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Background: Total mesorectal resection (TME) has become the standard surgical procedure for resection of colorectal cancer tumors. We presented a systematic meta-analysis to evaluate the surgical o...

Background Recently, gadolinium-intercalated carbon dots (Gd@C-dots) have demonstrated potential advantages over traditional high-Z nanoparticles (HZNPs) as radiosensitizers due to their high stability, minimal metal leakage, and remarkable efficacy. Results In this work, two Gd@C-dots formulations were fabricated which bore carboxylic acid (CA-Gd@C-dots) or amino group (pPD-Gd@C-dots), respectively, on the carbon shell. While it is critical to develop innovative nanomateirals for cancer therapy, determining their tumor accumulation and retention is equally important. Therefore, in vivo positron emission tomography (PET) was performed, which found that 64Cu-labeled pPD-Gd@C-dots demonstrated significantly improved tumor retention (up to 48 h post injection) compared with CA-Gd@C-dots. Indeed, cell uptake of 64Cu-pPD-Gd@C-dots reached close to 60% of total dose compared with ~ 5% of 64Cu-CA-Gd@C-dots. pPD-Gd@C-dots was therefore further evaluated as a new radiosensitizer for non-small cell lung cancer treatment. While single dose radiation plus intratumorally injected pPD-Gd@C-dots did lead to improved tumor suppression, the inhibition effect was further improved with two doses of radiation. The persistent retention of pPD-Gd@C-dots in tumor region eliminates the need of reinjecting radiosensitizer for the second radiation. Conclusions PET offers a simple and straightforward way to study nanoparticle retention in vivo, and the selected pPD-Gd@C-dots hold great potential as an effective radiosensitizer. Graphic abstract

BackgroundA disintegrin and metalloprotease 12 (ADAM12) is a member of the multidomain protein family, but the mechanisms by which it affects prognosis and immune cell infiltration in patients with colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) remain unclear. Here, our study aimed to analyze the prognostic value of ADAM12 and investigate the correlation between ADAM12 expression and immune cell infiltration in patients with COAD.MethodsDifferential expression analyses were performed using the Oncomine and UALCAN databases, and prognostic analyses were conducted using PrognoScan, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA), and Kaplan–Meier Plotter. Then, the cBioPortal database was used to analyze alterations in the ADAM12 gene, and the STRING and Metascape websites were used to conduct Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses. Additionally, relationships between ADAM12 and the immune microenvironment were evaluated based on the TIMER, GEPIA, and TISIDB databases.ResultsADAM12 was overexpressed in COAD tissues, and higher ADAM12 expression correlated with a worse prognosis for patients with COAD. The gene regulatory network suggested that ADAM12 was mainly enriched in extracellular matrix (ECM) organization, ECM proteoglycans, skeletal system development, and ossification, among other pathways. Moreover, ADAM12 expression significantly correlated with the abundance of CD4+ T cells, B cells, CD8+ T cells, neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells, and their markers, as well as lymphocytes, immunomodulators, and chemokines.ConclusionsIn colorectal tumors, ADAM12 may play vital roles in regulating the ECM and the recruitment of immune cells, and we suggest that ADAM12 will become a reliable biomarker for determining response to immunotherapy and the prognosis of patients with COAD.

Purpose: To compare and analyze the incidence of postoperative reflux esophagitis (RE) in patients with early- and intermediate-stage proximal gastric cancer after proximal gastrectomy plus esophag...

