Objective To assess value and limitations of non-invasive methods in assessing liver fibrosis．Methods By summarized current situation and advancement of serum fibrotic markers, ultrasound, CT and MRI in assessing liver fibrosis, we investigated their value and limitations. Results In addition to diagnosis, non-invasive methods of assessing liver fibrosis assess severity of liver fibrosis. For liver fibrosis, however, non-invasive methods can not monitor effectively reaction to therapy and progression. Conclusion Non-invasive methods play important roles in diagnosis and assessing severity of liver fibrosis, and reduce the need of liver biopsy.
Objective To investigate the serum level of surfactant protein D ( SP-D) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD) and its clinical significance. Methods Serumlevels of SP-D in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD ( n = 29) , stable COPD ( n = 26) , and control subjects ( n = 19 ) were measured by ELISA. Multiple regression modeling was performed to determine the independent relationship between SP-D and lung function variables. Results The serum SP-D levels were significantly increased in the patients who experienced an acute exacerbation [ ( 70. 6 ±20. 7) ng/mL] compared with the patients with stable COPD and the control subjects [ ( 47. 9 ±13. 3) ng/mL and ( 31. 2 ±11. 4) ng/mL] ( both P lt; 0. 01) . The serum SP-D levels in the patients with stable COPD increased significantly than the control subjects ( P lt; 0. 01) . Smoking index and staging of COPD were positively related to SP-D level. Serum SP-D levels were also found to be inversely related to FEV1% pred in stable COPD. Conclusion Serum SP-D may be a potential diagnostic and staging biomarker for COPD.
ObjectiveTo explore the values of CA19-9, CA242, CEA, and CA125 single or combined detection on clinical diagnosis and prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer. MethodsSerum tumor markers CA199, CA242, CEA, and CA125 of 63 patients with pancreatic cancer, 33 patients with cancer of bile duct, and 27 patients with benign pancreatic disease were detected, and those patients were followed up after operation. ResultsThe levels of CA19-9, CA242, CEA, and CA125 in patients with pancreatic cancer were significantly higher than those in patients with benign pancreatic disease and cancer of bile duct (Plt;0.05). The sensitivity of CA19-9 alone was the highest in the four tumor markers for the patients with pancreatic cancer 〔79.4% (50/63)〕, but the specificity (61.9%) was lower than that of CA242 (83.3%) and CEA (80.0%). The specificity of combined detection of CA199+CA242+CEA was the highest 〔93.3% (56/60)〕. The level of CA19-9 in carcinoma of body/tail of pancreas was significantly higher than that of carcinoma of pancreas head or whole pancreas (Plt;0.05). The serum levels of CA19-9 and CA242 in patients with stage Ⅳ were significantly higher than those in stage Ⅰ or Ⅱ/Ⅲ (Plt;0.05). Fifteen patients were lost to follow up, 48 patients were followed up 2－12 months with an average 6 months. The levels of CA242 and CA199 in patients with pancreatic cancer on 0.5 month and 3 months after operation were lower than those before operation (Plt;0.05). ConclusionsSingle detection of CA19-9 can improve the diagnostic sensitivity, and combined detection of tumor markers CA199+CA242+CEA can improve the diagnostic specificity. CA19-9 or CA242 is a valuable marker for evaluating treatment effects and estimating prognosis.
