These results suggest that VEGF plays an important role in lymph node metastasis through induction of angiogenesis in NPCs.

The purpose of this study was to determine the overexpression of both epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) (a ligand of EGFR) in early laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, we attempted to evaluate the prognostic values of our findings. Expression of EGFR and TGF-alpha in tumor tissue was examined immunohistochemically in 68 patients who had been treated with radiotherapy for early laryngeal cancer. Overexpression of the two factors was noted in 42.6% and 55.9%, respectively. No significant differences due to age, tumor size, and location or grade of cancer tissues were seen. Higher survival rates, found in patients with EGFR (-) and TGF-alpha (-) tumors as compared with those with EGFR (+) and TGF-alpha (+) (97.4%, 100% and 86.2%, 86.8%, respectively), were not statistically significant. The recurrence rates were similar between EGFR (+) and EGFR (-) (37.9% and 35.9%, respectively). However, the recurrence rate in patients with TGF-alpha (+) was significantly higher (57.9%) than in those with TGF-alpha (-) (10%; P<.01). Therefore overexpression of TGF-alpha may be an important indicator for recurrence in patients with early laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated by irradiation.

The expression of EGF/EGFR in 47 laryngeal surgical specimens from 44 patients was examined. PCNA analysis as an index of proliferating cells was also performed in 32 cases of laryngeal cancer, six cases of pre-cancerous lesions and nine cases of normal laryngeal mucosa. EGFR failed to show a significant correlation with tumour behaviour, but EGF expression was statistically significantly higher in malignant (SCC) than in non-malignant tissues (pre-cancerous and normal tissues) (p<0.006), and PCNA also showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.016) between the two. In malignant tissues when EGF/EGFR in ‘double-positive’ and ‘double-negative’ cases was compared, a statistically significant difference in PCNA was found (p<0.029); but this was not seen in non-malignant tissues. Our results support the hypothesis that an autocrine mechanism exists in laryngeal cancer and in this mechanism EGF may play an important role in tumour progression, especially when EGFR is overexpressed.

Background Tramadol is one of the most extensively used centrally acting synthetic opioid analgesics. Recently, a number of studies have explored the associations of the CYP2D6*10 C188T polymorphism with pharmacokinetic and clinical outcomes of tramadol. However, the results of these previous reports remain controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was needed to reach a consensus. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify eligible studies that explored the influence of the CYP2D6*10 C188T polymorphism on clinical outcomes of tramadol through April 2019. Articles meeting the inclusion criteria were comprehensively reviewed by two independent evaluators. A meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3. Results A total of nine studies involving 809 related subjects were included in this meta-analysis. Significant associations were found between CYP2D6*10 C188T mutation and longer serum tramadol half-lives, larger AUC0-∞, and the slower clearance rate of tramadol. In addition, we also found that CYP2D6*10 C188T had effects on the pharmacokinetic parameters of the metabolite of tramadol, O-desmethyltramadol, by sensitive analysis. Furthermore, CYP2D6*10 C188T polymorphism was associated with higher visual analog scale score, loading dose, and total consumption of tramadol. There was no significant association between CYP2D6*10 C188T polymorphism and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Conclusions CYP2D6*10 C188T polymorphism had a significant influence on tramadol pharmacokinetics and analgesic effect, but there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that this polymorphism was associated with incidence of nausea and vomiting.