Background: Accurate lymph node (LN) staging has considerably prognostic and therapeutic value in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of applying carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) to track LN metastases in CRC. Methods: Two researchers independently screened publications in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane and Ovid MEDLINE databases. The keywords were (carbon nanoparticles OR activated carbon nanoparticles) AND (colon cancer OR rectal cancer OR colorectal cancer). Titles and abstracts of the articles were meticulously read to rule out potential publications. Next, full texts of the ultimately obtained eligible publications were retrieved and analyzed in detail. Results: The search produced 268 publications, and 140 abstracts were identified after a bibliographic review. Finally, 20 studies relevant to our subject were obtained; however, only 14 papers met our inclusion criteria and were included for final review. All studies included have compared the control group with carbon nanoparticles group (control group, defined as nontattooed group; and carbon nanoparticles group, defined as administering carbon nanoparticles during surgery) for their efficacy in intraoperative detecting and positioning. After analysis, appreciably less amount of bleeding (3/5 trials), shorter operation time (2/4 trials), and shorter time to detect lesions and dissect LNs (2/2 trials) were revealed in CNPs group compared to control group. Thirteen studies have recorded the numbers of the harvested LNs in both groups; meanwhile, CNPs group shows superiority to control group in LN retrieval as well (11/13 trials), which also could effectively aid in locating and harvesting more LNs with diameter below 5 mm. Conclusion: The tracing technique for CNPs is a safe and useful strategy both in localizing tumor and tracing LNs in CRC surgery. But there is still a need for more randomized controlled trials to further establish its contribution to patient survival.

Lipofilling is a popular technique for soft tissue augmentation, limited by unpredictable graft survival. This study aimed at exploring the effect of hydrogel from acellular porcine adipose tissue (HAPA) on angiogenesis and survival of adipose tissue used for lipofilling. The effect of HAPA on adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) proliferation, adipogenic differentiation, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion were evaluated in hypoxia and normoxia in vitro. For the in vivo study, adipose tissue with phosphate buffered saline, ADSCs, and HAPA (with or without ADSCs) were co-injected subcutaneously into nude mice. HAPA–ADSCs mixture (tissue engineering adipose tissue) was also grafted. Gross observation, volume measurement, and ultrasound observation were assessed. For histological assessment, hematoxylin and eosin, perilipin, cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31), Ki67, and transferase-mediated d-UTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) staining were performed. HAPA improved ADSCs proliferation, VEGF secretion, and adipogenic differentiation under normoxia and hypoxia conditions in vitro study. For the in vivo study, HAPA showed improved volume retention and angiogenesis, and reduced cell apoptosis when compared to ADSCs-assisted lipofilling and pure lipofilling. In conclusion, HAPA could maintain ADSCs viability and improve cell resistant to hypoxia and might be a promising biomaterial to assist lipofilling.

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