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Schistosomiasis remains an important public health issue. The presence and extent of liver fibrosis are associated with disease progression and prognosis. The study is aimed at exploring the value of liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography in assessing liver fibrosis in patients with advanced schistosomiasis japonica. Seventy-three patients were consecutively recruited for the purpose of this study. The correlation between noninvasive parameters and histological fibrosis stages was analyzed and an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to assess diagnostic efficacy. Our results demonstrated that there are significant differences between LSM values of patients with different stages of fibrosis (F1 vs. F2, F2 vs. F3 and F3 vs. F4, P

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors among females, and can seriously affect the physical and mental health and even threaten the lives of women. Recently, research has demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs), as a new method of regulation, have been shown to have oncogenic and tumor‑suppressive functions in human breast cancer. Detection of their expression may lead to the identification of novel markers for breast cancer. In the present study, we firstly detected miR‑340 expression and found lower expression of miR‑340 in 6 human breast cancer cell lines by using RT‑qPCR. Then by using wound healing assay and Transwell migration and invasion experiments, we focused on the role of miR-340 in the regulation of tumor cell migration and invasion, exploring the relationship between them. The results revealed that induction of miR‑340 expression was able to suppress tumor cell migration and invasion, whereas knockdown of miR‑340 expression promoted breast cancer cell migration and invasion. At the gene level, MYO10 (myosin X), as a direct miR‑340 target gene, mediated the cell migration and invasion. Finally, we verified our research further at the tissue specimen level and in animal experiments. In brief, miR‑340 plays an important role in breast cancer progression. Thus, miR‑340 may be further explored as a novel biomarker for breast cancer metastasis and prognosis, and potentially a therapeutic target.

SCY1-like 1-binding protein 1 (SCYL1BP1) is a newly identified transcriptional activator domain containing protein with many unknown biological functions. Recently emerging evidence has revealed that it is a novel regulator of the p53 pathway, which is very important for the development of human cancer. However, the effects of SCYL1BP1 on human lung squamous carcinoma cell biological behavior remain poorly understood. In this study, we present evidence that SCYL1BP1 can promote the degradation of MDM2 protein and further inhibit the G1/S transition of lung squamous carcinoma cell lines. Functional assays found that reintroduction of SCYL1BP1 into lung squamous carcinoma cell lines significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor formation in nude mice, suggesting strong tumor suppressive function of SCYL1BP1 in lung squamous carcinoma. Taken together, our data suggest that the interaction of SCYL1BP1/MDM2 could accelerate MDM2 degradation, and may function as an important tumor suppressor in lung squamous carcinomas.

Schistosoma japonicum causes marked liver fibrosis, while lethal syndromes present in advanced schistosomiasis patients. Its management depends on the degree of fibrosis present.Fifty-two patients were recruited to assess the diagnostic value of bio-markers in patients with advanced schistosomiasis japonica. Fibrosis was assessed in liver biopsies using METAVIR system. The correlation between conventional parameters and significant fibrosis (F2-F4) was assessed using univariate analysis and logistic regression. The method of area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROCs) was used as a measurement of diagnostic efficacy.White blood cell counts, platelet counts and albumin (all P0.05) were significantly lower, while prothrombin time, international normalized ratio (INR), hyaluronic acid (HA), IV collagen and ultrasound fibrosis scores (all P0.01) were significantly elevated in F2-F4 patients compared with F0-F1 patients. HA and INR were identified as independent predictors by multivariate analysis (P=0.023 and P=0.013, respectively). Of the routine laboratory tests for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis, HA gave the best AUROC of 0.875 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.701-0.997). We constructed a new simple index (INR×HA/100) to discriminate between F2-F4 patients and F0-F1 patients. It showed the highest AUROC of 0.921 (95% CI: 0.828-1.000), and had better diagnostic values than APRI and FIB-4.HA and INR were reliable markers for differentiating significant liver fibrosis in patients with advanced schistosomiasis japonica. And the new simple index can easily predict significant liver fibrosis with a high degree of accuracy.