BACKGROUND The greater omentum has played a unique biological role in regenerative surgery. The aim of our study was to alter the anterior sacral structure by filling the anterior sacral space with the greater omentum and evaluate its effect on the low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) after total mesorectal excision (TME) surgery for low rectal cancer. METHODS We retrospectively collected clinical data of patients with primary low rectal cancer who underwent TME and ileostomy closure in our hospital from March 2018 to March 2020. Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to analyze the correlation between postoperative mesorectal fascia (MRF) thickness and LARS score. Subsequently, we prospectively used a tipped greater omental flap graft to reconstruct the anterior rectal sacral structures (MRF reconstruction) in 17 patients and compared LARS scores and rectal compliance (RC) at week 12 after closure of the ileostomy in both groups. RESULTS There were 47 patients with No-MRF reconstruction (31 males, mean age 60.68 ± 9.21 years) and 17 with MRF reconstruction (10 males, mean age 49.82 ± 14.74 years). Correlation analysis indicated that MRF thickness and RC were negatively correlated with LARS severity (p

// Bin Qiao 1, * , Baoxia He 2, * , Jinghua Cai 1 , Alfred King-Yin Lam 3 and Wei He 1 1 Department of Stomatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, P.R. China 2 Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, P.R. China 3 Cancer Molecular Pathology, School of Medicine and Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Bin Qiao, email: qiaobin@zzu.edu.cn Wei He, email: hewei1968@tom.com Keywords: oral carcinoma; selenium; oxidative stress; apoptosis; cell proliferation Received: September 08, 2017 Accepted: October 27, 2017 Published: November 29, 2017 ABSTRACT Oral carcinoma (OC) remains one of the most difficult malignancies to cure. selenium (Se) is an essential trace mineral for human and animals, but high concentrations of Se induce apoptosis and oxidative effects. Although cell apoptosis has been evidenced as a critical mechanism mediating the anticancer activity of Se, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. To explore the role of Se in rat OC, we examined the weather the oxidative stress-mediated apoptotic pathway induced by Se was involved in the development of OC. In this study, we successfully constructed the OC rat model by 4-Nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4-NQO) exposure which reflected from histopathological observations. Se-induced the productions of methane dicarboxylic aldehyde (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which was accompanied by the inhibition of superoxide dismutase (SOD) both in vivo and vitro. The anti-apoptotic gene (Bcl-2) was down-regulated and pro-apoptosis members (Bax, Bak, Cyt-c, caspase9 and caspase3) were up-regulated by Se in OC cells. Meanwhile, we also found that Se could strongly inhibited the cell proliferation of OC lines in vitro . These results suggested that excessive Se could effectively cause oxidative stress and induce apoptosis in OC cells, as a result the OC was also inhibited to some extent. Therefore, the information presented in this study is believed to be helpful in supplementing data for further therapy of OC.

Oct4 and Sox2 are pluripotent stem cell factors but the interplay between them in tumorigenesis is unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the roles of Oct4 and Sox2 in the reprogramming of oral cancer stem cells. One or both Oct4 and Sox2 were overexpressed in immortalized oral epithelial (hTERT+-OME) cells by lentivirus transduction. In addition, Oct4 and Sox2 proteins in two oral squamous cell carcinoma cell (OSCC) lines (Cal27 and primary cultured OSCC from a T2N2M0 patient) were individually or combinedly knocked down by shRNA. The results showed that the doubly transduced (Oct4+Sox2+) cells could trigger neoplasms in immunodeficient mice after lentivirus transduction, but single transduced (Oct4+ or Sox2+) cells had no tumor formation ability. The knockdown Sox2low and knockdown Oct4lowSox2low cells resulted in decreased tumor size in the immunodeficient mice but the single knockdown Oct4low cancer cells acquired more aggressive xenografts. Our findings suggest that Oct4+Sox2+ cells may be reprogrammed cancer stem cells inducing oral carcinogenesis.

