Abstract： Diseases prognosis is often influenced by multiple factors, and some intricate non-linear relationships exist among those factors. Artificial neural network （ANN）, an artificial intelligence model, simulates the work mode of biological neurons and has a b capability to analyze multi-factor non-linear relationships. In recent years, ANN is increasingly applied in clinical medical fields, especially for the prediction of disease prognosis. This article focuses on the basic principles of ANN and its application in disease prognosis research.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of Huaier granule combined with systemic chemotherapy on immunologic function and prognosis for advanced breast cancer patients. MethodsNinety-eight cases ofⅣstage breast cancer from March 2006 to March 2009 in this hospital were divided into control group and research group. Only systemic chemotherapy was performed in the control group, while Huaier granule combined with systemic chemotherapy was applied in the research group, and Huaier granule was given on day 1 systemic chemotherapy start. The changes of T lymphocyte subsets and IL-2 level were detected on day 1 before systemic chemotherapy and on month 6 after Huaier granule combined with systemic chemotherapy. The fatality rate and median survival time were also observed between two groups. ResultsCompared with the control group, the changes of T lymphocyte subsets and IL-2 level had no signi-ficant differences on day 1 before systemic chemotherapy between these two groups(P > 0.05). On month 6 after Huaier granule combined with systemic chemotherapy, the CD4+, CD4+/CD8+ T lymphocyte, and IL-2 level were significantly increased, the CD8+ T lymphocyte was significantly decreased in the research group as compared with the control group〔CD4+:(47.35±6.23)% versus(41.33±5.61)%, P < 0.05; CD4+/CD8+: 1.84±0.42 versus 1.47±0.33, P < 0.05; IL-2 level:(1.78±0.45)μg/L versus(1.58±0.30)μg/L, P < 0.05; CD8+:(23.26±3.25)% versus(29.77±4.12)%, P < 0.05〕. The rate of chemotherapy complications and fatality rate within 3 years were significantly decreased in the research group as compared with the control group〔rate of chemotherapy complications: 58.3%(28/48) versus 86.0%(43/50), P < 0.01; fatality rate within 3 years: 62.5%(30/48)versus 82.0%(41/50), P < 0.05〕. The median survival time in the research group was significantly longer than that in the control group(33.5 months versus 24.5 months, P < 0.01). ConclusionsThe preliminary results from this study show that Huaier granule combined with systemic chemotherapy could greatly enhance immune function, reduce side-toxicity of chemotherapy and improve prognosis in advanced breast cancer patients. It provides a beneficial exploration for cancer treatment by integration of traditional and western medicine.
【Abstract】Objective Stromal cell-derived factor-1(SDF-1, CXCL12) is a member of the CXC subfamily of chemokines which, through its cognate receptor (CXCR4), plays an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. This study analyzed quantitatively the expression of SDF-1 and its relation with clinicopathologic feature and clinical outcome in human breast cancer.Methods Expression of SDF-1 mRNA in 8 breast cancer cell lines, an endothelial cell line HECV and a fibroblast cell MRC5 was studied by using RT-PCR. In addition, the expression of SDF-1 was investigated at both protein (immunohistochemistry) and mRNA(real-time PCR) levels in a group of human normal mammary(n=32) and tumour tissues(n=120). Results SDF-1 expression was identified in MRC5, MDA-MB435s, MDA-MB436, MCF7 cell lines, breast tumour and normal tissues. Significantly higher level of SDF-1 was seen in lymph node positive than in lymph node negative tumours (399.00±210.00 vs 0.89±0.47), P=0.048. The level of SDF-1 expression in patients who developed local recurrence or metastasis, or patients who died of breast cancer was higher than in patients who were disease free as well, (670.00±346.00 vs 0.83±0.35), P=0.01. It was most notable that level of SDF-1 was significantly correlated with over survival (P=0.01) and incidence free survival (P=0.035, by Cox proportion analysis).Conclusion SDF-1 is a factor that is expressed in both stromal cells and some breast cancer cells. Its level are correlated with lymph node involvement, prognosis and survival in patients with breast cancer. SDF-1 may therefore have a potential prognostic value in breast cancer.
