progression, lack of treatment and worse prognosis. Therefore, patients with NEPC may benefit from early diagnosis and comprehensive treatment with chemotherapy.

The treatment of paravertebral malignant mesenchymal tumor pain with cryoablation.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of cryoablation to treat pain from paravertebral malignant mesenchymal tumors. METHOD: Cryoablation was performed on 15 patients who suffer from unresectable painful paravertebral malignant mesenchymal tumors and whose pain was poorly controlled by conventional treatment methods. The sizes of the tumors varied from 3 to 20 cm. The patients' pain at baseline before the cryoablation and the pain they felt 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after the cryoablation were assessed respectively by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). RESULT: BPI scores are divided into two categories: the influence of pain and the severity of pain. Both results showed a decline after the cryoablation. The evaluation score of pain severity decreased significantly (P=0.001, P=0.031) on the observation of 1 day and 1 month after the cryoablation; that of pain influence decreased significantly (P=0.016, P=0.036) in the cases of 1 day and 1 week after cryoablation. Two patients (13.33%) had mild complications, but no serious complications occurred. CONCLUSION: Cryoablation is a low risk, well-tolerated topical treatment for the pain of patients with unresectable paravertebral malignant mesenchymal tumor.

Effect of transcatheter renal arterial embolization combined with cryoablation on regulatory CD4+CD25+ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of patients with advanced renal carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of Argon-Helium cryosurgery (AHCS) combined with transcatheter renal arterial embolization (TRAE) on the differentiation of regulatory CD4+ CD25+ T cell (Treg) and its implication in patients with renal carcinoma. METHODS: Seventy seven patients are included in the study, and divided into two groups: TRAE group (n=45, receiving TRAE only) and TRAE+cryoablation group (n=32, receiving cryoablation 2-3 weeks after TRAE). The percentage of Treg cells and T lymphocyte subsets (CD4+T, CD8+T, and CD4+T/CD8+T) in the peripheral blood is measured by flow cytometry previous to the therapy and 3 months after therapy. Meanwhile, the extent of tumor necrosis is measured by MRI or CT 1 month after therapy. RESULTS: The percentages of Treg cells of patients in TRAE + cryoablation group decrease from (6.65±1.22)% to (3.93±1.16)%, (t=42.768, P<0.01), and the percentages of CD4+T and CD4+T/CD8+T increase significantly (P<0.01). However, the results of patients in TRAE group show that the percentages of Treg, CD4+T, CD8+T and CD4+T/CD8+T increase slightly although the differences had no statistical significance (P>0.05). The tumor necrosis rate of TRAE+cryoablation group is 57.5%, significantly higher than those of TRAE group, which shows 31.6% (t=6.784, P<0.01). The median survival duration of the TRAE+cryoablation group is 20 months, significantly longer than that of the TRAE group (χ² = 7.368, P<0.01). The decreasing extent of Treg cells is correlated with tumor necrosis rates (r=0.90, P<0.01) and life time (r=0.67, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The therapy of TRAE combined with cryoablation contributes to reduce the percentage of Treg cells and improve the immune situation of patients with renal cell carcinoma, which consequently increase tumor necrosis rate and prolong the patients' survival duration.

Maternal dietary supplementation with ferrous N-carbamylglycinate chelate affects sow reproductive performance and iron status of neonatal piglets.

Iron-deficiency anemia is a public health concern that frequently occurs in pregnant mammals and neonatal offspring. Ferrous N-carbamylglycinate chelate (Fe-CGly) is a newly designed iron fortifier with proven effects in iron-deficient rats and weanling piglets. However, the effects of this new compound on pregnant mammals are unknown. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Fe-CGly on sow reproductive performance and iron status of both sows and neonatal piglets. A total of 40 large-white sows after second parity were randomly assigned to two groups (n=20). They were receiving a diet including 80 mg Fe/kg as FeSO4 or Fe-CGly, respectively, from day 85 of gestation to parturition. The serum (day 110 of pregnancy) and placentas of sows were sampled. Litter size, mean weight of live born piglets, birth (live) litter weight, number of live born piglets, and the number of still-born piglets, mummies, and weak-born piglets were recorded. Once delivered, eight litters were randomly selected from the 20 litters per treatment, and one new-born male piglet (1.503±0.142 kg) from each selected litter was slaughtered within 3 h after birth from the selected litters, without colostrum ingestion. The serum, longissimus muscle, liver and kidneys of the piglets were collected. The iron status of the serum samples and the messenger RNA level of iron-related genes in the placenta, liver and kidney were analyzed. The results showed that litter weight of live born piglets was higher (P=0.030) in the Fe-CGly group (19.86 kg) than in the FeSO4 group (17.34 kg). Fe-CGly significantly increased placental iron concentration (P<0.05) of sows. It also significantly increased iron saturation and reduced the total iron-binding capacity of piglets (P<0.05) at birth. However, the results revealed that supplementation of Fe-CGly in sows reduced liver and kidney iron concentration of neonatal piglets (P<0.05), indicating decreased iron storage. In addition, the concentration of iron in the colostrum was not significantly changed. Therefore, the present results suggested that replacement of maternal FeSO4 supplement with Fe-CGly in the late-gestating period for sows could improve litter birth weight, probably via enhanced iron transportation in the placenta.