Medical Education Reform in China in the 21st Century: A Literature Review.

Facing resource shortages and increasing gaps between regions and populations during the 20th century, around the 70s, the Chinese government authorized local governments to independently operate their own medical system, including medical education, to provide basic medical services and meet healthcare needs. These multiple independent but unparallel medical education systems throughout the nation inevitably created education quality disparities. Around the beginning of the 21st century, the Chinese government started a medical education standardization reform.

Serotonylation in tumor-associated fibroblasts contributes to the tumor-promoting roles of serotonin in colorectal cancer.

Accumulated studies have highlighted the diverse roles of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), or serotonin, in cancer biology, particularly in colorectal cancer (CRC). While 5-HT primarily exerts its effects through binding to various 5-HT receptors, receptor-independent mechanisms such as serotonylation remain unclear. This study revealed that depleting 5-HT, either through genetic silencing of Tph1 or using a selective TPH1 inhibitor, effectively reduced the growth of CRC tumors.

Single-cell analysis revealed a potential role of T-cell exhaustion in colorectal cancer with liver metastasis.

Liver metastasis (LM) is an important factor leading to colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality. However, the effect of T-cell exhaustion on LM in CRC is unclear. Single-cell sequencing data derived from the Gene Expression Omnibus database.

miR-182 controls cell growth in gastrointestinal stromal tumors by negatively regulating CYLD expression.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common type of mesenchymal tumor of the digestive tract. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs, which control gene expression at a post-transcriptional level. Dysregulated miRNAs are involved in various types of human disease, including cancer.

FBXW7 expression is associated with prognosis and chemotherapeutic outcome in Chinese patients with gastric adenocarcinoma.

Background: FBXW7, a component of the Skp-Cullin1-F-box, mediates target protein recognition. It is a tumor suppressor gene that plays a role in the regulation of cell cycle exit and reentry via c-Myc, c-Jun and Notch degradation. There are few studies, particularly involving a large patient cohort, that have evaluated FBXW7 during gastric cancer progression.

The surgical treatment of gastric cancer in the era of minimally invasive surgery.

Minimally invasive surgery is regarded as an alternative to conventional open surgery in gastric cancer. More and more surgeons devote their efforts to reduce surgical incision and acquire better recovery. Nowadays, laparoscopic distal gastrectomy has been the standard method for early stage cancer with remarkable advantage in short-term outcomes and is widely accepted by patients.

A novel molecular and clinical staging model to predict survival for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Current prognostic factors fail to accurately determine prognosis for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after surgery. Here, we constructed a survival prediction model for prognostication in patients with ESCC. Candidate molecular biomarkers were extracted from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and Cox regression analysis was performed to determine significant prognostic factors.

Impact of ABO blood group on the prognosis of patients undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer.

Background: ABO blood type is an established prognostic factor in several malignancies, but its role in esophageal cancer (EC) is largely unknown. The aim of this study is to determine whether ABO blood group is associated with survival after esophagectomy for EC.

Methods: A total of 406 patients who underwent surgery for EC were enrolled.

Turning left or right? A comparative analysis in adenocarcinomas of the esophagogastric junction according to the seventh AJCC TNM classification for cancers of the esophagus and stomach: experience in a Chinese single institution.

The seventh AJCC TNM classification defines rules for classifying adenocarcinomas of esophagogastric junction (AEG II and III) as a part of esophageal cancer. But there are still many controversies over the classification system. The study aims to evaluate and compare whether AEG should be classified as cancers of esophagus or stomach.

Preoperative imatinib treatment in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors: patient experiences and systematic review of 563 patients.

Preoperative IM therapy for GIST is now a research focus. Due to the low incidence of the disease, there are few RCTs on the preoperative treatment for advanced GIST, let alone relevant meta-analysis. Efficacy of this therapy and targeting population are still undetermined.

Somatostatin receptors in gastrointestinal stromal tumors: new prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic strategy.

Somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) already act as important roles in gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) with high expression levels for prognosis predicting and octreotide LAR treatment purposes but less noticed in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Our study aims to fully evaluate the expression levels and prognostic values of SSTRs in GIST patients. For SSTRs expression detection, qPCR were used in 25 fresh GIST specimens, and then, 453 GIST samples (405 GISTs with operation only and 48 with imatinib adjuvant therapy after surgery) were collected for tissue microarrays (TMAs) construction and confirmed by immunohistochemistry (IHC).

HER4 is a novel prognostic biomarker in gastrointestinal stromal tumor specifically originated from stomach.

HER family has been implicated in a number of malignant tumors for predicting prognosis and potential targeted therapy purposes, however, the prognostic roles of HER family in GISTs have not been elaborated yet. Our study aims to fully evaluate the prognostic value of HER family in GIST patients and efficacy of imatinib adjuvant therapy. For HER family expression detection, qPCR were used in 33 flesh GIST specimens, and then, 453 GIST samples (405 GISTs with operation only and 48 with imatinib adjuvant therapy after radical surgery) were collected for tissue microarrays construction and immunohistochemistry (IHC).

Endoscopic management for the assessment and treatment of anastomotic bleeding in laparoscopic anterior resection for rectal cancer.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of routine intraoperative endoscopy (IOE) on postoperative anastomotic bleeding of laparoscopic anterior resection (LAR) for rectal cancer, and to investigate the value of the IOE in terms of prevention and treatment of postoperative anastomotic bleeding.

Methods: Medical records of the 279 cases of LAR from January 2006 to December 2011 were retrospectively analyzed, of which postoperative anastomotic bleeding occurred in 18. Univariate analysis was taken to determine the possible influencing factors of the bleeding.

Oncological superiority of extralevator abdominoperineal resection over conventional abdominoperineal resection: a meta-analysis.

Purpose: The oncological superiority, i.e., lower circumferential resection margin (CRM) involvement, lower intraoperative perforation (IOP), and local recurrence (LR) rates, of extralevator abdominoperineal resection (EAPR) over conventional abdominoperineal resection (APR) for rectal cancer is inconclusive.

Completely medial versus hybrid medial approach for laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision in right hemicolon cancer.

Objective: To explore the feasibilities between operational approaches for laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (CME) to right hemicolon cancer.

Methods: This prospective randomized controlled trial included patients admitted to a Shanghai minimally invasive surgical center to receive laparoscopic CME from September 2011 to January 2013 randomized into two groups: hybrid medial approach (HMA) and completely medial approach (CMA). The feasibilities and strategies of the two techniques were studied and compared.

Feasibility of incremental laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair development in China: an 11-year experience.

Background: Our objective was to investigate the feasibility of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair during its developmental phases in China.

Study Design: The clinical data of 2,056 patients (2,473 hernias) who underwent laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair at Shanghai Minimally Invasive Surgery Center between January 2001 and December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. The operation priority was used to divide the patients into 7 groups for analysis of the learning curve.

Laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (CME) with medial access for right-hemi colon cancer: feasibility and technical strategies.

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the feasibility and technical strategies of laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (CME) for right-hemi colon cancer.

Methods: The clinical and pathological findings of 64 patients with right-hemi colon cancer who underwent laparoscopic CME between March 2010 and September 2011 were collected retrospectively. Among them, 35 cases were eligible for the final analysis through various screening factors.