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Abstract. α-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing esophageal carcinoma is a rare type of esophageal cancer, with its characteristics not yet fully clarified. In the present study, a case of esophageal carcinoma was misdiagnosed as an AFP-producing esophageal carcinoma. The patient was a 50-year-old woman who was referred to Qianfoshan Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University in November 2014 with a 3-month history of progressive dysphagia. A chest computed tomography (CT) scan showed thickening of the wall of the esophagus, corresponding regions of luminal stenosis and massive lymph node swelling around the lesser curvature of the esophagus. A laboratory investigation showed that the serum AFP levels of the patient were elevated to 18.97 ng/ml (normal range <12 ng/ml). These laboratory investigation findings combined with the aforementioned pathological diagnosis supported a diagnosis of AFP-producing esophageal carcinoma. An abdominal ultrasound was performed and a cystic low-density measuring 5x4 mm was identified. No metastases were revealed in the liver. The boundary of the focal low density was clear, which indicated a clinical diagnosis of liver cyst. A radical esophagectomy was performed on December 5, 2014. Microscopically, the tumor was a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma invading the serous layer, with no hepatoid features. Immunohistochemistry showed that the cells were diffusely negative for AFP expression. Histopathological examination revealed the absence of hepatoid features. According to these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. In the present study, the case of a patient with squamous cell carcinoma that was misdiagnosed as an α-fetoprotein-producing esophageal carcinoma was reported, with a review of the literature. Introductionα-fetoprotein (AFP) is a protein that is mainly formed by the liver and yolk sac during fetal development, and to a lesser extent, in the fetal gastrointestinal tract (1,2). AFP is detected in fetal serum and the highest serum levels appear between 12 and 15 weeks of gestation, decreasing to normal levels ~1 year later (3,4). High AFP expression detected in the serum of adults is always associated with liver disease and yolk sac tumors (2-6). AFP-secreting carcinoma is an increasingly recognized tumor, and has been reported in the Japanese literature. Increased AFP expression was detected in malignant tumors of various organs, such as the stomach, lung, pancreas, colon bladder and ovary (7-13). The stomach is one of the most common locations of these tumors (10), whereas AFP-producing esophageal cancer (AFP-EC) is rare (14-17). AFP-producing tumors are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and have a poor prognosis (18-20).There are extremely few case reports of AFP-producing esophageal cancers (14-17). Wahren et al (21) reported that 18 patients (33%) had elevated serum AFP levels out of 55 patients with esophageal carcinoma, and 5 patients with esophageal carcinoma had an AFP level of 320 ng/ml. The serum ...

Objective. To study the effect of wound healing and aesthetic satisfaction of patient with second degree burn wounds treated by Kangfuxin solution. Methods. 84 cases of burn plastic surgery in our hospital from October 2020 to October 2021 were included. All patients were randomly divided into observation group and control group with 42 cases in each group. Patients in both groups received basic treatment after admission, and patients in the control group received conventional treatment. Patients in the observation group were treated with Kangfuxin solution after admission. The clinical efficacy, wound healing time, secretion disappearance time, infection rate, and scar formation rate after treatment were compared between the two groups. The scores of patients and observer scar assessment scale (POSAS) before and after treatment were compared between the two groups, and the occurrence of adverse reactions during treatment was also compared between the two groups. Results. The total effective rate of the observation group was 92.86%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (61.90%) ( P < 0.05 ).The time of wound healing and secretion disappearance in the observation group was significantly shorter than that in the control group ( P < 0.05 ); the infection rate and scar formation rate in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group ( P < 0.05 ).The scores of PSAs and OSAS in the observation group were significantly lower than those before treatment and after treatment in the control group ( P < 0.05 ). There was no significant difference in the total incidence of adverse reactions between the observation group (7.14%) and the control group (9.52%) ( P > 0.05 ). Conclusion. The Kangfuxin solution has the advantages of fast wound healing, high patient satisfaction, better therapeutic effect, and high safety, which is worth clinical application.

Background A cascade of genes and pathways have been reported in the precise regulation of malignant melanoma (MM). Previous study has demonstrated that lncRNA LNCOC1 is an oncogenic factor in the pathogenesis and development of various cancers. The present study explored the functionalities of LNCOC1 and its interactions with miR-124 in MM. Methods A total of 65 melanoma patients were enrolled in this study. The expression of LNCOC1 and miR-124 after cell transfection were detected by RT-qPCR. The migration rates of SK-MEL-3 and A375 cells after transient transfection with LNCOC1 expression vector and miR-124 mimic was detected by trans-well assay. Results LNCOC1 was accumulated to high levels in melanoma, and it was significantly correlated with the low survival rate of melanoma patients. Our bioinformatics data showed that miR-124 could target LNCOC1. Overexpression of miR-124 could downregulate LNCOC1. However, up-regulated the expression of LNCOC1 did not affect the expression of miR-124. Our correlation analysis also revealed that the expression of LNCOC1 and miR-124 were inversely correlated in both melanoma tissues and non-tumor tissues. The trans-well invasion and migration assays indicated that overexpression of miR-124 inhibited the melanoma cell invasion and migration. However, overexpression of LNCOC1 promoted melanoma cell invasion and migration. Conclusion LNCOC1 is upregulated in melanoma, which can be considered as a potential target of miR-124 in modulating melanoma cell invasion and migration. LNCOC1 may also be an interfering target of MM therapy.