Isolation and characterization of two novel colon cancer cell lines from Chinese patients.

Incidence of colon cancer has increased rapidly in China. Although many colon cancer cell lines have been established previously, most of them were derived from patients from western countries. Epidemiological, clinical, cytogenetic, and molecular biological studies showed that there are considerable differences between Chinese and western countries colon cancer patients.

Isolation and cultivation of human articular chondrocytes.

Adult human articular chondrocytes were isolated from surgically excised articular cartilage from 15 patients suffering from trauma or disease of the knee. Cells were isolated with an enzymatic digestion method and cultured with F12 medium supplemented with serum. The effects of serum and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the growth of cultured chondrocytes were studied.

Modified Hassab procedure in the management of bleeding esophageal varices--a two-year experience.

Background/aims: Esophageal varices are one of the most common complications (varices, ascites, hypersplenism and encephalopathy) of portal hypertension. Endoscopic sclerotherapy or band ligation is the first choice for esophageal varices today. However, immediate surgical intervention is always needed whenever endoscopic therapy fails to control acute bleeding.