Abstract. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNA molecules that act as regulators of gene expression. Circulating blood miRNAs have potential as cancer biomarkers. The main objective of the present study was to assess the effect of miRNA-23b (miR-23b) expression in plasma on the diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to measure miR-23b expression levels, and methylation-specific PCR was used to test the promoter methylation status. Subsequently, the expression level of miR-23b in plasma samples was compared between CRC patients and healthy control individuals. The miR-23b expression levels were significantly lower in CRC cells and primary CRC tissues than in nonmalignant colorectal tissues (P<0.001). It was also shown that miR-23b expression is downregulated by promoter methylation and can be restored by demethylation agent treatment. miR-23b was significantly decreased in plasma samples from CRC patients compared with the healthy control individuals (P<0.001). The value of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.842 (sensitivity, 84.38%; specificity, 77.08%; 95% confidence interval, 0.763-0.922). Low plasma miR-23b expression was significantly associated with clinical stage, tumor depth, distant metastasis and tumor recurrence. CRC patients with low miR-23b expression in plasma exhibited a shorter recurrence-free survival time and poorer overall survival rate. The present results suggested that the downregulation of miR-23b in the plasma has the potential to be a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in CRC.

No abstract

In the present study, two nanoparticles including lactose myristoyl carboxymethyl chitosan (LMCC) and algal polysaccharide myristoyl carboxymethyl chitosan (AMCC), were obtained for hepatic-targeted Adriamycin (ADM) drug delivery systems. ADM was successfully loaded into the LMCC or AMCC nanoparticle by dialysis. The release function and liver targeting of the nanoparticles was explored, and it was revealed that ADM release from the nanoparticles was greatest at acidic pH 5.5. ADM-conjugated nanoparticles were readily taken up by HU7 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, relative to HT22 mouse hippocampal neuron cells in vitro. In vivo, ADM-loaded nanoparticles had significant antitumor efficacy with a 62.7% inhibition rate, followed by ADM and ADM-AMCC (51.2 and 42.5%, respectively). The tissue distribution study confirmed that ADM-LMCC had an improved liver delivery efficacy, by comparison with ADM. Furthermore, a series of safety studies, including hemolysis, acute toxicity and organ toxicity, revealed that the ADM-loaded LMCC and AMCC nanoparticles had advantages over the commercially available injectable preparation of Adriamycin hydrochloride, in terms of low toxicity levels and increased tolerated dose. These results indicated that LMCC is a promising carrier for injectable ADM nanoparticle and ADM-conjugated nanoparticles may improve the efficacy of ADM by hepatic targeting.

The aim of this study is to explore the surgical strategies for treating Hashimoto's disease complicated with thyroid microcarcinoma. We analyzed the clinical data of 25 patients with Hashimoto's disease with thyroid microcarcinoma who were treated in our hospital from January 1995 to September 2011. The incidence of Hashimoto's disease with thyroid microcarcinoma was 9.8 % (25/256) in our hospital. Amongst them, 19 patients had papillary thyroid carcinoma and six had follicular thyroid carcinoma. There were 24 cases (96 %) confirmed by the frozen section examination and one (4 %) after surgery. One patient did not undergo remedial surgery. The surgical approaches were determined based on preoperative examinations and intraoperative frozen pathology, including thyroid lobe and isthmus resection with contralateral lobe subtotal resection in 19 cases, and bilateral subtotal thyroid lobectomy in one case. Central lymph node dissection was conducted for all patients except one who was not diagnosed until after the surgery. No recurrence occurred during the follow-up (range: 6 months to 17 years) and all patients have survived to date. The preoperative diagnosis rate of Hashimoto's disease with thyroid cancer (in particular thyroid microcarcinomas) is low. Preoperative palpation, color Doppler ultrasound, fine needle aspiration, and the frozen section examination are helpful to improve the diagnosis rate of Hashimoto's disease with thyroid microcarcinoma. Surgery procedure is the most effective approach.