Objective To explore regularity of lymph node metastasis and analyze its relation between lymph node metastasis and histological features and its immunohistochemical markers of gastric cancer, and to provide evidence for selection of reasonable operation. Method The clinical data of 160 patients with gastric cancer who underwent D2, D3 or D3+ from August 2013 to May 2016 in the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University were retrospectively studied, and the relation between the lymph node metastasis and the pathological features and the immunohistochemical markers in the different location of gastric cancer was analyzed. Results ① The rate of lymph node metastasis in the early gastric cancer was significantly lower than that in the advanced gastric cancer (P<0.05), which in the T4 stage was significantly higher than that in the T1–T3 stages (P<0.05), in the poorly differentiated gastric cancer was significantly higher than that in the well differentiated gastric cancer (P<0.05), or in the Borrmann type Ⅲ+Ⅳ (infiltrative type) was significantly higher than that in the Borrmann type Ⅰ+Ⅱ (topical type,P<0.05), but which wasn’t associated with the gender, tumor location, or tumor diameter (P>0.05). ② The lymph node metastasis occurred mainly in the first and the second stations for the well differentiated gastric cardia cancer, which not only occurred in the first and the second stations, but also occurred in the No.13 lymph node for the poorly differentiated gastric cardia cancer; which occurred mainly in the first and the second stations and occasionally occurred in the No.12 lymph node for the well differentiated gastric body cancer, which not only occurred in the first and the second stations, but also occurred in the No.12, No.13 and No.14 lymph nodes for the poorly differentiated gastric body cancer; which occurred in the No.11, No.12 and No.13 lymph nodes for the part of well differentiated gastric antrum cancer, which even occurred in the No.15 and No.16 lymph nodes for the part of poorly differentiated gastric antrum cancer. ③ The expression positive rates of the TopoⅡα, Villin, Ki-67, CK-8, and CK-18 proteins in the poorly differentiated gastric cancer were significantly higher than those in the well differentiated gastric cancer (P<0.05), which of the P-gp, GST-π, and c-erbB-2 proteins in the poorly differentiated gastric cancer were significantly lower than those in the well differentiated gastric cancer (P<0.05). The expression positive rates of the TopoⅡα, P-gp, Villin, Ki-67, CK-8, and CK-18 proteins in the gastric cancer with lymph node metastasis were significantly higher than those in the gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis (P<0.05), whereas there were no relation between the expression positive rates of the GST-π and c-erbB-2 proteins and the lymph node metastasis of gastric cancer (P>0.05). ④ The different location of gastric cancer wasn’t associated with the gender, gross type, clinical stage, T stage, degree of differentiation, Borrmann type, or tumor diameter. Conclusions In advanced gastric cancer, depth of tumor invasion reached T4, poor degree of differentiation, and Borrmann infiltration type of gastric cancer, lymph node metastasis rates are higher. For gastric cardia cancer patients with well differentiation, standard D2 should be performed, D2+No.13 should be performed for poor differentiation. For gastric body cancer patients with well differentiation, D2+No.12 should be performed, D3 should be performed for poor differentiation. For gastric antrum cancer patients with differentiation degree or not, D3 should be performed, selective dissection of No.15 or No.16 lymph node should be performed for poor differentiation. Combined detection of TopoⅡα, Villin, Ki-67, CK-8, CK-18, P-gp, GST-π, and c-erbB-2 immunohistochemical markers might be helpful to improve accuracy of lymph node metastasis and evaluate degree of malignancy and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer.
Objective To summarize the changes in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in the context of immunotherapy and their impact on treatment outcomes. MethodsA systematic review of recent studies on the TME of PDAC was carried out to analyze the immune properties, intercellular interactions, and biological functions of its cellular and non-cellular components, disclose the molecular mechanisms of immunotherapy affects on the TME, explore the advancements in targeted therapy and potential biomarkers, and analyze the challenges in clinical applications and their impacts on the quality of life of patients. ResultsThe TME of PDAC exhibits highly immunosuppressive and heterogeneous characteristics, rich in diverse cells (such as pancreatic cancer cells, stellate cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, immune cells) and non-cellular components (such as extracellular matrix). Immunotherapy is capable of regulating the immune balance in the TME and enhancing the anti-tumor response. Despite the progress made in multiple immunotherapy strategies (such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, chimeric antigen receptor cell therapy), challenges such as difficulty in selecting targets, drug resistance, and side effects still persist. Meanwhile, potential biomarkers such as leukemia inhibitory factor offer new directions for individualized treatment. ConclusionsThe TME of PDAC undergoes continuous changes during immunotherapy. In the future, it is requisite to integrate new technologies to deeply explore targets and biomarkers, optimize multimodal precise treatment strategies, enhance the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy, and improve the prognosis of patients.
