XELOX doublet regimen versus EOX triplet regimen as first-line treatment for advanced gastric cancer: An open-labeled, multicenter, randomized, prospective phase III trial (EXELOX).

Background: There is no consensus on whether triplet regimen is better than doublet regimen in the first-line treatment of advanced gastric cancer (AGC). We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of oxaliplatin plus capecitabine (XELOX) and epirubicin, oxaliplatin, plus capecitabine (EOX) regimens in treating AGC.

Methods: This phase III trial enrolled previously untreated patients with AGC who were randomly assigned to receive the XELOX or EOX regimen.

ENO2 Promotes Cell Proliferation, Glycolysis, and Glucocorticoid-Resistance in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Background/aims: The metabolic features of cancer cells have long been acknowledged to be altered and to provide new therapeutic opportunities. The expression of glycolytic enzyme enolase 2 (ENO2) was found to be closely associated with the clinical features of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients, but its functions remain unclear in ALL.

Methods: We evaluated the association between ENO2 mRNA expression in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) and the efficacy of chemotherapy, and further explored the function of ENO2 in ALL.

High level of soluble interleukin-2 receptor in serum predicts treatment resistance and poor progression-free survival in multiple myeloma.

The IL-2/IL-2 receptor (IL-2R) system plays a central role in maintaining normal T cell immunity, and its disturbance is associated with several hematologic disorders. Studies have found in several types of lymphoma that abnormal amounts of soluble IL-2R (sIL-2R) may result in imbalance of the IL-2/IL-2R system and hence of the T cell immunoregulation. Whether the level of sIL-2R in blood could predict treatment outcomes or not needs to be investigated in multiple myeloma (MM) patients.

A childhood chemotherapy protocol improves overall survival among adults with T-lymphoblastic lymphoma.

A broadly accepted standard treatment for adult T-lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL) has not yet been defined. To address that issue, we retrospectively compared three chemotherapy regimens used to treat 110 adult patients with newly diagnosed T-LBL. These included two adult regimens (ECOG2993 and hyper-CVAD) and a childhood regimen (BFM-90).

New risk factors and new tendency for central nervous system relapse in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a retrospective study.

Background: In patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), central nervous system (CNS) relapse is uncommon but is nearly always fatal. This study aimed to determine the risk factors for CNS relapse in DLBCL patients and to evaluate the efficacy of rituximab and intrathecal chemotherapy prophylaxis for CNS relapse reduction.

Methods: A total of 511 patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL treated at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between January 2003 and December 2012 were included in the study.

Serum neuron-specific enolase levels are upregulated in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and are predictive of prognosis.

We explored the relationship between neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels and the clinical features of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Seventy ALL patients and forty-two healthy controls were enrolled in this study, and their serum NSE levels were measured using an electrochemiluminescence assay. The serum NSE concentration was higher in ALL patients than in healthy controls.

High level of interleukin-10 in serum predicts poor prognosis in multiple myeloma.

Background: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a inhibiting inflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in immune suppressive microenvironment in multiple myeloma (MM). Whether the level of serum IL-10 could predict treatment response and survival outcomes or not needs to be investigated in MM patients.

Methods: The level of IL-10 in serum was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 188 patients with newly diagnosed MM.

Consolidation therapy of arsenic trioxide alternated with chemotherapy achieves remarkable efficacy in newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia.

Background: Currently, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) combined with daunorubicin and ATRA combined with arsenic trioxide (ATO) therapies are considered the standard induction therapy regimens for adult patients newly diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). However, there is no consensus concerning the optimal consolidation and maintenance therapies after induction therapy. In this study, we explored a new therapeutic strategy for APL that may be simple, effective, and safe.

Serum levels of soluble programmed death ligand 1 predict treatment response and progression free survival in multiple myeloma.

Immune checkpoint signaling plays an important role in immunosuppression in multiple myeloma (MM). Blood levels of soluble programmed death-ligand 1 (sPD-L1), a checkpoint-relevant protein, might predict treatment response and survival outcomes in MM patients. We used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure serum sPD-L1 levels in 81 newly diagnosed MM patients.

The prognostic nutritional index predicts survival for patients with extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type.

The prognostic nutritional index (PNI), an indicator of nutritional status and systemic inflammation, is associated with survival in several types of tumors. The prognostic value of the PNI in lymphoma remains unclear. The present study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of the PNI in patients with extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL).

Increased serum levels of interleukin-15 correlate with negative prognostic factors in extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma.

Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a proinflammatory cytokine involved in the proliferation, survival, and activation of multiple lymphocyte lineages. However, the prognostic significance of IL-15 for extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma (ENKTL) has not been well established. We retrospectively analyzed 112 patients with newly diagnosed ENKTL.

Serum levels of interleukin-9 correlate with negative prognostic factors in extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma.

Interleukin-9 (IL-9) is more functionally diverse than previously expected, especially with regards to lymphomagenesis. However, the relationship between IL-9 and the clinicopathological features of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma is less well established. Patients with this lymphoma in Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center between January 2003 and March 2013 were systematically reviewed in an intention-to-treat analysis.