Background: Poland’s Syndrome (PS) is a rare congenital syndrome characterized by the unilateral partial or complete absence of the sternocostal head of the pectoralis major muscle and ipsilateral brachysyndactyly or syndactyly of the fingers. It has been reported to be associated with other diseases, but PS accompanied by neurofibroma has rarely been reported. Case Report: We report a rare case of a 16-year-old man with neurofibroma of the left breast accompanied by PS. Physical examination showed a mass in the left breast with skin hyperpigmentation and increased body hair. Intraoperative exploration showed a mass measuring 3–4 cm between the dysplastic pectoralis major and minor muscles. Pathologic examination of the resected mass showed cutaneous diffuse neurofibroma. A simple left mastectomy was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful with no evidence of recurrence at 4 months. Conclusion: Neurofibroma may also be accompanied by PS and should be differentiated from gynecomastia when a tumor grows in the breast.

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases in women. The main cause of death from breast cancer is its metastases at distant sites in the body. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a cytokine of the IL-1 family and found overexpressed in various cancers. The aim of the present study was to explore the association of serum IL-33 and sST2 with breast cancer. Here, the serum levels of Interleukin-33 (IL-33) and sST2 were found significantly higher in breast cancer patients than in healthy volunteers. Serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), metalloproteinase-11 (MMP-11), and platelet-derived growth factor-C (PDGF-C) were also greater in breast cancer patients compared to healthy volunteers. We found that serum levels of IL-33 or sST2 were positively correlated with the serum levels of VEGF, MMP-11, and PDGF-C. Moreover, breast cancer dataset downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas showed that patients with higher level of MMP-11 or PDGF-C expression had shorter survival time than those with lower level of these proteins. In conclusion, IL-33 and sST2 may serve as noninvasive diagnosis markers for breast cancer. IL-33 and sST2 were significantly associated with MMP-11 or PDGF-C which indicated poor prognosis of breast cancer patients.

To explore the correlation between the levels of liver fibrosis and liver fibrosis biochemical parameters of advanced schistosomiasis patients.A total of 48 advanced schistosomiasis patients were investigated and they were examined by the liver biopsy and B ultrasound imaging. At the same time, the liver fibrosis biochemical parameters, including glutamine transpeptidase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (AKP), procollagen III (PC-III), collagen type IV (IV-C), hyaluronic acid (HA) and laminin (LN), were detected. The liver fibrosis levels were classified by the liver biopsy and B ultrasound imaging, respectively, and the correlation between the levels of liver fibrosis and liver fibrosis biochemical parameters were analyzed statistically.There was no correlation between the liver fibrosis levels classified by the liver biopsy and all the liver fibrosis biochemical parameters; there was a weak correlation between the liver fibrosis levels classified by the B ultrasound imaging and GGT, AKP, LN and PC-III, respectively; there was a significant correlation between the liver fibrosis levels classified by the B ultrasound imaging and HA and IV-C, respectively.B ultrasound examination is a better, noninvasive fibrosis inspection method. Liver fibrosis biochemical parameters combined with the B ultrasound examination may better reflect the overall condition of liver fibrosis.