ObjectiveTo analyse the outcomes of patients with Child-Pugh A class cirrhosis and a single hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) up to 5 cm in diameter who underwent liver transplantation versus resection. MethodsDuring 2007 to 2011, 263 Child-Pugh A class cirrhotic patients with a single HCC up to 5 cm in diameter either underwent liver resection (n=227) or received liver transplantation (n=36) in our centre. Patients and tumour characteristics and outcomes were analysed. ResultsThe 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival rates of patients who received liver transplantation and liver resection were 91.7%, 85.3%, 81.0% and 80.6%, 59.8%, 50.8%, respectively (P=0.003). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates of patients who underwent liver transplantation were 100%, 87.5%, and 83.1% versus 96.9%, 83.8%, and 76.1% for patients received liver resection (P=0.391). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year recurrence-free survival rates for patients with a diameter of HCC < 3 cm underwent liver transplantation were 92.3%, 92.3%, and 92.3% versus 80.2%, 62.5%, and 50.5% for live resection group (P=0.019). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates for patients with a diameter of HCC < 3 cm underwent liver transplantation and liver resection were 100%, 91.7%, 91.7% and 97.7%, 87.5%, 79.5%, respectively (P=0.470). ConclusionsAlthough more recurrences are observed in Child A class cirrhotic patients with a single HCC up to 5 cm in diameter after liver resection, but overall survival rates for patients with a single HCC up to 5 cm in diameter are similar after liver resection and transplantation.
Objective To study the relationship between expression of nm23, CD44 in gastric carcinoma and lymph-node metastasis and prognosis. Methods Expression of nm 23, CD44H and CD44V6 in 105 cases of gastric carcinoma were assayed by immunohistochemistry. Among them, 59 cases were followed up. Results The incidences of nm23, CD44H and CD44V6 protein positivity in gastric carcinoma were 44.8%, 54.3% and 48.6% respectively. The positive expression of nm23, CD44V6 protein in human gastric carcinoma tissues was related to the differentiation, depth of invasion, TNM stage and prognosis (Ｐ＜0.05), but expression of CD44H was not correlated with other clinicopathologic indices. The reactivity to these three antibodies were correlate with metastasis of lymph nodes (Ｐ＜0.01 for CD44V6 and Ｐ＜0.05 for nm23, CD44H). Conclusion Expression of the standard form of CD44 (CD44H) might be useful in observing the progression of the disease, wile CD44V6 and nm23 hold promise as a prognostic indicator.
Objective To investigate the prognostic value of ERBB2 Exon20ins (Exon20ins) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving first-line chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data from ERBB2-mutant stage IV NSCLC patients who received first-line chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy at West China Hospital of Sichuan University between 2020 and 2024. ERBB2 wild-type patients were matched using propensity score matching. Clinical pathological characteristics, distant metastatic sites, and treatment outcomes were compared among patients with different mutation statuses. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot survival curves. Cox regression analysis was performed to adjust for confounding factors. Results This study included 41 ERBB2-mutant stage IV NSCLC patients, of whom 22 had Exon20ins mutations, and 19 had other ERBB2 mutations. Forty-one ERBB2 wild-type patients were matched for comparison. The mean age of all patients was 60.0±9.3 years, with 61 males (74.4%). A total of 67 patients (81.7%) received chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy, and 15 patients (18.3%) received chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy and anti-angiogenesis therapy. The Exon20ins group showed a higher incidence of lymph node metastasis compared with the ERBB2 other mutation group and the wild-type group (36.4% vs. 15.8% vs. 9.8%, P=0.045). The median PFS in the Exon20ins group was significantly shorter than in the other mutation group (5.8 months vs. 10.3 months, P=0.025) and the wild-type group (5.8 months vs. 8.3 months, P=0.023). Univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that the ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation was an adverse prognostic factor (Exon20ins vs. other ERBB2 mutations, HR=2.9, 95%CI 1.18 - 7.1, P=0.014; Exon20ins vs. wild-type, HR=2.6, 95%CI 1.25 - 5.6, P=0.014). The combination with anti-angiogenesis therapy did not significantly affect the prognosis of PFS (HR=0.66, 95%CI 0.28 - 1.6, P=0.363). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation was an independent adverse prognostic factor for PFS (Exon20ins vs. other ERBB2 mutations, HR=3.3, 95%CI 1.27 - 8.3, P=0.015; Exon20ins vs. wild-type, HR=2.7, 95%CI 1.2 - 5.88, P=0.014). For the 67 patients receiving chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy, Cox regression analysis showed that the ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation was still associated with poor prognosis in advanced NSCLC (Exon20ins vs. other ERBB2 mutations, HR=3.2, 95%CI 1.12 - 9.1, P=0.030; Exon20ins vs. wild-type, HR=2.5, 95%CI 1 - 5.88, P=0.040). Conclusions Advanced NSCLC patients with ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation have a worse prognosis compared with those with other ERBB2 mutation subtypes or ERBB2 wild-type when treated with first-line chemotherapy combined with immunotherapy. This suggests that ERBB2 Exon20ins mutation, as a particularly refractory mutation, requires the exploration of new combination strategies based on molecular subtyping to improve survival outcomes.
