Encouraging results from a small sample of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) undergoing haploidentical donor (HID) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) must be extended. Furthermore, an algorithm derived from a comparison of the outcomes of HID and identical-sibling donor (ISD) HSCT must be established. Therefore, the outcomes of 454 MDS patients who underwent HSCT from HIDs (n=226) or ISDs (n=228) between 2003 and 2013 that were reported to the Chinese Bone Marrow Transplantation Registry were analyzed. Among the 3/6 HID (n=136), 4-5/6 HID (n=90) and ISD patient groups, the 4-year adjusted cumulative incidences of non-relapse mortality were 34, 29 and 16%, respectively (overall P=0.004), and of relapse were 6, 7 and 10%, respectively (overall P=0.36). The 4-year adjusted probabilities of overall survival were 58, 63 and 73%, respectively (overall P=0.07), and of relapse-free-survival were 58, 63 and 71%, respectively (overall P=0.14); pairwise comparison showed that the difference was only statistically significant in the 3/6 HID vs ISD pair. The data suggest that ISDs remain the best donor source for MDS patients while HIDs (perhaps 4-5/6 HID in particular) could be a valid alternative when an ISD is not available; human leukocyte antigen disparity had no effect on survival among the HID patients.

Background: Despite the increasing use of robotic distal gastrectomy (RDG) in patients with gastric cancer (GC), its safety and efficacy compared to those of laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG) have not been elucidated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). We aimed to evaluate the short-term outcomes of patients with GC who received RDG or LDG. Methods: Three hundred patients with cT1-4a and N0/+ between September 2017 and January 2020 were enrolled in this RCT at a high-volume hospital in China. The short-term outcomes were compared between the groups.

Background:Although vitamin D deficiency has been noted in cross-sectional studies of chronic liver disease and laboratory studies suggest possible benefits of vitamin D in preventing liver cancer, little epidemiologic data are available.Methods:We performed a nested case–control study in the Linxian Nutrition Intervention Trials on participants developing incident liver cancer or dying from chronic liver disease over 22 years of follow-up. Baseline serum 25(OH) vitamin D was measured for 226 incident liver cancer cases, 282 chronic liver disease deaths and 1063 age-, sex- and trial-matched controls. Unconditional logistical regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results:The median serum vitamin D level in controls was low (20 nmol l–1). Compared with the lowest quartile, subjects in the fourth quartile had lower risk of chronic liver disease death (OR=0.34, 95% CI=0.21–0.55). For liver cancer incidence, risk estimates were below one, but were not statistically significant. Associations, however, were significant among participants with higher serum calcium levels (Q4 vs Q1, OR=0.43, 95% CI=0.21–0.89). Results for chronic liver disease did not vary by serum calcium level.Conclusion:In a low vitamin D population, higher serum 25(OH) vitamin D concentrations were associated with significantly lower risk of chronic liver disease deaths, and among those with higher serum calcium, incident liver cancer. Our results suggest a possible protective role for vitamin D in these diseases.

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This study aims to evaluate the plasma interleukin (IL)-37 levels in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, as well as its association with major clinical and laboratory features. Ninety consecutively selected SLE patients and 78 community-based healthy controls were recruited. Plasma IL-37 levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The major clinical and laboratory data of SLE patients were also recorded. The results showed that IL-37 level was significantly higher in the plasma of patients with SLE compared with controls (p = 0.028). The correlation of plasma IL-37 levels with major clinical and laboratory data of SLE patients was also analyzed, and the results showed that anti-Sm and anti-RNP were negatively associated with plasma IL-37 levels of SLE patients, while C3 was positively associated with plasma IL-37 levels of SLE patients. No significant associations of IL-37 with other clinical and laboratory parameters were observed (all p > 0.05). In conclusion, elevated plasma IL-37 level and its associations with anti-Sm, anti-RNP and C3 in SLE patients suggest that IL-37 may be implicated in this disease.