Studies in the past few years have provided compelling evidence for the critical role of aberrant Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) in malignant transformation and tumorigenesis. Thus, it is...Studies in the past few years have provided compelling evidence for the critical role of aberrant Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) in malignant transformation and tumorigenesis. Thus, it is now generally accepted that STAT3 is one of the critical players in human cancer formation and represents a valid target for novel anticancer drug design. This review focuses on aberrant STAT3 and its role in promoting tumor cell survival and sup- porting the malignant phenotype. A brief evaluation of the current strategies targeting STAT3 for the development of novel anticancer agents against human tumors harboring constitutively active STAT3 will also be presented.展开更多
Gastric submucosal tumors(SMTs) are a rather frequent finding,occurring in about 0.36%of routine upper GIendoscopies.Endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS) has emerged as a reliable investigative procedure for evaluation of ...Gastric submucosal tumors(SMTs) are a rather frequent finding,occurring in about 0.36%of routine upper GIendoscopies.Endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS) has emerged as a reliable investigative procedure for evaluation of these lesions.Diagnostic EUS has the ability to differentiate intramural tumors from extraluminal compressions and can also show the layer of origin of gastric SMTs.Tumors can be further characterized by their layer of origin,echo pattern and margin.EUS-risk criteria of their malignant potential are presented,although the emergence of EUS-FNA has opened new indications for transmural tissue diagnosis and expanded the possibilities of EUS in SMTs of the stomach.Tissue diagnosis should address whether the SMT is a Gastrointestinal stromal tumour(GIST) or another tumor type and evaluate the malignant potential of a given GIST.However,there seems to be a lack of data on the optimal strategy in SMTs suspected to be GISTs with a negative EUS-FNA tissue diagnosis.The current management strategies,as well as open questions regarding their treatment are also presented.展开更多
Gastro-entero-pancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms, although their prevalence has increased substantially over the past three decades. Moreover, there has been an increased clinical recogni...Gastro-entero-pancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms, although their prevalence has increased substantially over the past three decades. Moreover, there has been an increased clinical recognition and characterization of these neoplasms. They show extremely variable biological behavior and clinical course. Most NETs have endocrine function and secrete peptides and neuroamines that cause distinct clinical syndromes, including carcinoid syndrome; however, many are clinically silent until late presentation with mass effects. Investigation and management should be individualized for each patient, taking into account the likely natural history of the tumor and general health of the patient. Management strategies include surgery for cure or palliation, and a variety of other cytoreductive techniques, and medical treatment including chemotherapy, and biotherapy to control symptoms due to hormone release and tumor growth, with somatostatin analogues (SSAs) and alphainterferon. New biological agents and somatostatintagged radionuclides are under investigation. Advances in the therapy and development of centers of excellence which coordinate multicenter studies, are needed to improve diagnosis, treatment and therefore survival of patients with GEP NETs.展开更多
Objective: Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guideline version 1.0 (RECIST 1.0) was proposed as a new guideline for evaluating tumor response and has been widely accepted as a standardized mea...Objective: Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guideline version 1.0 (RECIST 1.0) was proposed as a new guideline for evaluating tumor response and has been widely accepted as a standardized measure. With a number of issues being raised on RECIST 1.0, however, a revised RECIST guideline version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) was proposed by the RECIST Working Group in 2009. This study was conducted to compare CT tumor response based on RECIST 1.1 vs. RECIST 1.0 in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Methods: We reviewed 61 AGC patients with measurable diseases by RECIST 1.0 who were enrolled in other clinical trials between 2008 and 2010. These patients were retrospectively re-analyzed to determine the concordance between the two response criteria using the κ statistic. Results: The number and sum of tumor diameters of the target lesions by RECIST 1.1 were significantly lower than those by RECIST 1.0 (P〈0.0001). However, there was excellent agreement in tumor response between RECIST 1.1 and RECIST 1.0 0(κ=0.844). The overall response rates (ORRs) according to RECIST 1.0 and RECIST 1.1 were 32.7% (20/61) and 34.5% (20/58), respectively. One patient with partial response (PR) based on RECIST 1.0 was reclassified as stable disease (SD) by RECIST 1.1. Of two patients with SD by RECIST 1.0, one was downgraded to progressive disease and the other was upgraded to PR by RECIST 1.1. Conclusions: RECIST 1.1 provided almost perfect agreement with RECIST 1.0 in the CT assessment of tumor response of AGC.展开更多
