Mounting evidence has reported that microRNA‐143 (miR‐143) is involved in the development of multiple cancers. To investigate the underlying mechanisms of miR‐143 regulating proliferation and metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells, we evaluated the levels of miR‐143 and formin‐like protein 1 (FMNL1) in NPC tissues. The results of qRT‐PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the expression of miR‐143 was decreased, while FMNL1 was increased in NPC tissues. The expression of miR‐143 was significantly elevated in NPC cells compared with that of human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. The results of MiRcode prediction, dual‐luciferase reporter, and Western blot analysis assays indicated that miR‐143 negatively regulated the expression of FMNL1 (r2 = 0.4365P = 0.0001). Overexperssion of miR‐143 or FMNL1 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in NPC cells (P < 0.05). Ectopic expression of FMNL1 undermined the inhibition effect of miR‐143 on proliferation, migration, and invasion in NPC cells. The findings of this study revealed that miR‐143 functioned as a tumor suppressor and inhibited the NPC progression by targeting FMNL1.

Ischemic stroke seriously threatens human health and creates a large social burden. The present study investigated whether tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-3 (TIMP3) prevented cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), with the aim to explore the underlying mechanism. A transient middle cerebral artery occlusion model was conducted in mice, and oxygen glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R) was investigated in PC12 cells to mimic cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI). Western blotting was used to determine the expression of TIMP3, Bax, Bcl-2 and AKT. TUNEL was used to detect apoptosis in cerebral tissues or cultured PC12 cells. Expression levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were detected to reveal oxidative stress. The results demonstrated that TIMP3 expression was significantly decreased after I/R in vivo or OGD/R in vitro, and the number of TUNEL-positive cells was reduced by the overexpression of TIMP3.

Here we assessed the predictive value of gamma-glutamyltransferase (γ-GT) for the prognosis of patients with HCC and compared the γ-GT with other prognostic factors. We retrospectively analyzed outcomes for 858 patients first diagnosed with HCC. Cox univariate and multivariate analyses receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used for the study of significance of prognostic factor. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed to assess the value of γ-GT as an HCC prognostic factor in different classifications of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) or Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) and different levels of serum alpha fetoprotein (AFP). We showed patient survival rates were significantly associated with γ-GT as well as serum biological markers including absolute neutrophil count (ANC), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), AFP. A γ-GT ≥ 75 U/L strongly indicated poor prognosis for HCC patients. The survival time of patients with γ-GT ≥ 75 U/L was significantly shorter in advanced BCLC and TNM stages and at any serum AFP level. All these results suggested that baseline γ-GT could effectively aid in determining the prognosis of patients with HCC, and the prognostic value of γ-GT ≥ 75 U/L was superior to that of Child-Pugh class, MELD stage, and serum AFP.

BackgroundCombined hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma (CHC) is an uncommon subtype of primary liver cancer. Because of limited epidemiological data, prognostic risk factors and therapeutic strategies for patients with CHC tend to be individualized. This study aimed to identify independent prognostic factors and develop a nomogram-based model for predicting the overall survival (OS) of patients with CHC.MethodsWe recruited eligible individuals from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 2004 and 2015 and randomly divided them into the training or verification cohort. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent variables associated with OS. Based on multivariate analysis, the nomogram was established, and its prediction performance was evaluated using the consistency index (C-index) and calibration curve.ResultsIn total, 271 patients with CHC were included in our study. The median OS was 14 months, and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 52.3%, 27.1%, and 23.3%, respectively. In the training cohort, multivariate analysis showed that the pathological grade (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.96–1.66), TNM stage (HR, 1.21; 95% CI: 1.02 - 1.44), and surgery (HR, 0.26; 95% CI: 0.17 - 0.40) were independent indicators of OS. The nomogram-based model related C-indexes were 0.76 (95% CI: 0.72 - 0.81) and 0.72 (95% CI: 0.66 - 0.79) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The calibration of the nomogram showed good consistency of 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates between the actual observed survival and predicted survival in both cohorts. The TNM stage (HR, 1.23; 95% CI: 1.01 - 1.49), and M stage (HR, 1.87; 95% CI: 1.14 3.05) were risk factors in the surgical treatment group. Surgical resection and liver transplantation could significantly prolong the survival, with no statistical difference observed.ConclusionsThe pathological grade, TNM stage, and surgery were independent prognostic factors for patients with CHC. We developed a nomogram model, in the form of a static nomogram or an online calculator, for predicting the OS of patients with CHC, with a good predictive performance.

Background: Acute variceal bleeding is one of the critical complications in patients with liver cirrhosis.Severe renal vasoconstriction in consequence of low peripheral vascular resistance triggers the reduction of glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and thus induces acute kidney injury (AKI)/hepato-renal syndrome (HRS).Terlipressin and octreotide have been used in the management of cirrhotic patients with variceal bleeding. Also, terlipressin has been recommended as the international first-line pharmacological therapy for the treatment of HRS. In addition, the use of renal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become increasingly prevalent in research and clinical applications. However, the renal function-protective effect of terlipressin and octreotide and the value of fMRI in monitoring renal function remains unclear in patients with cirrhosis undergoing acute variceal bleeding. Yan et al. fMRI-based assessment of terlipressin vs. octreotide on renal function in acute variceal bleeding

