Pancreatic cancer:A review of epidemiology,trend,and risk factors

Despite rapid advances in modern medical technology and significant improvements in survival rates of many cancers,pancreatic cancer is still a highly lethal gastrointestinal cancer with a low 5-year survival rate and difficulty in early detection.At present,the incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer are increasing year by year worldwide,no matter in the United States,Europe,Japan,or China.Globally,the incidence of pancreatic cancer is projected to increase to 18.6 per 100000 in 2050,with the average annual growth of 1.1%,meaning that pancreatic cancer will pose a significant public health burden.Due to the special anatomical location of the pancreas,the development of pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed at a late stage with obvious clinical symptoms.Therefore,a comprehensive understanding of the risk factors for pancreatic cancer is of great clinical significance for effective prevention of pancreatic cancer.In this paper,the epidemiological characteristics,developmental trends,and risk factors of pancreatic cancer are reviewed and analyzed in detail.

PRSS1_p.Leu81Met mutation results in autoimmune pancreatitis

AIM: To describe protease serine 1 (PRSS1) gene mutations in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) and the clinical features of AIP. METHODS: Fourteen patients with AIP, 56 with other chronic pancreatitis, 254 with pancreatic cancer and 120 normal controls were studied. The mutations and polymorphisms of four genes involved with pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, PRSS1 , SPINK1 , CFTR and MEN1 , were sequenced. The pathogenic mechanism of AIP was investigated by comparing the wild-type expression system with the p.81Leu→Met mutant expression system. RESULTS: Two novel mutations (p.81Leu→Met and p.91Ala→Ala) were found in PRSS1 gene from four patients with AIP. PRSS1_p.81Leu→Met mutation led to a trypsin display reduction (76.2%) combined with phenyl agarose (Ca2+ induced failure). Moreover, the ratio of trypsin/amylase in patients with AIP was higher than in the patients with pancreatic cancer and other pancreatitis. A large number of lymphocytes and plasma cells were found in the bile ducts accompanied by hyperplasia of myofibroblasts. CONCLUSION: Autoimmune pancreatitis may be related to PRSS1 gene mutations.

Research advance in the diagnosis of pancreas divisum

Pancreas divisum is a kind of congenital anatomic abnormality;its diagnostic basis depends mainly on imaging examination. With the development of medical science, imaging technology has been improved and added, and a complete examination system including ERCP, B-Ultrasound, MRCP, S-MRCP and CT, etc. has been formed. There are even researcher, through further analysis of pancreas divisum on the level of genes, found that CFTR is a risk factor causing such disease. This paper is focused on the value of these examination methods in the diagnosis of pancreas divisum.

High serum lactate dehydrogenase and dyspnea:Positive predictors of adverse outcome in critical COVID-19 patients in Yichang

BACKGROUND Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2)outbreak in China,constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.It is well known that COVID-19 patients may have increased serum lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)levels in the early stage.The clinical changes in LDH may have predictive value in disease evolution and prognosis in critically ill COVID-19 patients.AIM To examine serum LDH and clinical characteristics in patients with COVID-19 and their predictive value for prognosis.METHODS This retrospective study analyzed the clinical data of forty-seven critical COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit of the Third People's Hospital of Yichang City from January 27 to March 25,2020 and divided them into survivors and nonsurvivors.The patients were diagnosed according to the World Health Organization interim guidance and critical cases met any one of the following criteria:Respiratory failure and required mechanical ventilation,the occurrence of shock,and the combined failure of other organs that required intensive care unit monitoring and treatments,according to the diagnostic criteria of critical COVID-19.Clinical data including symptoms,detection of SARS-CoV-2,chest computed tomography(CT)images,changes in serum LDH in different clinical phases,and prognosis were collected.Statistical analysis of the data was performed.Continuous variables were expressed as median(interquartile range)and compared with the Mann-Whitney U test.Categorical variables were compared with the Chi-square test.Survival data were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank tests.RESULTS According to chest CT images,we observed the alveolitis and fibrosis stages in all critical patients in this study.Most non-survivors died in the fibrosis stage.Nonsurvivors had fewer days of hospitalization,shorter disease duration,shorter duration of alveolitis and fibrosis,and had dyspnea symptoms at disease onset(P=0.05).Both first and lowest LDH values in the alveolitis stage were more pronounced in non-survivors than in survivors(449.0 U/L vs 288.0 U/L,P=0.0243;445.0 U/L vs 288.0 U/L,P=0.0199,respectively),while the first,lowest and highest values of serum LDH in non-survivors were all significantly increased compared to survivors in the fibrosis phase(449.0 U/L vs 225.5 U/L,P=0.0028;432.0 U/L vs 191.0 U/L,P=0.0007;1303.0 U/L vs 263.5 U/L,P=0.0001,respectively).The cut-off points of first LDH values in the alveolitis and fibrosis phase for distinction of non-survivors from survivors were 397.0 U/L and 263.0 U/L,respectively.In the fibrosis stage,non-survivors had more days with high LDH than survivors(7.0 d vs 0.0 d,P=0.0002).Importantly,patients with high LDH had a significantly shorter median survival time than patients with low LDH in the alveolitis phase(22.0 d vs 36.5 d,P=0.0002),while patients with high LDH also had a significantly shorter median survival time than patients with low LDH in the fibrosis phase(27.5 d vs 40.0 d,P=0.0008).The proportion of non-survivors with detectable SARS-CoV-2 until death in the alveolitis stage was significantly increased compared with that in the fibrosis stage(100%vs 35.7%,P=0.0220).CONCLUSION High LDH and dyspnea symptoms were positive predictors of an adverse outcome in critical COVID-19.The rapid progressive fibrosis stage was more perilous than the alveolitis stage,even if SARS-CoV-2 is undetectable.