This review is part two of three, which will present an update on the classification of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Part one treats of the diagnosis and part three of the therapeutic methods regarding gastroin...This review is part two of three, which will present an update on the classification of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Part one treats of the diagnosis and part three of the therapeutic methods regarding gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. In the past there has been some confusion as to the classification of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Changes in classifications have emerged due to recent advances in mainly immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. The aim of this paper is to update the reader on the current classification. Literature searches were performed to find information related to classification of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Based on these searches the twelve most frequent submucosal tumor types were chosen for description of their classification. The factors that indicate whether tumors are benign or malignant are mainly size and number of mitotic counts. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are defined mainly by their CD117 positivity. In the future, there should be no more confusion between gastrointestinal stromal tumors and other types of submucosal tumors.展开更多
Background Although the first leading cause of death in China was malignant neoplasms (mortality, 374.1 per 100 000 person-years), the full impact of primary brain tumors (PBT) on the healthcare system is not comp...Background Although the first leading cause of death in China was malignant neoplasms (mortality, 374.1 per 100 000 person-years), the full impact of primary brain tumors (PBT) on the healthcare system is not completely described because there are a few well documented reports about the epidemiologic features of brain tumors. This study aimed to report a comprehensive assessment on the prevalence of PBT. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study on brain tumor (MCSBT) in China was initiated in five regional centers: Daqing (northeast), Puyang (north of China), Shiyan (center of China), Ma'anshan (center of China) and Shanghai (southeast). Prevalence rate was calculated by counting the number of people living with a PBT between October 1,2005 and September 30, 2006 and dividing by the total population of the five communities at January 1, 2006. Estimates of prevalence were expressed as percentages and grouped according to gender and to age in fifteen-year categories. Within these strata, the rates were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (C/) using the accurate calculation of CI for Poisson distribution. A chi-square test was used to compare the various frequencies with a 〈0.05. Age-standardized prevalence with the direct method was calculated with the ten-year age-specific prevalence and the age distribution of population prospects: the 2008 revision. Results We estimated that the overall prevalence of PBT was 24.56 per 100 000 (95% CI, 14.85 to 34.27), and the overall prevalence of PBT in female population (30.57 per 100 000 and its 95% Cl ranged from 19.73 to 41.41) was higher than that in male population (18.84 per 100 000 and its 95% Cl ranged from 10.33 to 27.35). However, the discrepancy between genders was not statistically significant because the 95% Cl overlapped. Of 272 cases of newly diagnosed PBT, the proportion of histological subtypes by age groups, gender was statistically different (X2=52.6510, P 〈0.0001). More than half of all re展开更多
Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are rare slow-growing tumors with distinct histological,biological,and clinical characteristics that have increased in incidence and prevalence within the last few decades.They c...Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are rare slow-growing tumors with distinct histological,biological,and clinical characteristics that have increased in incidence and prevalence within the last few decades.They contain chromogranin A,synaptophysin and neuron-specific enolase which are necessary for making a diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumor.Ki-67 index and mitotic index correlate with cellular proliferation.Serum chromogranin A is the most commonly used biomarker to assess the bulk of disease and monitor treatment and is raised in both functioning and non-functioning neuroendocrine tumors.Most of the gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are non-functional.World Health Organization updated the classification of neuroendocrine tumors in 2017 and renamed mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma into mixed neuroendocrine neoplasm.Gastric neuroendocrine tumors arise from enterochromaffin like cells.They are classified into 4 types.Only type I and type II are gastrin dependent.Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumor is the most common small bowel malignancy.More than two-third of them occur in the terminal ileum within 60 cm of ileocecal valve.Patients with small intestinal neuroendrocrine tumors frequently show clinical symptoms and develop distant metastases more often than those with neuroendocrine tumors of other organs.Duodenal and jejunoileal neuroendocrine tumors are distinct biologically and clinically.Carcinoid syndrome generally occurs when jejuno-ileal neuroendocrine tumors metastasize to the liver.Appendiceal neuroendocrine tumors are generally detected after appendectomy.Colonic neuroendocrine tumors generally present as a large tumor with local or distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis.Rectal neuroendocrine tumors are increasingly being diagnosed since the implementation of screening colonoscopy in 2000.Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are diagnosed and staged by endoscopy with biopsy,endoscopic ultrasound,serology of biomarkers,imaging studies and functional somatostatin scans.Various treatmen展开更多
It is essential in treating rectal cancer to have adequate preoperative imaging,as accurate staging can influence the management strategy,type of resection,and candidacy for neoadjuvant therapy.In the last twenty year...It is essential in treating rectal cancer to have adequate preoperative imaging,as accurate staging can influence the management strategy,type of resection,and candidacy for neoadjuvant therapy.In the last twenty years,endorectal ultrasound(ERUS) has become the primary method for locoregional staging of rectal cancer.ERUS is the most accurate modality for assessing local depth of invasion of rectal carcinoma into the rectal wall layers(T stage) .Lower accuracy for T2 tumors is commonly reported,which could lead to sonographic overstaging of T3 tumors following preoperative therapy.Unfortunately,ERUS is not as good for predicting nodal metastases as it is for tumor depth,which could be related to the unclear definition of nodal metastases.The use of multiple criteria might improve accuracy.Failure to evaluate nodal status could lead to inadequate surgical resection.ERUS can accurately distinguish early cancers from advanced ones,with a high detection rate of residual carcinoma in the rectal wall.ERUS is also useful for detection of local recurrence at the anastomosis site,which might require fine-needle aspiration of the tissue.Overstaging is more frequent than understaging,mostly due to inflammatory changes.Limitations of ERUS are operator and experiencedependency,limited tolerance of patients,and limited range of depth of the transducer.The ERUS technique requires a learning curve for orientation and identification of images and planes.With sufficient time and effort,quality and accuracy of the ERUS procedure could be improved.展开更多
文摘Studies in the past few years have provided compelling evidence for the critical role of aberrant Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) in malignant transformation and tumorigenesis. Thus, it is now generally accepted that STAT3 is one of the critical players in human cancer formation and represents a valid target for novel anticancer drug design. This review focuses on aberrant STAT3 and its role in promoting tumor cell survival and sup- porting the malignant phenotype. A brief evaluation of the current strategies targeting STAT3 for the development of novel anticancer agents against human tumors harboring constitutively active STAT3 will also be presented.
文摘Gastric submucosal tumors(SMTs) are a rather frequent finding,occurring in about 0.36%of routine upper GIendoscopies.Endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS) has emerged as a reliable investigative procedure for evaluation of these lesions.Diagnostic EUS has the ability to differentiate intramural tumors from extraluminal compressions and can also show the layer of origin of gastric SMTs.Tumors can be further characterized by their layer of origin,echo pattern and margin.EUS-risk criteria of their malignant potential are presented,although the emergence of EUS-FNA has opened new indications for transmural tissue diagnosis and expanded the possibilities of EUS in SMTs of the stomach.Tissue diagnosis should address whether the SMT is a Gastrointestinal stromal tumour(GIST) or another tumor type and evaluate the malignant potential of a given GIST.However,there seems to be a lack of data on the optimal strategy in SMTs suspected to be GISTs with a negative EUS-FNA tissue diagnosis.The current management strategies,as well as open questions regarding their treatment are also presented.