No abstract

<abstract> <p>Esophageal cancer has become a malignant tumor disease with high mortality worldwide. Many cases of esophageal cancer are not very serious in the beginning but become severe in the late stage, so the best treatment time is missed. Less than 20% of patients with esophageal cancer are in the late stage of the disease for 5 years. The main treatment method is surgery, which is assisted by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Radical resection is the most effective treatment method, but a method for imaging examination of esophageal cancer with good clinical effect has yet to be developed. This study compared imaging staging of esophageal cancer with pathological staging after operation based on the big data of intelligent medical treatment. MRI can be used to evaluate the depth of esophageal cancer invasion and replace CT and EUS for accurate diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Intelligent medical big data, medical document preprocessing, MRI imaging principal component analysis and comparison and esophageal cancer pathological staging experiments were used. Kappa consistency tests were conducted to compare the consistency between MRI staging and pathological staging and between two observers. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were determined to evaluate the diagnostic effectiveness of 3.0T MRI accurate staging. Results showed that 3.0T MR high-resolution imaging could show the histological stratification of the normal esophageal wall. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of high-resolution imaging in staging and diagnosis of isolated esophageal cancer specimens reached 80%. At present, preoperative imaging methods for esophageal cancer have obvious limitations, while CT and EUS have certain limitations. Therefore, non-invasive preoperative imaging examination of esophageal cancer should be further explored.Esophageal cancer has become a malignant tumor disease with high mortality worldwide. Many cases of esophageal cancer are not very serious in the beginning but become severe in the late stage, so the best treatment time is missed. Less than 20% of patients with esophageal cancer are in the late stage of the disease for 5 years. The main treatment method is surgery, which is assisted by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Radical resection is the most effective treatment method, but a method for imaging examination of esophageal cancer with good clinical effect has yet to be developed. This study compared imaging staging of esophageal cancer with pathological staging after operation based on the big data of intelligent medical treatment. MRI can be used to evaluate the depth of esophageal cancer invasion and replace CT and EUS for accurate diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Intelligent medical big data, medical document preprocessing, MRI imaging principal component analysis and comparison and esophageal cancer pathological staging experiments were used. Kappa consistency tests were conducted to compare the consistency between MRI staging and pathological staging and between two observers. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were determined to evaluate the diagnostic effectiveness of 3.0T MRI accurate staging. Results showed that 3.0T MR high-resolution imaging could show the histological stratification of the normal esophageal wall. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of high-resolution imaging in staging and diagnosis of isolated esophageal cancer specimens reached 80%. At present, preoperative imaging methods for esophageal cancer have obvious limitations, while CT and EUS have certain limitations. Therefore, non-invasive preoperative imaging examination of esophageal cancer should be further explored.</p> </abstract>

Aim: It is unclear that the prognostic value of sarcopenia and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) under transarterial chemoembolization（TACE）.The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of sarcopenia and ALBI grade on the survival time of patients after TACE for HCC. Method: 110 HCC patients receiving TACE were enrolled in this retrospective study from 2015 to 2019. Psoas muscle index (PMI) was calculated as the left-right area of the psoas muscle at the third lumbar vertebra, divided by height squared.Patients were classified into two groups (non-sarcopenia and sarcopenia) depending on an index < 6.36 and < 3.92 cm2 /m2 for men and women, respectively. According to the formula ALBI =（log10 bilirubin*0.66）+（albumin*-0.085），the patients were classified into 3 grade.We assessed whether PMI and ALBI grade have effect on overall survival (OS) . Results: Of the patients enrolled in the study,80(72.7%) were sarcopenia,30(27.3%) were non-sarcopenia,and 32(29.09%),74(67.3%),4(3.6%) patients were be classified into ALBI 1,2,3 respectively. There were no significant differences in the number of deaths between non-sarcopenia and sarcopenia(non-sarcopenia 63.8%, sarcopenia 56.7%,p=0.496),but according to ALBI grouping, the number of deaths was significant(ALBI grade 1 46.9%,ALBI grade 2 and 3,67.9%,p=0.039).In univariate analyses,ALBI grade[ALBI 2, hazard ratio(HR)=2.323;95%CI,1.291-4.182,P=0.005; ALBI 3,HR=21.915;95%CI,6.441-74.569,P=0.000],Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system (BCLC stage)(BCLC B,HR=2.706;95%CI,1.147-6.388,P=0.023; BCLC C,HR=5.007;95%CI,2.024-12.386,P=0.000),number of tumours (>3) (HR=1.71;95%CI,1.061-2.757,P=0.028),maximum tumour diameter (>3 cm) (HR=3.042;95%CI,1.627-5.687,P=0.000) and metastasis(HR=2.056;95%CI, 1.062-3.981,P=0.033) were associated with poor OS,but sarcopenia had no effect on OS(HR=1.15;95%CI,0.664-1.993,P=0.618).Multivariate analysis showed that ALBI grade(ALBI 2, HR=1.941;95%CI,1.016-3.705,P=0.044;ALBI3,HR=10.688; 95%CI,2.51-45.502,P=0.001), metastasis(HR=2.925;95%CI, 1.257-6.808,P=0.013), maximum tumour diamete(>3 cm)(HR=2.335;95%CI, 1.341-4.068,P=0.003) could significantly stratify the patients with different OS. Conclusion: ALBI grade is an important predictor of poor prognosis in HCC patients under TACE,but PMI doesn't contribute to prognostic stratification. These results suggest ALBI grade as another liver function grading system are independent predictors of OS,it is regrettable that PMI that reflects the nutritional status of the body could not provide clinical prognosis value.