Clinicopathologic significance of expression of nuclear factor-kB RelA and its target gene products in gastric cancer patients

AIM:To assess the prognostic significance of nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) and its target genes in gastric cancer. METHODS:The tumor tissues of 115 patients with gastric cancer were immunohistochemically evaluated using monoclonal antibodies against NF-kB RelA. Preoperative serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6) were assessed via enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay. C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) were measured via immunotrubidimetry. RESULTS:Positive rate of NF-kB RelA was 42.6%. NF-kB RelA expression in tumor tissues was also related to serum levels of IL-6 (P = 0.044) and CRP (P = 0.010). IL-6, SAA, CRP were related to depth of invasion, VEGF and SAA were correlated with lymph node metastasis. IL-6, VEGF, SAA and CRP were related to the stage. Univariate analysis demonstrated that immunostaining of NF-kB RelA, levels of IL-6, VEGF, SAA were significantly related with both disease free survival and over-all survival (OS). Multivariate analysis verified that NF-kB RelA [hazard ratio (HR): 3.40, P = 0.024] and SAA (HR: 3.39, P = 0.045) were independently associated with OS. CONCLUSION: Increased expression of NF-kB RelA and high levels of serum SAA were associated with poor OS in gastric cancer patients.

Gastric leptomeningeal carcinomatosis: Multi-center retrospective analysis of 54 cases

AIM： To identify the clinical features and outcomes of infrequently reported leptomeningeal carcinomatosis （LMC） of gastric cancer.METHODS： We analyzed 54 cases of cytologically confirmed gastric LMC at four institutions from 1994 to 2007.RESULTS： The male-to-female ratio was 32：22, and the patients ranged in age from 28 to 78 years （median,48.5 years）. The majority of patients had advanced disease at initial diagnosis of gastric cancer. The clini-cal or pathologic tumor, node and metastasis stage ofthe primary gastric cancer wasin 38 patients （70%）.The median interval from diagnosis of the primarymalignancy to the diagnosis of LMC was 6.3 mo, rang-ing between 0 and 73.1 mo. Of the initial endoscopic f indings for the 45 available patients, 23 （51%） of the patients were Bormann typeand 15 （33%） patientswere Bormann type. Pathologically, 94% of cases proved to be poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas. Signet ring cell component was also observed in 40% of patients. Headache （85%） and nausea/vomiting （58%） were the most common presenting symptoms of LMC. A gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging was conducted in 51 patients. Leptomeningeal enhancement was noted in 45 cases （82%）. Intrathecal （IT） chemotherapy was administered to 36 patients-primarily methotrexate alone （61%）, but also in combi-nation with hydrocortisone/± Ara-C （39%）. The median number of IT treatments was 7 （range, 1-18）. Concomitant radiotherapy was administered to 18 patients, and concomitant chemotherapy to seven patients. Sev-enteen patients （46%） achieved cytological negative conversion. Median overall survival duration from the diagnosis of LMC was 6.7 wk （95% CI： 4.3-9.1 wk）. In the univariate analysis of survival duration, hemoglobin, IT chemotherapy, and cytological negative conversion showed superior survival duration （P = 0.038, P = 0.010, and P = 0.002, respectively）. However, in our multivariate analysis, only cytological negative conversion was predictive of relatively longer survival duration （3.6, 6.7 and 14.6 wk, P = 0.03, RR： 0.415, 95% CI：0.188-0.918）.CONCLUSION： Although these patients had a fatal clinical course, cytologic negative conversion by IT chemotherapy may improve survival.