Objective To systematically evaluate the correlation between the expression of microRNA (miRNA)-21 and the prognosis of esophageal cancer. Methods PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Wanfang Data, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and VIP Databases were searched by for the literature on the correlation between miRNA-21 and the prognosis of esophageal cancer till July 10, 2022. Two researchers independently performed literature screening, quality evaluation, and data extraction. Statistical analysis was conducted with Stata 14.0. Results A total of 13 articles were included, including 1 204 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that: the overall survival (OS) of patients with high expression of miRNA-21 was lower than that of patients with low expression of miRNA-21 [hazard ratio (HR)=2.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.56, 2.84), P<0.001]. miRNA-21 expression was not associated with disease free survival [HR=2.53, 95%CI (0.67, 8.22), P=0.182]. The OS of Asian patients with high expression of miRNA-21 was significantly lower [HR=2.44, 95%CI (1.71, 3.49), P=0.005], while the OS of non-Asian patients was not related to miRNA-21 expression [HR=1.34, 95%CI (0.94, 1.91), P=0.363]. The high expression of miRNA-21 was correlated with the decreased OS in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma [HR=2.22, 95%CI (1.52, 3.26), P=0.001], while the OS in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma was not correlated with the expression of miRNA-21 [HR=1.39, 95%CI (0.63, 3.06), P=0.409]. Conclusion The overexpression of miRNA-21 is associated with poor prognosis and might be regarded as a potential prognostic biomarker for patients with esophageal cancer.
截至2002年7月,急性心肌梗塞(acute myocardial infarction,AMI)治疗的临床证据如下:(1)改善AMI预后的证据:①血管紧张素转换酶抑制剂(ACEI):1篇概述和1个(AMI 36 h到14 d内接受治疗的患者)系统评价发现,血管紧张素转换酶抑制剂和安慰剂相比,患者30 d后的死亡率明显减少;血管紧张素转换酶抑制剂和安慰剂相比,显著增加了持续低血压和肾功能不全.血管紧张素转换酶抑制剂是提供给每一位存在AMI的患者,还是仅提供给有心衰征象的患者,目前尚无定论.②阿司匹林:1个系统评价发现,阿司匹林与安慰剂相比,能明显减少1个月时的死亡率、非致死性再梗塞以及非致死性中风.③β受体阻滞剂:2个系统评价和1个后来的RCT发现,在AMI数小时内给予β受体阻滞剂与对照比较,显著减少死亡率和再梗塞率.溶栓治疗的RCT发现,美托洛尔的及时使用与延后使用相比,明显减少患者6 d后再梗塞率以及复发的胸痛,但使用该药6 d和1年间的死亡率没有显著差异.1个研究比较了在近期有心肌梗塞并且左室射血分数小于40%,或者基本没有接受溶栓治疗的患者中使用卡维地洛与安慰剂的RCT发现,尽管单独的死亡率和复发性非致死性AMI在卡维地洛组中明显较低,但1.3年后各种原因的死亡率以及由于心血管事件住院的联合终点并没有差异.④钙离子拮抗剂:9个RCT发现,在AMI头几天范围内,二氢吡啶和维拉帕米与安慰剂相比并不降低死亡率.1个左心衰的RCT发现有限的证据表明,在AMI的头几天给予硝苯地平与安慰剂比较可能会增加死亡率.⑤糖蛋白Ⅱb/Ⅲ a拮抗剂:2个大型的RCT发现,在AMI患者中联合使用半剂溶栓剂和阿昔单抗与使用全剂量的溶栓剂相比,并没有减少1个月时的死亡率,但可预防非致死性的心血管事件;用阿昔单抗联合治疗增加了出血并发症,特别是颅外的出血.3个RCT发现,尽管加用阿昔单抗增加了出血的危险,但将阿昔单抗加到AMI患者最初的冠脉成型术或者支架中的益处仍有争议.