Spectral computed tomography in advanced gastric cancer: Can iodine concentration non-invasively assess angiogenesis?

AIM To investigate the correlation of iodine concentration(IC) generated by spectral computed tomography(CT) with micro-vessel density(MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) expression in patients with advanced gastric carcinoma(GC).METHODS Thirty-four advanced GC patients underwent abdominal enhanced CT in the gemstone spectral imaging mode. The IC of the primary lesion in the arterial phase(AP) and venous phase(VP) were measured, and were then normalized against that in the aorta to provide the normalized IC(nI C). MVD and VEGF were detected by immunohistochemical assays, using CD34 and VEGF-A antibodies, respectively. Correlations of nI C with MVD, VEGF, and clinical-pathological features were analyzed.RESULTS Both nI Cs correlated linearly with MVD and were higher in the primary lesion site than in the normal control site, but were not correlated with VEGF expression. After stratification by clinical-pathological subtypes, nI C-AP showed a statistically significant correlation with MVD, particularly in the group with tumors at stage T4, without nodular involvement, of a mixed Lauren type, where the tumor was located at the antrum site, and occurred in female individuals. nI C-VP showed a positive correlation with MVD in the group with the tumor at stage T4 and above, had nodular involvement, was poorly differentiated, was located at the pylorus site, of a mixed and diffused Lauren subtype, and occurred in male individuals. nI C-AP and nI C-VP showed significant differences in terms of histological differentiation and Lauren subtype.CONCLUSION The IC detected by spectral CT correlated with the MVD. n IC-AP and n IC-VP can reflect angiogenesis in different pathological subgroups of advanced GC.

Colorectal cancer and adjacent normal mucosa differ in apoptotic and inflammatory protein expression

Colorectal cancer usually refers to the occurrence of the appendix,rectum or colon and other parts of the ma-lignant tumor in the large intestine mucosa and glands,is also one of the most common malignant tumors in human.In recent years,studies have shown that chronic inflammation is the"initiator"of cancer.Inflammation plays a causal role in the early formation of tumors by regulating the initiation and promotion of tumor genesis and development through a series of inflammatory cytokines.Inflammation plays a causal role in the early for-mation of tumors by regulating the initiation and promotion of tumor genesis and development through a series of inflammatory cytokines.The latter part of this review describes the role of several important inflammatory factors:tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6),and transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)in col-orectal cancer.In normal mucosa,inflammatory factors play an important role in the immune response of the body.However,when a large number of inflammatory factors accumulate,they will cause pathological damage to the body,trigger inflammation and even deteriorate into cancer.Serum levels of most inflammatory factors were low in healthy controls,but were elevated in colorectal cancer patients.Here,we review the relationship be-tween apoptosis,inflammation and cancer,and analyze the difference in the expression of inflammatory proteins in colorectal cancer and its adjacent mucosa.