A Novel Inflammation-Based Stage (I Stage) Predicts Overall Survival of Patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

Recent studies have indicated that inflammation-based prognostic scores, such as the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), modified GPS (mGPS) and C-reactive protein/Albumin (CRP/Alb) ratio, platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), have been reported to have prognostic value in patients with many types of cancer, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In this study, we proposed a novel inflammation-based stage, named I stage, for patients with NPC. A retrospective study of 409 newly-diagnosed cases of NPC was conducted.

Lactate Dehydrogenase Is an Important Prognostic Indicator for Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Partial Hepatectomy.

Preoperative serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) has been used as a prognostic indicator for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with sorafenib or undergoing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization, but its significance in predicting survival of HCC patients who received curative resection remains undefined. A total of 683 patients with histopathologically confirmed HCC were enrolled in this study. The prognostic significance of preoperative serum LDH was determined by Kaplan-Meier analysis and a Cox proportional hazards regression model.

Paeonolum protects against MPP(+)-induced neurotoxicity in zebrafish and PC12 cells.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting 2% of the population aged over 65 years old. Mitochondrial defects and oxidative stress actively participate in degeneration of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in PD. Paeonolum, a main component isolated from Moutan cortex, has potent antioxidant ability.

Epstein-Barr virus infection induces indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in human monocyte-derived macrophages through p38/mitogen-activated protein kinase and NF-κB pathways: impairment in T cell functions.

Unlabelled: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has been observed in tumor-infiltrated macrophages, but its infection effects on macrophage immune functions are poorly understood. Here, we showed that some macrophages in the tumor stroma of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissue expressed the immunosuppressive protein indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) more strongly than did tumor cells. EBV infection induced mRNA, protein, and enzymatic activity of IDO in human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs).

Elevated levels of serum amyloid A indicate poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Increase of Serum amyloid A (SAA) level has been observed in patients with a variety of cancers. The objective of this study was to determined whether SAA level could be used as a prognostic parameter in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: SAA levels were measured by rate nephelometry immunoassay in 167 healthy controls and 167 ESCC patients prior to surgical resection.

Involvement of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase in impairing tumor-infiltrating CD8 T-cell functions in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

The indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-(IDO-) mediated microenvironment plays an important role in tumor immune escape. However, the inhibitory effects of IDO on the CD8(+) tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (CD8(+) TILs) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) have not been clarified yet. Here, we found that the level of IDO expression in ESCC tumor specimens correlated with a reduction in the number of CD8(+) TILs.

Studies on pentoxifylline and tocopherol combination for radiation-induced heart disease in rats.

Purpose: To investigate whether the application of pentoxifylline (PTX) and tocopherol l (Vit. E) could modify the development of radiation-induced heart disease and downregulate the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1mRNA in rats.

Methods And Materials: A total of 120 Sprague-Dawley rats were separated into four groups: control group, irradiated group, experimental group 1, and experiment group 2.

[Correlation of TGF-beta1 mRNA expression to irradiation-induced heart damage in rats].

Background & Objective: Radiation-induced heart damage is one of the prognostic factors of the patients who had received radiation to the mediastinum. This study was to investigate the correlation of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) mRNA expression to the radiation response of the heart in rats, in order to provide references for further study on irradiation-induced heart damage.

Methods: Sixty Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 2 groups: the 30 rats in irradiation group were irradiated with 20 Gy on the heart; the 30 rats in control group received no irradiation.

[Detection of serum tumor supplied group of factors and its clinical significance].

Background & Objective: Tumor supplied group of factors (TSGF) is the first kind of tumor marker in vitro which was primarily obtained the approval by Chinese government to land the market, there was no any reports about it in abroad before. In order to know its specificity and sensitivity, we designed this study to detect the TSGF in serum of the patients with malignancies and evaluate its clinical significance for diagnosis.

Methods: Serum TSGF in 523 cases with malignancies and 400 cases of normal control were detected with chemical colorimetry.