Endoscopic diagnosis of early-stage primary esophageal small cell carcinoma: Report of two cases

BACKGROUND Primary esophageal small cell carcinoma(PESCC)is a highly aggressive malignancy,and its detailed clinical behaviors have remained virtually unknown.Because of the rapid tumor progression,the diagnosis of esophageal small cell carcinoma at early stage is extremely difficult in clinical practice.Currently,only a handful of PESCC cases have been reported.CASE SUMMARY Case 1:A 62-year-old man was diagnosed with an esophageal submucosal tumor by endoscopy.Endoscopic ultrasonography showed a 0.8 cm low echo nodule in the muscularis mucosa.As the patient refused to undergo endoscopic resection,neoplasia was detected by endoscopy 1 year later.Case 2:A 68-year-old woman was diagnosed as having an esophageal submucosal tumor by endoscopy at a local hospital.About 2 wk later,we performed endoscopic ultrasonography and found a 1 cm low echo nodule in the muscularis mucosa;the submucosal was thinner than normal but still continuous;mucosal hyperemia and erosion were found on the surface of the tumor.Endoscopic submucosal dissection(ESD)was performed and the histopathological finding showed a small cell carcinoma invading the submucosal layer.CONCLUSION Early esophageal small cell carcinoma shows submucosal infiltrating growth with a hypoechoic mass in the muscularis mucosa as diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasonography.It is easily misdiagnosed as submucosal masses.Endoscopic manifestations should be identified and pathological biopsies should beemployed. ESD may be performed to provide an opportunity for early treatmentof PESCC.

Positive Association Between Type 2 Diabetes Risk Alleles Near CDKAL1 and Reduced Birthweight in Chinese Han Individuals

Background： Fetal insulin hypothesis was proposed that the association between low birth weight and type 2 diabetes is principally genetically mediated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether common variants in genes CDKALI, HHEX, ADCY5, SRR, PTPRD that predisposed to type 2 diabetes were also associated with reduced birthweight in Chinese Han population.Methods： Twelve single nucleotide polymorphisms （rs7756992/rs10946398 in CDKAL1, rsl 111875 in HHEA; rs391300 in SRR, rs17584499 in PTPRD. rs1170806/rs9883204/rs4678017/rs9881942/rs7641344/rs6777397/rs6226243 in ADCY5） were genotyped in 1174 unrelated individuals born in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 1921 to 1954 by TaqMan allelic discrimination assays, of which 645 had normal glucose tolerance, 181 had developed type 2 diabetes and 348 impaired glucose regulation. Associations of these 12 genetic variants with birthweight and glucose metabolism in later life were analyzed.Results： Birthweight was inversely associated with CDKAL 1-rs 10946398 （β = -41 g [95% confidence interval [CI]： -80, 3], P= 0.034）, common variants both associated with increased risk of impaired glucose metabolism and decreased insulin secretion index later in life. After adjusting for sex, gestational weeks, parity and maternal age, the risk allele of CDKAL1-rs7756992 was associated with reduced birthweight （β = 36 g [95% CI： -72, -0.2], P = 0.048）. The risk allele in SRR showed a trend toward a reduction ofbirthweight （P =0.085）. Conclusions： This study identified the association between type 2 diabetes risk variants in CDKAL 1 and birthweight in Chinese Hart individuals, and the carrier of risk allele within SRR had the trend of reduced birthweight. This demonstrates that there is a clear overlap between the genetics of type 2 diabetes and fetal growth, which proposes that lower birth weight and type 2 diabetes may be two phenotypes of one genotype.

Thermodynamic favorable CO2 conversion via vicinal diols and propargylic alcohols:A metal-free catalytic method

Organocatalysis represents a promising field in chemical fixation of CO2.Herein,a facile metal-free strategy was reported for the one-pot preparation of cyclic carbonates and a-hydroxy ketones from vicinal diols,propargylic alcohols and CO2.Wide scope of vicinal diols and propargylic alcohols was demonstrated to be efficient under the DBU-catalyzed conditions.A plausible mechanism was proposed,which included detailed main and side reactions under the metal-free conditions.