文摘Gastro-entero-pancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare neoplasms, although their prevalence has increased substantially over the past three decades. Moreover, there has been an increased clinical recognition and characterization of these neoplasms. They show extremely variable biological behavior and clinical course. Most NETs have endocrine function and secrete peptides and neuroamines that cause distinct clinical syndromes, including carcinoid syndrome; however, many are clinically silent until late presentation with mass effects. Investigation and management should be individualized for each patient, taking into account the likely natural history of the tumor and general health of the patient. Management strategies include surgery for cure or palliation, and a variety of other cytoreductive techniques, and medical treatment including chemotherapy, and biotherapy to control symptoms due to hormone release and tumor growth, with somatostatin analogues (SSAs) and alphainterferon. New biological agents and somatostatintagged radionuclides are under investigation. Advances in the therapy and development of centers of excellence which coordinate multicenter studies, are needed to improve diagnosis, treatment and therefore survival of patients with GEP NETs.
文摘Objective: Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guideline version 1.0 (RECIST 1.0) was proposed as a new guideline for evaluating tumor response and has been widely accepted as a standardized measure. With a number of issues being raised on RECIST 1.0, however, a revised RECIST guideline version 1.1 (RECIST 1.1) was proposed by the RECIST Working Group in 2009. This study was conducted to compare CT tumor response based on RECIST 1.1 vs. RECIST 1.0 in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Methods: We reviewed 61 AGC patients with measurable diseases by RECIST 1.0 who were enrolled in other clinical trials between 2008 and 2010. These patients were retrospectively re-analyzed to determine the concordance between the two response criteria using the κ statistic. Results: The number and sum of tumor diameters of the target lesions by RECIST 1.1 were significantly lower than those by RECIST 1.0 (P〈0.0001). However, there was excellent agreement in tumor response between RECIST 1.1 and RECIST 1.0 0(κ=0.844). The overall response rates (ORRs) according to RECIST 1.0 and RECIST 1.1 were 32.7% (20/61) and 34.5% (20/58), respectively. One patient with partial response (PR) based on RECIST 1.0 was reclassified as stable disease (SD) by RECIST 1.1. Of two patients with SD by RECIST 1.0, one was downgraded to progressive disease and the other was upgraded to PR by RECIST 1.1. Conclusions: RECIST 1.1 provided almost perfect agreement with RECIST 1.0 in the CT assessment of tumor response of AGC.
文摘This review is part two of three, which will present an update on the classification of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Part one treats of the diagnosis and part three of the therapeutic methods regarding gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. In the past there has been some confusion as to the classification of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Changes in classifications have emerged due to recent advances in mainly immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. The aim of this paper is to update the reader on the current classification. Literature searches were performed to find information related to classification of gastrointestinal submucosal tumors. Based on these searches the twelve most frequent submucosal tumor types were chosen for description of their classification. The factors that indicate whether tumors are benign or malignant are mainly size and number of mitotic counts. Gastrointestinal stromal tumors are defined mainly by their CD117 positivity. In the future, there should be no more confusion between gastrointestinal stromal tumors and other types of submucosal tumors.
