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The occurrence of chemotherapy-induced alterations in markers of haemostasis during chemotherapy has been reported previously. However, the change of the haemostasis markers in the cyclophosphamide, epirubicin and fluorouracil (CEF) regimen remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to identify the change of the haemostasis markers during systemic chemotherapy (600 mg/m2 cyclophosphamide, 80 mg/m2 epirubicin and 500 mg/m2 fluorouracil; four courses over 21 days) to investigate its influence on the haemostasis markers of breast cancer patients and to discuss the requirement of anticoagulation therapy. D-dimer, activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT) and fibrinogen (FIB) values were obtained before chemotherapy and on days 1, 4, 7 and 21. The results show that PT, D-dimer and FIB were not prolonged prior to chemotherapy compared to that under the control. APTT was prolonged until day 4. The levels of D-dimer and APTT were significantly higher compared to those of the breast cancer patients before receiving chemotherapy and controls on days 1, 4, 7 and 21 after chemotherapy. Alteration of the haemostasis markers occurred in the breast cancer patients under the CEF chemotherapy regimen. As there is an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and pool prognosis of cancer patients, anticoagulant therapy should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies demonstrated that microRNA (miRNA) expression is dysregulated in numerous human cancers. In this study, we investigated the expression patterns of 8 miRNAs in gastric cancer and evaluated their clinical significance in order to identify potential biomarkers for gastric cancer diagnosis. Total RNA was extracted from gastric cancer and normal tissues from 20 pairs of paraffine-mbedded specimens. The expression levels of the miRNAs were detected by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction using specific stem-loop primers, with U6 as the internal reference gene. The association between miRNA expression level and clinicopathological factors was investigated. The expression of miR-21, -103, -106a, -221 and -222 in gastric cancer samples was significantly higher compared to that in the paired normal samples. Conversely, the expression of miR-143 and -195 in cancer tissues was significantly lower compared to that in normal tissues. However, miR-126 exhibited no difference between gastric cancer and normal tissues. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that the expression of miR-143 and -195 were associated with clinicopathological parameters, including depth of invasion and lymph node metastasis. This association may be applicable to future decisions regarding treatment or as a diagnostic biomarker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]