Objective To review the research progress of cartilage ol igomeric matrix protein (COMP). Methods Domestic and abroad l iterature about COMP was reviewed and summarized. Results COMP was one of the osteoarthritis (OA) biomarkers of being widely studied. Most studies in recent years could draw the conclusion that COMP was associated with OA. COMP was the foremost biomarker among investgated biomarkers. It could been continuously expressed and predicted knee OA progression. Conclusion Precisely what role COMP plays in OA pathogenesis remains unclear, using COMP as a tool to early diagnose OA more studies would be needed.
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of serum pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (Pro-GRP) in patients with small cell lung cancer. Methods We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library and other databases (1966 to Sept 2009) to collect studies which evaluated the diagnostic value of Pro-GRP in patients with small cell lung cancer. The heterogeneity of the included studies was tested by the Cochrane Collaboration’s software RevMan 4.2. The Summary Receiver Operating Characteristic (SROC) curve and meta-analyses were performed by MetaDisc. Results A total of 256 relevant articles were retrieved and 19 were included in our review. Eleven studies involving 1 447 patients were included. Meta-analyses showed that the heterogeneity among studies was high (P﹤0.000 01, I2=69.3%), the pooled sensitivity was 0.717 and the pooled specificity was 0.963. Subgroup analyses indicated that 9 of the studies which used the LD (Limited diseases) SCLC group (P=0.003, I2=65.5%, SEN=0.637, SPE=0.968, SROC AUC=0.724 3) had heterogeneity and ED (Extensive diseases) SCLC group (P=0.2, I2=27.0%, SEN=0.766, SPE=0.968, SROC AUC=0.935 5) had no heterogeneity. And 15 of the studies of Pro-GRP which were determined by acmmercial sandwich ELISA (Japan) group (P=0.000 1, I2=68.5%) had heterogeneity. Three of the studies of Pro-GRP which were determined by ELISA (Germany) group (P=0.948 7, I2=0.001%) had no heterogeneity. Conclusion Pro-GRP could be regarded as one of the reference tests in patients with small cell lung cancer, but higher quality trials are required.
Objective To investigate the value of tumor type M2 pyruvate kinase ( M2-PK) in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusion. Methods A total of 146 patients with pleural effusion during January 2006 to December 2008 were recruited at the department of respiratory medicine of the Shantou Affiliated Hospital and the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen Medical College. Pleural effusion was malignant in 72 cases ( 52 cases with lung cancer and 20 cases with metastatic lung cancer) and benign in 74 cases ( 54 cases with infective pleural effusion and 20 with transudation effusion) . The patients were divided into a malignant pleural effusion group, an infective pleural effusion group, and a transudation group.Then the infective group was further divided into subgroups of tuberculosis pleural effusion group andparapneumonic effusion group. The concentration of tumor M2-PK in pleural fluid obtained during the first thoracocentesis was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA) . Results The concentration of tumor M2-PK was significantly higher in the malignant pleural effusion group compared with the benignpleural effusion groups ( P lt; 0. 01) . Significant differences were also found in the concentration of tumor M2-PK between malignant pleural effusion caused by lung cancer and metastatic lung cancer( P lt; 0. 05) .When the cutoff value of tumor M2-PK was set at 18. 68 U/mL, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion was 87. 6% , 86. 0% , and 87. 4%, respectively. Furthermore,the detection of tumor M2-PK in combination with CEA showed better diagnostic sensitivity( 96. 0% ) ,specificity ( 85. 0% ) , and accuracy ( 91. 1% ) . Conclusions The detection of tumor M2-PK in pleural effusion is of some clinical significance in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pleural effusion.The detection of tumor M2-PK in combination with CEA is a good diagnostic tool with high sensitivity andspecificity.
