The Effect of Melatonin on Radicular Pain in a Rat Model of Lumbar Disc Herniation.

Study Design: Controlled, randomized, animal study.

Objective: To investigate the effect of melatonin and its receptors on radicular pain and the possible mechanisms.

Summary Of Background Data: Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) may induce radicular pain, but the mechanism is not clear and therapeutic effect is still poor.

Assessment of a panel of miRNAs in serum and pleural fluid for the differential diagnosis of malignant and benign pleural effusion.

Background: Differential diagnosis between malignant pleural effusion (MPE) and benign pleural effusion (BPE) remains a clinical challenge.

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess the efficacy of the serum and pleural fluid (PF) miRNA panels in distinguishing MPE from BPE.

Methods: Fourteen candidate miRNAs which were shown aberrant expression in lung cancer based on previous studies were tested by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in 20 MPE patients and 20 BPE patients.

Celastrol acts synergistically with afatinib to suppress non-small cell lung cancer cell proliferation by inducing paraptosis.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is intrinsic resistance to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as afatinib. Celastrol, a natural compound with antitumor activity, was reported to induce paraptosis in cancer cells. In this study, intrinsic EGFR-TKI-resistant NSCLC cell lines H23 (EGFR wild-type and KRAS mutation) and H292 (EGFR wild-type and overexpression) were used to test whether celastrol could overcome primary afatinib resistance through paraptosis induction.

Age and menopausal status are important factors influencing the serum human epididymis secretory protein 4 level: a prospective cross-sectional study in healthy Chinese people.

Background: Human epididymis secretory protein 4 (HE4) is a new ovarian cancer biomarker. The factors influencing HE4 levels are not clear, and the reference data in China are limited. Here, we aim to evaluate the effects of menopause and age on HE4 levels and to provide a possible reference value for HE4 in healthy Chinese people.

Bortezomib inhibits growth and sensitizes glioma to temozolomide (TMZ) via down-regulating the FOXM1-Survivin axis.

Background: High-grade glioma (HGG) is a fatal human cancer. Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, has been approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma but its use in glioma awaits further investigation. This study aimed to explore the chemotherapeutic effect and the underlying mechanism of bortezomib on gliomas.

Effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical surgery for FIGO stage IB2/IIA2 cervical cancer: A multi-center retrospective clinical study.

This study compared the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by radical surgery (RS) vs primary surgical treatment (PST) in patients diagnosed with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IB2/IIA2 cervical cancer.Data of 303 cervical cancer patients who received primary therapy for stage IB2/IIA2 cervical cancer at 7 medical centers in Beijing, China between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2016 and followed through December 31, 2017 were collected retrospectively. The response rates, surgical characteristics, and overall survival (OS) durations of patients who received NACT followed by RS were compared to those of patients who received PST.

Puerarin alleviate radicular pain from lumbar disc herniation by inhibiting ERK-dependent spinal microglia activation.

Lumbar disc herniation is a common cause of radicular pain, but the mechanism remains ambiguous and the treatment stays unsatisfied. Many studies revealed a traditional Chinese medicine puerarin may moderate chronic pain from diabetes and nerve injury. Thus far, the role and mechanism of puerarin in radicular pain is still unknown.

The Safety of Ovarian Preservation in Early-Stage Adenocarcinoma Compared With Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Uterine Cervix: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of ovarian metastasis (OM) in adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in early-stage cervical cancer and evaluate the safety of ovarian preservation in early-stage ADC.

Methods: To perform a meta-analysis to compare the incidence of OM between early-stage ADC and SCC, we searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane for observational studies that compared it with pathological evidence after radical hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated with a fixed effects model.

Diagnostic utility of LUNX mRNA and VEGF mRNA in pleural fluid for differentiating benign from malignant origin.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of lung-specific X protein (LUNX) mRNA and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA in differentiating pleural effusion of different origin.

Methods: A total of 136 patients with pleural effusion (46 cases of malignant pleural effusion caused by lung cancer, 30 cases of malignant pleural effusion caused by other cancers and 60 cases of benign pleural effusion) were enrolled in this study. Levels of LUNX mRNA and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA in pleural fluid were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

Expressions of MUC1 and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA in blood are biomarkers for predicting efficacy of gefitinib treatment in non-small cell lung cancer.

Background: Gefitinib, an EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor, significantly improve prognosis in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of MUC1 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA expression in peripheral blood as means of predicting benefit from gefitinib therapy in NSCLC patients.

Methods: MUC1 and VEGF mRNA expressions were detected in peripheral blood of 66 patients with advanced NSCLC before (B0) and 4 weeks after treatment (B4w) with gefitinib, using real-time quantitative-PCR assay.

How does tree age influence damage and recovery in forests impacted by freezing rain and snow?

The response and recovery mechanisms of forests to damage from freezing rain and snow events are a key topic in forest research and management. However, the relationship between the degree of damage and tree age, i.e.

Survivin mRNA expression in blood as a predictor of the response to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors and prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations have been proven to be a reliable predictive marker for the response to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the responses to EGFR-TKIs vary even among patients with EGFR mutation. Recent study showed that survivin overexpression attenuated EGFR-TKI-induced apoptosis and inhibited the antitumor effect of EGFR-TKIs on EGFR mutation NSCLC cells.

