Tuberculous peritonitis complicated by an intraperitoneal tuberculous abscess: A case report.

Background: Tuberculous peritonitis (TBP) is a chronic, diffuse inflammation of the peritoneum caused by . The route of infection can be by direct spread of intraperitoneal tuberculosis (TB) or by hematogenous dissemination. The former is more common, such as intestinal TB, mesenteric lymphatic TB, fallopian tube TB, , and can be the direct primary lesion of the disease.

Delayed bowel obstruction after seat belt injury: a case report.

Background: Delayed bowel obstruction due to seat belt injury is extremely rare. The delayed onset of nonspecific symptoms makes a timely diagnosis difficult. A deep understanding of the characteristics of this condition is helpful for early diagnosis and treatment.

The role of microRNA in cisplatin resistance or sensitivity.

Introduction: Cisplatin is a chemotherapy drug that has been used to treat a number of cancers for decades, and is still one of the most commonly used anti-cancer agents. However, some patients do not respond to cisplatin while other patients who were originally sensitive to cisplatin eventually develop chemoresistance, leading to treatment failure or/and tumor recurrence.

Areas Covered: Different mechanisms contribute to cisplatin resistance or sensitivity, involving multiple pathways or/and processes such as DNA repair, DNA damage response, drug transport, and apoptosis.

ZBP-89 negatively regulates self-renewal of liver cancer stem cells via suppression of Notch1 signaling pathway.

Liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs) initiate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and contribute to its recurrence and treatment resistance. Studies have suggested ZBP-89 as a candidate tumor suppressor in HCC. We explored the role of ZBP-89 in the regulation of LCSCs.

Cancer stem cells in hepatocellular carcinoma: an overview and promising therapeutic strategies.

The poor clinical outcome of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients is ascribed to the resistance of HCC cells to traditional treatments and tumor recurrence after curative therapies. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified as a small subset of cancer cells which have high capacity for self-renewal, differentiation and tumorigenesis. Recent advances in the field of liver CSCs (LCSCs) have enabled the identification of CSC surface markers and the isolation of CSC subpopulations from HCC cells.

ID1-induced p16/IL6 axis activation contributes to the resistant of hepatocellular carcinoma cells to sorafenib.

Sorafenib is the only approved drug for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its efficacy is limited by the emergence of primary and/or acquired resistance. Senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP)-mediated chemo-resistance, which depends on the secreted bioactive molecules, has attracted increasing attention but never revealed in HCC.

miR-133a Promotes TRAIL Resistance in Glioblastoma via Suppressing Death Receptor 5 and Activating NF-κB Signaling.

Recombinant tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), as a novel cancer therapeutic, is being tested in phase II and III clinical trials; however, TRAIL resistance remains a big obstacle preventing its clinical application. Considering that TRAIL-induced apoptosis through death receptors DR4 and DR5, their activation may be an alternative pathway to suppress TRAIL resistance. In this study, a negative correlation between DR5 expression and TRAIL resistance was observed, and miR-133a was predicted to be the most promising candidate to suppress DR5 expression.

Gastric Schwannoma: A Tumor Must Be Included in Differential Diagnoses of Gastric Submucosal Tumors.

Gastric schwannoma (GS) is a rare neoplasm of the stomach. It accounts for 0.2% of all gastric tumors and is mostly benign, slow-growing, and asymptomatic.

Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation of the spleen: A case report and literature review.

Sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) is a rare benign splenic vascular lesion. Since it was first defined in 2004, a total of 132 cases of SANT have been reported in ~50 studies in the English literature. However, it remains difficult to form a definitive pre-operative differential diagnosis of SANT compared with other splenic tumors or malignant lesions.

Long noncoding RNA Hotair mediated angiogenesis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by direct and indirect signaling pathways.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), as a unique head and neck cancer type, is particularly prevalent in certain geographic areas such as eastern Asia. Until now, the therapeutic options have been restricted mainly to radiotherapy or chemotherapy. However, the clinical treatment effect remains unsatisfactory even if the combined radio-chemotherapies.

Hotair mediates hepatocarcinogenesis through suppressing miRNA-218 expression and activating P14 and P16 signaling.

Background & Aims: Long non-coding RNA Hotair has been considered as a pro-oncogene in multiple cancers. Although there is emerging evidence that reveals its biological function and the association with clinical prognosis, the precise mechanism remains largely elusive.