To establish the serial cell lines, derived from the same parental gallbladder cancer cell line GBC-SD, with highly metastatic potential via different routes and characterize their biological behaviors to understand the different metastasis mechanisms via lymph and blood.The spleen-liver metastasis model and footpad-inguinal lymph node metastasis model were established. GBC-SD was injected into spleen or footpad of nude mice. Then the highly metastasized subpopulations via lymph and blood were isolated. Their differences in morphology, genetic background, proliferation, migration, invasion and adhesion were revealed by comparing the lymphatic-disseminating and hematogenous-disseminating subpopulations with parental cells.The lymphatic-disseminating and hematogenous-disseminating subpopulations were successfully isolated and designated as GBC-SD/HL and GBC-SD/M3 respectively. They demonstrated the identical genetic background with GBC-SD. In comparison with parental cells, the hematogenous-disseminating subpopulation was morphologically characterized with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) while it was not shown in the lymphatic-disseminating subpopulation. Furthermore, the hematogenous-disseminating subpopulation showed the strongest migrating capacity but the lymphatic-disseminating subpopulation demonstrated a stronger invasive and adhesive ability.The whole parental cell GBC-SD, hematogenous-metastasized subpopulation GBC-SD/M3 and lymphatic-disseminating subpopulation GBC-SD/HL is an ideal tool for metastatic mechanism study of gallbladder cancer. EMT plays an important role in hematogenous metastasis while lymphatic metastasis relies more on enhanced invasiveness and adhesion. It may be a target for interfering the lymphatic metastasis of gallbladder cancer.

To evaluate the relationship between epithelial-mesenchymal transition and basal cell-like phenotype breast cancer (BLBC).Three hundred and eighty two cases of breast cancers including basal cell-like, luminal A, luminal B and Her-2 subtypes were collected from 458 cases of invasive breast cancers based on their immunophenotypes. They were then stained immunohistochemically with FOXC-2, vimentin, Syndecan-1 and E-cadherin. The relationship of these markers with the basal cell-like phenotype of breast cancer was studied.Of the 41 BLBC cases, FOXC-2, vimentin and Syndecan-1 were positive in 14 cases (34.1%), 18 cases (43.9%) and 36 cases (87.7%) respectively; E-cadherin expression was reduced in 26 cases (63.4%). The positive rates of FOXC-2 and vimentin were higher in BLBC than in other subtypes of breast cancer (P0.01). The expression of E-cadherin was the lowest among the 4 subtypes of breast cancers (P0.01). Syndecan-1 was positive in the stromal cells adjacent to cancer cells in 17 cases (41.5%) BLBC and the expression was higher than that in other subtypes (P = 0.007). There existed a correlation between FOXC-2 and vimentin expression in BLBC (r = 0.607, P0.01). The rates of positive lymph nodes in FOXC-2 and vimentin positive BLBC cases were 71.4% and 66.7% respectively, and both were higher than those of FOXC-2 and vimentin negative BLBC cases (P = 0.002 and P = 0.001).Epithelial-mesenchymal transition is probably related to the basal cell-like phenotype of breast cancers, and this may be one of the reasons accounting for the different biological behavior of BLBC from other subtypes of breast cancer.

To study the clinicopathologic characteristics of basal-like immunophenotype breast cancer (BLBC).458 cases of female infiltrative breast cancer were studied using immunohistochemical staining with an antibody panel of ER, PR, HER2, Ki-67, CK5/6, CK14 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and were classified basing on the immunophenotypes. The clinicopathologic characteristics were compared with other immunophenotypes of breast cancer. 228 of 458 cases of breast cancer were followed up.46 cases of BLBC were screened out among the 458 breast cancers. And histological features of BLBC were analysed including the larger diameter of cancer foci (average 3.3 cm), appearance of squeezing phenomenon of neighboring cell borders (58.7%, 27/46), geography-like distribution of necrosis (52.2%, 24/46), central zone fibrosis (30.4%, 14/46) and lymphoplasmacytic infiltration at the margin and stroma (63.0%, 29/46). There were nuclear pleomorphism with numerous mitoses. The cancer cells were closely arranged, forming irregular solid architectures. There was a high expression (25%) of Ki-67 (43.5%, 20/46). CK5/6, CK14 and EGFR were positive in 58.7% (27/46), 43.5% (20/46) and 65.2% (30/46) respectively. 3-year survival rate of BLBC was 66.9%, lower than the luminal A breast cancer and similar to HER2 over-expression breast cancer.The proportion of BLBC in the group of breast cancers is 10%. BLBC has its distinct histological and cytological features. Currently, it is still necessary to depend on immunophenotyping in making a BLBC diagnosis. BLBC is the one of breast cancer subtypes with the poorest prognosis.