Search

Abstract Background Increase of Serum amyloid A (SAA) level has been observed in patients with a variety of cancers. The objective of this study was to determined whether SAA level could be used as a prognostic parameter in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Methods SAA levels were measured by rate nephelometry immunoassay in 167 healthy controls and 167 ESCC patients prior to surgical resection. Statistical associations between clinicopathological observations and SAA levels were determined using the Mann–Whitney U test. The clinical value of SAA level as a prognostic parameter was evaluated using the Cox’s proportional hazards model. Results SAA levels were significantly higher in patients with ESCC compared to levels in healthy controls (13.88 ± 15.19 mg/L vs. 2.26 ± 1.66 mg/L, P P P = 0.015), T classification (P P P P P Conclusions An elevated level of preoperative SAA was found to associate with tumor progression and poor survival in patients with ESCC.

The indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-(IDO-) mediated microenvironment plays an important role in tumor immune escape. However, the inhibitory effects of IDO on the CD8(+) tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (CD8(+) TILs) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have not been clarified yet. Here, we found that the level of IDO expression in ESCC tumor specimens correlated with a reduction in the number of CD8(+) TILs. Patients with high IDO expression and a low number of CD8(+) TILs had significantly impaired overall survival time. IDO expression and functional enzyme activity in ESCC cell lines could be induced by IFNγ. When exposed to the milieu generated by IDO-expressing Eca109 cells, the CD8(+) TILs were suppressed in proliferation, and their cytolytic functions against target tumor cells were lost. These results suggested that impairing CD8(+) TIL functions by IDO expressed in ESCC possibly contributed to the finding that patients with higher IDO expression have more aggressive disease progression and shorter overall survival time.

Background & Objective: Radiation-induced heart damage is one of the prognostic factors of the patients who had received radiation to the mediastinum. This study was to investigate the correlation of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) mRNA expression to the radiation response of the heart in rats, in order to provide references for further study on irradiation-induced heart damage., Methods: Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 2 groups: the 30 rats in irradiation group were irradiated with 20 Gy on the heart; the 30 rats in control group received no irradiation. At each time point of the 1st day, the 2nd, 4th, 8th 12th, and 24th week after irradiation, 5 rats in each group were killed. The serum levels of cardiac troponin and isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CK-MB) were detected. The expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Heart damage was observed with Masson staining under microscope., Results: The serum level of cardiac troponin was elevated at 24 h after irradiation, and reached the peak at 2 weeks after irradiation, which was significantly higher than that in control group [(0.73+/-0.11) ng/mL vs. (0.11+/-0.04) ng/mL, P<0.05]. There was no significant difference in the serum level of CK-MB between two groups (P>0.05). The expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA was elevated at the 1st day after irradiation, and reached peaks at 2 and 12 weeks after irradiation, which were significantly higher than those in control group [(8.55+/-1.19)x10(-8) microg/mL vs. (1.27+/-0.11)x10(-8) microg/mL, (4.63+/-0.41)x10(-8) microg/mL vs. (1.35+/-0.15)x10(-8) microg/mL, P<0.05]. The proportion of collagen fibers was increased since 2 weeks after irradiation, which was significantly higher than that in control group [(2.87+/-0.37)% vs. (1.14+/-0.55)%, P<0.05]. The expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA was positively correlated to the proportion of collagen fibers in the rat hearts after irradiation (r=0.48, P<0.05)., Conclusions: TGF-beta1 is involved not only in the onset but also in the development of radiation fibrosis. Inhibiting the peak expression of TGF-beta1 mRNA may reduce the radiation-induced damage to the heart.

Background & Objective: Tumor supplied group of factors (TSGF) is the first kind of tumor marker in vitro which was primarily obtained the approval by Chinese government to land the market, there was no any reports about it in abroad before. In order to know its specificity and sensitivity, we designed this study to detect the TSGF in serum of the patients with malignancies and evaluate its clinical significance for diagnosis., Methods: Serum TSGF in 523 cases with malignancies and 400 cases of normal control were detected with chemical colorimetry. The diagnostic accuracy was evaluated., Results: Mean levels of serum TSGF in the patients without malignancies (group A), the patients with malignancies (group B), the patients after curative treatment for malignancies (group C) and the normal control (group D) were 66.57, 71.24, 60.78, and 53.56 u/ml, respectively. After the statistical analysis, differences between the group A and group B, group A and group D, group B and group C, group B and group D, group C and group D were found (P < 0.05). But there was no obvious difference between the group A and group C (P > 0.05). The sensitivity was 63.86%; the specificity was 90.89%; the truly negative rate was 87.01%; and the falsely negative rate was 13.00%., Conclusions: Serum TSGF increased in malignancies and may be helpful for screening and early detection of cancer.