No abstract

Along with the development of marine biological pharmaceutical research, high-effective and low-toxic drugs and functional foods isolated from marine organisms have become a new field of pharmacy and bromatology. The pharmacological actions, such as anti-inflammation, antioxidation, antitumor, immunological enhancement, and hepatorenal protection of C-phycocyanin (C-PC) from Spirulina platensis, have been reported, and C-PC has important value of development and utilization either as drug or as functional food. There are many researches about the various pharmacological actions and mechanisms of C-PC, but related reports are only to some extent integrated deeply and accurately enough, which put some limitations to the further application of C-PC in medicine. Particularly, with the improvement of living standards and attention to health issues, C-PC being a functional food is preferred by more and more people. C-PC is easy to get, safe, and nontoxic; thus, it has a great potential of research and development as a drug or functional food. Here, the separation and purification, physicochemical properties, physiological and pharmacological activities, safety, and some applications are reviewed to provide relevant basis for the development of natural medicine and applied products.

The local recurrence rate of phyllodes tumors of the breast varies widely among different subtypes, and distant metastasis is associated with poor survival. This study aimed to identify factors that are predictive of local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and overall survival (OS) in patients with phyllodes tumors of the breast. Clinical data of all patients with a phyllodes tumor of the breast (n = 192) treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between March 1997 and December 2012 were reviewed. The Pearson χ2 test was used to investigate the relationship between clinical features of patients and histotypes of tumors. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to identify factors that are predictive of LRFS, DMFS, and OS. In total, 31 (16.1%) patients developed local recurrence, and 12 (6.3%) developed distant metastasis. For the patients who developed local recurrence, the median age at the diagnosis of primary tumor was 33 years (range, 17-56 years), and the median size of primary tumor was 6.0 cm (range, 0.8-18 cm). For patients who developed distant metastasis, the median age at the diagnosis of primary tumor was 46 years (range, 24-68 years), and the median size of primary tumor was 5.0 cm (range, 0.8-18 cm). In univariate analysis, age, size, hemorrhage, and margin status were found to be predictive factors for LRFS (P = 0.009, 0.024, 0.004, and 0.001, respectively), whereas histotype, epithelial hyperplasia, margin status, and local recurrence were predictors of DMFS (P = 0.001, 0.007, 0.007, and < 0.001, respectively). In multivariate analysis, independent prognostic factors for LRFS included age [hazard ratio (HR) = 3.045, P = 0.005], tumor size (HR = 2.668, P = 0.013), histotype (HR = 1.715, P = 0.017), and margin status (HR = 4.530, P< 0.001). Histotype (DMFS: HR = 4.409, P = 0.002; OS: HR = 4.194, P = 0.003) and margin status (DMFS: HR = 2.581, P = 0.013; OS: HR = 2.507, P = 0.020) were independent predictors of both DMFS and OS. In this cohort, younger age, a larger tumor size, a higher tumor grade, and positive margins were associated with lower rates of LRFS. Histotype and margin status were found to be independent predictors of DMFS and OS.

We developed a nomogram that can predict the risk of invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma for patients with a solitary peripheral subsolid nodule. Validation by the use of bootstrap resampling revealed optimal discrimination and calibration, indicating that the nomogram may have clinical utility. This model has the potential to assist clinicians in making treatment recommendations.

Nowadays, the most wildly used regimens for graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis in haplo-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Haplo-HSCT) are based on in vivo T-cell depletion (TCD) with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) or posttransplant cyclophosphamide (PTCy). To improve the efficiency of GvHD prophylaxis in haploidentical peripheral blood stem cell transplantation combined with unrelated cord blood (Haplo-PBSCT-Cord), a novel regimen, which is composed of low dose of ATG (5 mg/kg) and low-dose PTCy (50 mg/kg) for GvHD prophylaxis, was evaluated in a prospective phase II clinical trial (Clinicaltrials.org NCT03395860). Thirty-two patients diagnosed with hematological malignancies were enrolled in this trial. All patients received myeloablative conditioning regimens except for three patients. The cumulative incidences (CIs) of grades II-IV and III-IV acute GvHD were 19.4% (95% CI, 5.5−33.3%) and 6.9% (95% CI, 0−16.3%) by day 100, respectively. The 1-year probability of relapse, disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was 25.1% (95% CI, 7.3−42.9%), 59% (95% CI, 33.3−84.7%) and 78.4% (95% CI, 63−93.8%), respectively. The CIs of CMV and EBV reactivation by day 180 were 37.5% (95% CI, 19.8−55.2%) and 40.6% (95% CI, 22.6−58.6%), respectively. The results suggested that low-dose ATG with low-dose PTCy as GvHD prophylaxis in Haplo-PBSCT-Cord had promising activity.