⑥溶栓之外的硝酸盐制剂:2个溶栓时期使用硝酸盐与安慰剂的RCT发现,死亡率没有显著差异.⑦没有溶栓时的硝酸盐制剂:1个在溶栓时代前所做试验的系统评价发现,硝酸盐较安慰剂显著降低AMI患者的死亡率.⑧早期的经皮腔内冠状动脉成形术与溶栓比较(在专业中心完成):2个系统评价发现,早期的经皮腔内冠状动脉成形术与早期的溶栓相比明显降低了急性心肌梗塞患者的死亡率以及30 d的再梗塞率.在非专业中心开展的有关比较经皮腔内冠状动脉成形术与溶栓的试验结果尚不清楚.⑨溶栓:1篇研究对象为AMI患者以及最初的心电图上存在ST段上抬或者束支传导阻滞的患者的试验的概述发现,及时的溶栓治疗(症状发作后的6 h内或许到12 h或者更长)与安慰剂比较显著降低短期内的死亡率;溶栓与对照相比明显增加了中风和大出血的危险.不同类型的溶栓剂之间相互比较的RCT的Meta分析发现,死亡率没有显著差异.(2)AMI继发心源性休克的预后证据:①早期侵入性的心脏血管重建:1个以AMI 48 h内发生心源性休克患者为研究对象的RCT发现,早期侵入性的心脏血管重建与最初的单独药物治疗相比显著降低了6～12 d后的死亡率.1个样本含量较小的RCT也得出了相似的结果,但差异并不显著.②主动脉内的球囊反搏术:1个在AMI后的心源性休克患者中将主动脉内的球囊反搏术加溶栓与单用溶栓作比较的RCT摘要发现,6个月后的死亡率没有显著差异.③1个来自比较溶栓与不溶栓的RCT的AMI后心源性休克患者的亚组分析发现,21 d后的死亡率没有显著差异.④在心脏移植、早期心脏手术、正性肌力药和血管扩张剂、肺动脉插管及左心室支持系统方面,尚未发现有关这些干预措施效果的RCT证据.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the potential value of C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) as an indicator of prognosis and survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. MethodsThe literatures were searched comprehensively in the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CBM, Wanfang, CNKI, and CQVIP databases from the establishment of the databases to May 20, 2021. The combined hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were used to evaluate the correlation between the CAR and the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), or disease-free survival (DFS) in the patients with pancreatic cancer. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of the non-randomized controlled studies, and the Stata SE 15.0 software was used for meta-analysis. ResultsA total of 2 985 patients with pancreatic cancer were included in this meta-analysis of 15 studies. The results of meta-analysis showed that the higher CAR value, the shorter OS [effect size (ES)=0.60, 95%CI (0.50, 0.69), Z=12.04, P<0.001], DFS [ES=0.63, 95%CI (0.47, 0.78), Z=3.61, P<0.001], and PFS [ES=0.41, 95%CI (0.19, 0.63), Z=7.91, P<0.001] in the patients with pancreatic cancer. The results of subgroup analysis of OS according to different countries, sample size, mean age, follow-up time, CAR cut-off value, and NOS score showed that the higher CAR value was related to the shorter OS (P<0.05). The result of linear regression analysis showed that there was no correlation between the CAR cut-off value and lnHR of OS (r2=0.947, P=0.455). Conclusion From results of this study, CAR is closely related to OS of patients, and it is expected to be used as a new reference index for monitoring and judging prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer.