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Background The performance of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) (LDCT) in China is uncertain. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of LDCT lung cancer screening in the Chinese setting. Methods In 2014, a screening cohort of lung cancer with LDCT was established in Gejiu, Yunnan Province, a screening center of the Lung Cancer Screening Program in Rural China (LungSPRC). Participants received a baseline screening and four rounds of annual screening with LDCT in two local hospitals until June 2019. We analyzed the rates of participation, detection, early detection, and the clinical characteristics of lung cancer. Results A total of 2006 participants had complete baseline screening results with a compliance rate of 98.4%. Of these, 1411 were high-risk and 558 were nonhigh-risk participants. During this period, 40 lung cancer cases were confirmed, of these, 35 were screen-detected, four were post-screening and one was an interval case. The positive rate of baseline and annual screening was 9.7% and 9.0%, while the lung cancer detection rate was 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively. The proportion of early lung cancer increased from 37.5% in T0 to 75.0% in T4. Adenocarcinoma was the most common histological subtype. Lung cancer incidence according to the criteria of LungSPRC and National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) was 513.31 and 877.41 per 100 000 person-years, respectively. Conclusions The program of lung cancer screening with LDCT showed a successful performance in Gejiu, Yunnan. However, further studies are warranted to refine a high-risk population who will benefit most from LDCT screening and reduce the high false positive results. Key points This study reports the results of lung cancer screening with LDCT in Gejiu, Yunnan, a high-risk area of lung cancer, and it demonstrates that lung cancer screening with LDCT is effective in detecting early-stage lung cancer. Our program provides an opportunity to explore the performance of LDCT lung cancer screening in the Chinese context.

While cisplatin is a first-line chemotherapeutic drug commonly used to treat patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the cisplatin-resistance poses a major challenge for its clinical application. Recent studies have shown that quercetin, a natural flavonoid found in various plants and foods possesses an anti-cancer effect. The following study examined the combined effect of quercetin and cisplatin on OSCC apoptosis in vitro and in vivo (using a mice tumor model). We found that quercetin promotes cisplatin-induced apoptosis in human OSCC (cell lines Tca-8113 and SCC-15) by down-regulating NF-κB. Pretreatment of cancer cells with quercetin inhibited the phosphorylation Akt and IKKβ, and led to the suppression of NF-κB and anti-apoptotic protein xIAP. In addition, we observed that the pretreatment of cancer cells with quercetin improves extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis by activating caspase-8 and caspase-9, respectively. Our in vivo data also indicated that the combination of quercetin and cisplatin may inhibit the xenograft growth in mice. To sum up, our results provide a new evidence for the application of quercetin and cisplatin in OSCC therapy.

Background Xenotropic and polytropic retrovirus receptor 1 (XPR1), a previously identified cellular receptor for several murine leukemia viruses, plays a role in many pathophysiological processes. However, the role of XPR1 in human cancers has not yet been characterized. Methods Real-time PCR and western blotting assay were used to measure the expression of XPR1 in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) tissues. Expression of XPR1 and p65 in clinical specimens was analyzed using immunohistochemical assay. The function of XPR1 on progression of TSCC was explored using in vitro and in vivo experiments. The molecular mechanism by which XPR1 helps to cancer progression was investigated by luciferase reporter activity, ELISA, PKA activity assay, immunofluorescence, western blotting and qPCR assay. Results Herein, we find that XPR1 is markedly upregulated in TSCC tissues compared to normal tongue tissues. High expression of XPR1 significantly correlates with the malignant features and poor patient survival in TSCC. Ectopic expression of XPR1 increases, while silencing of XPR1 reduces the proliferation, invasion and anti-apoptosis capacities of TSCC cells. Importantly, silencing of XPR1 effectively inhibits the tumorigenecity of TSCC cells. Moreover, we identified that XPR1 increased the concentration of intracellular cAMP and activated PKA. Thus, XPR1 promoted phosphorylation and activation of NF-κB signaling, which is required for XPR1-mediated oncogenic roles and significantly correlates with XPR1 expression in clinical specimens. Conclusions These findings uncover a critical role of XPR1 in TSCC progression via activation of NF-κB, and suggest that XPR1 might be a potential prognostic marker or therapeutic target. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-019-1155-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

PURPOSE Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening has been recommended for individuals with high lung cancer risk, but the performance of lung cancer screening with LDCT in China is uncertain. This study aims to evaluate the performance of LDCT lung cancer screening in the Chinese setting. METHODS From June 2014 through December 2014, a prospective cohort of patients to undergo lung cancer screening with LDCT was established in Gejiu, Yunnan Province, using one screening center of the Lung Cancer Screening Program in Rural China. Participants received baseline screening and 4 rounds of annual screening with LDCT until June 2019. The participation rate, detection rate, early detection rate, and clinical characteristics of lung cancer were reported. RESULTS Of participants, 2,006 had complete baseline screening results with a compliance rate of 98.4%. Of these, 1,411 were high-risk and 558 were non–high-risk individuals. During this period, 40 lung cancer cases were confirmed, and of them, 35 were screen detected, 4 were postscreening, and 1 was an interval case. The positive rate of baseline and annual screening was 9.7% and 9.0%, respectively, whereas the lung cancer detection rate was 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively. The proportion of early lung cancer increased from 37.5% in T0 to 75.0% in T4. Adenocarcinoma was the most common histologic subtype. Lung cancer incidence according to the criteria of the Lung Cancer Screening Program in Rural China and the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial was 513.31 per 100,000 person-years and 877.41 per 100,000 person-years, respectively CONCLUSION The lung cancer screening program with LDCT was a successful performance in Gejiu, Yunnan; however, additional studies are warranted to refine the high-risk population who will benefit most from LDCT screening and reduce the high false-positive results.

PURPOSE There is no long-term, population-based cohort screening evidence for lung cancer in China. This study aimed to evaluate whether increased screening rounds could reduce mortality as a result of lung cancer. METHODS We conducted a one-armed, prospective lung cancer screening cohort study with chest radiography and sputum cytology in Yunnan, People’s Republic of China, from 1992 to 1999. A total of 9,295 tin miners age 40 years or older were enrolled in this study and follow up ended on December 31, 2018. We stratified patients into 4 subgroups on the basis of screening rounds—1-2, 3-4, 5-6, or 7-8 rounds within 8 years—and selected 1-2 screening rounds within 8 years as the control group. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for the effect of screening rounds on mortality were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. RESULTS Of participants, 831 (8.9%) were lost to follow up, and 4,517 patients died, 1,600 from cancer (1,135 from lung cancer), 1,519 from circulatory system diseases, and 619 from respiratory diseases. Participants who received 7-8 screening rounds within 8 years had reduced lung cancer mortality by 46% (HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.46 to 0.63 in all age groups. For those who received 5-6 screening rounds within 8 years, the benefit of reduction was mostly observed in patients older than age 52 years (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.52 to 0.77), and there was no effect among those age 52 years or younger (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.48 to 1.07). In contrast, only for those patients age 52 years or younger did 3-4 screening rounds within 8 years decrease mortality from lung cancer (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.87). CONCLUSION We showed that increased screening rounds could reduce lung cancer mortality in a high-risk population, but the effect is influenced by age group. The optimal screening strategy for different age groups needs additional investigation.

Cisplatin is a chemotherapy drug commonly used for the treatment of human cancers, however, drug resistance poses a major challenge to clinical application of cisplatin in cancer therapy. Recent studies have shown that chrysin, a natural flavonoid widely found in various plants and foods, demonstrated effective anti-cancer activity. In the present study, we found that the combination chrysin and cisplatin significantly enhanced the apoptosis of Hep G2 cancer cells. Combination of chrysin and cisplatin increased the phosphorylation and accumulation of p53 through activating ERK1/2 in Hep G2 cells, which led to the overexpression of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and DR5 and the inhibition of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. In addition, combination of chrysin and cisplatin promoted both extrinsic apoptosis by activating caspase-8 and intrinsic apoptosis by increasing the release of cytochrome c and activating caspase-9 in Hep G2 cells. Our results suggest that combination of chrysin and cisplatin is a promising strategy for chemotherapy of human cancers that are resistant to cisplatin.

E-cadherin/β-catenin complex plays an important role in maintaining the homeostasis of tissues and regulating cell proliferation, survival and apoptosis. To address the relationships between the change of E-cadherin/β-catenin complex and cell apoptosis, human oral squamous carcinoma SCC-25 cells were used to investigate whether the dissociation of the E-cadherin/β-catenin complex was the main reason of MG132- or bortezomib-induced apoptosis. We found that MG132 or bortezomib alone induced remarkable loss of cell integrity and contact, inhibited cell growth, survival, migration and caused cell cycle arrest, intracellular ROS production. Further experiments showed that colony formations were significantly decreased by MG132 and bortezomib alone or plus cis-diaminedichloroplatinum (CDDP). Immunofluorescence staining showed that SCC-25 cells exhibited remarkable accumulations of β-catenin in cytoplasm and few E-cadherin in cell membranes after MG132 or bortezomib treatment. Western blot results showed that MG132 or bortezomib induced high accumulation of ubiquitinated proteins and activation of apoptosis related protein caspase-3. Meanwhile, the combinational use of MG132 or bortezomib with CDDP led to synergistic effects on SCC-25 cells. However, knockdown of β-catenin could decrease MG132 or bortezomib induced cell death. Taken together, our data suggest that the regulation of E-cadherin/β-catenin complex could be a promising therapeutic target to overcome the multidrug resistance of oral cancer.

Chrysin exists widely in plants, honey and propolis. The anti-cancer property of chrysin has been demonstrated though the molecular mechanism is not clear. In this study, we found that pre-treatment with chrysin could promote the cell death induced by TRAIL according to the morphological changes and appearance of sub-G1 peak in four human cancer cell lines. In HCT-116 cells, the results of flow cytometry analysis showed that the percentage of sub-G1 reached (38.89 ± 3.78) % when pre-treatment of chrysin was used at 40 μM, but that was only (2.53 ± 0.10) % in the untreated group and (13.22 ± 0.20) % in TRAIL alone group. The differences between the combination and the untreated or TRAIL alone group were all significant (P

Progressive hemifacial atrophy is a rare disorder characterized by an acquired, idiopathic, self-limited, unilateral facial atrophy involving skin, subcutaneous tissue, fat, muscle, and bone. Symmetry and contour restoration are the main treatment challenges. Among many techniques, microvascular reconstruction has been introduced as the gold standard to correct the atrophic deformity. For some patients with severe manifestations, soft tissue reconstruction alone does not obtain the desired outcome. In this series, we used an effective method to restore the severe progressive hemifacial atrophy by simultaneous maxillomandibular distraction osteogenesis with 2 distractors. The results demonstrate an improvement in both the profile and the occlusion plane of the patients with corresponding satisfactory esthetic and functional outcomes. We conclude that the simultaneous maxillomandibular distraction osteogenesis with 2 distractors is an effective method for hemifacial atrophy and bone frame reconstruction, especially ones involved in the discrepancy of the occlusal plane.

Objective The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of distraction osteogenesis with a nitinol shape memory alloy spring controlled by infrared light. Study design In each of 20 New Zealand white rabbits, a critical-size defect (15 × 10 mm) was made in the body of the mandible, and a 10 × 8-mm segmental osteotomy was performed just anterior to the defect to create a transporting disk. A heat-controlled distractor and a temperature detector were then inserted (experimental group). Nothing was attached to the other side of the mandible (control group). After a 2-day latency period, the distractor was activated by the infrared at a rate of once per day for 9 days. The contralateral side was treated with the same infrared light. Gross, radiographic, and histologic analyses and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry were performed at regular intervals. Results In the experimental group, the mandibular defect was reconstructed, whereas in the control group it was not. The histologic appearance of regenerated bone was similar to that observed with traditional distraction osteogenesis. Conclusion Distraction osteogenesis using a nitinol spring controlled by infrared light is possible.