Incidence and clinical treatment of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis:A few issues

Hypertriglyceridemia is a well-recognized etiology of acute pancreatitis,and the incidence of hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis(HTG-AP)has increased in frequency worldwide in response to lifestyle changes.It is crucial to identify hypertriglyceridemia as the cause of pancreatitis and initiate appropriate treatment.Insulin treatment produces effective lowering of triglycerides,but in our opinion,non-diabetic patients with HTG-AP require separate consideration to avoid hypoglycemia.

Is endoscopic mucosal resection-precutting superior to conventional methods for removing sessile colorectal polyps?

We reviewed a study that reported a comparative analysis of the effects of endoscopic mucosal resection(EMR)precutting and conventional EMR for removing non-pedunculated,10-20 mm sized colorectal polyps.We identified some statistical deficiencies in this study.In addition,we believe that the differences between the treatments failed to achieve significance,and therefore,further analysis is required.

Enhanced MGMT expression contributes to temozolomide resistance in glioma stem-like cells

O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase(MGMT) can remove DNA alkylation adducts, thereby repairing damaged DNA and contributing to the drug resistance of gliomas to alkylating agents. In addition, glioma stem-like cells(GSCs) have been demonstrated to be involved in the recurrence and treatment resistance of gliomas. In this study, we aimed to investigate MGMT expression and regulatory mechanisms in GSCs and the association of MGMT with temozolomide(TMZ) sensitivity. GSCs were enriched from one MGMT-positive cell line(SF-767) and 7 MGMT-negative cell lines(U251, SKMG-4, SKMG-1, SF295, U87, MGR1, and MGR2) through serum-free clone culture. GSCs from the U251G, SKMG-4G, SF295G, and SKMG-1G cell lines became MGMT-positive, but those from the U87G, MGR1G, and MGR2G cell lines remained MGMT-negative. However, all the GSCs and their parental glioma cell lines were positive for nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB). In addition, GSCs were more resistant to TMZ than their parental glioma cell lines(P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the 50% inhibition concentration(IC50) of TMZ between MGMT-positive and MGMT-negative GSCs(P > 0.05). When we treated the MGMT-positive GSCs with TMZ plus MG-132(an NF-κB inhibitor), the antitumor activity was significantly enhanced compared to that of GSCs treated with TMZ alone(P < 0.05). Furthermore, we found that MGMT expression decreased through the down-regulation of NF-κB expression by MG-132. Our results show that MG-132 may inhibit NF-κB expression and further decrease MGMT expression, resulting in a synergistic effect on MGMT-positive GSCs. These results indicate that enhanced MGMT expression contributes to TMZ resistance in MGMT-positive GSCs.

The clinical characteristics and treatment outcomeof 57 children and adolescents with primary central nervoussystem germ cell tumors

Primary central nervous system germ cell tumors(CNS-GCTs) in children and adolescents have unique clinical features and methods of treatment compared with those in adults. There is little information about Chinese children and adolescents with CNS-GCTs. Therefore, in this study we retrospectively analyzed the clinical features and treatment outcome of Chinese children and adolescents with primary CNS-GCTs. Between January 2002 and December 2012, 57 untreated patients from a single institution were enrolled. They were diagnosed with CNS-GCTs after pathologic or clinical assessment. Of the 57 patients, 41 were males and 16 were females, with a median age of 12.8 years(range, 2.7 to 18.0 years) at diagnosis; 43(75.4%) had non-germinomatous germ cell tumors(NGGCTs) and 14(24.6%) had germinomas; 44(77.2%) had localized disease and 13(22.8%) had extensive lesions. Fifty-three patients completed the prescribed treatment, of which 18 underwent monotherapy of surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy, and 35 underwent multimodality therapies that included radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy or surgery combined with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. PEB(cisplatin, etoposide, and bleomycin) protocol was the major chemotherapy regimen. The median follow-up time was 32.3 months(range, 1.2 to 139 months). Fourteen patients died of relapse or disease progression. The 3-year event-free survival(EFS) and overall survival rates for all patients were 72.2% and 73.8%, respectively. The 3-year EFS was 92.9% for germinomas and 64.8% for NGGCTs(P = 0.064). The 3-year EFS rates for patients with NGGCTs who underwent monotherapy and multimodality therapies were 50.6% and 73.5%, respectively(P = 0.042). Our results indicate that multimodality therapies including chemotherapy plus radiotherapy were better treatment option for children and adolescents with CNS-GCTs.

Prediction of moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis in pregnancy: Several issues

We reviewed a study addressing the development and validation of a prediction model for moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis in pregnancy. We identified some statistical deficiencies in this article. In addition, we believe that the role of cholesterol as a predictor should be described in more detail.

Does Early Postsurgical Temozolomide Plus Concomitant Radiochemotherapy Regimen Have Any Benefit in Newly-diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients？ A Multi-center, Randomized, Parallel, Open-label, Phase II Clinical Trial

Background： The radiochemotherapy regimen concomitantly employing temozolomide （TMZ） chemotherapy and radiotherapy （RT） 4 weeks after surgery, followed by 6 cycles of TMZ is a common treatment for glioblastoma （GBM）. However, its median overall survival （OS） is only 14.6 months. This study was to explore the effectiveness and safety of early TMZ chemotherapy between surgery and chemoradiotherapy plus the standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen. Methods： A randomized, parallel group, open-label study of 99 newly diagnosed GBM patients was conducted at 10 independent Chinese neurosurgical departments from June 2008 to June 2012. Patients were treated with concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen plus early postsurgical temozolomide （early TMZ group） or standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen （control group）. Overall response was assessed based on objective tumor assessments, administration ofcorticosteroid and neurological status test. Hematological, biochemical, laboratory, adverse event （AE）, and neurological condition were measured for 24 months of tbllow-up. The primary efficacy endpoint of this study was overall survival （OS）. The secondary endpoint was progression free survival （PFS）. Results： The median OS time in the early TMZ group was 17.6 months, compared with 13.2 months in the control group （log-rank test P 0.021 ）. In addition, the OS rate in the early TMZ group was higher at 6, 12, and 18 months than in the control group, respectively （P 〈 0.05）. The median PFS time was 8.7 months in the early TMZ group and 10.4 months in the control group （log-rank test P = 0.695）. AEs occurred in 29 （55.8%） and 31（73.8%） patients respectively in early and control groups, including nausea （15.4% vs. 33.3%）, vomiting （7.7% vs. 28.6%）, fever （7.7% vs. 11.9%）, and headache （3.8% vs. 23.8%）. Only 30.8% and 33.3% were drug-related, respectively. Conclusions： Addition of TMZ chemotherapy in the early break of the standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen was well tolerated and significantly improved the OS of the GBM patients, compared with standard concomitant radiochemotherapy regimen. However, a larger randomized trial is warranted to verify these results.