ObjectiveTo explore the predictive effect of the femoral neck strength composite indexes on femoral head collapse in non-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) compared with bone turnover marker.MethodsThe non-traumatic ONFH patients who were admitted and received non-surgical treatment between January 2010 and December 2016 as the research object. And 96 cases (139 hips) met the selection criteria and were included in the study. There were 54 males (79 hips) and 42 females (60 hips), with an average age of 40.2 years (range, 22-60 years). According to whether the femoral head collapsed during follow-up, the patients were divided into collapsed group and non-collapsed group. The femoral neck width, hip axis length, height, body weight, and bone mineral density of femoral neck were measured. The femoral neck strength composite indexes, including the compressive strength index (CSI), bending strength index (BSI), and impact strength index (ISI), were calculated. The bone turnover marker, including the total typeⅠcollagen amino terminal elongation peptide (t-P1NP), β-crosslaps (β-CTx), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), 25 hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and N-terminal osteocalcin (N-MID), were measured. The age, gender, height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), bone mineral density of femoral neck, etiology, Japanese Osteonecrosis Investigation Committee (JIC) classification, femoral neck strength composite indexes, and bone turnover marker were compared between the two groups, and the influencing factors of the occurrence of femoral head collapse were initially screened. Then the significant variables in the femoral neck strength composite indexes and bone turnover marker were used for logistic regression analysis to screen risk factors; and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the significant variables’ impact on non-traumatic ONFH. ResultsAll patients were followed up 3.2 years on average (range, 2-4 years). During follow-up, 46 cases (64 hips) had femoral head collapse (collapsed group), and the remaining 50 cases (75 hips) did not experience femoral head collapse (non-collapsed group). Univariate analysis showed that the difference in JIC classification between the two groups was significant (Z=–7.090, P=0.000); however, the differences in age, gender, height, body weight, BMI, bone mineral density of femoral neck, and etiology were not significant (P>0.05). In the femoral neck strength composite indexes, the CSI, BSI, and ISI of the collapsed group were significantly lower than those of the non-collapsed group (P<0.05); in the bone turnover marker, the t-P1NP and β-CTx of the collapsed group were significantly lower than those of the non-collapsed group (P<0.05); there was no significant difference in N-MID, 25(OH)D or ALP between groups (P>0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the CSI, ISI, and t-P1NP were risk factors for femoral collapse in patients with non-traumatic ONFH (P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the cut-off points of CSI, BSI, ISI, t-P1NP, and β-CTx were 6.172, 2.435, 0.465, 57.193, and 0.503, respectively, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) were 0.753, 0.642, 0.903, 0.626, and 0.599, respectively. ConclusionThe femoral neck strength composite indexes can predict the femoral head collapse in non-traumatic ONFH better than the bone turnover marker. ISI of 0.465 is a potential cut-off point below which future collapse of early non-traumatic ONFH can be predicted.
ObjectiveTo determine the predictive value of preoperative systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII) regarding the development of postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) after abdominal surgery.MethodsThisretrospective study involved 433 patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery. Logistic regression risk model was used to evaluate the prognostic value of SII. We drew the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calculated the area under the ROC curve to compared the predictive ability of SII, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and monocyte-to- lymphocyte ratio (MLR).ResultsThe independent risk factors of PPCs were preoperative respiratory diseases, preoperative history of chronic liver disease, maintenance of intravenous or inhalation anesthesia, and intraoperative infusion of more colloid (P<0.05). However, SII, PLR, NLR, and MLR did not predict the occurrence of PPCs, and they also did not predict ≥3 grade of PPCs (AUC<0.60, P>0.05).ConclusionsPreoperative SII is not a prognostic biomarker of PPCs occurrence in patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery. Other biomarkers, such as PLR, NLR, and MLR, also have no predictive value for the PPCs in these patients.