Bin Xu, Hehuan Xia, Junming Cao, Zhihong Wang, Yipeng Yang, Yongsheng Lin

Oncology Research, Vol.25, No.7, pp. 1161-1168, 2017, DOI:10.3727/096504017X14841698396829

Abstract Currently, multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to play vital roles in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma. This study aimed to investigate the role of miR-21 in osteosarcoma. The level of miR-21 in 20 pairs of osteosarcoma and corresponding adjacent tissues was monitored by qPCR. Human osteosarcoma cell line SAOS-2 was transfected with either miR-21 mimic or miR-21 inhibitor, and then cell viability, survival, and apoptosis were measured by MTT, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry. A target of miR-21 was predicted by the microRNA.org database and verified in vitro by using luciferase reporter, qPCR, and More >

Maryanne Caruana¹, Victor Grech²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.5, pp. 588-595, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12488

Abstract Objectives: To investigate survival and freedom from reintervention after aortic coarctation repair in Maltese patients and to compare cardiovascular mortality in coarctation repair survivors with that in the general population.
Design: All 72 aortic coarctation patients with any type of repair, born by end-1997 and logged in the local database were included. Trends in timing and type of repair were determined by comparing patients born before and after 1985. Kaplan-Meier analyses of survival and reintervention-free survival were performed on the 59 repair survivors with complete follow-up data (mean follow-up 26.13 ± 9.62 (range 1.05–44.55 years). Cardiovascular mortality… More >

Maryanne Caruana¹, Victor Grech²

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 301-308, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12439

Abstract Objectives: To determine overall and reintervention-free survival for repaired Maltese tetralogy of Fallot patients and to investigate the potential impact of gender, age at repair, genetic syndromes, previous palliation, and type of repair on these outcomes.
Design: All 130 tetralogy of Fallot patients born before the end of 1997 included in the local database were extracted. Surgical repair type, age at repair and operative survival were analyzed among the 103/130 repaired patients. Kaplan–Meier survival analyses were performed on the 75 repair survivors with complete follow-up data (mean follow-up 26.37 ± 9.27 (range 9.95–51.21) years).
Results: Patients born after… More >

Safwat A. Aly¹, David Zurakowski², Penny Glass³, Kami Skurow-Todd⁴, Richard A. Jonas⁵, Mary T. Donofrio⁴

Congenital Heart Disease, Vol.12, No.2, pp. 188-195, 2017, DOI:10.1111/chd.12426

Abstract Importance: There are no well-established noninvasive biomarkers for identifying patients at risk for poor outcome after surgery for congenital heart disease. Few studies have assessed prognostic accuracy of cerebral tissue oxygenation index (cTOI) measured by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
Objective: To assess the utility of noninvasive NIRS monitoring as a predictor of outcomes after neonatal cardiac surgery through measurement of cTOI. To examine the utility of noninvasive NIRS monitoring in combination with lactate concentration and inotropic score in prediction of outcomes after neonatal cardiac surgery.
Design: Prospective longitudinal cohort study.
Setting: Operating room and cardiac intensive care unit, Children’s… More >

González FM, DR Pérez

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.86, pp. 332-339, 2017, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2017.86.332

Abstract The Argentine arid Patagonia, in general, and ‘La Payunia’ ecosystem in particular, are important areas for conservation due to the high number of endemic species. However, this region presents a high level of degradation as a result of human activities. Thus, ecological rehabilitation strategies need to be implemented to recover certain areas. The main objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate the reintroduction of two selected native species in severely degraded areas, and (2) determine if the survival and growth of an endemic shrub species, Senna arnottiana, increase when it is associated with a perennial… More >

Wassim M. Bazzi¹, Amy L. Tin², Daniel D. Sjoberg², Melanie Bernstein¹, Paul Russo¹

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.23, No.1, pp. 8151-8154, 2016

Abstract Introduction: To explore whether the association between preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) elevation and worse survival is of use prognostically or merely a reflection of medical comorbidities in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CC RCC).
Materials and methods: We identified 1970 patients treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1998-2012 by partial or radical nephrectomy for nonmetastatic CC RCC. NLR was calculated by dividing absolute neutrophil count by absolute lymphocyte count; both were obtained from preoperative complete blood count. Uni- and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression, which included established prognostic variables, were used to test for… More >

Gautum Agarwal, David Buethe, Christopher Russell, Adam Luchey, Julio M. Pow-Sang

Canadian Journal of Urology, Vol.23, No.2, pp. 8215-8219, 2016

Abstract Introduction: Up to 50% of patients will have disease reclassification while on active surveillance (AS) for their prostate cancer. Determining which patients will have reclassification that will impact their survival is difficult. We investigated clinicopathologic factors associated with disease reclassification and differences in both overall and metastasis free survival between those treated and those remaining on AS.
Materials and methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients who were enrolled in an AS protocol between 1994 and 2000. Inclusion criteria for AS were: < cT2a disease, PSA < 10 ng/mL, < 50% of single core involvement, and… More >

Yue-shen Wang^*1, Jing Tian^†1, Yong Han^†, Shu-mei Han^†, Sheng-bin Shi^†

Oncology Research, Vol.24, No.2, pp. 129-135, 2016, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14618564639213

Abstract We evaluated the efficacy and feasibility of the combination of gemcitabine plus vinorelbine in patients with platinum-based chemotherapy-refractory esophageal cancer. We enrolled 35 patients who received gemcitabine plus vinorelbine as second-line treatment after platinum-based chemotherapy failure between May 2009 and April 2012. Dosage: gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m² plus vinorelbine 25 mg/m² ; all drugs were administered on days 1 and 8 of a 21-day cycle, and this was continued until failure or unacceptable toxicity. A total of 125 cycles of treatment were administered, and all patients received at least two cycles of treatment (two to five cycles;… More >

Jiahao Su^*, Meiqin Cai^*, Wensheng Li^*, Bo Hou^†, Haiyong He^†, Cong Ling^†,Tengchao Huang^†, Huijiao Liu^†, Ying Guo^*

Oncology Research, Vol.24, No.2, pp. 117-128, 2016, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14612603423511

Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant brain tumor that nearly always results in a bad prognosis. Temozolomide plus radiotherapy (TEM+RAD) is the most common treatment for newly diagnosed GBM. With the development of molecularly targeted drugs, several clinical trials were reported; however, the efficacy of the treatment remains controversial. So we attempted to measure the dose of the molecularly targeted drug that could improve the prognosis of those patients. The appropriate electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library) were searched for relevant studies. A meta-analysis was performed after determining which studies… More >

Gangcan Li, Yanping Song, Yunjie Zhang, Hao Wang, Jia Xie

Oncology Research, Vol.24, No.2, pp. 109-116, 2016, DOI:10.3727/096504016X14611963142254

Abstract Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most lethal hematological malignancy, and the occurrence of chemoresistance prevents the achievement of complete remission following the standard therapy. MicroRNAs have been extensively investigated as critical regulators of hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis, and they represent a promising strategy for AML therapy. In this study, we identified miR-34b as a novel regulator in myeloid proliferation and apoptosis of leukemic cells. We found that miR-34b was developmentally upregulated in plasma and myeloid cells of healthy subjects, while it was significantly reduced in blood samples of patients with AML and AML cell lines.… More >