Bevacizumab plus infusional 5-fluorouracil,leucovorin and irinotecan for advanced colorectal cancer that progressed after oxaliplatin and irinotecan chemotherapy:A pilot study

AIM： To evaluate the combination of bevacizumab with infusional 5-fluorouracil （5-FU）, leucovorin （LV） and irinotecan （FOLFIRI） in patients with advanced colorectal cancer （CRC） pretreated with combination regimens including irinotecan and oxaliplatin. METHODS： Fourteen patients （median age 56 years） with advanced CRC, all having progressed after oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based combination chemotherapy, were enrolled in this study. Patients were treated with 2 h infusion of irinotecan 150 mg/m2 on d 1, plus bevacizumab 5 mg/kg iv infusion for 90 min on d 2, and iv injection of LV 20 mg/m2 followed by a bolus of 5-FU 400 mg/m2 and then 22 h continuous infusion of 600 mg/m2 given on two consecutive days every 14 d. RESULTS： The median number of cycles of chemotherapy was six （range 3-12）. The response rate was 28.5%, one patient had a complete response, and three patients had a partial response. Eight patients had stable disease. The median time to progression was 3.9 mo （95% CI 2.0-8.7）, and the median overall survival was 10.9 mo （95% CI 9.6-12.1）. Grade 3/4 neutropenia occurred in five patients, and two of these developed neutropenic fever. Grade 3 hematuria and hematochezia occurred in one. Grade 2 proteinuria occurred in two patients. However, hypertension, bowel perforation or thromboembolic events did not occur in a total of 90 cycles. CONCLUSION： Bevacizumab with FOLFIRI is well tolerated and a feasible treatment in patients with heavily treated advanced CRC.

Effect of Si_3N_4 Addition on the Mechanical Properties, Microstructures, and Wear Resistance of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

In order to improve the wear resistance of Ti-6Al-4V, different amounts of Si3N4 powder were added into the alloy powder and sintered at 1250℃. Porous titanium alloy with higher wear resistance was successfully fabricated. At sintering temperature, reaction took place and a new hard phase of Ti5Si3 formed. The mechanical properties of the fabricated alloys with different amounts of Si3N4 addition were investigated. The hardness of Ti-6Al-4V, which is the index of wear resistance, was increased by the addition of Si3N4. Amounts of Si3N4 addition have very significant influences on hardness and compressive strength. In present study,titanium alloy with 5 wt pct Si3N4 addition has 62% microhardness and 45% overall bulk hardness increase,respectively. In contrast, it has a 16.4% strength reduction. Wear resistance was evaluated by the weight loss during wear test. A new phase of Ti5Si3 was detected by electron probe microanalyzer （EPMA） and X-ray diffraction （XRD） method. The original Si3N4 decomposed during sintering and transformed into titanium silicide. Porous structure was achieved due to the sintering reaction.

Origin of magnetization-induced anisotropy of magnetic films

It is proposed that the magnetization-induced anisotropy of magnetic films of cubic crystal structure originates from the anisotropy of atomic pair ordering, shape anisotropy, and strain anisotropy resulting from the constraint of the magnetostriction strain imposed on the film by the substratc. Calculated are the three anisotropy constants and their sum K vs temperature for Ni, Fe, and 55%Ni-Fe films; the room temperature （RT） constants vs the substrate temperature Tt during deposition or annealing after deposition for Ni and 50%Ni Co films; the RT constants vs com- position fraction for Fe-Ni films with Tt = RT, 250℃ and 450℃, Co Ni films at Tt = RT, 100℃ and 320℃, and Fe-Co films with Tt = RT and 300℃; the spread of RT K vs composition fraction for Fe Ni films; and RT △K/K vs composition fraction for Fe-Ni and Co Ni films, where △K denotes the variation of K of the film that is detached from its substrate. The calculated curves well accord with the measurements. The irrelevancy of K to the substrate material and the fast kinetics of the annealing in a field applied in the direction of the hard axis are explained reasonably.

Acute liver injury induces expression of FGF23 in hepatocytes via orphan nuclear receptor ERRγ signaling

Fibroblast growth factor 23(FGF23)is an osteocyte-and osteoblast-derived hormone that primarily regulates phosphate and vitamin D metabolism.Circulatory FGF23 levels are abnormally increased in pathological conditions like acute or chronic kidney injury,resulting in disease progression as well as increased rates of morbidity and mortality.^(1) However,FGF23 production in acute liver injury is not fully investigated.In this study.