Adenovirus-mediated delivery of the human IFN-γ gene potentiates the cytotoxicity of daunorubicin against leukemic cells through downregulation of the α4β1 integrin/ILK/apoptosis pathway.

The recurrence of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is primarily attributed to drug resistance and minimal residual disease. In addition, adhesion of hematopoietic tumor cells to bone marrow extracellular matrix via β1 integrins (α4β1 and α5β1) is crucial in this process. In the current study, the viability and antiapoptotic ability of U937 cells exposed to daunorubicin (DNR) were shown to be enhanced when cocultured with the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or MSCs transduced with a recombinant adeno-LacZ vector (MSCs-LacZ), followed by upregulation of the adhesion rate of leukemic cells.

"Sandwich" Chemotherapy (CT) with Radiotherapy (RT) improves outcomes in patients with stage IE/IIE extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell Lymphomas.

The extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) shows high local or systemic failure rates when radiotherapy (RT) is taken as the primary treatment, suggesting a role for chemotherapy (CT) added to RT for this disease. However, the appropriate mode of combined modality therapy (CMT) has not been fully defined. A total of one hundred and twenty-one patients with ENKTL receiving sandwich CT with RT were reviewed between January 2003 and August 2012.

Beclin-1 expression is a significant predictor of survival in patients with lymph node-positive gastric cancer.

Background: Beclin 1 is a main actor of autophagy. The expression of Beclin 1 and its prognostic role in gastric cancer is largely unexplored. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the expression of beclin 1 in gastric cancer cells, tissues and its relationship with prognosis.

Curcumin potentiates antitumor activity of L-asparaginase via inhibition of the AKT signaling pathway in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

L-asparaginase (L-ASP) is a universal component of therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Curcumin is a naturally occurring yellow pigment that is derived from the rhizome of Curcuma longa. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxicity of the combined treatment of L-ASP and curcumin in three ALL cell lines.

Induction therapy using the MRC UKALLXII/ECOG E2993 protocol in Chinese adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at a single institution were analyzed retrospectively. From 2006 to 2010, 47 patients were treated using the MRC UKALLXII/ECOG E2993 protocol. Prior to July 2005, 40 patients had been treated with the JALSG ALL 87 protocol.

Activated mammalian target of rapamycin is a potential therapeutic target in gastric cancer.

Background: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a key role in cellular growth and homeostasis. The purpose of our present study is to investigate the expression of activated mTOR (p-mTOR) in gastric cancer patients, their prognostic significance and the inhibition effect of RAD001 on tumor growth and to determine whether targeted inhibition of mTOR could be a potential therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.

Methods: The expression of p-mTOR was detected in specimens of 181 gastric cancers who underwent radical resection (R0) by immunohistochemistry.

Arsenic Trioxide overcomes cell adhesion-mediated drug resistance through down-regulating the expression of beta(1)-integrin in K562 chronic myelogenous leukemia cell line.

The bone marrow microenvironment protects leukemia cells from drug-induced damage, and cell adhesion-mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR) is the main obstacle for the eradication of bone marrow minimal residual disease. In this study, we evaluated the survival response of K562 cells co-cultured with bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) derived from patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Co-cultured K562 cells had a survival advantage after exposure to cytotoxic drugs compared to suspended K562 cells, but there was no survival difference between the two groups following exposure to As(2)O(3).

Positive lymph node ratio is an independent prognostic factor in gastric cancer after d2 resection regardless of the examined number of lymph nodes.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the outcome of the ratio between metastatic and examined lymph nodes (N ratio) in gastric cancer patients with < or =15 examined lymph nodes after D2 lymphadenectomy. A retrospective study was performed in 906 patients with gastric cancer who had undergone D2 resection. Patients with < or =15 examined lymph nodes (group 1, n = 729) and those with >15 lymph nodes (group 2, n = 177) were analyzed separately.

In vitro effect of adenovirus-mediated human Gamma Interferon gene transfer into human mesenchymal stem cells for chronic myelogenous leukemia.

For developing gene therapy for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), we evaluated the feasibility of using autologous bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) of one CML patient as a target cell population and studied the efficiency of recombinant adenovirus-mediated human Gamma Interferon (hIFN-gamma) gene transfer into BMSCs. BMSCs can be readily obtained, expanded, and successfully transduced with adenoviral vectors in vitro. We studied the in vitro expression of hIFN-gamma in human BMSCs following transduction with Ad/hIFN-gamma.

Meta-analysis of intraperitoneal chemotherapy for gastric cancer.

Aim: To assess the efficacy and safety of intraperitoneal chemotherapy in patients undergoing curative resection for gastric cancer through literature review.

Methods: Medline (PubMed) (1980-2003/1), Embase (1980-2003/1), Cancerlit Database (1983-2003/1) and Chinese Biomedicine Database (1990-2003/1) were searched. Language was restricted to Chinese and English.