Methods: We investigated the function and mechanism of Hotair in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell models and a xenograft mouse model.

Therapeutic efficacy of improved α-fetoprotein promoter-mediated tBid delivered by folate-PEI600-cyclodextrin nanopolymer vector in hepatocellular carcinoma.

SNPs in human AFP promoter are associated with serum AFP levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), suggesting that AFP promoter variants may generate better transcriptional activities while retaining high specificity to AFP-producing cells. We sequenced human AFP promoters, cloned 15 different genotype promoters and tested their reporter activities in AFP-producing and non-producing cells. Among various AFP variant fragments tested, EA4D exhibited the highest reporter activity and thus was selected for the further study.

The influence of lentivirus-mediated CXCR4 RNA interference on hepatic metastasis of colorectal cancer.

The aim of this study was to construct a lentiviral vector of CXCR4-siRNA (Lenti-CXCR4-siRNA) and investigate whether the vector can inhibit the growth, migration, invasion and hepatic metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC). RT-PCR and western blotting were employed to identify the ideal RNA interference sequence. Lenti-CXCR4-siRNA was constructed and transfected into the SW480 cell line.

[Comparison of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with open gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer].

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, safety and short-term outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer.

Methods: From January 2007 to June 2008, 135 patients with advanced gastric cancer in the lower or middle stomach were operated, of whom 66 underwent laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy(LADG) with D2 dissection of lymph nodes and 69 received conventional open D2 distal gastrectomy(ODG). Clinical data were recorded and compared between the two groups.

Laparoscopic versus open appendectomy for acute appendicitis: a metaanalysis.

Background: Currently, laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) provides a safe and effective alternative to open appendectomy (OA), but its use remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency and safety of LA through a metaanalysis.

Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing LA and OA published between January 1992 and February 2010 were included in this study.

[Expression and its significance of retinoic acid receptor-beta in colorectal cancer].

Objective: To investigate the expression and its significance of retinoic acid receptor-beta (RAR-beta) in colorectal cancer.

Methods: RAR-beta was detected by immunohistochemistry methods and carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) was tested by chemiluminescence immunoassay methods in normal tissues, paracancerous tissues and colorectal cancer tissues of 60 patients with colorectal cancer treated from January 2006 to January 2007. Above-mentioned data, together with the clinicopathological data of these 60 patients, were analyzed to figure out the expression and its significance of RAR-beta in colorectal cancer.

[Urinary function after pelvic autonomic nerve preservation of laparoscopic radical resection for rectal cancer].

Objective: To evaluate the protection of urinary function after laparoscopic radical resection with pelvic autonomic nerve preservation (PANP) for rectal cancer.

Methods: Prospectively 139 patients with middle or low rectal cancer receiving surgery during November 2005 to October 2007 were divided into two groups (L-PANP, n = 63; O-PANP, n = 76). The radicalism and safety of L-PANP surgery were analyzed and the effects upon urinary function between the two groups assessed by follow-ups and urodynamic study.

Diagnosis and treatment of abdominal cocoon: a report of 24 cases.

Background: Abdominal cocoon (AC) is a rare disease characterized by total or partial encasement of the small bowel by a thick, fibrous membrane. Twenty-four cases are reported in this article. Our aim was to investigate the methods of diagnosis and treatment for AC.

[Gene expression profile difference between colorectal cancer tissue and pericancerous mucosa by DNA microarray].

Objective: To study the difference of gene expression profile among colorectal cancer tissue, pericancerous mucosa and normal mucosa, and to screen associated novel genes in colorectal carcinogenesis by DNA microarray.

Methods: cDNA chip containing approximate 8000 genes was used to detect differentially expressed genes in colorectal cancer tissues, pericancerous mucosa and normal mucosa, and to screen associated novel genes in colorectal carcinogenesis by DNA microarray.

Results: As compared with normal mucosa, 769 genes differentially expressed in cancerous tissue were identified, which included 363 up-regulated and 406 down-regulated genes.

Effect of all-trans retinoic acid on drug sensitivity and expression of survivin in LoVo cells.

Background: All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) can influence the tumor cell proliferation cycle, and some chemotherapeutic drugs are cycle specific. In this study, we hypothesize that ATRA can enhance chemotherapeutic drug sensitivity by affecting the cell cycle of tumor cells.

Methods: The cell cycle of LoVo cells was evaluated using flow cytometry (FCM).