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To assess the efficacy, safety, and feasibility of a separate inserted positioning fine needle-mediated breathing-control technique applied to computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous puncture for biopsy or microwave ablation (MWA) of small lung/liver nodules near diaphragm. Total 46 patients with pulmonary/liver small nodules (≤ 3 cm in size) near diaphragm(nodule within 1 cm distance to the diaphragm)were undergone percutaneous biopsy (n = 15) or MWA (n = 31) under the guidance of CT, and a separate positioning fine needle-mediated breathing-control technique was applied for the precise punctures. CT plain scan was performed to monitor the complications after the procedure. The patient baseline data, operation details, successful rate, major complications as well as radiation dose during the procedure were recorded and analyzed. With the assistance of a fine positioning needle insertion for controlling the breathing, the puncture success rate for biopsy or MWA reached 91.30% (42/46). For biopsy, the mean nodule diameter, nodule distance to the diaphragm, puncture time and radiation dose during CT scan were 2.27 cm ± 0.74, 0.61 cm ± 0.24, 18.67 min ± 6.23, 28.84 mSv ± 6.99, respectively; For MWA, the mean nodule diameter, nodule distance to the diaphragm, puncture time and CT radiation dose were 2.35 cm ± 0.64, 0.69 cm ± 0.23, 38.71 min ± 13.65, 33.02 mSv ± 8.77, respectively. Totally, there were three and four cases found minimal puncture-related hemoptysis and pneumothorax needed no additional treatments, respectively. We recently developed and verified a feasible, safe and highly effective puncture technique with reasonable radiation dose for CT-guided biopsy or MWA for small nodules abutting diaphragm, therefore worthy of extensive application to similar clinical situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Brusatol, a natural quassinoid that is isolated from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine known as Bruceae Fructus, possesses biological activity in various types of human cancers, but its effects in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) have not been reported. This study aimed to explore the effect and molecular mechanism of brusatol in NPC in vivo and in vitro.Methods: The antiproliferative effect of brusatol was assessed by MTT and colony formation assays. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. The expression of mitochondrial apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and Akt/mTOR pathway proteins were determined by western blot analysis. Further in vivo confirmation was performed in a nude mouse model.Results: Brusatol showed antiproliferative activity against four human NPC cell lines (CNE-1, CNE-2, 5-8F, and 6-10B) in a dose-dependent manner. This antiproliferative effect was accompanied by mitochondrial apoptosis and cell cycle arrest through the modulation of several key molecular targets, such as Bcl-xl, Bcl-2, Bad, Bax, PARP, Caspase-9, Caspase-7, Caspase-3, Cdc25c, Cyclin B1, Cdc2 p34, and Cyclin D1. In addition, we found that brusatol inhibited the activation of Akt, mTOR, 4EBP1, and S6K, suggesting that the Akt/mTOR pathway is a key underlying mechanism by which brusatol inhibits growth and promotes apoptosis. Further in vivo nude mouse models proved that brusatol significantly inhibited the growth of CNE-1 xenografts with no significant toxicity.Conclusions: These observations indicate that brusatol is a promising antitumor drug candidate or a supplement to current chemotherapeutic therapies to treat NPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]