Autophagy and apoptosis are two pivotal mechanisms in mediating cell survival and death. Cross-talk of autophagy and apoptosis has been documented in the tumorigenesis and progression of cancer, while the interplay between the two pathways in colorectal cancer (CRC) has not yet been comprehensively summarized. In this study, we outlined the basis of apoptosis and autophagy machinery firstly, and then reviewed the recent evidence in cellular settings or animal studies regarding the interplay between them in CRC. In addition, several key factors that modulate the cross-talk between autophagy and apoptosis as well as its significance in clinical practice were discussed. Understanding of the interplay between the cell death mechanisms may benefit the translation of CRC treatment from basic research to clinical use.

Objective: Conflicting results existed about the role of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who received curative hepatectomy. The aim of this study is to identify the predictive capacity of PNI for survival after hepatectomy. Methods: Preoperative PNI, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), tumor feature and clinical information of 187 patients with HCC from Sir Run Run Shaw hospital were evaluated. We also conducted a meta-analysis of seven cohort studies. Results: Our study showed that HCC patients with a low PNI of <45 had a poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) rate (hazard ratio [HR] 1.762, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.066-2.911, p ¼ 0.027, respectively). The 5-year OS and RFS rates of the high PNI (!45) vs low PNI (<45) were 76.7% vs 50.1% (p ¼ 0.001) and 47.0% vs 28.9% (p ¼ 0.001), respectively. In HCC TNM I patients (n ¼ 144), a low PNI remained an independent prognostic factor of OS and RFS (HR 2.305, 95% CI 1.008-5.268, p ¼ 0.048; HR 2.122, 95% CI 1.149-3.920, p ¼ 0.016). The 5-year OS and RFS rates of the high PNI vs low PNI were 81.3% vs 62.4% (p ¼ 0.041) and 53.4% vs 45.6% (p ¼ 0.013), respectively. In the pooled analysis, the data showed that a low PNI was significantly associated with poor OS and RFS (HR 2.27, 95% CI 1.03-4.07, p < 0.001 and HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.45-1.94, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: The preoperative PNI was an independent prognostic factor for OS and RFS rates in HCC patients who received hepatectomy.

Our meta-analysis and systematic review shows that the use of fibrin glue fixation may provide an alternative approach to staple fixation in TAPP inguinal hernia repair without increasing the postoperative morbidity. Large-scale RCTs with long-term follow-up are still needed to further assess postoperative outcomes such as chronic pain and disease recurrence.