// Bin Qiao 1, * , Jing-Hua Cai 1, * , Alfred King-Yin Lam 1, 2 and Bao-Xia He 3 1 Department of Stomatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, P.R. China 2 Cancer Molecular Pathology, School of Medicine and Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast 4222, Australia 3 Department of Pharmacy, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University/Henan Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, P.R. China * These authors shared the co-first author Correspondence to: Bin Qiao, email: qiaobin@zzu.edu.cn Bao-Xia He, email: baoxia_he@163.com Keywords: oral squamous cell carcinoma stem-like cells, SCC-9 cell line, microRNA-542-3p, integrin-linked kinase, TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway Received: March 15, 2017 Accepted: July 19, 2017 Published: August 07, 2017 ABSTRACT In this study, we investigated the effects of microRNA-542-3p (miR-542-3p) on ILK/TGF-β1/Smad2/3 signaling and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression. Levels of miR-542-3p were lower in OSCC tissues (n=108) than adjacent normal tissues, whereas levels of ILK, TGF-β1 and Smad2/3 were higher. Patients with undifferentiated tumors, advanced TNM stage and lymph node metastasis showed low miR-542-3p levels. This was accompanied by high ILK expression and poor survival. Dual luciferase reporter assays of SCC-9 cells showed that miR-542-3p inhibited ILK gene expression by binding to its 3’UTR at 233-240 bp. SCC-9 cells transfected with miR-542-3p mimics exhibited elevated miR-542-3p and decreased ILK, TGF-β1 and Smad2/3 expression. They also showed reduced self-renewal (fewer CD44 + cells and tumor-spheres), invasiveness, migration, proliferation and survival. Conversely, miR-542-3p inhibitors promoted increased self-renewal (more CD44 + cells and tumor-spheres), invasiveness, migration, proliferation and survival. In xenograft experiments with nude mice, SCC-9 cells transfected with miR-542-3p mimics or siRNA-ILK yielded tumors with smaller volumes and weights than control tumors. These results demonstrate that miR-542-3p is a tumor suppressor that inhibits ILK/TGF-β1/Smad2/3 signaling, thereby inhibiting OSCC progression.

Arca subcrenatais documented in the literature of marine Traditional Chinese Medicine. Polypeptide fraction fromA. subcrenata, coded as P2, was demonstrated to possess significant antitumor activity in our previous study. However, the underlying mechanism remains undefined. The present study was carried out to investigate the underlying antitumor mechanism of P2 in human cervical cancer HeLa cells by MTT, FCM, LSCM, and western blot assays. The results revealed that P2 significantly induced apoptosis of HeLa cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. High level of ROS was provoked by P2, which was in turn responsible for induction of apoptosis through activation of intrinsic mitochondrial pathway and JNK1/2, p38 MAPK pathways, as well as inhibition of ERK1/2 pathway, as evidenced by the abrogation of P2’s effect on HeLa cells preincubated with the ROS scavenger NAC. P2 also was observed to display significant effect on G2/M phase arrest by downregulating the expression of cyclin B1/cdc2 complex and upregulating the expression of p21. These findings demonstrate that P2 induces apoptosis and G2/M phase arrest in HeLa cells through ROS-mediated MAPKs pathways, suggesting that P2 would be worth investigating as a promising agent within the scope of marine drugs for treatment of cervical cancer.

Purpose We sought to investigate the clinical application of free fibula flap and individualized titanium mesh through the use of a virtual planning and guiding template to assist the reconstruction of maxilla and orbital floor defects. Patients and Methods Between 2015 and 2016, a total of 6 adult patients with maxillary and orbital floor defects were enrolled in this study. Preoperative virtual planning, including virtual maxillary resection and fibular reconstruction, was performed in all cases according to 3-dimensional radiographic and clinical findings. A 3-dimensionally printed resin model and prebent templates were used to guide the harvesting and positioning of the fibula flap during surgery. Then, an individualized titanium mesh was used to support the orbital floor and restore the maxillary contour. The results were confirmed by postoperative computed tomography scans and clinical follow-up. Results Preoperative virtual planning and prebent templates can be used to guide the harvesting and positioning of the fibula flap, as well as the forming and positioning of the individualized titanium mesh, with satisfactory results. All flaps survived, and symmetrical facial contours were achieved with normal lower jaw movement and proper vertical distance for dental implants in all patients. Conclusions Computer-aided techniques such as virtual planning, 3-dimensionally printed models, and prebent guide templates can be used to harvest and position a free fibula flap, form personalized titanium mesh, and ultimately improve the clinical efficacy of maxillary and orbital floor reconstruction.