Comparisons of Percutaneous Ablation, Open or Laparoscopic Liver Resection for Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Stage 0-A Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Concurrent Generalized Propensity Score Analysis.

Purpose: Liver resection and ablation remain the most common therapeutic options for Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage 0-A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but there is a lack of evidence to show which is the most suitable therapy. This study aimed to make concurrent multi-arm comparisons of the short-term and long-term outcomes of percutaneous ablation (PA), open (OLR) or laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) for these patients.

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective observational cohort study.

Evaluation of the proportional hazards assumption and covariate adjustment methods in comparative surgical observational studies with time-to-event endpoints.

Introduction: Comparative studies on surgical treatments with time-to-event endpoints have provided substantial evidence for clinical practice, but the accurate use of survival data analysis and the control of confounding bias remain big challenges.

Methods: This was a survey of surgical studies with survival outcomes published in four general medical journals and five general surgical journals in 2021. The two most concerned statistical issues were evaluated, including confounding control by propensity score analysis (PSA) or multivariable analysis and testing of proportional hazards (PH) assumption in Cox model.

Effect of electroacupuncture intervention on angiogenesis in psoriasis mice.

Objectives: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation of "Zusanli"(ST36) and"Xuehai"(SP10) on the angiogenesis of the local injured skin tissue in mice with psoriasis, so as to explore its mechanisms underlying improvement of psoriasis-induced skin lesions.

Methods: A total of 24 female BALB/c mice aged 6-8 weeks were randomly divided into control, model and EA groups, with 8 mice in each group. The psoriasis-like skin lesion model was established by application of 5% imiquimod (IMQ) cream to the mice's back skin, 62.

The efficacy and safety of apatinib plus capecitabine in platinum-refractory metastatic and/or recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a prospective, phase II trial.

Background: Previous studies have shown that monotherapy with apatinib, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has promising efficacy for treating recurrent or metastatic (RM) nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of apatinib combined with capecitabine as a second-line therapy or beyond for treating RM-NPC patients who failed the first-line platinum-based chemotherapy.

Methods: In this single-arm, phase II study, we enrolled RM-NPC patients who had at least one measurable lesion according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST v1.

[Electroacupuncture pretreatment alleviates apoptosis of renal tubular epithelia cells by down-regulating expression of TRPC6 in hyperglycemic mice].

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment on apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells in mice with hyperglycemia, so as to explore its mechanisms underlying protecting the kidney from hyperglycemia-induced injury.

Methods: Eighty male C57BL/6 mice were equally and randomly divided into control, model, EA and sham EA groups. The hyperglycemia model was established by intraperitoneal injection of streptozocin (STZ, 50 mg·kg·d) for 5 consecutive days.

Phragmunis a suppresses glioblastoma through the regulation of MCL1-FBXW7 by blocking ELK1-SRF complex-dependent transcription.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain tumor. During screening work, we found a new compound named phragmunis A (PGA), which is derived from the fruitbody of Trogia venenata, exhibits a potential cytotoxic effect on patient-derived recurrent GBM cells and temozolomide (TMZ)-resistant cell lines. The present study was designed to investigate the potential molecular mechanism of the anti-glioma effects of PGA in vitro and in vivo.

Machine learning to predict high-dose methotrexate-related neutropenia and fever in children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Methotrexate (MTX), an antimetabolite for the treatment of leukemia, could cause neutropenia and subsequently fever, which might lead to treatment delay and affect prognosis. Here, we aimed to predict neutropenia and fever related to high-dose MTX using artificial intelligence. This study included 139 pediatric patients newly diagnosed with standard- or intermediate risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

[Electroacupuncture preconditioning alleviates kidney injury in hyperglycemic mice].

Objective: To explore the protective effect and molecular mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) preconditioning on renal injury induced by streptozotocin (STZ) in hyperglycemic mice.

Methods: Eighty male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: control, model, EA and sham EA groups, =20 in each group. The hyperglycemic model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 0.

The presence of microvascular invasion guides treatment strategy in recurrent HBV-related HCC.

Objectives: We used the status of microvascular invasion (MVI) at primary resection to help treatment selection for hepatitis B virus-positive (HBV+) recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) patients in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage B-C.

Methods: From 2009 to 2017, we enrolled 221 consecutive HBV+ rHCC patients at BCLC stage B-C who underwent re-resection (RR), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), or transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Post recurrence survival (PRS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between RR/RFA and TACE according to MVI status.