文摘Background Although the first leading cause of death in China was malignant neoplasms (mortality, 374.1 per 100 000 person-years), the full impact of primary brain tumors (PBT) on the healthcare system is not completely described because there are a few well documented reports about the epidemiologic features of brain tumors. This study aimed to report a comprehensive assessment on the prevalence of PBT. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study on brain tumor (MCSBT) in China was initiated in five regional centers: Daqing (northeast), Puyang (north of China), Shiyan (center of China), Ma'anshan (center of China) and Shanghai (southeast). Prevalence rate was calculated by counting the number of people living with a PBT between October 1,2005 and September 30, 2006 and dividing by the total population of the five communities at January 1, 2006. Estimates of prevalence were expressed as percentages and grouped according to gender and to age in fifteen-year categories. Within these strata, the rates were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (C/) using the accurate calculation of CI for Poisson distribution. A chi-square test was used to compare the various frequencies with a 〈0.05. Age-standardized prevalence with the direct method was calculated with the ten-year age-specific prevalence and the age distribution of population prospects: the 2008 revision. Results We estimated that the overall prevalence of PBT was 24.56 per 100 000 (95% CI, 14.85 to 34.27), and the overall prevalence of PBT in female population (30.57 per 100 000 and its 95% Cl ranged from 19.73 to 41.41) was higher than that in male population (18.84 per 100 000 and its 95% Cl ranged from 10.33 to 27.35). However, the discrepancy between genders was not statistically significant because the 95% Cl overlapped. Of 272 cases of newly diagnosed PBT, the proportion of histological subtypes by age groups, gender was statistically different (X2=52.6510, P 〈0.0001). More than half of all re
文摘Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are rare slow-growing tumors with distinct histological,biological,and clinical characteristics that have increased in incidence and prevalence within the last few decades.They contain chromogranin A,synaptophysin and neuron-specific enolase which are necessary for making a diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumor.Ki-67 index and mitotic index correlate with cellular proliferation.Serum chromogranin A is the most commonly used biomarker to assess the bulk of disease and monitor treatment and is raised in both functioning and non-functioning neuroendocrine tumors.Most of the gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are non-functional.World Health Organization updated the classification of neuroendocrine tumors in 2017 and renamed mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma into mixed neuroendocrine neoplasm.Gastric neuroendocrine tumors arise from enterochromaffin like cells.They are classified into 4 types.Only type I and type II are gastrin dependent.Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumor is the most common small bowel malignancy.More than two-third of them occur in the terminal ileum within 60 cm of ileocecal valve.Patients with small intestinal neuroendrocrine tumors frequently show clinical symptoms and develop distant metastases more often than those with neuroendocrine tumors of other organs.Duodenal and jejunoileal neuroendocrine tumors are distinct biologically and clinically.Carcinoid syndrome generally occurs when jejuno-ileal neuroendocrine tumors metastasize to the liver.Appendiceal neuroendocrine tumors are generally detected after appendectomy.Colonic neuroendocrine tumors generally present as a large tumor with local or distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis.Rectal neuroendocrine tumors are increasingly being diagnosed since the implementation of screening colonoscopy in 2000.Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are diagnosed and staged by endoscopy with biopsy,endoscopic ultrasound,serology of biomarkers,imaging studies and functional somatostatin scans.Various treatmen
文摘It is essential in treating rectal cancer to have adequate preoperative imaging,as accurate staging can influence the management strategy,type of resection,and candidacy for neoadjuvant therapy.In the last twenty years,endorectal ultrasound(ERUS) has become the primary method for locoregional staging of rectal cancer.ERUS is the most accurate modality for assessing local depth of invasion of rectal carcinoma into the rectal wall layers(T stage) .Lower accuracy for T2 tumors is commonly reported,which could lead to sonographic overstaging of T3 tumors following preoperative therapy.Unfortunately,ERUS is not as good for predicting nodal metastases as it is for tumor depth,which could be related to the unclear definition of nodal metastases.The use of multiple criteria might improve accuracy.Failure to evaluate nodal status could lead to inadequate surgical resection.ERUS can accurately distinguish early cancers from advanced ones,with a high detection rate of residual carcinoma in the rectal wall.ERUS is also useful for detection of local recurrence at the anastomosis site,which might require fine-needle aspiration of the tissue.Overstaging is more frequent than understaging,mostly due to inflammatory changes.Limitations of ERUS are operator and experiencedependency,limited tolerance of patients,and limited range of depth of the transducer.The ERUS technique requires a learning curve for orientation and identification of images and planes.With sufficient time and effort,quality and accuracy of the ERUS procedure could be improved.