[Results of different postoperative adjuvant therapies for stage Ib-IIa cervical carcinoma with risk factors].

Objective: To investigate the effects of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or radiotherapy(RT) for Ib-IIa cervical cancer with risk factors.

Methods: From March 1995 to June 2010, there were 137 patients underwent radical hysterectomy and systematic pelvic lymphadenectomy for stage Ib-IIa cervical cancer admitted at Peking University First Hospital. These patients had risk factors, intermediate risk factors including bulky tumor ( > 4 cm) , lymph vascular space invasion, deep stromal invasion; high risk factors including positive surgical margin, parametrial invasion, lymph node involvement.

LUNX mRNA-positive cells at different time points predict prognosis in patients with surgically resected nonsmall cell lung cancer.

LUNX is a lung-specific gene whose messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression is strictly limited to normal lung tissue and nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the detection of LUNX mRNA-positive circulating tumor cells (CTC)s in peripheral blood at different time points is useful for predicting disease recurrence, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) in NSCLC patients undergoing surgery. Serial blood samples from 68 patients with stage I-IIIA NSCLC were examined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay targeting LUNX mRNA before (T0) and after surgery (T1) and after the completion of adjuvant chemotherapy (T2).

Detection of FHIT and p16 mRNA deletion in biopsy specimens obtained by bronchoscopy for the diagnosis of lung cancer.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of the deletion of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) and p16INK4a (p16) mRNA in biopsies obtained by bronchoscopy. Biopsies were analyzed using RT-PCR in 52 patients with lung cancer and 19 patients with benign lung disease. The results showed that the detection rates of FHIT and p16 gene transcript deletion were significantly higher in lung cancer patients than in patients with benign lung disease (65.

Evaluation of diagnostic value of four tumor markers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of peripheral lung cancer.

Aim: The diagnostic role of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen, Cyfra 21-1 and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) for lung cancer is still controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of these four tumor markers in BALF for peripheral lung cancer.

Methods: We measured and compared the levels of CEA, SCC, Cyfra21-1 and NSE in BALF in 42 patients with peripheral lung cancer and 22 patients with benign lung disease.

[Cervical cancer associated with pregnancy: 2 cases report].

Cervical cancer is the first malignant disease of the women all over the world. Although the incidence of cervical cancer has been decreasing due to increased availability of screening tests, the diagnosis, management and prognosis of pregnancy associated with cervical cancer are still complex problems for clinical doctors. Here we report two cases of pregnancy associated with cervical cancer in our hospital and analyze the screening tests, the management, the neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the prognosis of the cases.

[Clinical analysis for death in gynecological patients].

Objective: To discuss the death affairs of gynecological patients and find the measurements of down-regulating the mortality.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on the 54 death in-patients in our gynecological department during January 1993 and June 2008. Associated with literature, the data were analyzed according to primary diseases, death causes and clinical demonstrations, in order to probe into the rule of death in gynecological in-patients.

Liquid-based cytology aids in primary fallopian tube cancer diagnosis.

Primary fallopian tube carcinoma (PFTC) is a rare malignant carcinoma among all genital tract malignancies. It occurs most commonly in postmenopausal women and is similar to ovarian malignancy historically and clinically. Because of its insidious onset and silent course, the diagnosis is made usually postoperatively.

Microwave-assisted synthesis, structure, and tunable liquid-crystal properties of 2,5-diaryl-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives through peripheral n-alkoxy chains.

A series of substituted 2,5-diaryl-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives are prepared by microwave-assisted synthesis in the absence of an organic solvent. All derivatives are well characterized by (1)H and (13)C NMR, MS, and elemental analyses. The X-ray crystal structure of 2,5-di-(4-decyloxyphenyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole reveals the tilt lamellar arrangement of rod-shaped molecules, which are stabilized by a variety of weak non-covalent interactions.

[The values of serum human epididymis secretory protein 4 and CA(125) assay in the diagnosis of ovarian malignancy].

Objective: To evaluate the value of human epididymis secretory protein 4 (HE4) and CA(125) in the diagnosis of ovarian malignancy.

Methods: HE4 and CA(125) in the serum specimens of malignant ovarian tumor group (30 cases), benign ovarian diseases (110 cases; 45 benign ovarian tumor, 57 endometriotic diseases and 8 pelvic inflammation were included) and healthy women group (137 cases) were assayed double blindly. The levels and the diagnosis efficiency of the HE4 and CA(125) were analyzed.

Proteiomic patterns for endometrial cancer using SELDI-TOF-MS.

Serum samples from endometrial cancer (EC) patients and healthy females were analyzed using surface-enhanced laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) to discover the potential diagnostic biomarker for detection of EC. A preliminary training set of spectra derived from 40 EC patients and 30 healthy women were used to develop a proteomic model that effectively discriminated cancer patients from healthy women. The training set had a specificity of 100% and sensitivity of 92.

[Assessment of magnetic resonance imaging in preoperative staging of endometrial carcinoma].

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of T2-weighed magnetic resonance images (MRI) in preoperative assessment of the depth of myometrial invasion and the staging of patients with endometrial carcinoma.

Methods: 33 cases of endometrial carcinoma were examined by MRI before operation, and the pathological findings were compared with MRI findings.

Results: The overall accuracy of T2-weighed magnetic resonance images in staging endometrial carcinoma was 84.