Treatment selection of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma with microvascular invasion at the initial hepatectomy.

Background: Recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (rHCC) patients with microvascular invasive (MVI) positive at first resection usually had poorly differentiated tumors and worse survivals. The optimal treatment for this population remains to be elucidated.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 319 rHCC patients with MVI-positive at first resection from June, 2009 to June, 2017.

Preoperative prediction of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular cancer: a radiomics model using Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI.

Objectives: Preoperative prediction of microvascular invasion (MVI) in patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is important for surgery strategy making. We aimed to develop and validate a combined intratumoural and peritumoural radiomics model based on gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for preoperative prediction of MVI in primary HCC patients.

Methods: This study included a training cohort of 110 HCC patients and a validating cohort of 50 HCC patients.

[Comparison of Protective Effect of Electroacupuncture on Myocardial Ischemia Injury Between Different Acupoint Formulas in Rats].

Objective: To observe the different effects of electroacupucnture of "Neiguan" (PC 6) grouping with other acupoints on myocardial ischemia (MI) injury, so as to provide evidence for clinical acupoint formulas.

Methods: Forty Wistar male rats were randomly divided into normal, model, EA 1[bilateral "Neiguan" (PC 6), bilateral "Zusanli" (ST 36),"Guanyuan" (CV 4)], and EA 2[bilateral "Neiguan" (PC 6), bilateral "Shenmen" (HT 7), "Danzhong" (CV 17)] groups, 10 rats in each group. The MI model was established by subcutaneous injection with ISO solution(5 mL/kg), once per day for 7 days.

High-Tech Acupuncture for Prevention of Lifestyle Diseases-A Sino-Austrian Cooperation Research Protocol on Heart Rate Variability.

Background: Acupuncture can not only be used for well-known diseases, but also for so-called modern lifestyle-related diseases. Using innovative methods like e.g.

PKCε inhibits isolation and stemness of side population cells via the suppression of ABCB1 transporter and PI3K/Akt, MAPK/ERK signaling in renal cell carcinoma cell line 769P.

Protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε), a member of the novel PKC family, is known to be a transforming oncogene and tumor biomarker for many human solid cancers including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). We isolated side population (SP) cells from the RCC 769P cell line, and proved that those cells possess cancer stem cell (CSC) characteristics. In this study, to identify the function of PKCε in cancer stemness of 769P SP cells, we reduced the expression of PKCε in those cells, following the results demonstrated that PKCε depletion had a negative correlation with the existence of SP cells in 769P cell line.

Puerarin Ameliorates D-Galactose Induced Enhanced Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Tau Hyperphosphorylation in Rat Brain.

Enhanced neurogenesis has been reported in the hippocampus of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disorder characterized with amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation, tau hyperphosphorylation, and progressive neuronal loss. Previously we reported that tau phosphorylation played an essential role in adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and activation of glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3), a crucial tau kinase, could induce increased hippocampal neurogenesis. In the present study, we found that treatment of D-galactose rats with Puerarin could significantly improve behavioral performance and ameliorate the enhanced neurogenesis and microtubule-associated protein tau hyperphosphorylation in the hippocampus of D-galactose rat brains.

[Effects of electroacupuncture at "Neiguan" (PC 6) on p38 MAPK signaling pathway in rats with cardiac hypertrophy].

Objective: To discuss the mechanisms of electroacupuncture at "Neiguan" (PC 6) on p38 MAPK signaling pathway in rats with cardiac hypertrophy.

Methods: Forty SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: a normal group, a model group, a model plus p38 MAPK inhibitor group, a model plus electroacupuncture group, ten rats in each group. The model rats were established by subcutaneous injection 3 mg/(kg x d) of Isoprenaline Hydrochloride; model plus p38 MAPK inhibitor group were injected 0.

[Effect of acupuncture on expression of neurology-related genes in the brain tissue of the rat].

Objective: To analyze and explore the molecular mechanism of acupuncture precondition (AP) in improving brain ischemia reperfusion injury.

Methods: Six male Wistar rats were divided into a normal group of 3 rats and an acupuncture group of 3 rats. In the acupuncture group, acupuncture precondition was first given at "Shenshu" (BL 23) and "Baihui" (GV 20).