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The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of endoscopic surgery via a Kocher point approach for intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) caused by thalamic hemorrhage (TH), in comparison with external ventricular drainage (EVD). Between January 2016 and August 2017, a total of 40 patients with IVH caused by TH were enrolled. The patients were assigned to an EVD group and an endoscopic surgery group in a non-randomized manner. The pre-operative characteristics recorded included age, pre-operative Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, hemorrhage volume, length of neuro-intensive care unit stay and Graeb score of IVH. Outcomes included the GCS score at 2 weeks after surgery, 30-day and 90-day mortality rates, modified Rankin scale at 6 months after ictus and ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) shunt rate. The baseline characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. The VP shunt rate in the EVD group was significantly higher compared with that in the endoscopic surgery group (50.0 vs. 15.0%; P=0.02; odds ratio, 5.7). In conclusion, smartphone-assisted endoscopic surgery via Kocher's point is feasible and safe, and significantly reduces permanent shunt dependency for IVH caused by TH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Downregulation of microRNA-34a (miR-34a) has frequently been observed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, the underlying role and molecular mechanism of miR-34a in ESCC remains largely unknown. In the current study, it was demonstrated that miR-34a was downregulated and forkhead box M1 (FOXM1), a target gene of miR-34a, was upregulated in ESCC tumor tissues. Overexpression of miR-34a decreased FOXM1 mRNA and protein expression in the ESCC cell lines tested (TE-1 and TE-8). Inhibition of miR-34a increased FOXM1 mRNA and protein levels in human esophageal epithelial cells (HEEC). In addition, miR-34a mimics reduced the relative luciferase activity of ESCC cells transfected with FOXM1 3′UTR-WT, but not FOXM1 3′UTR-Mut. The CCK8 assay and scratch wound healing assay showed that overexpression of miR-34a induced inhibition of cell proliferation and cell migration. Additionally, transfection with miR-34a mimics reduced the expression of key genes involved in cell migration (MMP2 and MMP9) in ESCC cells. Thus, the present data demonstrated that miR-34a suppressed ESCC progression by directly targeting FOXM1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study as to analyse the associations between circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and the clinical parameters of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Peripheral blood (7.5 ml) from 68 first-diagnosed NPC patients was collected to detect and identify CTCs by cluster of differentiation (CD)45 immunomagnetic separation. Immunofluorescent staining of cytokeratin-18, CD45 and DAPI, and fluorescence in situ hybridization were combined with the centromere of chromosome 8 (CEP8) probe method to analyse the associations between CTCs and clinical parameters. One-year follow-up of the NPC patients who received standardized treatment was also performed to analyse the associations between CTCs, tumour development and the treatment effect. The detection rate of CTCs in the 68 NPC patients was 98.5% and the positive rate of CTCs was 60.3%. The positive rates of CTCs in the I-III and IV stage patients were 51.1 and 78.3%, respectively; the rate was 90.0% in the M1 stage and 55.2% in the M0 stage. The differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The mean CTC counts were 3.86±2.36 and 5.70±2.91 in the M0 and M1 stages, respectively, which was significantly different (P=0.031). The 12-month follow-up record suggested tumour progression for 17 patients, and the one-year progress free survival rate was 74.6%. Among the CTC-positive stages III-IV patients, the disease progression rate of the patients who had received treatment including chemotherapy/intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was 83.3%, which was higher than that of the patients who received treatment including [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]