SPARC expression and prognostic value in non-small cell lung cancer

Secreted protein,acidic and rich in cysteine(SPARC) is expressed in numerous types of tumors and is suggested to have prognostic value.Moreover,because of its strong affinity for albumin,and hence albumin-bound drugs,SPARC has increasingly become a focus for research.In this study,we aimed to determine SPARC expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) and investigate the association of SPARC with disease prognosis.Tissue microarrays were constructed with specimens from 105 patients with NSCLC treated at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center,and immunohistochemical analysis was performed on these tissue microarrays to assess SPARC expression.Our results showed that SPARC expression status did not significantly relate with age,gender,and tumor stage.However,SPARC was expressed more frequently in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma(75% vs.43.5%,P = 0.004).Patients with smoking history had higher SPARC expression than non-smokers(68.2% vs.33.3%,P = 0.002).In both univariate and multivariate analyses,SPARC was a prognostic factor of overall survival(HR = 0.32;95% CI:0.16-0.65) but not disease-free survival.Our study indicates that SPARC expression is higher in squamous cell carcinoma than in adenocarcinoma in NSCLC.Most notably,SPARC can be used as a prognostic factor for NSCLC.

Reduning injection for fever, rash, and ulcers in children with mild hand, foot, and mouth disease: a randomized controlled clinical study

OBJECTIVE： To assess the efficacy and safety of Re- duning injection for fever, rash, and ulcers in chil- dren with mild hand, foot, and mouth disease （HFMD）. METHODS： A stratified-block randomized, dou- ble-blind, parallel-controlled, and multicenter clini- cal trial was conducted with 360 patients in five hospitals across China： Quanzhou Children＇s Hospi- tal, Shijiazhuang No. 5 Hospital, Shanghai Public Health Centre, Hunan Provincial Children＇s Hospi- tal, and Kaifeng Children＇s Hospital. Patients were randomized into three groups with 120 in each. Group A was treated with Western Medicine, group B with Reduning injection, a Chinese herbal medi- cine, and group C with both Reduning injection and Western Medicine. Results were compared for treatment efficacy and safety on HFMD. The clinical outcomes were observed as follows： fever and on- set time of antifebrile effect （time to bring the body temperature down 〉0.5~C after medication）; cumu- lative time for fever recovery （body temperature re- covering to normal and lasting more than 24 h without medication）; cumulative time for rash dis- appearance （without new rashes or ulcers appear- ing and the original ones fading away）; and cumula- tive time for mouth ulcer disappearance. RESULTS： For the onset time of the antifebrile ef- fect, there was no statistical difference between groups A and B （P〉O.05） and groups B and C （P〉 0.05）. However, there was a statistical difference be- tween groups A and C （P〈0.05）, and the effect ingroup C was the best. For the cumulative time for rash disappearance, there was no statistical differ- ence between groups A and B （P〉0.05）. There were statistical differences between groups A and C, and groups B and C （P〈0.05）, and the effect in group C was the best. For the cumulative time for mouth ul- cers disappearance, there were no statistical differ- ences among the three groups （P〉0.05）. CONCLUSION： Reduning injection with Western Medicine for symptomatic treatment is most effec- tive for mild HFMD. No adverse reactions were ob- served.